Although officially founded in 1834, the history of Rome, Georgia, began much earlier with the settlement of Native Americans and exploration by Europeans. Its early inhabitants were diverse, leading to both innovation and strife. Due to its location at the junction of three rivers, Rome was initially a crossroads for trade and transportation. Today, Rome is the largest city in Northwest Georgia, and is a regional center of healthcare, education, and manufacturing.[1]
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Life in the area of Rome before the Spaniard expeditions in the 16th century is largely unknown, due to the native inhabitants' lack of written records. There is some debate over whether Hernando de Soto was the first Spanish conquistador to encounter Native Americans in the area now known as Rome, but it is usually agreed 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, and it is this group that established true relations with the Coosa chiefdom as they 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]
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, who later migrated westerward into Alabama in the general region of Gadsden,[5][6] and were replaced by the Cherokee in the mid-18th century.
There was a Cherokee village named Chatuga on or near the site of Rome that had been established during the migration of the Cherokee westward during the Chickamauga Wars. The Cherokee also referred to the area that would become Rome as "Head of Coosa", and it eventually became home to several Cherokee leaders, including Chiefs Major Ridge and John Ross.[7] Ridge's home here was known for years as Chieftains House, and is now Chieftains Museum.
In the 18th century, a high demand in Europe for American deer skins had led to a brisk trade between Indian hunters and white traders, and as a result, a few white traders and some settlers (primarily from the British Colonies of Georgia and Carolina) were accepted by the Head of Coosa Cherokee. These were later joined by missionaries, and then 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.
In 1802, the United States and Georgia executed the Compact of 1802, in which Georgia sold its claimed Western lands to the United States and 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, and Chiefs John Ross and Major Ridge 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 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 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 a direct result of this, and Georgia's General Assembly passed legislation in 1831 that claimed all Cherokee land in Northwest Georgia. This entire territory was called Cherokee County until additional legislation in 1832 divided the territory into the nine counties that exist today.[8][9]
In 1834, the city of Rome was founded by Col. Daniel R. Mitchell, Col. Zacharia 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]
With the entire area still occupied primarily by Cherokee, the city served the agrarian needs of the new cotton-based economy that had begun to replace deer-skin trading after the invention of the cotton gin. The first steamboat navigated the Coosa River to Rome in 1836, reducing the time-to-market for the cotton trade and speeding travel between Rome and the Gulf Coast.
By 1838, the Cherokee had run out of legal options, and were the last of the major tribes to be forcibly moved to the Indian Territories (in modern-day Oklahoma) on the Trail of Tears. After the removal of the Cherokee, their homes and businesses were taken over by whites, and the Roman economy continued to grow. In 1849, an 18-mile rail spur to the Western and Atlantic Railroad in Kingston was completed roughly along the current path of Georgia Highway 293, significantly improving transportation to the east.[11]
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.[12] 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.[13][14]
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.[15][16] Union General William Vandever was stationed in Rome, and is depicted with his staff in a picture taken there.[17] Due to Rome's forts and iron works, which included the manufacture of cannons, Rome was a significant target during Sherman's destructive march through Georgia.[18] Davis's forces occupied Rome for several months, making repairs to the damaged forts and briefly quartering General Sherman. Foreshadowing Sherman's infamous 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 the Atlanta Campaign.[19]
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.[20] 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.[21] 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.[22]
In 1928, the American Cotillion Company began construction of a rayon plant in Rome as a joint effort with the Italian Chatillon Corporation. Italian premier Benito Mussolini sent a block of marble from the ancient Roman Forum, inscribed "From Old Rome to New Rome", to be used as the cornerstone of the new rayon plant. After the rayon plant was completed in 1929, Mussolini honored Rome with a bronze replica of the sculpture of Romulus and Remus nursing from the Capitoline Wolf. The statue was placed in front of City Hall on a base of white marble from Tate, Georgia, with a brass plaque inscribed
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In 1940, anti-Italian sentiment due to World War II became so strong that the Rome city commission moved the statue into storage to prevent vandalism and replaced it with an American flag. In 1952, the statue was restored to its former location in front of City Hall.[23]
Just prior to the Great Depression, the United States suffered from a decrease in commodity prices that resulted from diminished European competition and domestic overproduction, resulting in stagnant prices. In addition, the boll weevil was introduced to Georgia in 1915, with subsequent destruction of crops and further losses for farmers. The ensuing "Cotton Bust" meant many farmers were forced to move away, sell their land, or convert to other agricultural crops such as corn.[24]
Due to the presence textile and cottonseed-oil factory jobs in Rome, the effect of the Great Depression was not felt to the same extent as some other locations across America. In addition, its strong agricultural base provided for greater food resources. Combined, these factors served to some extent as a buffer to at least some of the hardships of the Great Depression.[25]
As the depression continued, Romans made efforts to combat its effects. At one point, "postal employees took a fifteen per cent cut in pay, and volunteered a further ten per cent reduction in work time in order to save the jobs of substitute employees who otherwise would have been thrown out of work."[26] In another example, the Relief Follies and Cotton Style Show was created to help the struggling families. Romans bought tickets to the show, which was produced by local performers. The proceeds went directly to local grocers, who made boxes of food to sell at a discount price to needy families.[27] One plan to increase employment was started in 1933 by local businessman S.H. Smith, Sr. He hired a group of Romans to tear down an existing hotel, then employed them to build the Greystone Hotel at the corner of Broad Street and East Second Avenue. As a result, "(t)he Rome News-Tribune on November 30, 1933, reported a heartening increase in local building permits for a total of $95,800; of this amount, $85,000 was invested by S.H. Smith, Sr., in the construction of the Greystone Hotel. The Greystone Apartments were added in 1936."[28]