kids encyclopedia robot

Cedartown, Georgia facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts
Quick facts for kids
Cedartown, Georgia
City
The Cedartown Depot and Welcome Center. The Depot serves as one of the trailheads for the Silver Comet Trail
The Cedartown Depot and Welcome Center. The Depot serves as one of the trailheads for the Silver Comet Trail
Location in Polk County in the state of Georgia
Location in Polk County in the state of Georgia
Country United States
State Georgia
County Polk
Government
 • Type City Commission
Area
 • Total 9.16 sq mi (23.72 km2)
 • Land 9.13 sq mi (23.65 km2)
 • Water 0.03 sq mi (0.08 km2)
Elevation
840 ft (260 m)
Population
 (2020)
 • Total 10,190
 • Density 1,116.22/sq mi (430.96/km2)
Time zone UTC-5 (Eastern (EST))
 • Summer (DST) UTC-4 (EDT)
ZIP code
30125
Area code(s) 770/678/470
FIPS code 13-14500
GNIS feature ID 0312503
Website Cedartown, Georgia

Cedartown is a city and the county seat of Polk County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 10,190. Cedartown is the principal city of and is included in the Cedartown, Georgia Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is included in the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Gainesville, Georgia-Alabama (part) Combined Statistical Area.

The Cedartown Commercial Historic District is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Cedartown Waterworks-Woman's Building-Big Spring Park Historic District is also listed along with the Northwest Cedartown Historic District and South Philpot Street Historic District.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, Cedartown has a total area of 6.9 square miles (18 km2), of which 6.8 square miles (18 km2) is land and 0.04 square miles (0.10 km2) (0.44%) is water.

History

Courthouse of Polk County, Georgia
Cedartown has been the county seat of Polk County since 1851, when the county was created.

Cherokee and Creek Native Americans first inhabited the area known as Cedar Valley. The Cherokee people had established a village there in the 1830s after the Native Americans were forced out on the Trail of Tears.

The most famous of these settlers was Asa Prior. According to local legend, the water rights to Big Spring were won for the white settlers by a local white boy in a footrace with a Cherokee youth. Some versions of the legend differ, saying that the rights to the spring were won by the Cherokee people from the Creek people in a ball game. "Big Strickland" became "Cedar Town" when Prior deeded ten acres of adjacent land to the newly chartered city in 1852. Big Strickland was the original county seat and Cedar Town became the county seat later.

Big Spring Park, Cedartown, Georgia
Cedartown's historic Big Spring provides water to 10,000 people.

During the Civil War, Cedar Town was abandoned by most of its citizens when Union troops encroached. The city was burnt to the ground by the Union forces of General Hugh Judson Kilpatrick in 1865, leaving only one mill standing on the outskirts of town.

In 1867, the town was re-chartered by the state of Georgia as Cedartown. An influx of industrial business bolstered its largely cotton-based economy, with Goodyear and other fabric mills and iron works appearing in or near what is now the Cedartown Industrial Park on the west side of town.

Industrial and passenger railroad service was added to Cedartown in the early 20th century. Main St. became a part of U.S. Route 27, a major north-south automobile route that connects Cedartown to larger cities like Chattanooga, Tennessee and Columbus, Georgia. U.S. 27 also intersects in town with U.S. Route 278, which connects Cedartown with Atlanta.

The Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company built a large textile mill operation in Cedartown, and also built a large residential section of town for mill workers, now known as the Goodyear Village.

In recent times, the Georgia Rails to Trails project has converted much of the former Seaboard Air Line into the Silver Comet Trail, a federal and state funded park that connects many cities in northwest Georgia.

Cedartown's Main Street is listed in the National Register of Historic Places in recognition of its 1890s architecture. During the 1970s, many structures were demolished, including train stations, churches, and a high school, and a theater on Main Street.

Downtown Cedartown has recently seen massive investment in new sidewalks, street parks, and paving to showcase the downtown district.

Arts and culture

  • Cedartown Performing Arts Center

Sites on the National Register of Historic Places:

  • Cedartown Commercial Historic District
  • Cedartown Waterworks-Women's Building-Big Spring Park Historic District
  • Hawkes Children's Library
  • Northwest Cedartown Historic District

Demographics

Historical population
Census Pop.
1870 323
1880 843 161.0%
1890 1,625 92.8%
1900 2,823 73.7%
1910 3,551 25.8%
1920 4,053 14.1%
1930 8,124 100.4%
1940 9,025 11.1%
1950 9,470 4.9%
1960 9,340 −1.4%
1970 9,253 −0.9%
1980 8,619 −6.9%
1990 7,978 −7.4%
2000 9,470 18.7%
2010 9,750 3.0%
2020 10,190 4.5%
U.S. Decennial Census

2020 census

Cedartown racial composition
Race Num. Perc.
White (non-Hispanic) 4,557 44.72%
Black or African American (non-Hispanic) 1,788 17.55%
Native American 32 0.31%
Asian 55 0.54%
Pacific Islander 5 0.05%
Other/Mixed 319 3.13%
Hispanic or Latino 3,434 33.7%

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 10,190 people, 3,573 households, and 1,915 families residing in the city.

