Milton and Mane

Past Meets Present: The Path to Progress and Preservation

• Steve Krokoff and Christy Weeks

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We are back with the last installment from the Milton Historical Society! 

In the previous two episodes, we recounted many pivotal moments in Milton's history—ultimately going from rural farmland to a now thriving community—this transformation tells a quintessentially American story of progress, preservation, and purposeful growth.

In this episode, we will get some insight from Jeff Dufresne and Lynn Tinley, on how Georgia 400 changed many things, how a grassroots movement led to cityhood, and how Milton continues to balance growth with a deep commitment to greenspace, community character, and civic pride. If you love history, hidden gems, and stories that define a place—this one's for you.

With the community in mind, this podcast explores the stories, people, and initiatives that make our community unique. Each episode offers insights into local government, highlights Milton's history and future developments, and showcases the vibrant arts, culture, and sustainability efforts shaping our city. Join the conversation, celebrate our community, and discover how we're building a better Milton together.

Do you have an idea for an episode or would like to request a specific topic to be covered? Email Christy Weeks, christy.weeks@miltonga.gov

Learn more about the City of Milton at www.miltonga.gov.

Speaker 1:

Welcome to Milton and Maine, the official podcast for the city of Milton. We want to bring you closer to the heart of our community through stories that inform, inspire and connect. Each episode offers a behind-the-scenes look at the people, projects and priorities shaping Milton, covering everything from local government and future development to arts, culture, sustainability and public safety. Whether you're a resident, a local business owner or just curious about our city, this is your front row seat to what makes Milton special. Welcome back.

Speaker 1:

I am your host, christy Weeks, the communications manager for the city of Milton, and today we're continuing our journey through Milton's fascinating history with Jeff Dufresne and Lynn Tinley from the Milton Historical Society. The last time we chatted, we explored how Georgia's history, from the Civil War to the Great Depression, shaped the growth and resilience of Milton County. We discussed how local farmers weathered the Bull Weevil Crisis, how the Great Depression led to the merger of Milton County into Fulton County and the long-lasting impacts of those changes. Today, we are going to shift our focus to the modern development of Milton, including the arrival of Georgia 400, the city's incorporation and the efforts to preserve its rich heritage. Jeff and Lynn, so glad you could join us again today. Thank you Great to be here. So I'm actually before we get into the nuts and bolts of this episode. I do have a question that we got from the last episode. We were talking about Milton County. Where did the name Milton County come from? It's got to have a history, it does.

Speaker 2:

It's a million-dollar question. It's actually really interesting. Milton County was named for John Milton, not the 17th century poet John Milton Good to know. If you're going to Google it you'll find a lot about him, so you've got to be very specific. But to back up a little bit, there's a strong tradition in the state of Georgia to name counties for revolutionary and important military figures often not all military figures, but most of the counties are named for important citizens and military figures. John Milton was the first Secretary of State for the state and he is credited with actually saving the state's documents at the beginning of the Civil War.

Speaker 2:

So he never actually was in this area, but the people who were involved in naming the county were very familiar with him and were aware of the fact that a county had not been named for him.

Speaker 1:

And he played quite a role by saving documents.

Speaker 2:

He's a known Revolutionary War figure and was known to society and to politics during the Revolutionary War. So, at any rate, there's a whole history about who wanted to name him. But it was named after him. And, yes, a bit of an enigma, because we don't know when he was born, when he died, where he's buried, or we have no image of him. We do have a signature, many images of him.

Speaker 2:

Not one image but a signature. I mean, we're on, there's some folks with the Historical Society trying to track all this stuff. They're working very hard to track it down. But he is who the county was named for and a lot of the family moved to Florida. So in this search a lot of information is from Florida too. So I hope that answers your question.

