Georgia Railroad and Banking Company

Georgia Railroad 1026, an EMD GP7—on permanent display in Duluth, Georgia.

The Georgia Railroad and Banking Company GA also seen as "GARR" (Steam Locomotives and History of the Georgia Railroad and the West Point Route, Richard E. Prince) was an historic railroad and banking company that operated in the U.S. state of Georgia. In 1967 it reported 833 million revenue-ton-miles of freight and 3 million passenger-miles; at the end of the year it operated 331 miles of road and 510 miles of track.

History

It was chartered in 1833 in Augusta, Georgia. In 1835, the charter was amended to include banking. Originally the line was chartered to build a railroad from Augusta to Athens with a branch to Madison.
The railroad opened in 1845 with its Chief Engineer being J. Edgar Thomson and Richard Peters as the first Superintendent.

At that time the rates were as follows:

• 5¢ per mile for passengers
• 50¢ per 100 miles (160 km) for freight

Several other railroads were then under construction:

• The Western and Atlantic Railroad was chartered to build a line from 7 miles (11 km) south of the Chattahoochee River, at a point that was named Terminus (present-day Atlanta) to Chattanooga, Tennessee (formerly Ross Landing).

• The South Carolina Railroad was building a line from Charleston, South Carolina to North Augusta, South Carolina (formerly Hamburg).

• The Memphis and Charleston Railroad was being built from Memphis, Tennessee to Chattanooga.

• The Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad and the Louisville and Nashville Railroad were both constructing rival lines between Louisville, Kentucky and Nashville, Tennessee.

The Georgia Railroad decided to extend the Madison branch to Terminus (Atlanta) and thus compete with the Central Railroad and Banking Company of Georgia (later the Central of Georgia Railroad), which together with the Macon and Western Railroad, were competing for traffic through Charleston's rival port of Savannah, Georgia. By 1850, this railroad had built 213 miles (343 km) of track and was up to 232 miles (373 km) by 1860. At the time, goods from the Mississippi and Ohio valleys had to go by riverboat to New Orleans and then via coastal steamships around the Florida Keys to get to the big population centers in the northeast. Shipping cross-country by rail to the ports of Charleston and Savannah made perfect economic sense.

Banking

The banking side of the business was quickly more successful than the railroad side. The Georgia RR & Banking Company was perhaps the strongest bank in Georgia for many years. The bankers used some of their wealth to buy controlling interests in the Atlanta and West Point Railroad and the Western Railway of Alabama, which provided a continuous line from Atlanta to Montgomery, Alabama, although the WofA was standard gauge (4' 8½"), while all the other lines in the south were broad gauge (5' 0").

Civil War years

During the American Civil War, the Confederate States of America maintained a gunpowder factory in Augusta. Carloads of gunpowder would be transported on the Georgia Railroad to various battlefields in the "Western Campaign."

Although the Civil War saw heavy damage to railroads such as the Georgia Railroad, management used their considerable resources to restore operation as quickly as possible. The Georgia Railroad even resorted to temporarily abandoning the Athens branch to secure enough rail to reopen its main line. Returning Confederate soldiers were given free rides home to the extent that the company's limited rail network would allow.

They also honored all Confederate script issued by their bank. No depositor lost their savings even if Confederate money had no value. It helped that the Georgia Railroad and Banking Company had the financial strength to honor those promises. Meanwhile, most southern banks were busy repudiating any obligations related to Confederate currency. This helped solidify the bank's reputation as one of the premiere banks in the southeastern United States well into the 20th century.

Post war years

The Georgia Railroad Freight Depot, designed by architect Max Corput, was completed in 1869 and is the oldest building in Downtown Atlanta. The company was later rechartered as the Georgia Railroad Bank, then a subsidiary of the First Railroad and Banking Company, which eventually opened banks in Atlanta under the name of First Georgia Bank.

The banking operations were merged with First Union in 1986 and First Union subsequently merged with Wachovia Corporation, which is now Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.

The Georgia Railroad Bank entered the insurance business using subsidiaries such as First of Georgia, however these were subsequently sold at considerable profit to the company.

