Just as 40,000 tourists are expected to flock to LaFayette to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Civil War this fall, the city will be opening a welcome center to facilitate inquiries and provide advice on attractions.
Friday, Dr. David Boyle, president of the Walker County Historical Society, said the center will offer “anything a visitor coming from out of town would want to know.”
The center will open Sept. 21, coinciding with the first and largest of two Civil War battle re-enactments happening near town, and it will fill a void in tourism left when the Walker County Chamber of Commerce moved from LaFayette to Rock Spring around 20 years ago, Boyle said.
The center’s housing is already known by LaFayette residents. It began as a Long John Silver’s restaurant years ago and became the Northwest Georgia Arts Guild when the Wardlaw family donated it to Walker County several years ago.
Now, since the arts guild folded and there is no welcome center or database of tourism information in LaFayette, the building will serve as the check-in location for Marsh House of LaFayette tours and the first stop for tourism in the town.