How Atlanta Became the Capital

Before Atlanta, four other Georgia cities were home to the capital. It wasn’t until Reconstruction that Atlanta was even considered for Georgia’s seat of government.

Major General John Pope moved the state’s constitutional convention from Milledgeville to Atlanta after Milledgeville inns reported they would not serve black delegates. During the session, Atlanta made a bid for the capital.

A decade later, Atlanta’s superior rail facilities, its growing population and recently constructed and lavish Kimball Opera House that housed state legislators seemed to influence the debate. In 1877, voters affirmed they wanted Atlanta to be the capital by an overwhelming margin.

– Mark C. McDonald, Georgia Trust