Atlanta City Guide

Atlanta is the capital of Georgia and the seat of Fulton County. A sprawling southern metropolis, Atlanta's skyline is a mixture of modern and postmodern buildings, punctuated by impressive skyscrapers. There is no true city center, as numerous commercial and business centers have sprung up throughout the city. This urban sprawl is a result of unprecedented economic and growth over the past decade. Atlanta prides itself on being one of the driving forces of the "New South."

Atlanta actually began as a terminal for the Western and Atlantic Railroad in 1836. Originally dubbed "Terminus," the city was later renamed "Marthasville" (after Governor Wilson Lumpkin's daughter). Eventually, in 1845, the city's name was changed to "Atlanta" (a feminine form of "Atlantic," suggested by railroad magnate J. Edgar Thomson). The city of Atlanta was less than 30 years old when it was captured by Union General Sherman during the Civil War. At the behest of Father O'Reilly of the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, Sherman left the city's churches and hospitals standing. The rest, he ordered burned to the ground. It was Atlanta's remarkable recovery - it's rise from the ashes, as it were - that led to the city's adoption of the phoenix as its symbol.