Whitfield-Murray Historical Society and Spring Place Ruritan Club are hosting the annual Spring Place Community Festival in Chatsworth, Ga., to raise funds for the preservation of Old Spring Place Methodist Church.
The event will be held along Elm Street in Chatsworth from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 19.
What began as an Indian Mission in the early 1830s evolved into a Methodist church after the Cherokee were forcibly removed from Murray County in 1838, according to records from Murray County Museum.
In 1851, the congregation built a brick structure on Elm Street in Spring Place. When that building burned, the congregation built a wood replacement on the same foundation in 1875. That building served the Methodist congregation for 100 years.
In 1976, they built a new church on Cleveland Highway north of Vann House.
Spring Place Community Festival is an old-fashioned event with an auction at 10 a.m., homemade treats such as jams, jellies and cakes for sale, a used book sale and an indoor rummage sale. Local businesses and individuals will have booths to disperse information or small giveaways.
Funds raised support preservation of the church, which is the oldest structure designed for public use that is still standing in Murray County. The historic church now houses a small museum.
For more information: 706-695-2110.