East Point, Georgia

Description

East Point is a suburban city located southwest of the neighborhoods of Atlanta in Fulton County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 33,712. The city name is derived from being at the opposite end of the former Atlanta & West Point Railroad from West Point.HistoryThe name "East Point" derives from the fact that this is the terminus of the Atlanta & West Point Railroad in the east; West Point, Georgia, is the terminus where the rail line ends in the west.This settlement was founded as a railroad terminus with 16 families in 1870, but grew quickly after it became an inviting place for industry to develop. Soon it boasted the railway, two gristmills, and a government distillery located on Connally Drive. One of the earliest buildings was the factory of the White Hickory Manufacturing Company, built by B.M. Blount and L.M. Hill (who became the first chairman of the board of aldermen of the city).By 1880 the town had two churches, a common school, a steam-cotton gin, a sawmill, a post office (founded in 1851), a telegraph office and its own newspaper weekly, The Plow Boy. East Point ranked as a grain and cotton-growing center. With its pleasant upland climate and proximity to the railway, it was a popular summer resort for people from the city of Atlanta.In 1884 the first telephone rang in East Point, and in 1887 the city received its first charter. In 1890 a major portion of property along East Point Avenue was subdivided and developed, opening the way for more homes, more churches, more people, and more places of employment. By 1892 Main Street was completed, despite protests from a few progress-shy early settlers who maintained that one major thoroughfare, Newnan Road, was more than sufficient.