Speaker 1:

That is incredibly interesting. We love questions, by the way. So if anything comes to mind during this episode or any of the previous episodes, feel free to submit them to me and I will get them to the appropriate hands of the Milton Historical Society and we'll get those questions answered for you. Back to where we are headed today, with a little bit more modern-day Milton, we're going to start with the Georgia 400. And I say the Georgia 400, and I've been corrected. You're not supposed to put the the in front of the 400. Now I come out of Colorado where everything is the I-25, the I-70, things like that. So trust me, I've been corrected. So Georgia 400, it shaped the growth of North Fulton County. Why was this highway project initiated and what were the main goals of it?

Speaker 1:

And when did it happen?

Speaker 3:

Well, back as far as the 1950s, land planners recognized that the North was the path of growth and to help with commerce and travel, whatever they started thinking about it. Help with commerce and travel, whatever they start thinking about it Now. It was originally the North Fulton Expressway, which was later named Georgia 400. And there was a lot of give and take. Originally it was going to go from Atlanta to Asheville, but by 1979, the northern plans were sort of watered down. So the first phase of Georgia 100 was open in 1968 from 285 into North Fulton County and in 1981, it was widened from four lanes to eight lanes in 1989. And that kind of coincided with the opening of the North Point Mall. I remember when that was in the boondocks and now it's a vibrant area. With that the area became a major employment center with great schools and SAT schools. The population, just in the last 15 years, has raised by 58 percent, from 18,000 in 2010 to 43,000 now. That's huge. Yeah for sure, that's exceptional.

Speaker 1:

So obviously affecting our population and the economic growth possibilities up in the North Georgia areas.

Speaker 3:

And the need for road access and widening the road and just improving the access. Major employers Northside Hospital employees 6,000 people Verizon Wireless employees 3,300 people. Adp 3,000, ups 3,000, it goes on and on. Big employers, well-paying jobs, buy beautiful land, they pick up their. Their children want a hobby, so they buy them horses. So hence the horse logo, because there are a lot of horse farms.

Speaker 1:

Up here in Milton. Up in Milton there are.

Speaker 3:

Very, very fine equestrian facilities and equestrian trainers. It is interesting to note that the horse is on our logo, but if you really want to get down to our heritage back in the mid-50s, it really should have been a mule, because those are the animals that work the farm and all that. But it's a wonderful image.

Speaker 1:

Very useful, but not as good on a logo.

Speaker 3:

I'm sorry, not pretty.

Speaker 1:

Hard to put that on a flyer, I'm just saying.

Speaker 3:

But it really spearheaded the access and economic growth of the area.

Speaker 1:

Were there any controversies that accompanied this development of Georgia 400?

Speaker 3:

Oh, absolutely, whenever you impact people's land, the old saying not in my backyard NIMBYs. One big episode was just right at Perimeter Center in 400. All sorts of lawsuits. Gdot were able to force the extension. They won basically. But if you've noticed in the last few years, there's a lot of metal, noise barriers and concrete dividers. It just changes the look and the feel as you travel.

Speaker 1:

Travel north, and that's because of the public wanting to somehow mitigate the adverse effects of growth well, listen, it's hard to have growth economically, population wise, if you're looking at new business opportunities, new schools, as people are moving further north. There is no other way to address some of these issues and it's inconvenient, it's hard to justify, but it has to happen in order for progress and balance and there's.

Speaker 1:

There's a very fine balance in that and it's something that has to be handled very respectfully, okay, so we've got georgia 400 now off question here. Is it also called the 19? Where's the 19? Why it has enough. It has another name, does it not?

Speaker 3:

Yes, it's State Route 19. It's State Route 19.

Speaker 1:

So that's really confusing to us new people. We're like well, I'm supposed to get on Georgia 400, but it says 19. And then you're lost, and then you don't even realize you're on the right road.

Speaker 2:

I never thought about that because I only think it was 400.

Speaker 3:

Yeah it has to do with the jurisdiction.

Speaker 1:

It's really funny to be new to Georgia andia and not have any straight roads anywhere. I'm just saying that's another question. Yeah, that's a whole another discussion I'm gonna have with public works here in the next few weeks.

Speaker 3:

Good luck at least they stopped naming them peach trees right, yes, okay.

Speaker 1:

So we're gonna fast forward to 2006, when Milton officially became a city. What led to the push for that incorporation?