In 1881, the president of the Central Railroad and Banking Company of Georgia, Colonel William M. Wadley, personally leased the railroad properties of the Georgia Railroad and Banking Company, including the A&WP and WofA. Wadley assigned half of the lease to the Central and half to the L&N. Following the panic of 1897, the Central went into receivership and its portion of the lease lapsed, whereupon it was eventually reassigned to the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad. In 1902, the ACL acquired controlling interest in the L&N and thus the Georgia, A&WP and WofA became non-operating subsidiaries of the ACL.

With the building of the Savannah and Atlanta Railroad, which connected with the Georgia Railroad at Warrenton, Georgia, the Georgia Railroad now competed with the Central of Georgia Railroad for traffic to and from Savannah. Soon, however, the ACL came to dominate the Augusta interchange traffic through its Charleston and Western Carolina Railway subsidiary and the ACL's own spur from its main line at Florence, South Carolina, so now the Georgia Railroad could compete with the Seaboard Air Line Railroad and Southern Railway (U.S.) for traffic from Atlanta up the eastern seaboard.

A unique feature of the Georgia Railroad and Banking Company charter was that the legislature gave the corporation a huge tax break. That was challenged many times in the courts, but the company always won. The charter also called for daily except Sunday passenger service. The lawyers advised management to maintain passenger service on all lines so as to not violate the charter, and thus the Georgia was perhaps the last railroad to operate mixed trains in the "Lower 48," well into the Amtrak era.

Subsumed by CSX

The Georgia Railroad originally fell under common management with the Atlanta and West Point Railroad and the Western Railway of Alabama, commonly known as "The West Point Route."
In 1967 the ACL merged with the Seaboard Air Line Railroad to form the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad [SCL]. In the early 1970s SCL merged with the Louisville and Nashville Railroad and the Clinchfield Railroad to become the Family Lines System. Family Lines continued to operate the Georgia Railroad under its initial charter and thus the Georgia Railroad was maintained as a separate company, with Family Lines leasing the rail properties.

1983 saw the end of the Georgia Railroad as a separate company after Family Lines purchased the railroad properties of the Georgia Railroad and Banking Company, which had until then been the subject of the lease.

The Seaboard System subsequently merged with the Chessie System in 1986 to form CSX Transportation.

Today the original Georgia Railroad and Banking Company is in the real estate development business, controlling numerous properties along its former rail lines.

1867 timetable

Distances of Depots from Atlanta

#	Name	Miles	Notes
1	Decatur, Georgia	6
2	Stone Mountain, Georgia	16
3	Lithonia, Georgia	24
4	Conyers, Georgia	31
5	Covington, Georgia	41
6	Social Circle, Georgia	52
7	Rutledge, Georgia	59
8	Madison, Georgia	68
9	Buckhead, Georgia	76
10	Greensboro, Georgia	88
11	Union Point, Georgia	95
12	Crawfordville, Georgia	107
13	Barnett, Georgia	114	Near U.S. Highway 278 and I-20
14	Camack, Georgia	125	Old spelling
15	Thomson, Georgia	134
16	Dearing, Georgia	142
17	Saw Dust, Georgia	146	Now called Harlem
18	Berzelia, Georgia	152	Near Berzelia Pond
19	Belair, Georgia	162	Now called Grovetown
20	Augusta, Georgia	171

Trains departed from Atlanta at 8:55AM and 7:15PM and arrived there at 10:05AM and 6:00PM.

External Links 
CSX Transportation
Family Lines System
Seaboard Coast Line Railroad 
Southern Railway (U.S.)
Savannah and Atlanta Railroad
Georgia Railroad Freight Depot
Atlanta and West Point Railroad
Central Railroad and Banking Company of Georgia
Memphis and Charleston Railroad

Source: Internet

Keithsburg, GA

1915 map of Cherokee County featuring Keithsburg

 

Keithsburg is a small unincorporated town in Cherokee County, Georgia, United States. It was established in the mid nineteenth-century along the railroad northeast of Canton. The community was named after the local Keith family and its Keith Plantation, one of the oldest plantations in Cherokee County. During the Civil War, the Keith family buried its valuables and suspended its food in trees in order to hide it from the approaching Union Army. The soldiers found the food and, as vengeance for the family's deception, burned their house and hanged the family patriarch from a tree. 

