Soil Survey of Murray and Whitfield Counties, Georgia

6 Soil Survey
The Tennessee Valley Divide, located in Whitfield County, separates the two main
watersheds in the survey area. The divide runs along ridges that start in the northern
part of the county near the town of Cohutta and travels southwest and enters Walker
County north of the town of Villanow. Drainage west of the Tennessee Valley Divide
flows north into Catoosa County and eventually empties into the Tennessee River.
Drainage for the remainder of Whitfield County and all of Murray County flows south
into Gordon County via the Conasauga and Coosawattee Rivers. Both sources of
drainage flow south into the Gulf of Mexico.
The Conasauga River and its many tributaries provide the major avenue of drainage
for the survey area. The river starts in the upper northeast section of Murray County,
flows into Tennessee for a short distance, and then turns south and travels through the
survey area and exits into Gordon County. The Conasauga River forms the boundary
between Murray and Whitfield Counties except for a small section in the northern part
of the survey area where the two counties are separated by Sugar Creek.
Major tributaries that feed into the Conasauga and Coosawattee Rivers in Murray
County include Holly Creek, Mill Creek, Perry Creek, Rock Creek, Sugar Creek,
Sumac Creek, and Talking Rock Creek. The main tributaries flowing into the
Conasauga River from Whitfield County are Coahulla Creek, Drowning Bear Creek,
Haig Mill Creek, Jobs Creek, Mill Creek, North Fork Creek, Renyon Creek, Spring
Creek, Stover Creek, Sugar Creek, and Swamp Creek. Drainage for areas west of the
Tennessee Valley Divide includes Chickamauga Creek, Dry Creek, Tanyard Creek,
and Tiger Creek.
Industries, Utilities, and Transportation
Carpet manufacturing and related industries provide the main source of
employment and income for Murray and Whitfield Counties. The carpet industry also
supplies jobs for many of the surrounding counties in Georgia and Tennessee. It is
estimated that approximately 90 percent of all functional carpet in the world comes
from the greater Dalton area.
Other important industries for the survey area include agriculture, appliance,
chemical, housing, medical, poultry, retail, recreation, and timber. Talc mining was
once an important industry for Murray County. Mines were located along the base of
Fort Mountain, but impurities in the talc and the expense of mining caused the mines
to close.
Public utilities in Murray and Whitfield Counties include electricity, natural gas,
sewage treatment, telephone service, and water. Areas not served by county sewer or
water depend on septic tank absorption fields for sewage disposal and drilled wells for
water.
Murray and Whitfield Counties contain an adequate network of federal, state, and
local highways. Most roads are paved, except in remote areas and on National Forest
land. Interstate 75, which runs north and south through Whitfield County, provides the
primary source of transportation for the survey area. Additional transportation includes
air, bus, and rail services.
Mines and Minerals
Many minerals are found in Murray and Whitfield Counties, but mining is not as
common today as it once was. Some mines and quarries were exhausted and others
were closed because it was not cost effective to keep them in operation.
The materials mined and quarried included alluvial clay deposits, manganese,
shale, talc, and tripoli. While some mining operations still exist, much of the clay,
minerals, and rocks in the survey area are no longer mined or quarried. As areas were
mined, both the quantity and quality of the mining materials often became exhausted