I’ll be speaking on “Parallel Roads” in Marietta, Georgia, focusing on the parallel histories of the Western & Atlantic Railroad and the Atlanta Northern Railway.
The idea of “Parallel Roads” is such an interesting topic. Do you focus on the fact they more or less paralleled one another? Should the focus instead be their histories during the first half of the 20th century? What about the common issues they encountered and had to navigate?
Of course, there are the threats they both faced. For the Western & Atlantic, another railroad wanted to parallel their line. In the case of the Atlanta Northern, buses running along parallel roads threatened their livelihood.
The situation was as potentially explosive as Ashby Street on Monday, November 14, 1910, when an Atlanta Northern trolley collided with a wagon full of dynamite.
The Western & Atlantic survived its threat while the Atlanta Northern did not, ending service in 1947. And while we know the Western & Atlantic — even if not by name — because trains still run along the route, many people don’t know the Atlanta Northern ever operated. It’s relegated to the status of myth, along with the likes of Big Foot and the Loch Ness Monster.
“Oh yeah, I think someone once mentioned there used to be a streetcar here.”
Anyone who’s ever driven along Atlanta Road can track the former streetcar stops based on the names of existing streets: Mozley, Pat Mell, Fleming, Collier, Spring Hill, and Gilmore, to name a few.
What’s the old Mark Twain saying? “History doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes.” (The internet told me he said it. So, it’s as reliable as the trains always running “on the advertised.”)
It seems there are always stories about building the region’s transportation network. But it’s a network we once had in place.
I say all that to mention if you’ll be in Marietta on Monday, January 8, stop by the Georgia Room. Check out more details: https://www.cobbcounty.org/events/georgia-room-presents-parallel-roads.
Who knows? Maybe you’ll learn something!
