| |
The city of Alpharetta Georgia History
In the early
1800s, Alpharetta Georgia was known as the New Prospect campground
to the Cherokee Indians and the few white settlers in the area.
Today, Alpharetta is a vibrant, thriving metropolitan city. Backed
by a rich history, Alpharetta’s future is filled with prospect and
bright promise.
The New Prospect
campground and trading post was built in the early 1800s. The
Alpharetta area’s clear natural springs made the site a popular
stopping point for the Cherokee Indians and, eventually, white
travelers. An estimated 3000 men came to
North Georgia with the discovery of a 10-mile wide gold belt near
Dahlonega in 1828. Following the Georgia Gold Rush, the State of
Georgia took possession of Cherokee land, declaring the Cherokee
Nation illegal. The remaining Cherokee were sent west in 1838 on
the infamous Trail of Tears. Their land was divided into counties,
and white settlers received lots through a government land lottery.
In December 1957, Milton County was incorporated into the State of
Georgia, formed from parts of the surrounding counties.
Attracted to the area by the Gold Rush, most of New Prospect’s
settlers were merchants, mill hands, masons, and farmers. Many
of Alpharetta’s citizens were employees of Roswell King’s cotton
mills in the Roswell community nearby. Just over a year later,
the New Prospect campground was renamed Alpharetta, which means
“First Town.”
Alpharetta
quickly grew to be a small bustling community with 3 hotels, a
church, school, and courthouse. The Civil War, which did great
damage to nearby Marietta and Atlanta, did not greatly affect the
Alpharetta area. Most local historians believe the courthouse was
burned by Union troops, though this is unconfirmed. Regardless, a
siege of small pox ravaged the community in 1863, and many sections
of town were quarantined. Town records report that 16 deaths
occurred within just 2 families. The years following the Civil War
were filled with hardship due to slow growth and a depressed
economy.
Alpharetta saw
slow, but steady growth through the rest of the 19th
century. In the 1930s, the Great Depression hit the area hard,
along with the rest of the South. In order to avoid bankruptcy,
Milton County and Campbell County merged with Fulton County in
1932. Alpharetta’s economic situation improved greatly in the years
that followed.
Like the rest of
the nation, Alpharetta felt the pinch of shortages during World War
II. Even so, the city continued to grow through the 1940s,
remaining a rural community involved in cotton and farming. By the
1970s, as Atlanta’s growth spread northward, Alpharetta became a
popular residential community. The economic boom of the 1980s and
the establishment of office complexes across the city forever
changed the Alpharetta area. Through the next decade, Alpharetta’s
population doubled with more than 29,000 residents.
Today
Alpharetta Georgia is a refined suburban metropolis with very
fashionable real estate opportunities. With high end shopping,
wonderful recreational facilities, and attractive homes in a variety
of price ranges, Alpharetta is an attractive place to live, work,
and play.
One of the
fastest growing Metro Atlanta communities, Alpharetta Georgia
strives to preserve her rich history, while progressing steadily
into an innovative new millennium. If you’d like more information
on Alpharetta’s history and her exciting future,
contact me
directly
at (678) 779-7702. I’d love to personally introduce you to the
City of Alpharetta, North Fulton County, and greater Metro Atlanta
as your Alpharetta Real Estate Agent.
|
|
