He brought an umbrella to a knife fight. In this episode of Stories of Atlanta, part of our Atlanta history series Iron and Ambition, we travel back to 1848—a time when political insults came with real consequences. When Georgia Superior Court Justice Francis Cone called Alexander Stephens a “traitor,” it wasn’t taken lightly. Stephens, known […]
Tag: Lance Russell
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The First Election
What kind of city elects a saloon owner as its first mayor? In this episode of Stories of Atlanta, part of our Iron and Ambition series, we travel back to 1848—the year Atlanta held its very first city election. Fueled by fistfights, whiskey, and political passions, this raucous vote set the tone for the kind […]
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Not All Fun and Games
In response to competition from South Carolina, the State of Georgia embraced the fledgling railroad industry. The idea was to establish new trade opportunities by building a railroad system that would connect Georgia to the rest of the United States. Key to that plan was constructing a state-owned railroad line that would terminate in north […]
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A Cure for Chaos
The town of Atlanta had designated its first commissioners in 1845. The 5-man governing body was comprised of stalwart citizens, none of whom had any previous experience in government affairs. They did their best to bring order to the young railroad town but, by all accounts, their efforts fell on deaf ears. There was little […]
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The Blockade Runner
It was 1844, and the newly chartered town of Marthasville, Georgia, per its official charter, had appointed five commissioners to handle the town’s business. Their first act was to levy a tax on the community for the purpose of building new streets. Clearly, the citizenry of Marthasville had not embraced the concept of a commission-led […]
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Replacing the Monroe
By the end of 1845, people in the region had begun to believe that there just might be something to the young town of Atlanta. Any who remained skeptical of the hype found it harder to do so with the arrival of the first Macon and Western train. You’ll remember that Cousin John Thrasher had […]
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Everybody’s Cousin
As these things go, the changing of the name Marthasville to Atlanta went about as smooth as could be expected. There was one slight hitch, some, who were no doubt devotees of ancient literature, assumed that there had been a typographical error in the spelling of the town’s new name and that actually “Atlanta” should […]
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It Was About Paperwork
The origin of the name “Atlanta” has been questioned for as long as there has been an Atlanta. When all is said and done, however, the name of the city is “Atlanta,” and it’s a safe bet that’s not going to change anytime soon. We haven’t read much about how the people of Marthasville felt […]
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Pioneer Citizens
In the lore of Atlanta’s history, there is a story about an organization that called itself, “The Pioneer Citizens of Atlanta.”
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The Chief Engineer
There is an interesting side benefit to reading about history and it has to do with being able to predict the future. Well, not so much “the” future as “a” future. At various stages along the path of historical research, one becomes familiar with the players in a particular story. When a new character is […]
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Waiting for a Train
The terminus for the Western & Atlantic railroad line had, in 1842, been moved from land lot #78 onto 5 acres of land donated to the state by Samuel Mitchell, the owner of land lot #77. Former Governor Wilson Lumpkin, who negotiated the land deal with Mr. Mitchell, along with W&A engineer F.C. Arms and […]
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The Nickname
You might be familiar with the term “Y’allywood.” It is a nickname that many have recently applied to Atlanta. For those not into, as The Dude would say, the whole brevity thing, perhaps you’re familiar with “Hollywood of the South.” Either way, both of those names will just have to be added to the lengthy […]
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A Founding Father Arrives
It was competition from the State of South Carolina that finally prompted the Georgia legislature to act on the recommendation that former governor Wilson Lumpkin had made to the state in 1826. Lumpkin and his partner Hamilton Fulton on behalf of the State of Georgia had surveyed the American Indian territories of north Georgia seeking […]
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Moving the Mile Marker
In its earliest days, folks referred to the area around the Zero Mile Post as Thrasherville. John Thrasher had come to the region in 1839 to build an embankment for the Monroe Railroad and, to accommodate his workers, he had constructed a community of small cabins. It seems natural that Thrasher’s name would come into […]
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Ground Zero
With the Zero Mile Post fixed in its final location, the foundation for the growth of Atlanta was in place. The city would grow up around the junction point of 3-railroad-lines. Those rail lines would influence the location and the orientation of many of the young community’s new buildings. Well-traveled trails would be expanded and […]
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The Mile Marker Move
A chief engineer identifies the terminus point; a stake is driven into the ground, and, around that marker, the City of Atlanta grows. It’s a pretty neat story. . . except that isn’t exactly how it happened. Nothing, it seems, is ever safe from political intrigue and that would include the founding of the City […]
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A Rocky Start
They came seeking a new life in a new town. As a newlywed couple, they left a comfortable home in Marietta and moved to Terminus to make their fortune. Little did they know that just by doing what every newlywed couple does, they would make history. Willis and Sarah. Carlisle had followed the advice of […]
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Atlanta’s First Community
He was everybody’s cousin. Nobody’s fool. And the richest 21-year-old in town. John Thrasher had been awarded a $25,000 contract to build a railroad embankment. Over the coming months, he would create a clearing in the forest, build several one-room, dirt-floor cabins for labor that he would soon hire and open up a general store […]
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Early Adopters
They walked into the woods and made lives for themselves. That’s a concept 21st-century Atlantans understandably might have trouble wrapping their heads around. But, for the 19th century settlers whose names would become a part of our city’s history, it was business as usual. While the immediate area chosen for the termination point of the […]
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Why Atlanta?
During the early days of America’s founding, having access to water was one of the primary prerequisites in choosing a location for a community. It’s not a difficult concept to understand. In addition to the obvious health benefits, having access to water provided a source of power for industry and, for many, water equaled mobility, […]
