Railroad Heritage

Railroad Heritage. Trains Create a District. In the late 1800s, rail lines were extended into the eastern part of downtown Athens, creating a warehouse district., Athens businesses no longer depended on the North Oconee River and wagons for transportation, and a bustling warehouse district emerged in the area surrounding Foundry St. New warehouses, freight depots, wholesale grocers, and implement companies grew as the railroads made Athens a major center for transportation and trade., (captions) , 1893 Sunburn Fire Insurance map of the downtown Athens area that shows rail lines entering east of Foundry St., Examples of decorative cast iron finials that may have been produced at the Athens Foundry and Machine Works., The most important industry in Athens after textile factories was the Athens Steam Company, often called the Athens Foundry before its name was officially changed in 1863 to the Athens Foundry and Machine Works. Among the more notable iron castings produced at the foundry are the UGA arch, decorative fencing around the UGA North campus, and the famous double barreled cannon. (Source: Confederate Athens - Kenneth Coleman), The warehouse district and its trains were critical to Athens' farmers shipping their produce to market., 1909 Tanner Lumber Co. building on Fulton St., located one block off Broad St. between Jackson St. and Thomas St. in the warehouse district. In 1996, the building was sold to the University of Georgia and restored. Photo courtesy of Gary Doster., Ca. 1920 photo of the Hodgson Oil Refining and Cotton Company offices. This building was on Oconee St. between downtown and the Oconee River. The office building was destroyed by fire in the late 20th century, but the mail factory and cotton company building has been restored for use by the University of Georgia., Two letterheads, ca. 1900 for wholesale grocers that operated in Athens' warehouse district. The building that housed J.S. King and Co. still exists and is located in the triangle between Oconee and Broad St. The Talmadge Bros. and Co. building was on the corner of Hancock Ave. and Thomas St. and was replaced by the Classic Center in 1990.