Cronology

1813 Lieutenant George R. Gilmer establishes fort near The Standing Peachtree.

1821 January. By treaty at Indian Springs, Creeks cede territory later included in DeKalb and Fulton Counties.

April-May. Henry and Fayette Counties (mother counties of DeKalb and Fulton) created.

1822 December 7. DeKalb County created.

1823 December 10. Decatur incorporated and made seat of DeKalb County.

1826 Wilson Lumpkin and Hamilton Fulton survey railroad route through section.

1836 Hardy Ivy builds cabin on Land Lot 51.

December 21. State legislature charters Western & Atlantic Railroad.

1837 Roswell King founds town of Roswell.

Abbott Hall Brisbane drives stake marking southeastern terminus of Western & Atlantic Railroad.

1842 December 24. First train makes trial trip from the terminus to Marietta on Western & Atlantic Railroad track.

1843 December 23. The terminus incorporated as Town of Marthasville under commission form of government.

1845 Summer. Union School and Church erected.

September 15. First train from Augusta over Georgia Railroad reaches Marthasville.

December 26. Town charter amended to change name to Atlanta.

1846 August 18. Macon & Western Railroad reaches Atlanta.

1847 December 29. Atlanta reincorporated as city under mayor and council form of government.

1849 Western & Atlantic Railroad completed to Chattanooga, Tennessee.

1850 Population 2,572 (U.S. Census).

June 6. City buys tract of land for Oakland Cemetery.

1852 Atlanta & West Point Railroad completed to Atlanta.

1853 December 20. Fulton County formed from DeKalb, and Atlanta made the county seat.

1854 City limits extended. City Hall completed.

Atlanta Medical College chartered.

1855 December 25. City lighted by gas.

1861 January 2. Fulton County delegates to Georgia Secession Convention elected.

July 5. Governor Joseph E. Brown designates Atlanta as temporary headquarters for Georgia State Military Affairs.

1862 June 1. Atlanta made military post under command of Major A. Leyden.

June 7. James J. Andrews, Union spy, hanged in Atlanta. August 11. General Braxton Bragg places Atlanta under martial law.

1864 May 23. Mayor James M. Calhoun orders all male citizens to form home defense companies.

July 17. General John B. Hood replaces General Joseph E. Johnston in command of Army of Tennessee. July 20. Battle of Peachtree Creek. July 22 Battle of Atlanta. July 28. Battle of Ezra Church.

August 29. Federal forces cut vital supply line by wrecking Atlanta & West Point Railroad at Red Oak and Fairburn.

August 31. Confederate forces defeated in Battle of Jonesboro and Macon & Western Railroad line cut.

September 2. Atlanta surrendered.

September 7. General William T. Sherman orders evacuation of citizens.

November 14. Sherman burns Atlanta. December. Confederates reoccupy city.

1865 May 4. Confederate Colonel Luther J. Glenn turns over command of Atlanta Military Post to Federal Colonel B.B. Eggleston. July 14. All ordinances differentiating between Negroes and white people repealed.

1866 March 3. City limits extended to include territory within 1½ mile radius of terminus stake.

Miller Union Stock Yards established on Marietta Street.

1867 April 11. General John Pope, commander of Third Military District, establishes headquarters in Atlanta.

October. Atlanta University (Negro) incorporated.

December 9. State Constitutional Convention meets in city hall.

McPherson Barracks established.

1868 January 7. General George Gordon Meade replaces General Pope, April 20-23. New constitution ratified. Atlanta made State capital. June 16. Atlanta Constitution established by Colonel Carey W. Styles.

July 22. Governor Rufus Bullock inaugurated and military government removed next day.

July 23. Bush Arbor Meeting opens fight against carpetbagger rule.

City leases Kimball's Opera House for State capitol.

Clark University (Negro) opened as elementary school.

1870 Population 21,789 (U.S. Census).

1871 September. Street railway service begins. October 23. Rufus Bullock flees from Georgia.

1872 January. City opens public schools.

1873 September 28. Atlanta & Charlotte Air Line Railroad completed through efforts of Jonathan Norcross.

1874 City waterworks system built at Lakewood. New city charter provides for bicameral council.

1876 All Federal troops removed from Atlanta.

November 28. Joel Chandler Harris begins writing Uncle Remus stories in Atlanta Constitution.

1878 Washington Seminary opened.

1879 Augusta Institute (Morehouse College—Negro) moved to Atlanta and opened as Atlanta Baptist Seminary.

First telephone system installed.

1880 Population 37,409 (U.S. Census).

1881 Spelman College (Negro) founded as Atlanta Baptist Female Seminary.

October 5 - December 31. World's Fair and Great International Exposition held at Oglethorpe Park.

1882 July 1. First paid fire department established.

Colonel L.P. Grant donates 100 acres to city for public park.

