Acworth

Acworth. A Railroad Town. With the opening of the Cherokee territory in the early part of the nineteenth century, settlers moved into the northwest portion of Cobb County. However, it was the construction of the Western and Atlantic Railroad in the early 1840s that saw small towns begin to grow along the route of the steam locomotives. , Originally a watering stop on the rail line, the small village known as Northcutt Station began to take form and was named for the station's first agent, Alexander Northcutt. A civil engineer employed by the Western and Atlantic Railroad, Joseph Gregg, settled in the community and renamed the small hamlet Acworth after his hometown in New Hampshire. A U.S. Post Office was established in 1844. , The community flourished along the Western and Atlantic Railroad and a depot was constructed. In 1860 the town was incorporated as a city with the limits extending one half mile in all directions from the depot. , Acworth's first real encounter with the Civil War came on April 12, 1862. The Andrew's Raiders stole the locomotive General and three freight cars as its crew had breakfast in Big Shanty. Pursuing at first on foot and later on a work car, Conductor William Fuller, crewman Anthony Murphy and Engineer Jeff Cain (an Acworth resident) gave chase. , Reaching Acworth, they discovered crossties piled on the tracks and found that the telegraph line had been cut. Local citizens provided guns for the pursuers and Acworth residents Steve Stokely and Campbell Smith joined the pursuit. Commandeering the engine Yonah and later the Texas Fuller and his crew gave chase over 87 miles finally capturing the stolen train near Ringgold, bringing The Great Locomotive Chase to an end. , The Western and Atlantic Railroad provided a vital transportation link for Confederate forces during the Civil War, Union forces captured Acworth and General William Sherman wrote on June 6, 1864, “I am now on the railroad at Acworth and have full possession to within six miles of Marietta.” Union forces occupied the city and on November 13, 1864 Major James Connolly wrote, “Our soldiers burned the village of Acworth without orders and we went into camp at Big Shanty about dark. Acworth has been a thriving railroad village but tonight it is a heap of ruins.” , Emerging from the ashes of the Civil War and the deprivations of Reconstruction, the townspeople rapidly rebuilt. Acworth became a thriving commercial center with a bank, dry goods store, general merchandise store, cotton buyer, doctor, blacksmith, wagon maker, woodworker, watchmaker, jeweler, a livery stable and tannery. The Litchfield House hotel was established and in 1872 the Atlanta Herald reported. "It is recognized at the best hotel on the road from New York to New Orleans.” The railroad continued to be a vital force in the growth of Acworth. In the summer of 1893 a new depot was built and the Marietta Daily Journal reported on August 24, “The new depot is completed and the people of Acworth are certainly proud of it.” , The depot continued to serve the citizens of Acworth into the twentieth century. With the advent of the automobile, freight trucks and road systems, the railroad played less of a role in local communities. In the 1960s railroads began to discontinue passenger and railroad freight service and close depots. The depot in Acworth was no exception. In 1970, the State of Georgia, owner of the Western and Atlantic Railroad, declared the depot as surplus and unserviceable and it was sold at auction and removed from the site. , [Captions (top to bottom)] , . Map of the Western and Atlantic Railroad circa 1850. , . Harper's Weekly – A Journal of Civilization - Vol. VIII - No. 393, New York, Saturday, July 9, 1864. , . Acworth, circa 1890, Vanishing Georgia collection, Georgia Dept. of Archives and History , . Acworth Depot, circa 1970, City of Acworth Collection