Fulton County, 1901-1903. Construction on the Morgan Falls Dam located 12 miles north of Atlanta on the Chattahoochee River

Vanishing Georgia Collection, Image Ful556

The production of cotton and the development of the United States are firmly intertwined.

Dramatic differences in climate and soil quality led to the evolution of two distinctly separate economies, both largely based on the production and finishing of cotton, during the 73-year period between the establishment of the United States in 1788 and the outbreak of Civil War in 1861.
The Southern states typically employed a system of plantation farming and chattel-slavery in the production of cotton. The raw material was then transported either by rail or riverboat to a seaport where it was then shipped to a finishing facility in New England or Europe.

Northern mills were often patterned after a system first developed by Samuel Slater, a New England mill owner. Slater’s system allowed for an entire family, including children, to be employed. In exchange, the family received a house near the mill for the duration of their employment. Though the cotton was grown in Southern states, it was relatively rare for it to be processed into a finished good in a location other than New England or Europe.

In 1839, at the advanced age of 74, King visited an area west of

modern-day Atlanta (Cobb and Fulton Counties). He saw potential in the abundance of water resources fed by the river and the surrounding creeks and began to buy property along the Chattahoochee and a main tributary now known as Vickery Creek. King’s original mill site would eventually extend to several that processed wool and cotton goods. A mill town, along the same model as that often used in King’s native New England, would also develop in that location. In his honor, the town would come to be called “Roswell”. In addition to several of his children, King persuaded many of his wealthy friends from coastal Georgia to relocate to the area and a thriving town began to emerge. Following Roswell’s death in 1844, his son, Barrington King, assumed ownership and management of the mills.

In 1840, nineteen textile mills were in production in Georgia. By 1851 that number had doubled to thirty-eight. In the decade leading up to the Civil War, the mill labor force in Georgia solidified as mainly Caucasian and was composed of highly-skilled workers from the rural areas immediately surrounding the factories. The largest textile mill center in North Georgia was located in Roswell.

Kennesaw Mountain was captured on June 27, and the nearby town of Marietta was occupied on July 3. From this operational base, General Sherman utilized the established railroad lines and small town to prepare for a large-scale assault on Atlanta. Sherman deployed patrols to the left and right along the banks of the Chattahoochee, looking for a position from which he could most effectively transport his force of approximately 115,000 men across. At the time, Atlanta was garrisoned with approximately 65,000 Confederate troops and was a highly important military arsenal and railroad distribution hub for the Southern war effort.

On direct command of General Sherman, the experienced laborers were removed from the area so that they could not continue to assist in the war effort. Approximately 700 persons, workers at the mills and their children, were temporarily housed on the Georgia Military Institute campus in Marietta. By July 15, two trains of prisoners were transported North towards Chattanooga and from there to the vicinity of the Ohio River, a distance of approximately 400 miles. Their preparation for the relocation was 9 days’ rations, the belongings that they could personally carry, and their children. Once at their destination, these refugees were deposited and became new residents of the river towns on the respective Indiana and Kentucky banks of the Ohio.