Since 1970, Ringgold, GA has placed US Flags and Crosses around their City on Memorial Day weekend. They started with 12 flags. This year volunteers and families placed 1,850 flags with the names and service branches of veterans that gave their lives for our country.
The 2022 Ringgold Memorial Day Celebration coincided with the city’s 1890 Days Jamboree. We drove 30-minutes from Chattanooga to enjoy the free, live music, car cruise-in, arts and crafts vendors and food, but did not stay for the fireworks.
Matthew Aaron Evans & The Low Down Revival were playing on one of the three stages in front of the Catoosa County Courthouse built in 1856. General Sherman did not burn the building in 1864 because a Masonic meeting hall occupied the third floor.
In 1850 the Western and Atlantic Railroad built a track through Ringgold and this depot became the busiest stop between Atlanta and Chattanooga.
Ringgold was a hot spot for weddings. From 1858-2016 around 228,000 lovers tied the knot there. It was one of the few places in the nation where you could get married in one-day, because the lab for mandatory blood tests was in town and processed them on-site as fast as they could. George Jones and Dolly Parton were just a few of the stars that traded golden rings in Ringgold. It’s still a popular wedding venue.
Meeting Deputy Barney Fife in front of the courthouse was an unexpected pleasure.
On the second floor of Cotton Gin Antiques, we interrupted a spooky card game. Built in 1878, the gin operated until 1951 and the machinery still sits idle in the rafters above these players. There’s a ton of history to be mined from the City named after Major Samuel Ringgold, who died in the Mexican War. We went for the Jamboree and got schooled along the way.