Atlanta

===Western and Atlantic Railroad===
In 1836, the [[Georgia General Assembly]] voted to build the [[Western and Atlantic Railroad]] in order to provide a link between the port of [[Savannah, Georgia|Savannah]] and the [[Midwestern United States|Midwest]].<ref name="W&ARR">{{cite web|title=Creation of the Western and Atlantic Railroad|work=About North Georgia|publisher=Golden Ink|url=http://ngeorgia.com/railroads/warr01.html|access-date=November 12, 2007|archive-date=October 3, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071003030525/http://ngeorgia.com/railroads/warr01.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> The initial route was to run southward from [[Chattanooga, Tennessee|Chattanooga]] to a terminus east of the [[Chattahoochee River]], which would be linked to Savannah. After engineers surveyed various possible locations for the terminus, the "zero milepost" was driven into the ground in what is now Foundry Street, [[Five Points, Atlanta|Five Points]]. When asked in 1837 about the future of the little village, [[Stephen Harriman Long]], the railroad's chief engineer said the place would be good "for one tavern, a blacksmith shop, a grocery store, and nothing else".<ref>{{Cite news|last=McQuigg|first=Jackson|date=January 9, 2022|title=Atlanta didn't build the railroad - The railroads built Atlanta|page=6|work=The Atlanta Journal - Constitution}}</ref> A year later, the area around the milepost had developed into a settlement, first known as ''Terminus'', and later ''Thrasherville'', after a local merchant who built homes and a [[general store]] in the area.<ref name="ThrashervilleHistoricalMarker">{{cite web|title=Thrasherville|url=http://georgiainfo.galileo.usg.edu/topics/historical_markers/county/fulton/thrasherville|website=Georgia Info|access-date=February 6, 2017}}</ref> By 1842, the town had six buildings and 30 residents and was renamed ''[[Marthasville, Georgia|Marthasville]]'' to honor Governor [[Wilson Lumpkin|Wilson Lumpkin's]] daughter Martha. Later, [[John Edgar Thomson]], Chief Engineer of the [[Georgia Railroad and Banking Company|Georgia Railroad]], suggested the town be renamed ''Atlanta'', supposedly a feminine version of the word "Atlantic", referring to the Western and Atlantic Railroad.<ref name="NGEAtlanta">{{cite web|last1=Ambrose|first1=Andy|title=Atlanta|url=http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/counties-cities-neighborhoods/atlanta#Population-Patterns|website=[[New Georgia Encyclopedia]]|publisher=Georgia Humanities Council|access-date=February 6, 2017}}</ref> The residents approved, and the town was incorporated as Atlanta on December 29, 1847.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ourgeorgiahistory.com/date/December_29|title=Georgia History Timeline Chronology for December&nbsp;29|publisher=Our Georgia History|access-date=August 30, 2007|archive-date=September 27, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927222414/http://ourgeorgiahistory.com/date/December_29|url-status=dead}}</ref>