Historical North American cities always have strange and interesting facts to discover, but none quite as interesting as Georgia’s capital, Atlanta. For instance, do you know why the city is likened to a phoenix rising from the ashes? Or that it was once illegal to tie a giraffe to a telephone pole? Probably not. Read on and discover even more about this iconic city.
1. The city had quite a few names before Atlanta was settled on in December 1847. The first settlement to pop up in 1837 was called Terminus (yes, it existed pre-Walking Dead), which then later morphed into the very emo Thrasherville (how oddly appropriate?)—apparently the latter was on behalf of a merchant who built the general store. In 1842, the town was renamed again, only this time to Marthasville in honor of the Governor’s daughter, and then it was called Atlantica-Pacifica, which was cut down to the short and sweet Atlanta.
2. If you live on Peachtree, you will have to be very specific when you give someone directions, because Atlanta has over 70 different streets with some variation of Peachtree in the name—including the younger and hotter New Peachtree Road.
3. Atlanta may be Georgia’s capital now, but Savannah, Augusta, Louisville and Milledgeville have all had the title in the past.
4. General Sherman had his Union Army burn the city down during the Civil War. To commemorate Atlanta’s glorious rebirth, they erected a bronze monument called Atlanta from the Ashes that depicts a woman being lifted from the flames by a large phoenix. It can be found in Woodruff Park.
5. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport has been the world’s busiest airport by passenger traffic since 2000. It also has 207 passenger gates, which is more than any other airport.
6. Georgia has—or have had in the past—some pretty amazing laws. Did you know it was once illegal to put an ice cream cone in your back pocket on a Sunday and that you must never tie a giraffe to a telephone pole? You’re welcome.
7. And finally, you can actually run straight from Atlanta to Alabama courtesy of the paved Silver Comet Trail. The 61.5-mile road stretches over old railroad trails and through mountains. Once you hit Alabama, it joins up with the Chief Ladiga Trail and continues on for another 33 miles.
