Town of Wadley

Town of Wadley. . Wadley is located on the west bank of the Tallapoosa River in southwest Randolph County. It was born circa 1901 with the advent of the new Atlanta-Birmingham and Atlantic Railroad and named for George Dole Wadley who was vice president and general manager of the railroad construction work. It was incorporated on September 15. 1908 with a population of 333. The first store was owned by the first mayor Minus H. Radney who supplied materials for the construction of the railroad. Still standing today is the railroad's unusual depot, costing more than $12.000 to build, and described as "one of the handsomest along the line” in the October 6, 1908 Roanoke Leader newspaper supplement. Wadley. conceived and designed as a Model City by the Callaway Development Co. of LaGrange, Georgia of which Fuller E. Callaway was president, is one of few planned communities. It featured a main street of businesses and a central park bordered by three beautiful churches: Christian Baptist and Methodist., First Bank was one of few banks that did not close during the Great Depression. The first major industry arrived in 1946 when W.P. Clegg organized Clegg Manufacturing which grew from four employees to 180. Wadley is home to Southern Union State Community College which began as Bethlehem College supported by the Congregational Christian Church. The college became state owned Oct. I, 1964. Plantation Patterns, which produced wrought iron furniture, was Wadley's largest manufacturing plant in 2009.