We are very excited today to have launch our new website.  With the help of John from Make It Loud, we now have a website that not only functions, but is something we can make changes to.  We are looking forward to being in better touch with the people of our fair city, to keeping you posted on the work of the Duluth Historical Society, and to continuing to resarch the history of our city.  

Please take the time to come and visit the Duluth Historical Society at old train depot at the Southeastern Railway Museum.  There are fantastic exhibits anyone can come and peruse and we guarantee you will learn more about our city!

We have exciting news ! We are proud to announce
that we are in the process of publishing a booklet  that is a collection
of re-told stories by  Duluth families, legends , lies, and family history,
and the South. They have been handed down by word of mouth
thru generations of Southerners ancestors.  

This collection of stories are humorous, fact finding
and shows the diversity within the Southern culture. 
We are hoping to get it completed and to make it available
at the 2019 Duluth Fall Festival. It is the last weekend
in September. We can be located at the old
jail (Calaboose) at the south end of Main St. 
It is not to late to submit your stories that maybe
you talked about with the family elders. Please send
by email to= secretary@duluthhistoricalsociety.org.
Please DO NOT send a .PDF file. Submit in a word document
or you can put the story in a regular e-mail and send it.
That way there is  no need for an attachment.

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Starting the first week in Sept. we will install our
Fall Festival Displays in the Historic Duluth Train Depot and 
some storytelling. We are located on the grounds of the
Southeastern Railway Museum sitting next to the train track
just south of downtown.
 

This past year it's been pressing on the board members at the Duluth Historical Society for us to be better visible to the community, and to have a presence online that was notable.  The board began exploring opportunitites to have our web presence changed, and into something that is easily updatable by the volunteer staff at the Historical Society.

Through a local referral, we sought out John Lehmberg at Make It Loud Web Design and Digital Marketing, a local company here in Gwinnett, not far from Duluth, GA.  Although their company isn't located within the actual city limits of Duluth, they've adopted the city as their own, doing all of the social media work for the Duluth Fall Festival yearly, and John also runs a local business networking group that is in Duluth as well--  so their company pours into our city and considers it home. John was a history major in college and has an affinity for local history, so he was very excited at the oppotunity to recreate a new website for us.

They specialize in providing websites that are easy to update, which is our real great need, all the whilte not compromising on the beauty of our web presence.  He and his team have begun creating this new site, which will launch shortly. We'll be adding more to the site in the days ahead, and once he trains us, we'll be keeping our news and events page more up to date as well. 

We're very excited at this new chapter in Duluth's history, and very excited at the new presence this will give us at the Duluth Historical Society.  Stay tuned and keep coming back for more updates in the days ahead!

Greetings to our Gwinnett friends and visitors. This annual Christmas-time celebration is just around the corner and this year will be even more special as we include the 200 year celebration of Gwinnett County history!

We continue to join with the Southeastern Railway Museum for our third “Festival of Trees”. It has enjoyed great success with thousands of visitors as well as Fox News TV. It also has aired on Good Day Atlanta and has been a wonderful exposure. For six weeks plus, it spotlights your business and the Museum’s facilities, just south of downtown Duluth, bringing a unique holiday touch to this local landmark in your backyard!

For a $100 donation, you can sponsor a tree for the full season and decorate it as you wish. Guests from Gwinnett, across Georgia and around the region will enjoy your tree and identify your business as a supporter of our organization and our partner (the Southeastern Railway Museum).

Guests will be encouraged to vote for their favorite tree by placing donations in a box by the tree. The tree that attracts the most donations will win “People’s Choice” award. Officials of both organizations will vote for “Best of Show”. All voting donations for trees will be given to Village of Hope, Lawrenceville, our chosen non-profit beneficiary this year. Their mission is “restoring HOPE to the homeless and to those in need in Lawrenceville”, our neighboring community here in Gwinnett. They meet “the basic human needs including food and shelter. Visit: Village of Hope in Lawrenceville

Some organizations are going to donate a fully decorated tree for us to raffle off. Please advise us prior to the opening of our event if you would like to do the same donation.
The Southeastern Railway Museum will again offer their annual showing of “The Polar Express” movie, which always brings many visitors to this event as well.
Please email or call us and to receive a vendor package of information. We need to have applications submitted as soon as possible. Come join your participating neighbors in this holiday tradition.

Nancy Sturgis, 678-365-1641 secretary@duluthhistoricalsociety.org Candace Morgan, President, 770-403-1795

Hours of Operation: The Festival of Trees of 2017 will be open to the public starting Friday, November 17, 2017. The open hours for the Museum and Festival of Trees is 10:00 am to 5:00 pm, Wednesday through Saturday. The program will close on Saturday, December 30th.

The Duluth Historical Society promotes awareness and preservation of information and resources concerning the history of Duluth and cooperates with other cultural and educational institutions in encouraging historic appreciation and pride in Duluth’s history, culture, art, and traditions.

Present Activities Include:

• Historical Preservation on the Local, Regional & National Level
• Building strong relationships within our Community
• Preserving and Promoting our Heritage, Customs and Traditions
• Compiling lost History and Artifacts
• Collecting Photographs of Old Duluth, Families, and Environs
• Developing Programs of Historic Interest open to the Public
• State of the City Address

In keeping with our motto to “Preserving our history, Recording the present and Reaching for the future”

Duluth is 9.8 square miles in size, and is located 25 miles northeast of Atlanta. Transportation is accessible by Interstate 85, Buford Highway, Peachtree Industrial Boulevard, Georgia Highway 120 and Pleasant Hill Road.

