08/11/2026
For Immediate Release—August 6-15, 2026
Spring Place Festival Highlights America’s 250th
The 28th annual Spring Place Community Festival will be Saturday, August 15 at the Old Spring
Place Methodist Church (237 Elm Street) just off Georgia Highway 225 South. The theme this
year is “Spring Place: Red, White, and Blue”.
Sponsored by the Spring Place Ruritan Club and the Whitfield-Murray Historical Society, the
Festival commemorates Spring Place’s 225 th year and America’s 250 th . Festival proceeds go
toward the continued preservation of the 1875 structure which is Murray County’s oldest public
building. There is no admission fee, but visitors are encouraged to purchase raffle tickets on
Festival Day for a special $250 first prize and two gift baskets donated by the Robinson and
McDaniel families to celebrate their rich heritage in the Spring Place community. Tickets are $2
each or 3 for $5.
The festival itself opens at 8 am and will have something for everyone. Breakfast biscuits,
coffee, soft drinks, snacks, and bottled water will be available for purchase throughout the
morning. Members of the Ruritan Club will have their usual bake sale with homemade cakes,
breads, and sweets of all kinds. A huge amount of used books, collectibles, and flea market items
such as vintage glass and cookware, dishes, Christmas and other seasonal decorations, pictures
and frames, vinyl records, cassette tapes, CD’s and DVD’s, linens, tools, toys, prints from local
artists, and household items attract buyers as well.
One special display will be the George Washington brooch, property of the Historical Society,
that was originally presented to Nellie Brown by the founding father. Mrs. Brown was an
ancestor of the Freylach family of Dalton who donated the unique item to the Historical Society.
Saturday will be the first time it has been displayed in Spring Place.
Vendors at the Festival include Judy Alred of Cedartown with seasonal pillows, blankets and
other crafts; local author Jodi Lowery who will be on hand to sell and autograph her true crime
books, and the Back from the Dead Coffee Truck.
Jacob Howard’s “Family History Videos” will be for sale—one about the interesting burials in
the famous Spring Place Cemetery and others based on the “Murray on My Mind” local history
class. Other publications of the Whitfield-Murray Historical Society will also be available.
The popular auction begins at 10:00. This year the auction will include a large variety of antique
and vintage furniture, local artist prints, gift cards from area restaurants, quilts, a vintage piano,
book sets, a new TV, an air fryer, and antique farm items! Auction items can be previewed on
the Old Spring Place Methodist Church page during Festival Week.
The Murray High Alumni Association will also have prints, postcards, and notecards featuring
the “Old Rock Building” on sale and the Old Church Museum room will be open throughout the
day as well.
Parking will be available on Elm Street with shuttles to the church and auction site provided.
Handicapped parking is available adjacent to the old church. To find out more about the festival,
call Elizabeth Robinson at 706-695- 6021, Jyana and Chuck Smith at 706-695-8297, Tim
Howard at 706-280-5535 or check us out on Facebook.
A 1954 view of the historic Spring Place Methodist Church.
