Dalton is a city located in Whitfield County, Georgia. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 27,912. The city is the county seat of Whitfield County.
Dalton is often referred to as the "Carpet Capital of the World," home to 150+ carpet plants and approximately 100 carpet outlet stores. The industry employs more than 30,000 people in the Whitfield County area. The agglomeration of the carpet industry in Dalton can be traced back to a wedding gift given in 1895 by a teenage girl, Catherine Evans Whitener, to her brother, Henry Alexander Evans, and his bride, Elizabeth Cramer. The gift was an unusual tufted bedspread. Copying a quilt pattern, she sewed thick cotton yarns with a running stitch into unbleached muslin, clipped the ends of the yarn so they would fluff out, and finally, washed the spread in hot water to hold the yarns by shrinking the fabric. Interest grew in young Catherine's bedspreads, and in 1900, she made the first sale of a spread for $2.50. Demand became so great for the spreads that by the 1930's, local women, who were real entrepreneurs, had "haulers," who would take the stamped sheeting and yarns to front porch workers. Often entire families worked to hand tuft the spreads for 10 to 25 cents per spread. Nearly 10,000 area cottage "tufters"--men, women, and children, were involved in the industry. Bedspread income was instrumental in helping many area families survive the depression. Chenille bedspreads became amazingly popular all over the country and provided a new name for Dalton: the Bedspread Capital of the World. When a form of mechanised carpet making was developed after World War II, Dalton became the epicentre of the new industry due to the fact that specialised tufting skills were required and there was a ready pool of workers with those skills there.
Dalton is located at 34°46'16" North, 84°58'18" West (34.771088, -84.971553).
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 51.4 km2 (19.8 mi2). 51.3 km2 (19.8 mi2) of it is land and 0.1 km2 (0.04 mi2) of it is water. The total area is 0.10% water.
As of the census of 2000, there are 27,912 people, 9,689 households, and 6,511 families residing in the city. The population density is 543.7/km2 (1,407.9/mi2). There are 10,229 housing units at an average density of 199.3/km2 (516.0/mi2). The racial makeup of the city is 66.17% White, 7.71% African American, 0.44% Native American, 1.71% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 21.15% from other races, and 2.76% from two or more races. 40.19% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There are 9,689 households out of which 34.3% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.9% are married couples living together, 11.5% have a female householder with no husband present, and 32.8% are non-families. 27.6% of all households are made up of individuals and 10.8% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.81 and the average family size is 3.43.
In the city the population is spread out with 27.3% under the age of 18, 12.0% from 18 to 24, 30.3% from 25 to 44, 18.9% from 45 to 64, and 11.5% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 31 years. For every 100 females there are 104.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 101.6 males.
The median income for a household in the city is $34,312, and the median income for a family is $41,111. Males have a median income of $28,158 versus $23,701 for females. The per capita income for the city is $20,575. 16.0% of the population and 11.9% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 19.0% of those under the age of 18 and 8.9% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.
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Dalton, GA
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