Recently I paid a visit to our trusty Lumpkin County Library. I was combing through microfilm archives of The Dahlonega Nugget, doing some research for a recent article. While examining a particularly worn-out roll of film spanning from 1963-1969, I felt like I had stepped into the “Wayback Machine” with Mr. Peabody and Sherman.
Now I will preface this by saying I was not alive in the 1960’s. My impression of the period is limited to what I’ve seen depicted in campy television and movies of the era. Of course, you probably figured that out from my Rocky and Bullwinkle show reference.
One thing I certainly did not expect to find out about Dahlonega during that period of time was that it was a city plagued by rampant automotive crime.
But that’s exactly the impression I got as I began pouring over the front pages; each one seemed to feature a car-related caper more wild than the last.
First a June, 1963, headline caught my eye, declaring “Two More Cars Go Missing in Dahlonega.”
Apparently a 1962 4-door Chevy Impala belonging to a sergeant at the Ranger Camp went missing from its parking space on Park Street. That very same night, another Ranger had a 1961 Ford Fairlane stolen. Fortunately, the Fairlane was later discovered on Crown Mountain. Unfortunately, “the left rear tire, battery and distributor had been removed and the car set afire.”
Holy Fire-bombed Ford, Batman! That had to leave a mark.
Then I came across another front page story, from the same month, stating succinctly: “Another Car Goes ‘Thataway’ in Dahlonega.”
This time it was a 1963 Chevy Impala Sport Coupe, apparently stolen right out of the driveway of the unsuspecting owner. The story concluded on a tongue-in-cheek note: “No traces of the car had been found at press time Thursday, and if a trace were found it probably would just be a trace of a car.”
That’s some brutal honesty coming out of the Fourth Estate.
Another June article reported a “Stolen Car Found Stripped Near Auraria.” Sadly for the owner, it was the very same ’63 Impala Sport Couple that had gone “thataway” in the previous story.
The following month, an article reported “Stolen Autos Are Recovered In Lumpkin.”
A 1963 Chevy Biscayne was found in the Hightower district with its gas tank, battery, and several other parts missing. Meanwhile, a 1963 Chevy Impala was discovered off of Oak Grove Road, and this one had been stripped of “the motor, transmission, doors, and wheels.”
I mean, is it really even a car any more if it has no engine, transmission, doors, or wheels? Sounds more like a really big paper weight to me.
In August, a 1963 Chevrolet Super Sport was stolen in Dahlonega, and, you guessed it, was found (completely stripped) in White County only one day after being reported missing.
Several arrests were made in the first half of the month relating to missing autos, which seemed to slow down the torrid pace of the thefts, at least temporarily.
An August 16 headline dared to spike the proverbial football: “Week’s Big News: No Cars Stolen From Lumpkin.” Deeper into the article, Ralph Ridley, the local Sheriff at the time, even went so far as to boast that he had “been able to get a few nights’ sleep lately.”
By September, it was back to business as usual as The Nugget reported “Another Auto Goes ‘Thataway’ in Dahlonega.”
This time a 1962 Chevy station wagon was the vehicular victim, disappearing from the Dahlonega Square only to be found the next morning near Amicalola Falls, stripped bare.
In November, Sheriff Ridley found a 1963 Corvette Sting Ray “stashed away, adorned with honeysuckle, near the Barlow Mines just outside of the Dahlonega city limits.” Amazingly, the vehicle had not been stripped this time! “They were going to drive this one,” Ridley concluded.
The madness rolled on over to 1964, and in January it was reported that “two automobiles belonging to local residents have gone astray this week.”
I find it difficult to believe the cars wandered off on their own, since self-driving Teslas were not exactly a thing in 1964.
Then, in February, a blue 1963 Fastback Ford went missing from its owner’s residence. According to the story, this particular Ford was likely targeted because it was equipped with a “big engine” and “four on the floor” manual transmission. Apparently, in the 60’s this was akin to placing a large sign in the rear window of your car that says “please steal me.”
March would see the nightmares of local car owners continue, unabated.
“Stolen Car Found in ‘Insurance Hollow,’” the headline stated.
“Oh good,” I thought to myself. “Maybe this one found its way back to its rightful owner.”
After reading a little further, I began to doubt it.
That’s because “Insurance Hollow” referred to “a deep ravine off the side of 9-E highway about two miles south of Dahlonega that got its name due to the carcasses of automobiles that have plummeted into its depth for one reason or another.”
Things would go from weird to weirder in April, when The Nugget reported a “Car Stripper Strikes Inside Local Garage.”
“Tuesday night thieves broke into the Chevrolet Co. building and stripped the transmission, hub caps, spare tires, jacks and other loot from two other cars in the garage,” the report read.
The amusing part of the whole affair, however, was the way our crime-weary local journalists chose to rationalize the brazen theft.
“It was a rainy night, the car was jacked up, and the temptation was just too great,” The Nugget writers concluded with what I can only imagine in my mind’s eye was a deep sigh and a resigned shrug of the shoulders.
I wonder how well that excuse held up in court.
I could go on and on, because frankly so do the headlines. But they mostly end in a similar fashion. Vehicle(s) recovered in Lumpkin County, stripped.
Two more front-page articles in June. Another three in July.
The week of August 14, 1964, another rare moment made the news: “No Cars Reported Stripped, Stolen Here This Week.”
But if you thought this reprieve would finally mark the end of the road for car strippers, well, you just haven’t been paying attention.
The inevitable walk-back would come just a couple weeks later under the depressing headline “Stripped Cars Dot Lumpkin Wooded Areas.”
“While Sheriff Ralph Ridley was reading last week’s Nugget that stated the fact that no cars had been stripped or stolen in his county last week, he received a call to investigate what was believed to be a bunch of stripped vehicles.”
I can’t tell you exactly how long it took the police to bring this “car-nage” in Lumpkin County to a screeching halt, because after a certain point I had to stop reading articles about stolen vehicles and write some news stories of my own.
All I know for sure is that I expected 1960’s Dahlonega to be a little more “Mayberry,” and a little less “Mad Max.”
Keith Murden is a staff writer and columnist for The Dahlonega Nugget. He can be reached by email at communitynews@thedahloneganugget.com.