Transportation and economy

Bus Station, Cedartown, Georgia
Though the Cedartown Bus Station sign still hangs in downtown, the station was closed years ago.
Cedartown, Georgia train stop
Cedartown depot replica

With the shift away from rural living patterns and toward interstate highway satellite suburban living patterns, combined with the general U.S. shift away from agricultural and industrial economies, Cedartown is left in an awkward position. The city suffered a major economic blow when the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company closed its local factory operations. For its employment, Cedartown mainly relies on the prospect of large corporate operation centers such as Cingular Wireless, manufacturing operations like that of The HON Company, and the retail operations of Wal-Mart.

The Hon Company is Cedartown's largest for-profit employer with over 800 employees. With a recently announced expansion, this number will grow in the near future. Cedartown is also home to an AT&T (formerly Cingular) technical support facility for the company's wireless customers.

The Rome Plow Company, formerly located in Rome, Georgia, is headquartered in Cedartown. It manufactured the Rome plows used as jungle-clearing vehicles during the Vietnam War and produced agricultural vehicles until it shut down in late 2009. Rome Plow has since been purchased and re-opened. The new facility recently underwent an expansion.

Access to nearby major cities such as Atlanta, Birmingham, and Chattanooga is easier with the expansion of U.S. Highway 27, which is four lanes from I-20 into Cedartown. The four lane expansion will soon have U.S. 27 fourlaned all the way north to the Tennessee state line.

Passenger rail service to Cedartown ended in the 1969, with the discontinuance of the "Silver Comet" and SCL local trains #6 and #9, leading to the destruction of the historic Cedartown Depot train station. The city built a replica of the historic depot which now serves as the Welcome Center and the trailhead to the Silver Comet Trail. Rails of CSXT still are used in Cedartown and pass next to the new depot to this day.

The city does offer bus service and has frequent routes to neighboring Rockmart. The nearest stop on the Greyhound line is a full service station in Rome, Georgia, 20 miles north.

The nearest major airport is Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in Atlanta, 70 miles southeast; several local shuttle services are available.

Recreation

  • Silver Comet Trail

Education

Polk County School District

The Polk County School District holds pre-school to grade twelve, and consists of six elementary schools, two middle schools, and two high schools. The district has 449 full-time teachers and over 7,017 students.

Notable people

  • Ray Beck, All-American football player at Georgia Tech and professional football player
  • Edgar Chandler, two-time All-American football player at the University of Georgia and professional player for the Buffalo Bills and New England Patriots
  • Nick Chubb, University of Georgia football alumni and professional football player for Cleveland Browns.
  • Betty Reynolds Cobb, an author and activist, was a native of Cedartown and the first woman in Georgia to be admitted to the state bar.
  • Phil Douglas, was a Major League Baseball player best remember for his time with the World Series Champion New York Giants.
  • Korbin Forrister, NASCAR driver
  • Ethel Harpst, founder of the Harpst House
  • Agnes Ellen Harris, educator
  • Seale Harris, physician and researcher, best known for his 1924 hypothesis of hyperinsulinism as a cause of spontaneous hypoglycemia
  • Sterling Holloway was a legend of stage and screen with over 100 movies and television shows to his credit. He was well known for his distinctive tenor voice, and is best remembered as the voice of Walt Disney's Winnie the Pooh. Holloway was born and raised in Cedartown.
  • Sam Hunt (born 1984), award-winning, American singer and songwriter and Former Football Player.
  • Doug Sanders, winner of twenty tournaments on the PGA Tour
  • Jan Hooks, actress, comedian and long-time Saturday Night Live cast member who died on October 9, 2014, is buried in Northview Cemetery in Cedartown, Georgia. Cedartown was the place she spent many summers with family as a child.
  • Lulu Hurst, (1869–1950) also known as the "Georgia Wonder", was an American stage magician remembered for her demonstrations of seemingly miraculous physical strength. However, she later revealed that her feats had nothing to do with strength but were stage tricks accomplished by force deflection was born in Cedartown/Polk County, GA.
  • Ida Cox (born Ida M. Prather, February 26, 1888 or 1896 – November 10, 1967) was an American singer and vaudeville performer, best known for her blues performances and recordings. She was billed as "The Uncrowned Queen of the Blues" lived in Cedartown, GA as a child.

Images for kids

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Cedartown (Georgia) para niños

kids search engine
Cedartown, Georgia Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.