Speaker 3:

I'm quoting this. After the turn of the 21st century, a movement for local governance emerged, driven by the belief that the needs of the upper northernmost part of Fulton County were not adequately prioritized by distant county officials.

Speaker 1:

It's a big county to have to manage. Yeah, different needs.

Speaker 3:

Absolutely. There was a strong belief on where we are and where we want to go, these comprehensive plans and have a lot of consultants. You want a uniformity of architecture. You want being able to connect from A to B without getting run over. Greenspace was a big part of it, just to preserve the bucolic heritage and have acquired greenspace for public and passive parks.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, that's a discussion I got into a little bit with Parks and Rec and green space. Acres were over 400 acres of green space, but that's not including our active parks and our inactive parks. So when you look at the acreage overall that Milton has green space plus parks and things, you're looking at almost 1,000 acres of stuff, and don't quote me on that. 1,000 acres. Parks and Rec had their number and then, as we keep looking at things, I keep hearing but we should include this. It's not open yet, but we have this, so it's quite a number for a city that has 41,000 residents. Yes, I mean that's large, it's wonderful, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 3:

A lot of farmers or landowners are no longer farming. They can't pay the taxes. So the city has been very helpful in terms of conservation use agreements At a lower tax break and agreeing to maintain it in an architectural agricultural use for 10 years. You get to preserve that green space.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, it's important. So that's a whole nother discussion. I'm sure we could get into and spend quite a bit of time there, but I kind of want to focus back into when Milton became the city. So what are the challenges that they faced creating this government from? You could say scratch, it's not going to be scratch, but you're starting over and you're creating things from the bottom up. What were some of those challenges?

Speaker 3:

Well, political will. Jan Jones was spearheading the effort.

Speaker 1:

The mother of Milton.

Speaker 3:

The mother of Milton, and she did a marvelous job navigating the political landscape. You had many other people helping. They brought it to a referendum, referendum, and it was overwhelmingly passed.

Speaker 1:

It's amazing A lot of voices up here. I know there was quite an incredible amount of support for this and a lot of people spent a lot of time advocating.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, it was a very successful endeavor and you're really starting a city from scratches. We had no fire trucks or police cars, no mayor, no this or that, so we had people like Ron Wallace who helped acquire fire trucks and housing on his property. Joe Lockhart was a magnificent choice for starting something. He's a builder, he knows how to break it into a critical path schedule and what we have today is largely through that effort. Bob Buscemi, the city architect. The look and the feel of this place is consistent. You drive into one of our gateway streets and oh, I'm someplace different.

Speaker 1:

And that continues today yeah, we are going to have bob buscemi on because he's got a lot to talk about, some very important topics, one being the development of deer field destination deer field over there, and I've been learning a lot about that project and and its direction and the effort that goes into it is absolutely amazing. So I'm going to ask you guys, just on your opinion, what makes Milton unique compared to the other cities in North Fulton?

Speaker 2:

I would say you know, to mirror Jeff, the bucolic nature of it and it's difficult to say that without praising the city in the end, because they're very careful and mindful of the area in general. I would say we built up here three years ago and it's pretty unusual to say that I found it quite easy to work with the city and there were very few things they requested or did or whatever that I found difficult or onerous and I don't know if anything's changed between now and then. But I will say also that I come here and some of it's quite intangible actually. I come here and it just feels good, it does.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, it does. This is a great place and people I just have just I.

Speaker 2:

It does, yeah, it does. This is a great place and people I just have just. I love it, yeah, how about you?

Speaker 1:

Jeff.

Speaker 3:

I find you know I grew up in Boston where it was difficult to get involved. You know you go to a meeting and they would say well, what parish are you from? Yeah, here, you can join a committee, you can join workshops. You have as much time and interest. You can have your fingerprints on everything Parks and recreation, sidewalks, color choices. It's just a playground for inviting the public and fortunately you have to have sort of an invisible hand that will bring it to a appropriate resolution. So inclusivity is very important. Certainly, the school, the education is great, Excellent schools, Services are great. I took this course.

