Smyrna

by Harold Lee Smith, Kara M. Hunter-Oden

Overview

Smyrna began as a religious campground in the 1830s and was then settled by pioneers along the Western & Atlantic Railroad line running from Atlanta through Smyrna to Chattanooga. In the summer of 1864, the Civil War battles of Smyrna and Ruff's Mill devastated the area, but the community recovered, and the town was incorporated in August 1872. It grew as businesses opened along US Highway 41, bringing travelers to local gas stations, hotels, and diners. The Smyrna economy changed in 1942 when the Bell Aircraft Corporation began and again in the 1950s when the Lockheed Corporation took over the former Bell bomber plant. Today, Smyrna ranks as a highly desirable metropolitan Atlanta area in which to live and raise a family.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781467110891
Publisher:	Arcadia Publishing SC
Publication date:	01/06/2014
Series:	Images of America Series
Pages:	128
Product dimensions:	6.40(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Harold Lee Smith is an Atlanta native and has lived in Smyrna since 1955. He and his late wife, Betty, cofounded the Smyrna Historical and Genealogical Society, Inc. and the Smyrna History Museum. Harold was a member of the Smyrna City Council in the 1960s and served Smyrna as mayor from 1970 to 1973. Kara Hunter-Oden moved from Florida to Georgia in 1987 following her graduate and undergraduate studies in art history; she is the curator of the Smyrna History Museum and vice president of the Smyrna Historical and Genealogical Society, Inc.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments 6

Introduction 7

1 Religion and Churches 9

2 Early Pioneers 25

3 Downtown Smyrna 37

4 Neighborhoods 67

5 Organizations, Clubs, and Schools 89

6 Unincorporated Smyrna 111

About the Smyrna Historical and Genealogical Society 126

Bibliography 127