History of Rome, Georgia

Last updated

Broad Street in downtown Rome, Georgia Broad Street, Rome, GA Nov 2017.jpg
Broad Street in downtown Rome, Georgia

The history of Rome, Georgia extends to thousands of years of human settlement by ancient Native Americans. Spanish explorers recorded reaching the area in the later 16th century, and European Americans of the United States founded the city named Rome in 1834, when the residents of the area were still primarily Cherokee, before their removal on the Trail of Tears to Indian Territory. The competition for resources among its diverse inhabitants led to both innovation and strife. Its location at the confluence of three rivers enabled Rome to develop as a crossroads for trade and transportation. The city was later designated as the county seat of Floyd County, Georgia. Today, Rome is the largest city in Northwest Georgia, and is a regional center of healthcare, education, and manufacturing. [1]

Contents

Native American era

Preceded by numerous other cultures, the people of the Mississippian culture inhabited the area from about 1000 CE. These people are believed to have suffered high mortality rates and mostly died off in the late 16th century due to exposure to new infectious diseases carried by the Spanish expeditions. Specific information about events in the area of Rome before the Spanish expeditions in the 16th century is unknown, due to the native inhabitants' lack of written records; archeological excavations and linguistics have provided insight to the cultures.

Native American territories in the Southeastern area of North America in 1715. State outlines are from later times. Native American Territories, SE section, North America, 1715.png
Native American territories in the Southeastern area of North America in 1715. State outlines are from later times.

Historians debate whether Hernando de Soto was the first Spanish explorer to encounter Native Americans in the area now known as Rome, but they widely agree that he passed through the region with his expedition in 1540. [2] In 1560, Tristán de Luna sent a detachment of 140 soldiers and two Dominican friars north along de Soto's route. This group established relations with the Coosa chiefdom and assisted the Coosa in a raid against the rebellious province of Napochín, in what is now known as Tennessee. [3] Exposed to unfamiliar European diseases, within 20 years these mound builders were gone, replaced by the Creek. [4]

Georgia colony, 1732-1777, and the Proclamation Line of 1763 Gacolony.png
Georgia colony, 1732–1777, and the Proclamation Line of 1763

The Abihka tribe of Creek in the area of Rome later became part of the Upper Creek, and merged with other tribes to become the Ulibahalis. They later migrated westward into Alabama, settling in the general region of Gadsden, [5] [6] By the mid-18th century, the Cherokee people had moved into the area, pushed by European-American encroachment.

In the 18th century, a high demand in Europe for American deer skins had led to a brisk trade between Creek and later Cherokee hunters and white traders. A Cherokee village named Chatuga was established near the confluence of the Coosa River after their migration westward during the Cherokee–American wars (1776-1794). The Cherokee referred to this area as "Head of Coosa." Several Cherokee leaders settled here, developing plantations, including chiefs Major Ridge and John Ross. [7] In the mid-20th century, the Junior League bought Ridge's house for preservation and in 1971 adapted it as a museum known as the Chieftains House. It is now officially the Chieftains Museum (Major Ridge Home) and has been designated by the Department of Interior as a National Historic Landmark.

The Head of Coosa Cherokee allowed a few white traders and some settlers (primarily from the British Colonies of Georgia and Carolina) to trade here. They were later joined by missionaries and more settlers. After the American War of Independence, most new settlers came from the area of the U.S. state of Georgia east of the Proclamation Line of 1763, by which Britain had tried to preserve the territory west of the Appalachian Mountains for Native Americans.

1802 map of Georgia-Yazoo lands. The triangular section labeled "Assigned to Georgia 1802" was Cherokee land claimed as part of the Compact of 1802 between Georgia and the United States Yazoo-Georgia Controversy.png
1802 map of Georgia-Yazoo lands. The triangular section labeled "Assigned to Georgia 1802" was Cherokee land claimed as part of the Compact of 1802 between Georgia and the United States

Encroachment soon began on these Cherokee lands by European Americans. The United States and Georgia executed the Compact of 1802, in which Georgia sold its claimed Western lands to the United States. (In colonial times, it claimed territory extending west to the Mississippi from its coastal colony.) In exchange, the United States agreed to ignore Cherokee land titles and remove all Cherokee from Georgia. The commitment to evict the Cherokee was not immediately enforced, however. Through the 1820s and 1830s, chiefs Major Ridge and John Ross led efforts to stop their removal, including several Federal lawsuits.