Speaker 1:

The Citizens Government Academy.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, Lynn just spoke to it yesterday where the services that you had no idea were behind the scenes are working for you and protecting you and setting you apart from a lot of the other competition Just using a septic rather than sewer and holding down the size lots. And that type of control is driven by the will of the people and managed by the city government.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, for sure. So I'm going to skip a little bit, and I want to know about the Milton Historical Society. So y'all were founded in 2018. Yep, what was that driving force behind its creation?

Speaker 3:

What was that driving force behind its creation? Well, there was a group of us that wanted to initially recognize historic places, so it started with historic markers. You'll see them around town, about 28 of them. Someone would write the marker. It would be installed. The city was helpful in supporting that and then it kind of grew into that.

Speaker 1:

We have founding members, and they include yeah, who are those people let's talk about? Who got started on this?

Speaker 3:

Well, let's see Ron Wallace, Adam Orkin, myself, Bill Lusk, Joan Bozzolari, Jim Ferris.

Speaker 1:

There's a large group of you, yeah.

Speaker 3:

Right on.

Speaker 1:

And they're all still involved. That's amazing. That's amazing.

Speaker 3:

And we have committees. For anyone who wants to get involved in the organization that we invite you to join as a patron. Membership starts at $10 for students, so it's really a bargain. We invite people to get involved in selecting lecturers or recruiting speakers for our lecture series. There's the editorial committee which, as I said, driving content is what we're all about. We only have so much room for people that want to donate stuff like a combine or whatever. The social media archive committee, which is vetting historical documents, cataloging them, exhibiting them on a case-by-case basis. Our signature events, which are really social but they always have a historic theme, like the Spring Fling, which is on April 26th, and the Shindig, which is in September, celebrating the planting and the harvesting of our agrarian culture, restoration and preservation To the extent possible.

Speaker 3:

We'll identify a building in peril, and one example is the McConnell Chadwick House, which was built in 1840. We approached the Georgia State Historical Trust and had that designation as a place in peril. We worked with the landlord, the owner, larry chadwick. I decided to donate the building to the city. It's on arnold mill road and really at the gateway of our city, so it has amazing possibilities. It could be a museum. It could be a welcome center, it could be anything we wanted to be, but we're trying really hard to preserve what we have, even working with the design review board. You had that section of land on Mayfield and mid-Broadwell where I had several homes built almost 100 years old. Wow, putting in the district of Mayfield, knocking down those buildings is difficult to do for a developer. So it's those things, the preservation, and we even have times when, if you want to swing a hammer and peel paint to go to some site, the Double Branch Courthouse, which is on Carol Cokerley's property.

Speaker 1:

It was an old courthouse, not very big but it has meaning, has a story and it is now looking good rather than a derelict structure, right, right, wow, that's interesting. So you've talked about a lot of the programs that you've launched and you focus on preservation and education, and you really told us about your major initiatives. You've got Spring Fling and then you also have the Shindig in September. Just kind of give me a quick overview of those two. Those are some pretty big initiatives. What's the basis for them and the difference?

Speaker 3:

Well, it's a social gathering with overtones of history. The last shindig was on Constitution Day, so we collaborated with the sons of the American Revolution and the daughters of the American Revolution and had the color guard and this, and that we tried to exhibit some of our acquisitions of the year donations from families, writers, audrey Morris. We try to showcase what we've found and stories. A lot of history centers is storytelling, educating and making it interesting.

Speaker 1:

Hence all the lecture series and the educational series that you guys do as well.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, we're going to be doing more lunch and learns, which are more interactive what I would say is that they're quite different.

Speaker 2:

Interestingly enough, the shindig is outside on a farm that's been in the same family like four generations, and it's a wonderful family event. I mean the kids come, there's face painting, there's cows, I mean it is just so much fun. People love it and then and they do a little ride in the wagon and everything, and then the spring fling is more of an adultish kind of a thing and more of a social at different locations and, like I say, it celebrates the beginning of spring and, I love that no, it's people enjoy it.

