Dade County History Book

Harold Cecil Moore – 1916-1976

Harold Cecil Moore, known throughout his life as “Prag”, was born February 17, 1916, to Clarence Moore and Minnie Cox Moore in the New Salem community on Lookout Mountain.  He had a wonderful sense of humor and a child’s love of mischief and was universally loved.  Prag Moore traveled extensively, both domestically and overseas, and never met a stranger.

He attended school at New Salem and was a lifetime member of the New Salem United Methodist Church.  He played amateur baseball as a young man and coached baseball after his playing years ended.  A gifted singer, he sang as a soloist and as a member of singing groups of various sizes.

On December 23, 1933, he married his childhood sweetheart, Margaret Inez Gray, the daughter of Walter and Eunice Gray.  Their marriage produced three daughters, Benadine, Alice, and Brenda, all of whom were born in New Salem.  Bernadine was born on March 26, 1935; Alice was born on December 11, 1936, and Brenda was born on February 4, 1945.

A timber expert, Prag Moore spent most of his adult life working at, managing, or owning logging and sawmill operations.  Interspersed among his timber and sawmilling career was a period of ownership of both a grocery store and a restaurant.  In 1949, he and his wife built a store and a family home on Old Highway 143 (now Georgia Highway 136).  The store was closed around 1955.  In 1953, they built a stone house on 20-acres that included the store/house building.  That stone house was home for both Prag and Inez Moore for the rest of their lives.

In 1961, the Moores bought the Mountain View Restaurant on U.S. Highway 11 in Trenton, Georgia.  Prag, who had a passion for good home cooking, and Inez, who was an excellent cook, wanted to provide wholesome and well-prepared food at an affordable price for their customers.  They operated the restaurant until 1963.

During the years 1964 to 1967, Harold Moore managed a timber-buying and cutting operation in Carthage, Tennessee, for the Kimball Piano Company.  From 1967 to 1969, he worked for Dyer Lumber Company in Trenton. In 1969, he accepted a position as manager of a sawmill at Aragon, Georgia, for the Southern Wood Preserving Company.  On August 20, 1976, he was badly burned in an accident at that sawmill.  He died at Floyd General Hospital, Rome, Georgia, on September 8, 1976, and was buried on September 11, 1976, at the Hawkins Cemetery in the New Salem Community, beside the space reserved for his beloved wife of 42 years and the grave of his infant granddaughter, Katrina Dawn Ledford.  His wife, three loving daughters, three sons-in-law, and six adoring grandchildren – two granddaughters and four grandsons survived him.

Written by Alice Williams