The Daily Citizen, Dalton, GA

Dalton State College

Related Photos

  • From left, Bob Rutland, unidentified, Gov. Carl Sanders, George Rice Sr., unidentified, Lamar Westcott and Truett Lomax participate in a groundbreaking ceremony for Dalton Junior College in the 1960s. Photo courtesy of Whitfield-Murray Historical Society.

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  • Tom Swift was one of the men who donated land for Dalton Junior College.

    Tom Swift ln wr.jpg

  • John Tibbs was one of the men who donated land for Dalton Junior College.

    John I. Tibbs bw.jpg

  • Two of the four benches that will be dedicated this week at Dalton State College. Matt Hamilton/The Daily Citizen

    Benches at DSC mlh.jpg

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October 31, 2011

From farmland to college campus

Rachel Brown rachelbrown@daltoncitizen.com

Today, Dalton State College has a dozen or so buildings and enrolls between 5,500 and 6,000 students each semester, but before the 1960s, the area was farmland and woods.

On Thursday, the Dalton State College Foundation will honor the four men who donated their own land — a total of 136 acres — for a site for the college. The ceremony, which includes dedicating granite benches and plaques in honor of Glen Bevil, Tom Lambert, Tom Swift and John Tibbs, will be at 1:30 p.m. on the quadrangle.

“They made the gifts that made it all possible,” said David Elrod, president of the foundation.

The four men are all deceased, but at least some of their relatives are still living and will attend the ceremony. University System of Georgia Chancellor Hank Huckaby will offer remarks as well as college president John Schwenn as the foundation dedicates the benches and plaques.

The public is invited.

Truett Lomax, manager of the area’s Chamber of Commerce, took on the project of forming Dalton Junior College in 1961. He and other leaders began seeking out 125 acres, which had to be provided at no cost since the University System of Georgia would not pay for the land for starting a college.

Lomax said David Wells, then chairman of the chamber’s education committee, met with Swift, who owned the major parcel of land that visionaries were seeking. Lomax said Swift initially offered to sell the land at “a reasonable price” but after learning more about the goals said he’d give it away.

“He had about 60 acres, and we told him we needed 125 acres,” Lomax said. “He said he would get the rest from Mr. Glen Bevil, Mr. John Tibbs and Mr. Tom Lambert, which he did.”

Lori Goggans, one of Swift’s children, said she later attended the college for a dual enrollment English course while she was in high school. Her sister, Jolana Swift Bradshaw, completed her first year of college at Dalton Junior College before attending Auburn University.

“When (dad) donated the land for the college, I was 3 years old,” said Goggans, who now lives in Kentucky. “Tom and his wife, Frances, had three children — Steve, Jolana and Lori. He ran C&S Block Co. until his death in 1974.

“He believed in the vision along with the three others that Dalton was a wonderful place to have a college. That education mattered (and) the college would be a wonderful addition to this fine city.”

Dalton resident Gene Tibbs said his father, John, owned 485 acres of farmland on and around where the college now sits. Cotton was the family’s money crop, Gene Tibbs said, but they also raised corn, peas and other crops they fed to the cattle and mules.

Tibbs Road, which is near the college, was named after the Tibbs family, including Col. William H. Tibbs, who is Gene Tibbs’ great-grandfather.

Elrod said the land donations were “a real shot in the arm in the early ‘60s that really jump-started the junior college movement here.”

Lomax said the referendum Whitfield County held to issue bonds to pay for the college’s first buildings passed by a 26 to 1 margin.

“We didn’t run into any opposition,” Lomax said. “Everybody was thrilled to death that we were going to get it ... I think it’s met all of our visions.”

Dalton Junior College opened in 1967, was renamed Dalton College in 1987 and took on the name Dalton State College in 1998.

In addition to dozens of associate degrees, Dalton State offers bachelor’s degrees in accounting, biology, chemistry, criminal justice, early childhood education, English, history, management, management information systems, marketing systems, mathematics, operations management, social work and technology management.

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Dalton State College