Atlanta, by Hubner, Charles W.: pp 376-378
Appletons' Journal: a magazine of general literature., vol. 8, iss. 184
Publication Date: Oct 5, 1872

Atlanta

No city in the South has greater claims upon public attention, at the present time, than Atlanta, the capital of Georgia, the "Empire State" of the South. Its recent origin, its steady progress as a commercial and railroad centre up to the inauguration of the War of Secession, its prominence as a strategic point during that struggle, the sanguinary battles fought around it, the memorable siege to which it was subjected by the Federal troops under Sherman, its subsequent destruction by that general, and the wonderful rapidity with which the ruined city arose from its ashes on the cessation of hostilities, are features that have made Atlanta one of the leading objects of interest to the whole country, and given it a conspicuous position in the current history of the South.

Thirty-odd years ago the site of the city was selected by the engineers of the Western and Atlantic Railroad, or "State Road," as it is called, as its southern terminus. In 1843 the place was incorporated by the name of Marthasville, in compliment to a daughter of Governor Lumpkin, of Georgia. In 1847 it was reincorporated, under the name of Atlanta. This name is not a corruption of that of the fleet-footed mythological goddess Atalanta, as is popularly supposed, but is the feminine of Atlantic, to designate the relationship the embryo city was presumed to have acquired with the Atlantic Ocean, by means of the railroad running to the coast in the direction of Savannah.

Its sobriquet, the "Gate City," of which Atlanta is justly proud, originated about the same time, and finds its source in a similar metaphorical relationship, viz., as being the commercial gate of the country, opening its iron door westward to receive the treasures of the Mississippi Valley, and eastward to send those treasures to its spouse, the ocean.

Even in 1847 the new Atlanta was simply a dreary collection of cabins, inhabited by "squatter sovereigns," with the proverbial characteristics of cross-road existence - a dilapidated tavern, a blacksmith-shop, two or three groggeries, and a "store," with its stereotype assortment of notions, from millstones and ploughshares down to hooks-and-eyes and fishing-tackle.

Marvellous tales are told of this antique period in the history of the present "New York of the South," concerning acres upon acres of land, near the heart of the city, selling for fifty cents per acre, but which now are worth a snug little fortune. Such was Atlanta less than three decades ago.

When the civil war began, Atlanta had already made its mark as a business-centre.

Its population was about eighteen thousand; its railroads and business-houses were flourishing; many elegant stores and private residences attracted the attention of travellers, and an air of general solid progress characterized the place.

Owing to its eligible location, great railroad capabilities, and its importance as a general distributing point for material of war, Atlanta, from the first, became a valuable link in the chain of Confederate plans for national independence.

The value of Atlanta, in a military point of view, did not escape the attention of the Government at Washington. The advance of the Federal armies from Chattanooga in this direction, the series of memorable conflicts between the opposing armies along the route of the Western and Atlantic Railroad terminating with the siege and reduction of Atlanta, the heroism displayed by the combatants on either side, the strategy of Sherman and Johnston, and all the events of this gigantic campaign, are facts of history too recent to require more than a passing notice.

The hills and valleys around Atlanta are thickly strewed with the dust of brave men, and on every side sad mementos of the fearful struggle can be seen, which even the rapid growth of Southern vegetation has failed to efface entirely.

Atlanta, like Vicksburg, passed through the ordeal of a close and protracted siege, suffering severely, both in the loss of human life and the destruction of buildings, by the sharp fire of General Sherman's batteries. General Hood, who assumed command of the Confederate forces upon the deposition of General Joseph E. Johnston was completely outgeneralled by the superior tactics of General Sherman. The battle of Jonesboro was the turning-point in the fate of Atlanta. Hood, believing that Sherman was merely making a feint upon his flank, in order to divert his attention from the real point of attack (Atlanta), retained the greater portion of Stewart's corps inside of the fortifications, under his own immediate command, and allowed Hardee, with a weak force, in spite of the latter's remonstrances, to be overpowered at and near Jonesboro by the entire Federal army, ending in the total rout of the Confederates, and the hasty evacuation of Atlanta.

Those who were present during the harrowing scenes which followed the sudden collapse of the Confederate fortunes at this point, and witnesses of the violence, plundering, rioting, and general destruction of munitions of war, and heretofore anxiously - hoarded quartermaster and commissary stores, that ensued upon the evacuation of the doomed city, will never forget the scene - a fitting prelude to the still gloomier drama to be enacted soon after in the almost total destruction of the city by fire, by order of General Sherman, on the resumption of his famous "march to the sea."

During the occupancy of Atlanta by the Union troops, and under a special armistice about seven thousand of the inhabitants were allowed to leave, with their household effects, and pass within the Confederate lines. This mournful exodus reduced the remaining population to about ten thousand.

At the close of the war many of the absentees returned, to find their former homes charred masses of ruin. Even in the summer of 1865 the scene of general destruction exhibited but little trace of the glorious germ of beauty and power slumbering beneath the ashes, awaiting the magic touch of enterprise and industry to call it forth, and clothe the waste with more than pristine loveliness.

In 1866 the population amounted to twenty thousand, one-fourth of this number, as stated by a local authority, being widows. The value of real estate in the same year was about seven million dollars. The amount of goods sold for the same period was four million five hundred thousand dollars, and contained about two hundred and fifty stores of various description. Statistics for the present year show that Atlanta now possesses nearly five hundred stores, many of them equal to any in the country in point of extent and elegance of structure and about one thousand licensed firms.

The assessed total value of real estate is nearly thirteen million dollars, and the sales of merchandise the past year amounted to about twenty-five million dollars. The population of the city to-day is fully thirty thousand. Notwithstanding the large number of stores and private dwellings always in process of erection, the demand for them is greater than the supply; rents are high in consequence, and the real-estate business one of the most flourishing branches of Atlanta's commercial life.

 

To Be Continued...

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