Very interesting to see historical places such as this. I wish there was more explaining the…read morebackground. Viewing inside made me think of Little House on the Prairie (the pilot episode--IYKYK). Parking was at a premium.

Historic stop especially if you enjoy Cherokee history. About 10 minute stop. This was recommended…read moreat the Cave Spring Visitor Center

Top notch customer service !!! Cute quaint little library with a lot of things to offer for adults…read moreand kids. They have a calendar with their activities for the month. My son had fun playing Lego's and the lady in there is super friendly. I asked for potty books and she looked until she found one. When I was leaving she chased me down to let me know she has found a second book in case I wanted it. I've never had such a great experience at a library! Wish I lived closer to come more often.

I recently visited the Town of Cartersville, GA and came across a number of important sites…read morehighlighting African-American History. I was pleased to discover my 2nd Bench By The Road after recently (and quite accidentally) finding my first one on Hilton Head Island inside Historic Mitchelville Freedom Park. SIGNIFICANCE OF THIS SITE To commemorate the role of African-Americans in building the historic W&A railroad and the Carterville Train Depot. Starting in the 1840's, enslaved men, women, and children toiled in the construction of the railroad and the depot. After the Civil War, African-American convict lease laborers repaired and expanded the tracks. During the GREAT MIGRATION, these same railroads provided the first steps to freedom for blacks in Cartersville who were seeking a better way of life in the north and the west. Throughout the South, rail lines and the train depots that facilitated their use are important sites of memory in African-American history, as they document the labor of those who were enslaved and the pathways of freedom & return for their descendants. [quoted from plaque below bench] *** The Bench by the Road Project is a memorial history and community outreach initiative of the Toni Morrison Society. The Project was launched on February 18, 2006, on the occasion of Toni Morrison's 75th Birthday. The name "Bench by the Road" is taken from Morrison's remarks in a 1989 interview with World Magazine where she spoke of the absences of historical markers that help remember the lives of Africans who were enslaved and of how her fifth novel, Beloved, served this symbolic role: "There is no place you or I can go, to think about or not think about, to summon the presences of, or recollect the absences of slaves . . . There is no suitable memorial, or plaque, or wreath, or wall, or park, or skyscraper lobby. There's no 300-foot tower, there's no small bench by the road. There is not even a tree scored, an initial that I can visit or you can visit in Charleston or Savannah or New York or Providence or better still on the banks of the Mississippi. And because such a place doesn't exist . . . the book had to". Because the Toni Morrison Society wanted to be a place where scholars and readers could, through their engagement with Morrison's novels, remember not only slavery but also many of the forgotten moments in African American history, the Society chose, when it was founded in 1993, "A Bench by the Road" as its motto. The Bench by the Road Project extends the Society's mission. While there have been several notable African American history and slavery museums built since 1989, as well as a number of outstanding state and federal initiatives honoring the stories of the African American past, the goal of the Bench by the Road Project is to address the lament that Toni Morrison expressed in her interview by placing Benches and plaques at sites commemorating significant moments, individuals, and locations within the history of the African Diaspora. [quoted from TMS website] *** OTHER BENCH SITES 1st - African Slave Trade Point of Entry Sullivan's Island, SC 2nd - Site on Underground Railroad Oberlin, OH 3rd - Mississippi Freedom School Hattiesburg, MS 4th - The 20th Arrondissement Paris, France 5th - In Memory of Caesar Robbins Concord, MA 6th - Lisner Theater, GW University Washington, D.C. 7th - First Congregational Church Atlanta, GA 8th - Freedom Park Mitchellville, SC 9th - Walden Woods Lincoln, MA 10th - In Honor of Aime Cesaire Fort-de-France, Martinique 11th - Eden Cemetery Collingdale, PA 12th - Margaret Walker Center, JS University Jackson, MS 13th & 14th Bench Placements Middletown, DE 15th - In honor of Cynthia Hesdra Nyack, NY 16th - Hosanna A.U.M.P. Church Lincoln University, PA 17th - Baton Rouge Bus Boycott Baton Rouge, LA 18th - Inquirers Book Club - Woodruff Library Atlanta, GA 19th - Cozad-Bates House Cleveland, OH 20th - Schomburg Center for Research on Black Culture Harlem, NYC 21st - Library of Congress Washington, DC 22nd - Site on Underground Railroad Adrian, MI 23rd - South View Cemetery Atlanta, GA 24th - Home of Frederick Douglass New Bedford, MA 25th - Howard University Washington, DC 26th - Lincoln University Pennsylvania 27th - Cartersville Train Depot Cartersville, GA *** Morrison passed away 8/5/19 at the age of 88. She was the first African-American woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. The idea and thought behind the Bench by the Road Project touched my heart and I look forward to seeing where they will place future benches and subsequently learn of the story behind the placement. 2021 / 10 Black History Series

I live an hour from this library but every so often I work in the area. The staff is very polite…read morebut my goodness it is a library! Everyone is so loud. One staff was talking on the phone. The next visit they were putting up decorations and talking loudly amongst themselves, I couldn't even concentrate, I had to leave. Please take this into consideration when you have guest in the library to study.

This is a lovely library. It's situated right on the Oostanaula River, in downtown Rome, Ga. We…read morewent here regularly when we lived in Silver Creek. The staff were friendly and they had a great selection of books. They had nice facilities for meetings as well. The grounds were nice as well. They had a quiet little garden out back and nice landscaping around the building and parking areas. (One negative I remember was that the lower parking lot did seem to flood a lot.)

These guys are awesome! Always ready to help, they will "know" you if you're a regular. Great…read morecollection of materials and very active in helping patrons obtain materials from other branches if they do not own something you would like to check out. Very nice DVD collection (regular & blu-ray) with TONS of titles and you can check out I think like 15 at a time so you don't have to make so many trips. A+++

Yup, you read that right! You are looking at the very first outdoor wall advertisement for…read moreCoca-Cola!!! The plaque says it was placed on this wall in 1894 and restored in 1989... although I suspect it has been refreshed many times since then because it looks amazingly new! According to the Carterville-Bartow County visitors Bureau, it was authenticated by the Coca-Cola Company itself as the first sign of its kind to advertise for the company. That makes this sign 127 years old. How cool is that! Oh, and if you didn't know, Dr. John Pemberton (a local Atlanta Pharmacist) sold the first glass of Coca-Cola at Jacobs' Pharmacy in downtown Atlanta on May 8, 1886. It is said Pemberton's recipe contained cocaine in the form of an extract of the coca leaf, thus the "Coca" and the "Cola" comes from the kola nut. It is also said that back in those days, cocaine was legal and a common ingredient in medicines. Makes you wonder how many old school medicines may have inspired inventions... LOL 2021 / 5