1883 Atlanta Journal established by Colonel E.F. Hoge. May 17. First Fulton County Courthouse dedicated.

Gammon Theological Seminary (Negro) opened as department of Clark University.

November. Georgia Western, under control of Richmond & Danville Railroad, completed to Birmingham, Alabama.

1885 City limits extended to include Grant Park. Morris Brown College (Negro) opened.

1886 May. J.S. Pemberton perfects formula for Coca-Cola.

1887 Southern Dental College established. October 10-17. Piedmont Exposition held. East Point incorporated.

1888 October 7. Georgia School of Technology opened. City drills $50.000 well at Five Points.

1889 March. G.V. Gress presents zoo to city. March 20. New State capitol opened.

May 4. Fort McPherson established near East Point as permanent post.

September 24. Agnes Scott College opened in Decatur as Decatur Female Seminary.

1890 Population 65,533 (U.S. Census).

1891 October 21. Unveiling of Henry Grady Monument attracts visitors from all over the country.

College Park incorporated as Manchester.

1892 January. West End included within city limits.

April 24. Georgia, Carolina & Northern Railroad reaches Atlanta. May 25. Grady Hospital dedicated.

1893 City waterworks on Chattahoochee River begins operation.

1895 September 18-December 31. Cotton States and International Exposition held at Piedmont Park. Peacock School for Boys established.

1898 G.V. Gress presents Cyclorama of the Battle of Atlanta to city. December 14-15. Peace Jubilee held to celebrate end of Spanish-American War.

1900 Population 89,872 (U.S. Census).

Georgia Military Academy founded at College Park.

1901 June 3. Confederate Soldiers' Home opened.

October 10. City purchases Chamber of Commerce Building for use as city hall. Marist College opened.

1902 Federal Penitentiary completed. Carnegie Library opened.

1903 Southern College of Pharmacy established.

1904 May 23. Piedmont Park purchased by city. City limits extended to include Piedmont Park.

1906 September. Race riot occurs.

1909 Municipal auditorium-armory completed. Atlanta Music Festival Association organized. September. North Avenue Presbyterian School founded.

1910 Population 154,839 (U.S. Census).

May, Metropolitan Opera Company gives first Atlanta performances.

1911 Southern Commercial Congress is addressed by President William Howard Taft, Theodore Roosevelt, and Woodrow Wilson. October 10. Peace Monument unveiled at Piedmont Park.

1913 City charter revised.

1914 Sixth District Federal Reserve Bank established in Atlanta. Emory University established.

Fulton County Courthouse completed.

1915 June 22. Martial law declared to protect Governor John M. Slaton after he commuted death sentence of Leo Frank. Oglethorpe University opened.

First Southeastern Fair held at Lakewood Park.

1916 May 20. Northeastern side of Stone Mountain dedicated for carving Confederate memorial.

Georgia Power Company strike causes widespread disorder and violence.

1917 Camp Gordon established as temporary war cantonment. May. Great fire causes property loss of $5,000,000.

1920 Population 200,616 (U.S. Census).

Atlanta School of Social Work (Negro) opened.

1922 March 15. WSB begins broadcasting. March 17. WGST begins broadcasting.

1923 Fourth Corps Area headquarters established in Atlanta.

1924 Municipal market opened. Avondale Estates developed.

1925 City leases Candler Field for municipal airport.

Chamber of Commerce sponsors million-dollar campaign advertising Atlanta.

1926 High Museum of Art opened.

1927 Columbia Theological Seminary moved to Decatur from Columbia, South Carolina.

1928 Atlanta World (Negro) founded as weekly. January 1. East Lake included within city limits.

1929 Twelve city officials and three private citizens convicted of graft. Candler Field bought by city for municipal airport.

Rhodes Memorial Hall presented to State to house Department of Archives.

Million-dollar City Hall completed. 1930 Population 270,366 (U.S. Census).

Order of Black Shirts organized in Atlanta to replace Negro laborers with unemployed white workers.

Bobby Jones wins four golf championships the American Amateur, American Open, British Amateur, and British Open. 1931 Atlanta Constitution awarded Pulitzer Prize for exposing graft ring.

Evelyn Jackson establishes MacDowell Festival. May 24. WJTL (WATL) established by Oglethorpe University. 1932 July. Angelo Herndon leads mass demonstrations protesting inadequacy of relief.

Campbell and Milton Counties and the Roswell area merged with Fulton County.

1935 Asa G. Candler, Jr., offers private collection to Grant Park Zoo. December 29. Ice storm does $2,000,000 damage.

1936 April. Annual dogwood festival inaugurated.

November. Employees of Fisher Body Company stage sit-down strike.

1937 August 1. WAGA established by Atlanta Journal.

1939 December 15. World premiere of Gone With the Wind.

1940 Population 302,288 (U.S. Census).

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