Mableton

History

Between the 16th and 19th centuries, most of the land in present-day southern Cobb County belonged to the Cherokee and Creek. Two Native American villages were established near the area that will later become known as Mableton - the settlements of Sweet Water Town and Nickajack. Both tribes coinhabited the area peacefully, with one legend claiming that eventual ownership of the area by the Cherokee was settled via a ball game. One of the early known records of white Europeans being aware of the inhabitants is an 1839 map depicting a 'Nickajack Creek' converging with the Chattahoochee River south and west of the Standing Peachtree settlement. The town was named after Scottish immigrant Robert Mable (October 18, 1803 – July 7, 1885), who on September 11, 1843, bought 300 acres (approximately 120 hectares or 1.2 km2) of land in southern Cobb County from the Georgia Land Lottery of 1832. Mable was a millwright and farmer who grew cotton, corn, potatoes, and sorghum in the area; he owned between 11 and 48 slaves by 1860. According to oral interviews, Mable was a "fair and kind" enslaver who educated slave children alongside his own, and eventually also liberated his slaves before any government mandate ordered him to. More white settlers moved into the northern edge of Mableton by Nickajack Creek, near Smyrna, in the mid-1800s. They formed a community initially known as Mill Grove and later Nickajack. The creek provided ample power to run grist, saw, cotton, and woolen mills. A covered bridge, originally built c. 1848–1850, traverses the stream and is now part of a historical district. It is one of the few remaining covered bridges in Georgia, and still highly active today after it was later buttressed to handle automobile traffic. A notable resident of the area…

Geography

Mableton is located at (33.818333, -84.576111). The Chattahoochee River acts as the southeast border, separating Cobb County from west Fulton County — where the historic African-American neighborhood of Collier Heights and the former site of the Bankhead Courts housing project are nearby. Two suburban cities directly border Mableton: Austell in the west and Smyrna in the north. Lithia Springs, an unincorporated community, is directly southwest. Mableton is approximately 15 miles west-northwest from the city of Atlanta, and approximately 20 miles from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  32,621
• Carolina Wren

  Thryothorus ludovicianus (Latham, 1790) · Aves
  26,765
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  22,772
• Tufted Titmouse

  Baeolophus bicolor (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  22,338
• Downy Woodpecker

  Dryobates pubescens (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  19,966
• Eastern Towhee

  Pipilo erythrophthalmus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  19,668
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  18,672
• Red-bellied Woodpecker

  Melanerpes carolinus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  18,459

Most recent

• M 2.54 — 2022-09-12
  13 km NE of Jackson, Georgia
• M 2.72 — 2018-11-23
  3 km N of Plainville, Georgia
• M 2.6 — 2005-10-25
  6 km SSE of Summerville, Georgia