During the 1813 Creek Civil War, most Cherokee took the side of the Upper Creek Indians against the more traditional Red Stick Creek Indians. Before they moved to Head of Coosa, Chief Ridge commanded a company of Cherokee warriors as a unit of the Tennessee militia, with Chief Ross as adjutant. This unit was under the overall command of Major Andrew Jackson, and supported the Upper Creek.

In 1829, gold was discovered near Dahlonega, Georgia, starting the first gold rush in the United States. The Indian Removal Act of 1830, which fulfilled the Compact of 1802, was prompted by the gold discovery as well as President Andrew Jackson's already stated strong support for removal. In 1831 Georgia's General Assembly quickly passed legislation claiming all Cherokee land in Northwest Georgia, prior to their vacating it. This entire territory was called Cherokee County until additional legislation in 1832 divided the territory into the nine counties that exist today. [8] [9]

City founding period

In 1834, the city of Rome was founded by Col. Henry Thomas McCool, Col. Zachariah Branscome Hargrove, Maj. Philip Hemphill, Col. William Smith, and Mr. John Lumpkin (nephew of Governor Lumpkin), who determined the name for the new city by holding a drawing. Each put his choice in a hat, with Col. Mitchell submitting the name of Rome in reference to the area's hills and rivers. Mitchell's submission was selected, and the Georgia Legislature made Rome an official city in 1835. The county seat was subsequently moved east from the village of Livingston to Rome. [10]

Civil War period

Rome in 1864, during the occupation by Union forces Rome, Georgia, in 1864.jpg
Rome in 1864, during the occupation by Union forces
Vandever and his officers in Rome (1864, on East 4th Ave) Sherman and his Officers in Rome, Georgia.jpg
Vandever and his officers in Rome (1864, on East 4th Ave)

In April 1863, during the U.S. Civil War, the city was defended by Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest against Union Colonel Abel Streight's "lightning mule" raid from the area east of modern-day Cedar Bluff, Alabama. [11] General Forrest tricked Colonel Streight into surrendering just a few miles shy of Rome. Realizing their vulnerability, Rome's city council allocated $3,000 to build three fortifications. Although these became operational by October 1863, efforts to strengthen the forts continued as the war progressed. These forts were named after Romans who had been killed in action: Fort Attaway was on the western bank of the Oostanaula River, Fort Norton was on the eastern bank of the Oostanaula, and Fort Stovall was on the southern bank of the Etowah River. At least one other fort was later built on the northern side of the Coosa River. [12] [13]

In May 1864, Union General Jefferson C. Davis, under the command of Major General William Tecumseh Sherman, attacked and captured Rome when the outflanked Confederate defenders retreated under command of Major General Samuel Gibbs French. [14] Union General William Vandever was stationed in Rome, and is depicted with his staff in a picture taken there. [15] Due to Rome's forts and iron works, which included the manufacture of cannons, Rome was an important military target. [16] Davis's forces occupied Rome for several months, making repairs to the damaged forts and briefly quartering General Sherman. On November 11, 1864, in accordance with Sherman's Special Field Orders, No. 120, Union forces destroyed Rome's forts, iron works, the rail line to Kingston, and any other material that could be useful to the South's war effort as they withdrew from Rome to participate in Sherman's March to the Sea. [17]

The clock tower, circa 1980 Rome Clock Tower.jpg
The clock tower, circa 1980

Reconstruction period

In 1871, Rome constructed a water tank on Neely Hill, which overlooks the downtown district. This later became a clock tower, and has served as the town's iconic landmark ever since, appearing in the city's crest and local business logos. As a result, Neely Hill is also referred to as Clock Tower Hill.

With two rivers merging to form a third, Rome has occasionally been subjected to serious flooding. The first severe flood after Rome became a city was the flood of 1886, which inundated the city and allowed a steamboat to travel down Broad Street. [18] In 1891, upon recommendation of the United States Army Corps of Engineers, the Georgia State Legislature amended Rome's charter to create a commission to oversee the construction of river levees to protect the town against future floods. [19] In the late 1890s, additional flood control measures were instituted, including raising the height of Broad Street by about 15 feet. As a result, many of the current basements of Rome's historic buildings were originally ground level entrances. [20]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cherokee</span> Native American people indigenous to the Southeastern United States

The Cherokee are one of the indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, they were concentrated in their homelands, in towns along river valleys of what is now southwestern North Carolina, southeastern Tennessee, edges of western South Carolina, northern Georgia, and northeastern Alabama.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Muscogee</span> Native American tribe from Southeastern Woodlands