The corporate sector of Duluth welcomes over 1600 businesses to the city, and by all indications, this number is likely to continue in growth.

Duluth is the first city in Georgia to implement multi-material curbside recycling. This program is free to all residents and was recently upgraded to include cardboard recycling and special waste, such as oil and paint.

The tourist attraction is strong in Duluth. The Duluth Historical Society preserves the history of Duluth and maintains the Duluth History. The Southeastern Railway Museum preserves, restores and operates historical railway equipment. The Duluth Fall Festival, held the last weekend in September, offers more than 250 arts and crafts and food booths, and draws crowds greater than 30,000.

Duluth elected the first woman mayor in Georgia, Alice H. Strickland. She lived 1861-1947. She promised to “Clean up Duluth and rid it of demon rum.” Her contributions to the community included opening up her home for kids to have their tonsils removed (there were no hospitals at this time). She also lead the movement to protect forest lands and donated an acre for a community forest. The first in the area. Her home has been designated as a historic location by the Georgia Historical Society.

The Methodist church was the first church to form in Duluth in 1871. The church was formed when a small group of citizens began meeting at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Singleton S. Howell. The first building was constructed in 1873.

The Baptist church was organized in February 1886 and the first building built the same year. In 1907, a second building was built and was destroyed by fire in July 1947. The building was rebuilt in 1948 of brick, rock and Stone Mountain granite. This building was the home of City Hall and the Duluth Police Department. (excerpt from May 26, 1976 newspaper)

Duluth is the fourth oldest chartered City in Gwinnett County. Lawrenceville being the oldest following by Norcross and Buford.

The first school was built in 1870’s where the current Duluth Middle School stands. It was a two-room building that was destroyed by fire in 1925. A new building was completed the following year and was later replaced with the current middle school building. Duluth High School was built in 1958, B.B. Harris Elementary in 1966, and more came later.

The Bank of Duluth was the first bank to organize and open in 1904. It was located in the building currently occupied by Economy Pharmacy in Downtown Duluth. The Farmers and Merchants Bank opened in 1911. Both closed during the Depression. The Bank of Duluth was re-organized in 1945 in the original building.

Gwinnett’s first hospital was built in 1943 in Duluth – Joan Glancy Hospital. Glancy Jones Dunn was the first baby born at Joan Glancy Hospital. The hospital was funded by General A.R. Glancy after the death of Olin Burnett, 6, in 1941. his daughter, a Duluth cow farmer, and employer of the boy’s father, wrote to him about a small clinic to serve the people of Duluth’s medical needs. He sent $500 to get things started and sent $250 every year after. The hospital was named after the General’s daughter, Joan, who died of pneumonia. A video of this history is available at the Duluth Historical Society.

Local Outreach--  We have always taken a interest in the community issue of helping to feed
the elderly, shut-ins, poor, children and several food banks. Many tomato plants
were donated to us. We planted them,added stakes and added small fencing for 
them to grow themselves. Several of the grocery stores allow us to pick
us a cross section of food that we help distribute to the families.

We also help to gather clothing that is suitable for men and women
that need good clothes for job interviews. 
 

Educational Programs

• Partnered with Gwinnett Library System
• Provided community with Indian Heritage Day
• Hosted two book lectures with Gwinnett Public Library and Gwinnett Reads Program
• Conducted an American Girl Tea Party with Gwinnett Public Library
• Joined w/Children’s Reading Pgm & Tail Wagging Tutors where children read to therapy dogs
• Annual Educational Program for Spring Gardening and Plant Sale
• Storytelling, by actors in period costume, of historical characters i.e. Ben Franklin, Mary Gay, Mrs. Ben Franklin, Alice Strickland

Venue for Community Events

• Hosted four weddings in the last 5 years, one for the Great, Great Grandson of Mrs. Alice Strickland, homeowner of the Strickland Estate in the 1920s. For further reading about this amazing woman.
• Facility has been used as the backdrop for three film companies for shoots
• Home of girl scout and boy scout troops
• Conducted senior citizen private tours
• Sponsored an Old Timer’s Luncheon

Venue for Duluth History and Historical Society

• Sponsored Historic Photo Contest, city-wide
• Hosted author, Elliot Brack
• Annual holiday events for families
• Christmas Extravaganza Open House
• The Society provides several rotating exhibits annually
• Veterans exhibit from theWarvil war, WWI, WWII, Korean Conflict, Viet Nam, Desert Storm, and through to today.

Additional Historical Society Activities

• Monthly meetings with Fireside Chats for visitors and members to learn more about the history of Duluth are held at the Historical Duluth Train Depot.
• Annual Chattahoochee Dog Fest, honoring Mrs. Zigler, granddaughter of Alice Strickland, who creator of the first Gwinnett County Humane Society in 1950.
• Annual partner with the Duluth Dog Mayor program.
• Annually during city fall festival, provides tours of the ‘callaboose’, first jail in Duluth in 1829.
• Sponsored a Secret Garden Tour of neighboring homes.
• Prepares for Duluth City Hall, a showcase of Duluth’s history in a rotating exhibit.
• Alice Strickland House Property (green space):
  • Provides a small nature preserve with walking trails, native plants, courtesy of two Eagle Scouts
  • Property is a dedicated National Wildlife Habitat, courtesy of Jr. Girl Scout Troop #1945