John Culpepper

Staff Photo by Angela Lewis The Chattooga Academy in LaFayette will be turned into a museum.

Walker County officials are looking to the past to offset an unstable economy.

"Historically, LaFayette has been an industrial town. Like the rest of the county, we've had some layoffs and plant closures," said LaFayette Main Street and Economic Development director Catherine Edgemon.

LaFayette is trying to boost economic development by promoting historic sites as visitor attractions -- a practice known as heritage tourism.

The city needs the boost, officials say. Last summer, Shaw Industries cut one-third of the 150 jobs at its yarn plant in LaFayette.

But Walker County Commissioner Bebe Heiskell and city leaders including Chickamauga City Manager John Culpepper say the county is in a good position to attract tourists and support economic development.

The county just south of Chattanooga has a wealth of historic resources with ties to American Indian, Civil War and black history. The state's second-largest industry is tourism, and heritage tourism has grown steadily in Northwest Georgia in the past five years.

LaFayette's attractions include the antebellum Marsh House. Next door to the old home is Chattooga Academy, also called John B. Gordon Hall. The building, which was built in 1836, has recently undergone restoration in preparation for a new museum on the lower floor.

"It is considered the oldest surviving brick schoolhouse," said David Cameron, architect and member of the Chattooga Academy Advisory Board. "We are grateful that it survived all these years."

He said civic leaders are raising money to buy supplies for the museum, which will be set up like a school house from the 1830s and also will have rotating exhibits about the city's history.

Last year, a historic walking tour of LaFayette was created to take advantage of a number of old buildings downtown and on Main Street, where the academy is located. The new museum project builds on the city's efforts to create a quaint downtown that will attract tourists.

"That is the whole idea -- to create a synergy, a nucleus," Mr. Cameron said.

Across the state, city leaders have been preparing for the Civil War's 150th anniversary, which begins in 2011.

Each city will organize and promote its own attractions and events for the commemoration. Ms. Edgemon said she hopes the museum project will be complete by 2011.

Gov. Sonny Perdue has been a proponent of heritage tourism, according to spokesman Bert Brantley. In 2005, Gov. Perdue initiated an ongoing regional effort to promote tourism and history.

"In the South we have a rich history," Mr. Brantley said. "It is kind of a special region of the country when it comes to this kind of tourism."

Heritage tourists spend more than the average tourist and, especially during a dwindling economy, many area residents are choosing to stay in the region and take advantage of inexpensive activities such as visiting a state or national park, officials said.

Mr. Brantley said the state hasn't been able to invest as much money in heritage tourism as the governor would like because of the state's deep budget deficit.

As the 2009 fiscal year ends, the state is facing a $600 million shortfall and, by Georgia State University estimates, an $800 million deficit for 2010, Alan Essig with the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute said.

But officials are doing everything they can to maintain and promote resources, Mr. Brantley said.

Heritage tourism "is something that really has a return on investment," he said.