The Muscogee, also known as the Mvskoke, Muscogee Creek, and the Muscogee Creek Confederacy, are a group of related indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands in the United States of America. Their original homelands are in what now comprises southern Tennessee, much of Alabama, western Georgia and parts of northern Florida.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rome, Georgia</span> City in Floyd County, Georgia, US

Rome is the largest city in and the county seat of Floyd County, Georgia, United States. Located in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, it is the principal city of the Rome, Georgia, metropolitan statistical area, which encompasses all of Floyd County. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 37,713. It is the largest city in Northwest Georgia and the 26th-largest city in the state.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Ross (Cherokee chief)</span> Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation, 1828–1866

John Ross, , was the Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation from 1828 to 1866; he served longer in that position than any other person. Described as the Moses of his people, Ross influenced the nation through such tumultuous events as the relocation to Indian Territory and the American Civil War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Creek War</span> 1813–14 US Indian War

The Creek War (1813–1814), also known as the Red Stick War and the Creek Civil War, was a regional war between opposing Indigenous American Creek factions, European empires and the United States, taking place largely in modern-day Alabama and along the Gulf Coast. The major conflicts of the war took place between state militia units and the "Red Stick" Creeks. The United States government formed an alliance with the Choctaw Nation and Cherokee Nation, along with the remaining Creeks to put the rebellion down.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Etowah River</span> River in Georgia

The Etowah River is a 164-mile-long (264 km) waterway that rises northwest of Dahlonega, Georgia, north of Atlanta. On Matthew Carey's 1795 map the river was labeled "High Town River". On later maps, such as the 1839 Cass County map, it was referred to as "Hightower River", a name that was used in most early Cherokee records.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hiwassee River</span> River in the United States of America

The Hiwassee River has its headwaters on the north slope of Rocky Mountain in Towns County in the northern area of the State of Georgia. It flows northward into North Carolina before turning westward into Tennessee, flowing into the Tennessee River a few miles west of what is now State Route 58 in Meigs County, Tennessee. The river is about 147 miles (237 km) long.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Major Ridge</span> Cherokee leader

Major Ridge, The Ridge was a Cherokee leader, a member of the tribal council, and a lawmaker. As a warrior, he fought in the Cherokee–American wars against American frontiersmen. Later, Major Ridge led the Cherokee in alliances with General Andrew Jackson and the United States in the Creek and Seminole wars of the early 19th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coosa River</span> River in the United States of America

The Coosa River is a tributary of the Alabama River in the U.S. states of Alabama and Georgia. The river is about 280 miles (450 km) long.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Echota</span> United States historic place

New Echota was the capital of the Cherokee Nation in the Southeast United States from 1825 until their forced removal in the late 1830s. New Echota is located in present-day Gordon County, in northwest Georgia, 3.68 miles north of Calhoun. It is south of Resaca, next to present day New Town, known to the Cherokee as Ustanali. The site has been preserved as a state park and a historic site. It was designated in 1973 as a National Historic Landmark District.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Ridge</span> American Indian politician (c. 1802–1839)

John Ridge, born Skah-tle-loh-skee, was from a prominent family of the Cherokee Nation, then located in present-day Georgia. He went to Cornwall, Connecticut, to study at the Foreign Mission School. He met Sarah Bird Northup, of a New England Yankee family, and they married in 1824. Soon after their return to New Echota in 1825, Ridge was chosen for the Cherokee National Council and became a leader in the tribe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coosa chiefdom</span> Paramount chiefdom of Native Americans

The Coosa chiefdom was a powerful Native American paramount chiefdom in what are now Gordon and Murray counties in Georgia, in the United States. It was inhabited from about 1400 until about 1600, and dominated several smaller chiefdoms. The total population of Coosa's area of influence, reaching into present-day Tennessee and Alabama, has been estimated at 50,000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oostanaula River</span>

The Oostanaula River is a principal tributary of the Coosa River, about 49 miles (79 km) long, formed by the confluence of the Conasauga and Coosawattee in northwestern Georgia in the United States. Via the Coosa and Alabama rivers, it is part of the watershed of the Mobile River, which flows to the Gulf of Mexico.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tugaloo</span> Human settlement in Georgia, United States

Tugaloo was a Cherokee town located on the Tugaloo River, at the mouth of Toccoa Creek. It was south of Toccoa and Travelers Rest State Historic Site in present-day Stephens County, Georgia. Cultures of ancient indigenous peoples had occupied this area, and those of the South Appalachian Mississippian culture built a platform mound and village here. It was an administrative and ceremonial center for them.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coosawattee River</span> River in Georgia, United States

