Page 50 - Curriculum Visions Dynamic Book

50
Georgia
Atlanta, the capital city of Georgia
Established Incorporated Elevation Population City
Metro
1836
1847
738 to 1,050 ft (225 to 320 m) 447,841
5,522,942 (9th)
Atlanta is the capital of, and the largest city in the U.S. state of, Georgia. It is the ninth largest metropolitan area in the United States.
The city is situated among the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, the highest elevation of major cities east of the Mississippi River.
Atlanta has a short, but dramatic, history. The land on which Atlanta was built was home to Creek and Cherokee Native Americans. As part of the systematic removal of Native Americans from northern Georgia from 1802 to 1825, the Creek left the area in 1821, and European settlers arrived the following year.
However, no town grew in this area until the railway arrived. In 1836, a railway was proposed to link the Atlantic port of Savannah with the growing cities of the Midwest. There would be a line going inland from Savannah, and another going south from the Mid West. The place chosen for the railroads to meet was named Five Points. It was
a simple engineer’s decision based on the needs of the railroad. But a year later, the area around it had developed into a settlement. At first they called it simply, “Terminus”. This was changed to “Thrasherville” after a local merchant who built homes and a general store in the area. By 1842, the town had six buildings and 30 residents, and was renamed “Marthasville” to honor the Governor’s daughter. Then Edgar Thomson, Chief Engineer of the Georgia Railroad, suggested the town be renamed “Atlantica- Pacifica,” after the designs of the railroads to go from Sea to Shining Sea. But this was shortened to “Atlanta”, and the town was incorporated as Atlanta in 1847.
By 1860, Atlanta’s population had grown to 9,554
and it was thriving. But in the Civil War its position as a railway intersection made Atlanta a strategic place for the Confederate forces to distribute supplies, and thus a target for the Union forces, too.