Simons was among a delegation of southern African American pastors to meet with Sherman in Washington, D.C. A church building was then built under Reverend F. Burson organized Bethsaida Baptist Church to serve Shermantown. A significant portion of the quarry's work force were African Americans, but they were generally excluded from areas where white families lived, so a shantytown, Shermantown, came into being at the southeast side of the village its name was a reference to Union General William T. Birth of Shermantown Īdvertisement for Stone Mountain from 'The Dixie Highway Magazine', circa 1925.Īfter the Civil War ended, housing in the area was rebuilt as Stone Mountain granite was again in demand for construction across the nation. The term Sherman’s neckties was coined for this form of destruction. The rails were rendered useless by heating them over burning railroad ties, then twisting them around trees. On November 15, 1864, between 12,000 and 15,000 Union troops marched through Stone Mountain and further destroyed the rail lines. įrom the village’s destruction in July 1864 until November, Union forces scavenged Stone Mountain and the surrounding area, taking corn, wheat, cotton, cattle, and other goods. The railroad depot's roof burned, but the building stood, owing to its 2-foot-thick granite walls. Several antebellum homes were spared as they were used as hospitals. Stone Mountain Village went unscathed until the Battle of Atlanta, when it was destroyed by men under the command of General James B. Though DeKalb County voted against secession from the United States, it was not spared the devastation of the Civil War. Stone Mountain hosted the event until 1850, when it moved to Macon. The next year, the village again hosted the event, which featured caskets, marble, embroidery, brooms, bedspreads, vegetables, blooded stock, wheat, farm tools, and a magnetic telegraph. The fair had just one exhibit-three horses and two cows, both belonging to the event's organizer, John Graves. In August 1846, New Gibraltar hosted Georgia's first state fair, then known as the Agriculture Fair and Internal Improvement Jubilee. The excellent grade of building stone from the mountain was used in many notable structures, including the locks of the Panama Canal, the roof of the bullion depository at Fort Knox, Philadelphia's Liberty National Building, and the steps in the east wing of the U.S. Granite quarrying at the mountain was the area's lifeblood for decades, employing many thousands. By 1850, Stone Mountain had become a popular destination for Atlanta urbanites who endured the four-hour round trip by rail just to experience its natural beauty, lodging, and attractions. : 29 Visitors to the mountain traveled by rail and road, then hiked up the 1.3-mile (2.1 km) mountaintop trail to the top. A storm destroyed the tower in 1849 in 1851, Thomas Henry built a smaller, 80 feet (24 m) tower, with telescopes so it could serve as an observatory. ("An 1843 amendment to the act of incorporation extended the town limits to 600 yards (550 m) in every direction from the house of Andrew Johnson." : 31 ) About 1839 Aaron Cloud, who also had a hotel, : 33 built a wooden observation tower, octagonal like a lighthouse and 150 feet (46 m) high, along with a restaurant and club, at the mountain's summit. : 33Ī post office was created in 1834 on the old Augusta Road, and Andrew Johnson, called the founder of New Gibraltar and first mayor, around whose house the city limits were drawn, : 32 built a hotel along the road in 1836. : 27 "Hundreds of people visited Rock Mountain in the summer and.a house of entertainment was nearby." : 28 Rail service did not reach the town, by then New Gibraltar, until 1845. In 1828 another stage line began trips to Dahlonega, and a fourth connected the community with Macon. Another stage line ran to Winder and Athens. A stagecoach line linking the village with Georgia's capital, Milledgeville, began in 1825. In 1822, the area that now makes up the city was made a part of the newly formed DeKalb County.īy the 1820s, Rock Mountain, as it was then called, was "a major travel center", with an inn for travelers. The Treaty of Indian Springs in 1821 opened a large swath of Georgia for settlement by non-Native Americans on former Creek Indian land, including present-day Stone Mountain Village. Evidence of numerous earlier Native American tribes, including mound builders, has been found in the area. Stone Mountain's history began long before European settlers and the Creek Indians before them.