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Carrollton Georgia has had a colorful journey to becoming the economic and social hub that it is today.

Creek’s cede land

Long before the settlement of the Carrollton area all of the surrounding lands belonged to the Creek Indians. Chief William McIntosh was the son of a Scotsman and a Creek woman. He owned a vast plantation along the Chattahoochee River south of what is now Carrollton Georgia.

McIntosh was murdered on his plantation by a faction of his own people for his principle role in the 1825 Treaty of Indian Springs. The lands sold and ceded by his treaty now make up Lee, Muscogee, Troup, Coweta, and Carroll counties. This land was the last remaining portion of the Creek’s Georgia territory.

Carroll County becomes official

Carroll County was chartered in 1826 by the Georgia General Assembly. The county and the city of Carrollton Georgia were named in honor of Charles Carroll of Maryland. At that time he was the last surviving signer of the U.S. Declaration of Independence.

The original county seat was located near the present day community of Sandhill.In 1829 the five elected justices of the Carroll Inferior Court voted to move the county seat eight miles to the southwest.

This new location was incorporated as Carrollton Georgia by the Georgia General Assembly on December 22, 1829. In 1830 the town was surveyed and lots were laid out, with the central feature being the town square.

The early days

Carrollton Georgia in its early days was essentially a frontier village with an abundance of taverns, trading posts, horse races, and horse thieves. A notorious band of horse thieves call the “Pony Club” wreaked havoc upon the locals. They dominated local affairs through fear and control of the local government.

On Election Day 1832 a local vigilante group known as the “Slicks” got into a fight on the town square with several members of the Pony Club. Emerging victorious from the fight the Slicks were finally able to end the reign of the Pony Club.

Early industry and business

An alternative to agricultural employment came to the area in 1840. The Bowen brothers established a textile mill on Snake Creek at Banning, near what is now the town of Whitesburg.

Johnson’s Drug Company, an apothecary shop, opened for business in 1854. Trade with the local Creek Indians yielded roots and plants that Johnson used in some of his medicines. Johnson’s Drug Company remained open until 1972.

As of the 1850’s Carrollton was the only incorporated city in the county, with a population of 250. Agriculture was still the main source of income for the area.

The American Civil War (1861-1865)

Carroll County sent more men into the Confederate army than any other county in the state except Chatham County (according to the records of salt rations distributed to soldiers’ families), despite the strong Unionist leanings of many of the county’s residents.

Some of the first to enlist were local citizens and young men from Bowdon College. They formed Co. B, Cobb’s Legion “Bowdon Volunteers”.

While Carroll County was spared a bloody battle, she did sustain four raids by Union Troops. Moore’s covered bridge on the Chattahoochee River near Whitesburg was burned by Union troops looking for a way to cross the River.

During the last raid on Carrolton Georgia, 15 days after the surrender at Appomattox, union troops burned buildings on the northwest quadrant of the town square. As the home guard Tallapoosa Rangers came into town, they were singing “Dixie”. Afterward, that road was renamed DIXIE Street, the name it bears today.

There are over 800 Civil War veterans buried throughout the county. The local Sons of Confederate Veterans Camps decorate these graves each spring around Confederate Memorial Day, April 26.

The Railroad

Although it was the county seat and the main market town for most of Carroll County, transportation of both goods and passengers was difficult until the coming of the railroad in 1874, so Carrollton remained largely a frontier town until well after the American Civil War.

The coming of the railroad brought new prosperity to Carrollton. Farmers were able to bring their crops, mostly cotton, to town for shipment to distant markets, and obtain the fertilizers and agricultural supplies they needed. At the same time, consumer goods were more readily available than ever before.

The railroad also encouraged the growth of the fledgling industrial ventures, especially in the textile industry, in and around Carrollton. These early textile mills, mostly water powered, served as the basis for a textile industry that helped ensure the town’s prosperity well into the 20th century.

Turn of the Century

During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries Carrollton Georgia was an important point for the collection and shipment of cotton; Carroll was one of the state’s leading counties in cotton production.

By 1890 Mandeville Mills at Carrollton was also offering textile work to local residents and soon eclipsed the older mill at Banning. Mandeville Mills closed in 1953.

At the start of the 20th century, Carrollton boasted running water, had electric lighting and telephone service. The town began paving its streets in 1918. By this time, there were three silent movie theaters located on the square.

In 1906, Carrollton Georgia was chosen as the site of the Fourth District Agricultural and Mechanical School, which became West Georgia College in 1934. Today it is known as the University of West Georgia.

20th Century

Carrollton remained an agricultural and textile manufacturing center throughout the first half of the 20th century, but as the local production of cotton declined and the population became more urban, other industries began to take on a greater prominence.

Most notable is the Southwire Company. Founded in Carrollton in 1950, Southwire is now one of the world’s largest manufacturers of wire and cable and is the largest privately owned wire manufacturer, with more than 1,500 local employees.

Through the years, the Carrollton Square has played host to many large gatherings, festivals and events, including the passing of the Torch for the 1996 Centennial Olympics in Atlanta. Today, Downtown Carrollton Georgia consists of unique retail shops, coffee shops, unique restaurants, live entertainment and eclectic art galleries.

Today

Today, Carrollton’s rural roots remain healthy as Carroll County continues as an agricultural leader, boasting the largest cattlemen’s association in the state and continuing as a major poultry producer. Balancing this asset with an ever-evolving, diverse industrial base with its eye on the future ensures abundant job opportunities and exceptional quality of life for the areas citizens.

Fourth of July In Our Small Town

April, 2008

Temple, GA pop: 4k and growing.

The nearest town to us, where this street is located, was formed in 1882. It was settled along what was then, Georgia Pacific Railroad lines, newly laid to Birmingham, Alabama. The town grew to three main roads by the early 1900′s, one crossing over the railroad tracks. It now consists of two. The third having been leveled and rebuilt many times. The rows of stick-built buildings originally looked like a scene out of the old west, complete with dirt roads, horses, wagons and buggy carts. Each row had anywhere from 5 to 8 proprietorships. By the 1930′s, the buildings had brick and local stones surrounding them.

In the very beginning of township, there were only about two dozen families, running mainly farms and a mill. Below is a picture of the street when it was about 26 years old in 1908. In the 1900′s, handmade furniture and farm implements were being made by hand and sold in the mercantile/hardware/feed store. The community recreation center, at the time, was a tiny railroad platform in the center of town. Here residents would watch who got on and off. Old-timers would gather in front of the feed store and talk about happenings around town. They still do this to this day, only now the seating is in front of the only grocery store, one street over and it’s old-timers mix it up with teenagers.

Sometime around 20′s-50′s, the building underwent alot of changes. The picture below shows two proprietorships. The one on the left was a doctor’s office, the one on the right, a furniture and novelty store. The furniture and novelty store is what would eventually be used as the tarp manufacturer.

The only history book at the library, makes mention of what a big deal it was when the movie theatre arrived. I don’t remember the year this blessed event occurred, but the movie theatre’s brick outer walls, barely standing to this day, still contained the movie reels and canisters under all the beams and rubble, until removed last month. Below is a picture of what those buildings in 1908 had become by 1950.

Finally, here is the same building row as of this morning:

Not Much Changes in Our Small Community!