Welcome to Calhoun, GA!

Today's the day that Jim, Gina, Jessi and Sami will arrive in Calhoun, GA. For those of you who have never been to Calhoun, here's some info:

Calhoun, Georgia - Land of the Cherokee. The city of Calhoun offers a safe, friendly, small town atmosphere, close to the large city (close is a relative term here). This unique community is perfect for a get-away trip and is conveniently located on I-75 one hour north of Atlanta and 45 minutes south of Chattanooga. History is a big part of this community. The New Echota State Historic Site was the last capitol of the Cherokee nation in the early 1800s. The museum and restored buildings help you understand the history and events that led to the "Trail of Tears".

Census Data:

Population (year 2000): 10,667, Est. population in July 2002: 11,715 (+12.7% change)
Males: 5,303 (49.7%), Females: 5,364 (50.3%)

Elevation: 635 feet

County: Gordon

Land area: 11.7 square miles

Zip codes: 30701

Median resident age: 33.9 years
Median household income: $33,618 (year 2000)
Median house value: $96,900 (year 2000)

Races in Calhoun:
White Non-Hispanic (73.2%)
Hispanic (17.1%)
Other race (11.6%)
Black (7.6%)
Two or more races (1.4%)
American Indian (0.7%)
(Total can be greater than 100% because Hispanics could be counted in other races)

Ancestries: United States (15.7%), English (9.0%), German (6.2%), Irish (5.7%), Scotch-Irish (2.2%), French (2.1%)

For population 25 years and over in Calhoun:
High school or higher: 66.5%
Bachelor's degree or higher: 16.4%
Graduate or professional degree: 6.9%
Unemployed: 4.2%
Mean travel time to work: 18.2 minutes

For population 15 years and over in Calhoun city:
Never married: 22.4%
Now married: 55.7%
Separated: 2.2%
Widowed: 8.6%
Divorced: 11.1%
16.4% Foreign born (15.0% Latin America)

Nearest city with pop. 50,000+: Chattanooga, TN (43.8 miles, pop. 155,554).

Nearest city with pop. 200,000+: Atlanta, GA (63.2 miles, pop. 416,474).

Nearest city with pop. 1,000,000+: Chicago, IL (541.4 miles, pop. 2,896,016).

Nearest cities: Resaca, GA (5.5 miles), Adairsville, GA (9.1 miles), Plainville, GA (9.3 miles), Shannon, GA (14.4 miles), Fairmount, GA (17.2 miles), Kingston, GA (18.3 miles), Dalton, GA (18.9 miles), White, GA (20.3 miles).


Single-family new house construction building permits:
1996: 46 buildings, average cost: $100,400
1997: 83 buildings, average cost: $94,500
1998: 51 buildings, average cost: $108,900
1999: 59 buildings, average cost: $102,000
2000: 97 buildings, average cost: $78,100
2001: 96 buildings, average cost: $99,000
2002: 110 buildings, average cost: $111,600
2003: 132 buildings, average cost: $101,300


Area code: 706

New: Calhoun, Georgia business data: stores, dealers, real estate agents, wholesalers, restaurants...

Industries providing employment: Manufacturing (37.9%), Retail trade (13.2%), Educational,health and social services (13.2%).


Crime in Calhoun (2002):
0 murders (0.0 per 100,000)
3 rapes (26.9 per 100,000)
17 robberies (152.4 per 100,000)
27 assaults (242.1 per 100,000)
138 burglaries (1237.2 per 100,000)
842 larceny counts (7548.9 per 100,000)
45 auto thefts (403.4 per 100,000)
City-data.com crime index = 549.7 (higher means more crime, US average = 330.6)


Crime in Calhoun (2001):
0 murders (0.0 per 100,000)
4 rapes (36.6 per 100,000)
3 robberies (27.5 per 100,000)
17 assaults (155.6 per 100,000)
110 burglaries (1007.0 per 100,000)
748 larceny counts (6847.3 per 100,000)
30 auto thefts (274.6 per 100,000)
City-data.com crime index = 430.5 (higher means more crime)