 

However, his life was spared by the knot in the rope getting caught and failing to break his neck. The Keith house was rebuilt in 1865 from kiln-dried bricks made of clay from the nearby Etowah River. Today, the Keith property is in shambles, with kudzu covering what remains of the house and barns. The County of Cherokee or the city of Canton has no interest in saving this property. This is really sad because remains of Slave quarters and an Indian Burial ground exists on this property.

 

Source: Internet

Canton, Georgia

Canton Town Square

Canton is a city in and the county seat of Cherokee County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 22,958.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 14.3 square miles (36.9 km²). The city lies just north of Lebanon and south of Ball Ground.

History

Name and economic history

Once famous for its "Canton Denim," known worldwide for the high-quality denim produced by Canton Cotton Mills which closed in 1979, Canton is now enjoying the greatest economic boom in its history. The City of Canton has a rich heritage. Located in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, the site where Canton would be founded lay in the heart of the Cherokee Nation.

During the first hundred years of Georgia's history, Northwest Georgia was generally considered "Indian Country," and was bypassed by settlers going West. Georgia had made a treaty with the Federal Government in 1802 to relinquish its Western Territory for the removal of all Indians within its boundaries, and, although other tribes had been removed, little was ever done about the Cherokees.

Since this was the heartland of the Cherokee Nation, the state and nation had avoided the handling of this delicate problem. Following the Georgia Gold Rush in 1829, settlers ignored the Indian problems and began to move into the area north of Carrollton and west of the Chattahoochee River-sixty-nine hundred miles-and named it Cherokee.

Many members of the Cherokee Nation moved west, but the majority stayed until removed by Federal Troops sent into the area during the summer of 1838. The remaining Cherokees were gathered and held in forts until the removal could be completed. Present-day Cherokee County had the largest and most southerly of these fort, Fort Buffington, which stood six miles (10 km) east of Canton. Today nothing stands to identify its timber structure, but the area is marked by a large piece of green Cherokee marble quarried near Holly Springs. By autumn of 1838, the federal troops had accomplished their mission and the Cherokees at Fort Buffington were marched off to join other groups on the infamous "Trail of Tears".

A permanent county seat and courthouse were chosen in 1833 and named Etowah. The name was changed to Cherokee Courthouse in 1833. In 1834 it was changed to Canton (pronounced cant'n), after the Chinese city of Guangzhou, which was then known in English as Canton (pronounced can tahn). The name was chosen because a group of citizens had dreams of making the Georgia town a center of the silk industry, which was concentrated in China at the time. Though Canton never became a significant silk center, it did become a successful manufacturing community.

Canton, which had a population of about 200, was burned between the dates of November 1–5, 1864 by the Union Army under the command of Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman. Canton was destroyed by a foraging party of the Ohio 5th Cavalry under the command of Major Thomas T. Heath. At the time the Ohio 5th Cavalry was headquartered in Cartersville, Ga. The written order for destruction was given on October 30, 1864 by Brig. General John E. Smith. Union troops were ordered to burn the town because of Confederate guerrilla attacks coming from Canton and directed against the Western and Atlantic Railroad near the town of Cassville, Ga. The railroad was a vital supply line for the Union Army from the captured city of Chattanooga, Tn. to newly captured Atlanta, Ga. The Canton home of Governor Joseph E. Brown was specifically targeted for destruction. Cassville, Ga., the county seat of neighboring Bartow County was also completely destroyed for guerrilla attacks against the railroad by the same Union party on November 5, 1864 on their return to Cartersville from Canton. Cassville never rebuilt. However, Canton survived to prosper.

Over the years, Canton evolved from unsettled territory to a prosperous mill town known the world over for its "Canton Denim." The original county of 1831 now includes 24 counties, and Cherokee County remains one of Georgia's largest counties with an area of 429 square miles (1,110 km²). The City of Canton remains the county seat.

The poultry division of Central Soya Corporation located a plant to the region in the 1950s which is now Pilgrims Pride.

