The Dixie Highway Becomes Dixie Highway

The Dixie Highway Becomes Dixie Highway. . , Conceived by regional businessmen in 1915, construction for the portion of US Highway 41 through Whitfield County began in 1926 and opened on October 29, 1929 with much fanfare. Before I-75, U S Highway 41, also known as the Dixie Highway, was one of the major north-south routes in the United States., Because of the large number of bedspreads for sale hanging from clothes lines located along the roadside, US Highway 41, from the Georgia-Tennessee line to Cartersville, Georgia was affectionately known as "Peacock Alley" and sometimes, "Bedspread Boulevard." From the 1930s to the 1950s, the pea cock bedspread pattern dominated the bedspread market and at one time outsold other spread patterns tenfold. The items were chenille, the French word for caterpillar, so named because the tufted and fluffed yarn in a muslin fabric has the appearance of a caterpillar. Many of the individuals who made bedspreads and those who traveled the highway thought the spreads were loud and gaudy, but they sold., Numerous chenille manufacturers and retailers were located along South Dixie Highway:, . Thomason and Beckler Chenille (1944-1950) owned by R.C. Thomason and Claudette and Burch Beckler, opened in 1951 as a bedspread retailer and manufacturer. Beckler's Chenille changed its name to Beckler's Carpet in 1964 and is still in business today., . R.P. Bailey Chenille Company (1945 to 1958) manufactured chenille robes and had retail locations that sold all types of chenille goods., . Fort Mountain Chenille Company made chenille and candlewick bedspreads, housecoats, beachwear, drapes, rugs, and bath mat sets., . Gravley Spread Company (1941-1958) made peacock bathrobes, bath sets, and bedspreads., Some of the many suppliers of chenille goods to these retailers during the industry's heyday were:, . Art-Rich Manufacturing Company (1947 to 1983) made house robes for women and children., . Ben Putnam Chenille made robes and spreads for retailers and was a premier designer., . The B.J. Bandy Company (1929-1953) was one of the earliest bedspread manufacturers that got into machine production., . Blue Ridge Spread Company, founded by Samuel Hurowitz in 1933, made chenille bedspreads and garments., . Brooker Spread Company (1932-1983) made beach capes, bedspreads, rugs, and housecoats., . LaRose Bedspread Company (1935-1954) manufactured spreads and garments and then changed over to carpet in 1954., . Lawtex, founded in 1935 by Seymour Lorberbaum, produced candlewick and chenille bedspreads, chenille robes, and rugs, and later carpet. In 1979, Lawtex was acquired by Spring Mills., . Queen Chenille Company, started by Harry Saul in 1946, made robes, bedspreads, and scatter rugs, became Queen Carpet in 1969 and merged with Shaw Industries in 1998., At their peak, Dalton's chenille and cotton mills were the leading consumers of cotton in the Southeast. In 1916, one of every four cotton bales grown in the United States was used in the mills around Dalton. By 1946, chenille and early carpet manufacturers used 30,000 bales of cotton annually and by 1950, devoured 500,000 bales of cotton each year. The tufted textile industry was the third largest purchaser and user of Georgia grown cotton by 1952; however, this would change drastically with the development of synthetic carpet yarn., Photographs courtesy of Whitfield-Murray Historical Society, Bandy Heritage Center, Carpet and Rug Institute, and Georgia Archives