Dixie Street

In Carroll County there were no major battles though Carrollton had four raids. The last of those raids occurred on the day Johnston was surrendering his army, the second one as the war now clearly was winding down. The morning hours of April 26, 1865, men under Gen. John Croxton raided Carrollton burning the buildings on the town square. The Union soldiers left town on the Bowdon Road or Lower Valley Road – the road having dual names at the time. Carrollton was defended by a home guard – Confederates often too old or young for the army but also of veterans, both discharged and wounded, who acted as a local defense force. Frequently they were based at their homes although in some cases they lived in local camps. They served vital roles to capture Confederate deserters, scouts for Union presences, and they were also the last line of local defense. Col. John Beall commanded the Tallapoosa Rangers as a home guard. Upon call to remove the elements of Croxton from Carrollton the Tallapoosa Rangers drove the Union down the Bowdon Road past the house of Henry Farmer Merrill, a local attorney. Local oral history state that the Tallapoosa Rangers sang “Dixie” while advancing on the retreating Union soldiers. Merrill proposed renaming the road Dixie Street in honor of the actions of the home guard. Soon after the war the street was renamed. The house is located at 206 Dixie Street. In the yard there is a sign commemorating the history of Dixie Street is located on the northwest corner of the lot next to Worthy Park.