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History
Fulton County was created from the western half of DeKalb County in 1853 during the 1840s, when Decatur refused
to allow a railroad terminal to be built due to noise concerns. A new point was selected a few miles west, and
was later incorporated as Terminus. The town was renamed twice; first as Marthasville, and finally as Atlanta.
During William T. Sherman's March to the Sea during the American Civil War, Sherman spared Roswell because he had
a cousin who lived there. As a result, Roswell has more pre-Civil War historical buildings up than anywhere else
in North Georgia.
The name is often assumed to be in honor of inventor Robert Fulton, who (among many other inventions) built a steamboat
in 1807. This assumption is likely because this steam engine was the predecessor to the steam locomotives which
built Atlanta. However, some research now indicates that it may have been in honor of Hamilton Fulton, a surveyor
for the Western and Atlantic Railroad. Nonetheless the County itself claims to be named after Robert Fulton.
As of the beginning of 1932, Milton County to the north and Campbell County to the southwest became part of Fulton
County, to save money during the Great Depression. This gave the county its current awkward and long shape along
70 miles of the Chattahoochee River. Neighboring Cobb County ceded the city of Roswell to Fulton to make it contiguous
with Milton, including everything east of Willeo Creek. Additionally, parts of Gwinnett County and Cherokee County
were swept in.
[Source: Wikipedia.org]
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