Historical information adapted from The Heritage of Cherokee County Georgia 1831–1998

City Council

The City of Canton is governed by a Mayor and six (6) Council Members, who are elected at large by city residents. The terms of office are for four (4) years.

For the election of Council Member, The City of Canton is divided into three (3) wards with two (2) Council Members serving from each ward.

Qualifications of Mayor and Council Members:

Must be 21 years of age Must be a registered City voter Shall be a resident of the ward they represent for six months prior to the election Shall be a resident of the City of Canton for one year prior to the election Shall continue to reside in the City of Canton during their term of office Whereas: All elected officials of the Mayor and Council are four (4) year term.

The Mayor and Council hold the monthly council meetings on the first and third Thursday of each month at 6:00 p.m. All meetings of the Mayor and Council are held in the Council Chambers of City Hall located at 151 Elizabeth Street.

At any meeting, the mayor or mayor pro tem and three (3) of the council members shall constitute a quorum to transact business. It shall take a majority vote of the council members present to pass any measure. The mayor shall vote on all measures only when there is a tie of the council members.

The mayor shall be the chief executive of the City of Canton; shall preside at meetings of the mayor and council; shall see that all laws, ordinances, rules and regulations are faithfully enforced; shall see that all officers and employees shall faithfully discharge their duties; shall sign with the clerk of council any deed, lease, conveyance and contract that may be authorized and directed by the Mayor and Council.

Administration

The Administration Department of the City of Canton consists of the Mayor, City Council, City Manager, City Clerk and Administrative Secretaries. The office is located at Canton City Hall at 151 Elizabeth Street in Canton.

The City Manager is the Administrative Executive of the City of Canton and is responsible for overseeing daily operations of all City departments. The City Manager is appointed by the Mayor and City Council, the governing authority of the city, and is responsible for keeping the Mayor and Council informed on all issues. He also advises the council on the financial condition and needs of the City.
The City Clerk serves as the Clerk of Council and is responsible for the minutes and records of all meetings. The City Clerk is responsible for serving as custodian of all legal documents for the City.

Renovation

Many projects are underway in the city including new construction, renovation, and revitalization. Canton has received millions of dollars in grants for park and sidewalk improvements in the city. The city's public buses have established routes and carry thousands of passengers throughout the city from residential areas to downtown, shopping areas, the medical district, and job sites.

The Historic Canton Theatre on Main Street features plays and other special entertainment events throughout the year, injecting new life into the downtown business district. Streets in the downtown area were recently improved, by the removal of parking spaces, as part of the "Streetscapes" program, bringing brick pavers to sidewalks, lamp posts, lush landscaping and intersection upgrades.

In May 2004, the city held a ribbon cutting ceremony for Heritage Park. Heritage Park is the first phase of the Etowah River Greenway. Heritage Park consists of approximately 30 acres (120,000 m²) of passive use pedestrian and bike trails and a natural amphitheater. The city used to hold concerts and movies in Heritage Park throughout the summer free of charge to its residents.

The city, in partnership with the Metro Atlanta YMCA, constructed an $8 million community center on Waleska Street contiguous to Heritage Park. Now completed, the community center includes an indoor swimming pool, a gymnasium, wellness center, aerobics studio, childcare facilities and the Cherokee Sports Hall of Fame. Although voted in as a "free" community center, it was decided after completion that only members can use it for a fee.

Phase two of the Etowah River Greenway north of Heritage Park consists of active recreation fields for softball, baseball, tennis, and soccer. This phase involves approximately 60 acres (240,000 m²) of property.

In June 2004, the Bluffs Parkway opened off Riverstone Boulevard. This parkway, funded by an $8 million grant from the Georgia Department of Transportation, bisects the Bluffs at Technology Park. The Park which is owned by Technology Park/Atlanta, Inc. will be home to 15,000 high-tech jobs when built out in 10 years. The Park includes a satellite campus of Chattahoochee Technical College which opened Fall of 2011 to train employees of the companies locating there.

