ACWORTH, Georgia — The city of Acrowth owes its existence to the Western & Atlantic Railroad.
According to sources, the community was initially known as Northcutt, but Lewis Gregg, a surveyor for the railroad, asked to name one community. He named the town Acworth after his New Hampshire hometown.
In the 1920s, the city was involved in a court case over automatic railroad crossing signals.
In April 1986, the city placed a Santa Fe style caboose constructed in 1942 in the middle of the town. The Seaboard System Railroad donated the caboose to the Greater Acworth Business and Professional Association.
Notable Happenings
- January 1896: A Western & Atlantic Railroad brakeman was killed after he was dragged under a train. He was riding on the side of the train and began to climb down as the train slowed, but his overcoat caught on a passing train.
- January 5, 1911: The No. 39 Atlanta-Chicago Limited made an emergency stop in town because of a hotbox under one of its Pullman cars, which apparently originated near Marietta. The flaming hotbox was quickly extinguished thanks to a prompt response from the local fire department, and the train soon departed.
- June 23, 1923: Four members of a Louisville & Nashville train crew were injured when their train crashed head-on into a Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis Railway train about a mile south of Acworth.
- September 13, 1938: 25 cars of a 40-car Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis Railway train derailed in town. Officials said the flange of a wheel on a car near the locomotive broke, leading to the derailment. One hobo was injured in the derailment.
- December 1941: Sparks from the firebox of a Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis Railway locomotive set fire to bridge near Acworth. The fire badly damaged the bridge, forcing the railroad to reroute traffic from the line for several days.
- November 30, 1956: A 48-year-old man was killed after his panel truck collided with a Louisville & Nashville train at a grade crossing in the city.
- January 1980: 700 Acworth residents evacuated after four tank cars filled with flammable gases and liquids derailed in the city.