Douglasville in Douglas County, Georgia — The American South (South Atlantic)
Dresden Plate
Photographed by Mark Hilton, November 15, 2024
1. Dresden Plate Marker
Today's most widely recognized quilt pattern, the Dresden Plate, has been known by several names over the past 150 years. The pattern was most commonly made with small scraps of fabric. This mural represents a handmade quilt created in the 1970's by longtime Douglasville resident, Edna Simpson Bearden. When Mrs. Bearden passed away at the age of 94, her family remembered her story about the country custom of draping a quilter's coffin with one of her quilts. Upon her death in 2006, at the home in which she had lived since 1945, the family chose to drape her coffin with the Dresden Plate quilt she had made more than three decades earlier.
In 1879, The Dorsett, Price & McElreath General Store and Cotton Warehouse opened. This two-story building was one of the first permanent brick buildings in the commercial district. The business was sold to Samuel N. Dorsett, who was one of the first merchants in Douglasville and co-owner of The Weekly Star newspaper. In the early 1900's J.M. Roberts operated a hardware store out of this building. Hoke Bearden operated a grocery store here in the 3940's. In 1997, Allen Bearden, son of Mrs. Edna Bearden, and Greg Peeples purchased the building and continue to occupy it today.
Painted by Alyssa D. Waldron
Great Granddaughter of Edna Simpson Bearden
Erected 2017 by Douglasville Downtown Development Authority.
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Arts, Letters, Music • Industry & Commerce. A significant historical year for this entry is 2006.
Location. 33° 45.089′ N, 84° 44.848′ W. Marker is in Douglasville, Georgia, in Douglas County. It is on Campbellton Street south of Veterans Memorial Highway (U.S. 78), on the right when traveling south. Mounted on the east wall of the Precedence Incorporated building. Touch for map. Marker is
this page online
Regionally, this marker is in Georgia’s Piedmont and in Metro Atlanta. It is also in the American South and specifically in the Deep South. Globally, it is in North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture, one of the original Thirteen Colonies, one of the Confederate States of America, and the Antebellum South.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: O'Neal Plaza (about 400 feet away, measured in a direct line); Veterans Memorial (approx. 0.2 miles away); Douglas County Sentinel Office (approx. 0.2 miles away); Douglas County (approx. 0.2 miles away); Douglas County Museum of History & Art (approx. 0.2 miles away); Vansant Brothers (approx. 0.2 miles away); a different marker also named Douglas County Museum of History & Art (approx. Ό mile away); Simpson & Daughters Mortuary (approx. 0.3 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Douglasville.
Photographed by Mark Hilton, November 15, 2024
2. Dresden Plate Quilt design & marker
Credits. This page was last revised on November 18, 2024. It was originally submitted on November 18, 2024, by Mark Hilton of Montgomery, Alabama. This page has been viewed 149 times since then and 30 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on November 18, 2024, by Mark Hilton of Montgomery, Alabama.