The Hickory Log Creek dam project was approved by the US Army Corps of Engineers. The construction and ownership of the Hickory Log Creek Raw Water Reservoir will be shared by the Cobb County / Marietta Water Authority and the City of Canton on a 75% and 25% respective basis and should be completed by December 2007. This water source will provide 44 million US gallons (170,000 m³) of water per day and will be bordered by 15–25 acres of park land with picnic and other public areas.

In 2009, Canton opened the new renovation, the Canton Marketplace. It features a Super Target as well as a Kohl's, Lowe's, Best Buy, Dick's Sporting Goods, and more. Restaurants and other shopping pleasures have been a major boom in Canton industry.

Communities

• Buffington
• Clayton
• Gold Ridge
• Keithsburg
• Macedonia
• Univeter

Education

Cherokee County School District

The Cherokee County School District holds grades pre-school to grade twelve, that consists of twenty-three elementary schools, six middle schools, and six high schools. The district has 1,766 full-time teachers and over 28,434 students.

Higher education

• Chattahoochee Technical College – Woodstock and Canton Campuses

Transportation

The Cherokee County Airport (FAA LOC ID: 47A) is located adjacent to I-575 about six miles (10 km) northeast of downtown Canton, GA.
A redevelopment project currently underway includes:

• an already completed 10,000-square-foot (930 m²) terminal;
• the ongoing lengthening of the runway from its current 3,414 feet (1,041 m) to 5,000 feet (1,500 m);
• a new parallel taxiway;
• instrument landing equipment;
• new hangars.

The new facilities will accommodate 200 hangared corporate aircraft and provide 100 tie-downs for smaller aircraft.

Notable residents

R&B group Audio lives in Canton. Canton was the hometown of Joseph E. Brown. In 1844, Brown served as headmaster at the academy in Canton, which began his lifelong devotion to public education.
He was elected governor of Georgia in 1857 and later served as a United States Senator. Brown is the only person ever to have been elected governor of Georgia four times.

• Bruce Miller, current NFL player (San Francisco 49ers)

Popular culture

Josh Holloway, James "Sawyer" Ford of TV's "LOST" moved to the Blue Ridge Mountains of Georgia when he was two. Josh Holloway attended Cherokee High School in Canton, Georgia. He developed an interest in movies at a very young age. He studied at the University of Georgia for a year, but left to pursue a career as a model.

On July 21, 2008, Stephen Colbert on The Colbert Report made a comment about John McCain making a campaign stop in Canton, Ohio, and "not the crappy Canton in Georgia." The comment resulted in a local uproar, with the Canton, Georgia, mayor insisting Colbert had never visited the town along with an invitation for him to do so. Colbert apologized for the story during his July 30, 2008, show. However, this began a running gag on the show in which he would apologize to one town and make several jokes at the expense of another town named Canton then repeat the cycle a week later.

He went on to insult Canton, Kansas, that night (drawing the ire of Kansas governor Kathleen Sebelius) followed by Canton, South Dakota, on August 5, 2008, and Canton, Texas, on August 12, 2008. On October 28, Colbert turned his attention back to Canton, Ohio after Barack Obama made a campaign stop there, forcing Colbert to find it "crappy".

External links

• City of Canton Website
• Cherokee County Ga News – The Cherokee Connection
• Cherokee County Democratic Party
• Cherokee County Republican Party
• Libertarian Party of Cherokee & Pickens Counties
• Cherokee Today
• Cherokee County School District Website
• Cherokee County Airport – FAA Master Record
• Chattahoochee Technical College 
• Cherokee County School District 
• Hickory Log Creek  
• Chattahoochee Technical College 
• Etowah River 
• Trail of Tears 

• Ball Ground

  Cherokee County

• Lebanon

  Source: Internet

Dawsonville, Georgia

Dawson County Courthouse in Dawsonville

Dawsonville is a city in Dawson County, Georgia, United States. The population was 619 at the 2000 census. The city is the county seat of Dawson County. It is named for William Crosby Dawson, political and military leader.

History

The city was incorporated in 1859.

This town was featured in Only in America with Larry the Cable Guy discussing its history of moonshine and how bootlegging eventually turned into NASCAR.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 1.9 square miles (4.9 km²), all of it land.