Average weather in Calhoun, Georgia
Based on data reported by over 4,000 weather stations

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Average temp. (°F) 39.5 43.3 51.2 58.9 67.0 74.5 78.3 77.4 71.5 60.1 50.9 42.6
High temperature (°F)49.3 54.7 63.4 71.8 78.8 85.5 88.7 87.7 82.0 72.3 62.2 52.6
Low temperature (°F) 29.6 31.9 38.9 45.9 55.0 63.6 67.9 67.0 61.0 47.8 39.5 32.5
Precipitation (in) 5.5 4.7 6.0 4.4 4.2 3.8 4.3 3.6 3.9 3.4 4.3 4.5

Normal climate around Calhoun, Georgia
Based on data reported by main weather stations

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Days with precip. 12 10 12 10 10 11 12 10 8 7 9 11
Wind speed (mph) 7.3 7.7 8.1 7.6 6.2 5.6 5.3 4.9 5.3 5.3 6.4 6.8
Morning humidity (%) 82 81 81 82 86 87 89 91 91 89 85 83
Afternoon humidity (%) 62 57 53 49 53 55 57 57 56 53 56 61
Sunshine (%) 44 49 54 62 65 65 62 63 64 63 53 45
Days clear of clouds 7 7 8 9 9 8 7 8 10 13 10 8
Partly cloudy days 7 6 8 8 10 12 13 13 10 8 7 6
Cloudy days 17 15 16 13 12 10 11 10 11 10 13 17
Snowfall (in) 1.6 1.1 0.7 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.5

Yes, there is a McDonald's in Calhoun:

MCDONALD'S RESTAURANT (706) 629-0858
749 HIGHWAY 53 EAST SE
CALHOUN, GA 30701

And a Waffle House:

WAFFLE HOUSE (706) 625-0469
1420 RED BUD RD NE
CALHOUN, GA 30701

Jim, Gina and the Kids are Continuing East

The Spillers clan is in Albuquerque, NM today. They'll be driving on to Oklahoma City, OK tomorrow. Everybody now...

Oklahoma

Brand new state! Brand new state, gonna treat you great! Gonna give you barley, carrots and pertaters, Pasture fer the cattle, Spinach and termayters! Flowers on the prarie where the June bugs zoom, Plen'y of air and plen'y of room, Plen'y of room to swing a rope! Plen'y of heart and plen'y of hope. Oklahoma, where the wind comes sweepin' down the plain And the wavin' wheat can sure smell sweet When the wind comes right behind the rain. Oklahoma, Ev'ry night my honey lamb and I Sit alone and talk and watch a hawk Makin' lazy circles in the sky. We know we belong to the land And the land we belong to is grand! And when we say Yeeow! Ayipioeeay! We're only sayin' You're doin' fine, Oklahoma! Oklahoma O.K. Oklahoma, where the wind comes sweepin' down the plain And the wavin' wheat can sure smell sweet When the wind comes right behind the rain. Oklahoma, Ev'ry night my honey lamb and I Sit alone and talk and watch a hawk Makin' lazy circles in the sky. We know we belong to the land And the land we belong to is grand! And when we say Yeeow! Ayipioeeay! We're only sayin' You're doin' fine, Oklahoma! Oklahoma O.K.

The Spillers were once great Cow Hunters!

Here's an interesting Spillers factoid:

Forrest Spillers
During the Spring of 1875, while Wm. Bobo, Wm. Crockett and Forrest Spillers, who lived near Milbourne in McCulloch County, were cow hunting in Brown County about five miles south of Brook Smith, they discovered an Indian spy among the rocks about 200 yards away. Forrest Spillers was murdered by this Indian. Spillers was the last person killed by Indians in Brown Co.

Note: Author interviewed T. W. Clark; M. R. Cheatham and John Beasley, who lived in that section at the time.

The above story is from the book, The West Texas Frontier, by Joseph Carroll McConnell.

Fort Tours Forrest Spillers

Jim & Gina are on their way

Jim & Gina are now in Barstow starting their trek east on I-40. Happy Trails!