<P> 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 and the Midwest . The initial route was to run southward from Chattanooga to a terminus east of the Chattahoochee River, which would then 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 Five Points . A year later, the area around the milepost had developed into a settlement, first known as "Terminus," and later as "Thrasherville" after a local merchant who built homes and a general store in the area . By 1842, the town had six buildings and 30 residents and was renamed "Marthasville" to honor the Governor's daughter . Later, J. Edgar Thomson, Chief Engineer of the Georgia Railroad, suggested the town be renamed "Atlantica - Pacifica," which was shortened to "Atlanta". The residents approved, and the town was incorporated as Atlanta on December 29, 1847 . </P> <P> By 1860, Atlanta's population had grown to 9,554 . During the American Civil War, the nexus of multiple railroads in Atlanta made the city a hub for the distribution of military supplies . In 1864, the Union Army moved southward following the capture of Chattanooga and began its invasion of north Georgia . The region surrounding Atlanta was the location of several major army battles, culminating with the Battle of Atlanta and a four - month - long siege of the city by the Union Army under the command of General William Tecumseh Sherman . On September 1, 1864, Confederate General John Bell Hood made the decision to retreat from Atlanta, and he ordered the destruction of all public buildings and possible assets that could be of use to the Union Army . On the next day, Mayor James Calhoun surrendered Atlanta to the Union Army, and on September 7, Sherman ordered the city's civilian population to evacuate . On November 11, 1864, Sherman prepared for the Union Army's March to the Sea by ordering Atlanta to be burned to the ground, sparing only the city's churches and hospitals . </P> <P> After the Civil War ended in 1865, Atlanta was gradually rebuilt . Due to the city's superior rail transportation network, the state capital was moved from Milledgeville to Atlanta in 1868 . In the 1880 Census, Atlanta surpassed Savannah as Georgia's largest city . Beginning in the 1880s, Henry W. Grady, the editor of the Atlanta Constitution newspaper, promoted Atlanta to potential investors as a city of the "New South" that would be based upon a modern economy and less reliant on agriculture . By 1885, the founding of the Georgia School of Technology (now Georgia Tech) and the city's black colleges had established Atlanta as a center for higher education . In 1895, Atlanta hosted the Cotton States and International Exposition, which attracted nearly 800,000 attendees and successfully promoted the New South's development to the world . </P> <P> During the first decades of the 20th century, Atlanta experienced a period of unprecedented growth . In three decades' time, Atlanta's population tripled as the city limits expanded to include nearby streetcar suburbs . The city's skyline emerged with the construction of the Equitable, Flatiron, Empire, and Candler buildings; and Sweet Auburn emerged as a center of black commerce . The period was also marked by strife and tragedy . Increased racial tensions led to the Atlanta Race Riot of 1906, which left at least 27 people dead and over 70 injured . In 1915, Leo Frank, a Jewish - American factory superintendent, convicted of murder, was hanged in Marietta by a lynch mob, drawing attention to antisemitism in the United States . On May 21, 1917, the Great Atlanta Fire destroyed 1,938 buildings in what is now the Old Fourth Ward, resulting in one fatality and the displacement of 10,000 people . </P>

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