Cedartown

History

Cherokee and Creek Native Americans first inhabited the area known as Cedar Valley. The Cherokee people had established a village there in the 1830s after the Native Americans were forced out on the Trail of Tears. The settlement was named for the red cedar timber near the site. The most famous of these settlers was Asa Prior. According to local legend, the water rights to Big Spring were won for the white settlers by a local white boy in a footrace with a Cherokee youth. Some versions of the legend differ, saying that the rights to the spring were won by the Cherokee people from the Creek people in a ball game. "Big Strickland" became "Cedar Town" when Prior deeded ten acres of adjacent land to the newly chartered city in 1852. Van Wert (a mile from present day Rockmart) was the original county seat and Cedar Town became the county seat later. During the Civil War, Cedar Town was abandoned by most of its citizens when Union troops encroached. The city was burnt to the ground by the Union forces of General Hugh Judson Kilpatrick in 1865, leaving only one mill standing on the outskirts of town. In 1867, the town was re-chartered by the state of Georgia as Cedartown. An influx of industrial business bolstered its largely cotton-based economy, with Goodyear and other fabric mills and iron works appearing in or near what is now the Cedartown Industrial Park on the west side of town. Industrial and passenger railroad service was added to Cedartown in the early 20th century. Main St. became a part of U.S. Route 27, a major north–south automobile route that connects Cedartown to larger cities like Chattanooga, Tennessee and Columbus, Georgia. U.S. 27 also intersects in town with U.S. Route 278, which connects Cedartown with Atlanta. The Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company…

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Cedartown has a total area of , of which is land and (0.44%) is water. Many major highways pass through the city, namely U.S. Routes 27 and 278, as well as Georgia State Route 100. U.S. 27 runs from south to north to the east of the city, leading north 19 mi (31 km) to Rome and south 17 mi (27 km) to Buchanan. U.S. 278 runs through the main part of town from west to east, leading east 14 mi (23 km) to Rockmart and southwest 25 mi (40 km) to Piedmont, Alabama. GA-100 runs from south to north through the center of town as well, leading northwest 12 mi (19 km) to Cave Spring and south 21 mi (34 km) to Tallapoosa. Cedartown has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen climate classification Cfa), with mild winters and hot, humid summers.

Race & ethnicity