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Then & Now Carrollton Due Out in Early 2010

UWG Archivist Suzanne K. Durham and UWG art student and photographer Emma Elaine Dobbs have produced a pictorial history of Carrollton due to be published in early 2010 by Arcadia Publishers. Called Then & Now Carrollton, the book features vintage photographs from the collection of Benjamin M. Long, which is housed at Ingram Library, alongside current photographs. Long's photographs primarily document an early to mid-twentieth century look at the buildings, houses, and streetscapes of Carrollton.

The Digital Library of Georgia is hosting a number of the vintage photographs of the Long Collection. In 1927, the county celebrated its centennial. The program for the three-day event proclaimed “Carroll County Where Small Farms Produce Large Crops.” Images from that celebration are included at DLG along with such memorable pictures as a War Bond drive featuring a captured Japanese mini-submarine, the $300,000 cotton fire at a Bradley Street warehouse in 1937, the construction in one day of a tabernacle for evangelist Gypsy Smith in April 1925, and many photos documenting streets and buildings from the early to mid-twentieth century. 

Long (1881 – 1973) operated the Long Insurance Agency in Carrollton from 1917 until the late 1960s. During that time, he took many photographs, some of buildings and properties his company insured, and others of his immediate family and local events. Long demonstrated a good compositional eye and photographed neighbors and family members in sometimes amusing and candid views.  Long was the oldest child of Carrollton Mayor Henry Long, and the grandson of Benjamin McFarland Long, said to be the first white child born in Carroll County. Long and his wife, Helen, had two daughters and built the house at 301 Dixie Street in 1914.

To view a portion of the photo collection online, link to the Digital Library of Georgia at http://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/. The DLG is based at the University of Georgia and hosts digital collections for libraries from around the state. The DLG is an initiative of Galileo, Georgia’s virtual library. The Ingram Library Special Collections department is open 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday or by appointment. For information, call 678-839-6361 or email libspecial@westga.edu.