The Coosawattee River is a 49.3-mile-long (79.3 km) river located in northwestern Georgia, United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chieftains Museum</span> United States historic place

Chieftains Museum, also known as the Major Ridge Home, is a two-story white frame house built around a log house of 1792 in Cherokee country. It was the home of the Cherokee leader Major Ridge. He was notable for his role in negotiating and signing the Treaty of New Echota of 1835, which ceded the remainder of Cherokee lands in the Southeast to the United States. He was part of a minority group known as the Treaty Party, who believed that relocation was inevitable and wanted to negotiate the best deal with the United States for their people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chiaha</span>

Chiaha was a Native American chiefdom located in the lower French Broad River valley in modern East Tennessee, in the southeastern United States. They lived in raised structures within boundaries of several stable villages. These overlooked the fields of maize, beans, squash, and tobacco, among other plants which they cultivated. Chiaha was the northern extreme of the paramount Coosa chiefdom's sphere of influence in the 16th century when the Spanish expeditions of Hernando de Soto and Juan Pardo passed through the area. The Chiaha chiefdom included parts of modern Jefferson and Sevier counties, and may have extended westward into Knox, Blount and Monroe counties.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Myrtle Hill Cemetery</span> Cemetery in Georgia, USA

Myrtle Hill Cemetery is the second oldest cemetery in the city of Rome, Georgia. The cemetery is at the confluence of the Etowah River and Oostanaula River and to the south of downtown Rome across the South Broad Street bridge.

The Little Egypt site was an archaeological site located in Murray County, Georgia, near the junction of the Coosawattee River and Talking Rock Creek. The site originally had three platform mounds surrounding a plaza and a large village area. It was destroyed during the construction of the Dam of Carters Lake in 1972. It was situated between the Ridge and Valley and Piedmont sections of the state in a flood plain. Using Mississippian culture pottery found at the site archaeologists dated the site to the Middle and Late South Appalachian culture habitation from 1300 to 1600 CE during the Dallas, Lamar, and Mouse Creek phases.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fort Armstrong (Alabama)</span> United States historic site

Fort Armstrong was a stockade fort built in present-day Cherokee County, Alabama during the Creek War. The fort was built to protect the surrounding area from attacks by Red Stick warriors but was also used as a staging area and supply depot in preparation for further military action against the Red Sticks.

References

  1. New Georgia Encyclopedia: Article on Rome, Georgia
  2. Article on De Soto's trail through North Georgia, FloridaHistory.com.
  3. Article on Tristan de Luna's trail through North Georgia, Our Georgia History
  4. New Georgia Encyclopedia: Article on De Soto and De Luna's explorations in Georgia.
  5. Waselkov, Gregory A. and Marvin T. Smith "Upper Creek Archaeology" in McEwan, Bonnie G., ed. Indians of the Greater Southeast: Historical Archaeology and Ethnohistory (Gainesville: University of Florida Press, 2000) p. 244-245
  6. Ethridge, Robbie Franklyn Creek Country: The Creek Indians and Their World (Chapel Hill, North Carolina: UNC Press) p. 27
  7. "Rome City Commission Archives" (PDF). March 3, 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 29, 2008. Retrieved December 2, 2010.
  8. Historical Atlas of Georgia Counties Archived May 11, 2008, at the Wayback Machine : Cherokee Territory/County
  9. Act Dividing Original Cherokee County Archived May 11, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  10. "RomeGeorgia.com Article discussing the founding of Rome".
  11. About North Georgia: Article about the raid of the Lightning Mule Brigade
  12. RomeGeorgia.com Archived November 20, 2008, at the Wayback Machine : Article on the history of Rome's forts.
  13. Roadside Georgia: Article briefly discussing 3 forts built in Rome during the Civil War.
  14. The Life of Ulysses S. Grant, by Charles A. Dana and J. H. Wilson, Gurdon Bill & Company, 1868, Page 275.
  15. Eicher & Eicher, Civil War High Commands, p. 542.
  16. "Article on Noble Brothers Foundry". Archived from the original on July 16, 2011. Retrieved December 2, 2010.
  17. "Fort Attaway Preservation Society". Archived from the original on July 11, 2011. Retrieved December 2, 2010.
  18. Roadside Georgia: Article mentioning the flood of 1886.
  19. Acts Passed by the General Assembly of Georgia, Volume II. Atlanta Georgia, Geo. W. Harrison, State Printer (Franklin Publishing House) 1892: Creating Levee Commission for Rome, Etc. No. 625 (pages 585–590).
  20. RomeGeorgia.com: Article mentioning the raising of Broad Street.