The community is at the junction of State Routes 9, 53, and 136.

Amicalola Falls, located in Dawsonville, is on the List of the seven natural wonders of Georgia (U.S. state).

Auto racing

The city's community is known in auto racing circles for its long tradition of involvement in the sport (many racing skills originally developed as a consequence of moonshine activity in the area) and celebrates its involvement every October with the yearly festival aptly named by locals as the "Mountain Moonshine Festival." Dawsonville is the home of semi-retired NASCAR driver Bill Elliott. His nickname, in homage to his hometown, is "Awesome Bill from Dawsonville". The city hall also has an extravagant racing theme as well.

Education

Dawson County School District

The Dawson County School District holds grades pre-school to grade twelve, that consists of three elementary schools, two middle schools, and a high school. The district has 219 full-time teachers and 3,036 students.

• Black's Mill Elementary School
• Kilough Elementary School
• Robinson Elementary School
• Riverview Elementary School
• Riverview Middle School
• Dawson County Middle School
• Dawson County High School

As far as education goes in Dawsonville, the small town is fairly advanced with technology and has a small student to teacher ratio. The Dawson County School system is a charter system. The one and only high school in Dawsonville, Dawson County High School, won the honor of being a part of the Blue Ribbon Schools Program. Also, Riverview Middle School won the governor's Gold Award on student achievement in the 2008-2009 school year.

Notable residents

• Bill Elliott "Awesome Bill From Dawsonville", stock car driver
• Bill Goldberg, professional wrestler and actor (once resided in Dawsonville)
• Lloyd Seay and Roy Hall, moonshine runners and early stock car racing drivers, cousins
• Raymond Parks, moonshine runner and NASCAR pioneer regarded as the first "team" owner in stock car racing, a relative of Seay and Hall
• Gober Sosebee, race car driver from Dawsonville
• Jerry Glanville, professional NFL Coach Atlanta Falcons,Ford Race Team Owner/Driver
• Corey Johnson, professional male runway model, actor, producer (residence)

External Links

• City website
• http://www.dawsonvillega.org
• http://www.dawsoncountyschools.org/
• Blue Ribbon Schools Program 
• Dawson County School District
• NASCAR 
• List of the seven natural wonders of Georgia (U.S. state) 
• Amicalola Falls 
• Only in America with Larry the Cable Guy 
• bootlegging 
• moonshine 
• William Crosby Dawson
• Dawson County
•  
• Source: Internet 

 

Lula, Georgia

Lula is a city in Hall and Banks Counties in the U.S. state of Georgia. Most of the city is in Hall County, with a small eastern portion of the city located in Banks County. The population was 1,438 at the 2000 census. The Hall County portion of Lula is part of the Gainesville, GA Metropolitan Statistical Area. Lula is home of RailRoad Days, a yearly festival usually every May. Major roads near Lula, Ga Hwy 51, Ga Hwy 52, Ga Hwy 365, US hwy 23, and old US 23. Lula is the Railroad junction between the Atlanta northeast line and the Athens north line.

Geography

Downtown Lula

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 2.8 square miles (7.2 km²), all of it land.

History

The rail spur from Athens to Lula was completed in 1874 for the North Eastern Railroad. Civil engineers Joel Hurt and his brother Fletcher named the town in honor of Miss Lula Phinizy, later Mrs. Abner W. Calhoun, whom they both admired.

Source: Internet

Tallulah Falls, Georgia

Tallulah Falls is a town in Habersham and Rabun counties in the U.S. state of Georgia near the Tallulah River. The population was 168 at the 2010 census. It started out in the 1880s as a tourist town for the multitude of visitors to Tallulah Falls.

Tallulah Falls was the filming location for portions of the movie Deliverance.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 8.6 square miles (22.1 km²), of which, 8.1 square miles (21.1 km²) of it is land and 0.4 square miles (1.0 km²) of it (4.68%) is water. U.S. Highway 441, one of the principal thoroughfares into the Blue Ridge and Great Smoky Mountains, bisects the town.

External links

• Our Georgia Mountains

Source: Internet