Speaker 2:

I think I'm really gonna like it, I'm ready.

Speaker 1:

I'm ready for spring. I'm not gonna lie. So I think it's funny. We chatted about this earlier. And not funny, that was a wrong word. I think that's next year, that's the 2026. It's coming up quick yeah got any plans yeah, on the spot and make you share some details no, no, no.

Speaker 3:

Sneak preview here I tried, I tried uh, it is an opportunity to spread the word and again, there's so much to tell. People want to be proud of the place they live at, proud of their country. It's kind of the roots of a tree. This is where I stand and I want to protect this and make this a better place. Protect this and make this a better place.

Speaker 1:

Absolutely, Absolutely. So I'm going to ask you what are some ways that residents can get involved with the Milton Historical Society and support its mission.

Speaker 3:

Well, we always have things going on finding a lecturer, writing an article, We'll have projects like GPS coordinates of the 26 or 27 cemeteries you know. So I mean you'll go out in the woods and see a headstone and that's a cemetery.

Speaker 1:

But I didn't notice that about georgia. There every church has almost its own and that is not normal where I come from, so it was quite interesting. I think I find ge find Georgia history so interesting.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, and a lot of these people you know again, they're dirt poor farm families. They were just if you died, you got buried on the property.

Speaker 2:

Many, many are on property.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, and you might be in the middle of the woods and see this metal little. Yeah an enclosure. An enclosure and some headstones. We do have one Revolutionary War soldier buried here.

Speaker 1:

Wow, I did not know that. It's amazing stuff. I really appreciate the work that you all do because it's important and it's enlightening, and when I was a kid, I was not a history person, it was really. I was a math person. But as I've gotten older, you realize the value of the history and the importance it is to understand, and you may learn something that you thought differently about along the way, and so I really appreciate all the work that you all do. So it's been amazing having you on here. I hope you'll come back. I know we've just scratched the surface and there are several subjects that I'm sure we could dig a lot deeper into. I'm just trying to whet the appetite of everybody so they can know that we have a lot of things coming their way, and I certainly am very much interested in the information that you all hold and preserve so preciously. So, before we sign off, I'm going to ask you to share with our listeners how they can find you all for more information.

Speaker 3:

Sure, well, come to one of our events. Put your email address. We have an office at Crabapple Market. It's invitation only. It's not permanently staffed.

Speaker 1:

Gotcha.

Speaker 3:

But we've got about 800 people on our mailing list and, through the collaboration of the city and North Fulton Chamber of Commerce, we're broadening our reach. So keep an eye on something that interests you. Show up. A lot of our programs are free and you'll meet friends or new friends and learn something and have something to talk about at the next cocktail party.

Speaker 2:

I love it. We have Facebook. We have Facebook and Instagram too.

Speaker 3:

We do have Facebook. I'm not sure about Instagram, but we try to do our best in terms of social media.

Speaker 1:

And I'll be sure to include your website in the show notes. I'll put your Instagram or your Facebook handle and any other additional information in there so people have easy access to it and hopefully they'll circle back around. And again, if any of the listeners have any questions, go ahead and shoot them over to me my email's in the show notes as well, and I'll get them answered for you. So again, I'm so grateful for your time and effort you put into sharing this information with us.

Speaker 3:

Our pleasure.

Speaker 1:

Well, and that's it for this episode of Milton and Maine. If today's chat sparked your curiosity, be sure to subscribe and follow us for more stories that connect Milton's past, present and future. And, as always, if you want to learn more about the city of Milton, be sure to visit our website, miltongagov, and follow us on social media. Until next time, keep exploring and take care. Thanks for listening to Milton in Maine. We hope this episode gave you fresh insights into what makes our city so special. Stay connected and don't miss an episode by subscribing to this podcast on your favorite platform and following us on social media for all updates. And, of course, if you want to learn more about the city, visit us online at wwwmiltongagov for resources, news and upcoming events. Until next time. Thanks for being part of the conversation and we'll see you on the next Milton in Maine.