Atlanta, Georgia

City History

The Creek and Cherokee tribes resided in the early Atlanta area. Along the (Almega) Chattahoochee river the U.S. built a string of forts, among them was Fort Silmer located at a native site called “Peachtree.” The fort was constructed in response for to the creek-U.S. war. Creek land opened up for settlement in 1823 the Creek and Cherokee exchanged their lands for land out west. The Native Americans were forced to walk to Oklahoma, in the infamous “Trail of Tears.” Construction began in 1836 of the Macon-Augusta and the Western-Atlantic railroads. The trains would run from Macon to Augusta ending at a site east of the Chattahoochee River appropriately named “Terninis.” A settlement grew around the two-story depot. The towns residents asked to have the name changed to Lumpkin after the Georgia governor. Later, however, Governor Lumpkin changed the name to Martha after his adored daughter; the community was known as “Marthasville” for only 3 years. Again the name was changed to “Atlantica Pacifical” by the railroad and eventually the name was shortened to “Atlanta.” In 1846 the railroad link was completed and soon after the city grew to 6.000 residents. The civil war brought a lot of grief to Atlanta. Union general Sherman drove confederate troops back to Atlanta. He then ordered all Government buildings and assets destroyed and the next day Mayor James Calhoun surrendered the city. General Sherman then ordered this troops to burn the city as he continued his punitive march South. Atlanta rebuilt and continued to grow into a major transportation hub for the entire country. This spurred remarkable growth in manufacturing and population. In the 1970’s Atlanta became home to many of the countries major cable stations and networks through the work of Ted Turner. In the year 1996 Atlanta proudly held the Olympics Summer games awakening the city to the nation as a tourist’s southern paradise.

---