City of Atlanta history

Atlanta’s history dates back to 1836 when it was the first major American city to be founded away from a major body of navigable water.

The city came into existence in 1837 after the end of the Western and Atlantic railroad.

By 1839 permanent homes and stores were built to support the budding laborer settlement.

By the mid 1840’s rail lines converged here from four different directions leading Atlanta to become the major rail hub for the entire South-Eastern United States.

In December 1842, the first train ran to Marietta, Georgia.

The location was known first as Terminus and then as Marthasville; in 1845 it was renamed Atlanta for the Western and Atlantic Railroad.

Growth continued and in 1847, Atlanta was incorporated to include the four-square-mile area center on the terminus.

The first city election in 1848 was contested by the Moral Party and the Free and Rowdy Party.

In 1854, the Georgia legislature created Fulton County to include Atlanta and its suburbs.

Owing to its role as a hospital center, there were about 20,000 people in the city when General William Tecumseh Sherman reached it in 1864.

The Freedmen's Bureau was established after the war and remained in operation until 1870.

Manufacturing returned, and the city rebuilt its railways maintaining its status as THE railway hub for the Southern US. The late 1880’s saw one of America’s most iconic brands, the Coca-Cola company, being founded right here in downtown Atlanta.

Coca-Cola launched here in 1886 and still has its headquarters in our backyard.

Piedmont Hospital was opened in 1905.

In 1913, Leo Frank, the manager of an Atlanta pencil factory, was tried and convicted of the murder of 13-year-old Mary Phagan.

A mob, upset that Frank might not be executed, lynched him in August 1915.

By the 1950’s this population began migrating into city neighborhoods where they had been previously excluded.

The SCLC nonetheless sustained its mission by organizing voter drives and cultivating African American political candidates. It also lobbied for the designation of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday as a national holiday (see Martin Luther King, Jr., Day). The SCLC has published the SCLC Magazine since 1971.

In 1973 Atlanta became the first major city in the South to elect an African American mayor, Maynard Jackson.

The first rapid-transit commuter rail opened in 1979, and by the early 21st century the system had expanded to include several more lines.

The two institutions merged to form Clark Atlanta University in 1989.

The World of Coca-Cola was opened in 1990: one of the city’s top attractions and a stop on our sightseeing City Tour!