Tallapoosa Historical Society - Online Historical Exhibits

A Brief History of Tallaposa

Tallapoosa (land lottery parcel) map 1869

PIONEERING IN THE SOUTH; HOW ENTERPRISING YOUNG CITIES ARE SPRINGING UP. TALLAPOOSA, THE LATEST OF THEM, SITUATED BETWEEN ATLANTA AND BIRMINGHAM--THE EFFECTS OF NORTHERN CAPITAL. - The New York Times (October 8, 1887) - byline: Tallapoosa, Ga., Oct. 5 (Adobe Acrobat .pdf file embedded in a Web page) Do you want to help make this article more accessible? We invite you to hand-correct the following OCR versions and send us your transcriptions for attributed credit! NYT18871008.txt NYT18871008-Moredege-Despec-LP7-3rds-2level.txt

...Three years ago Tallapoosa was an isolated village, hardly known to the people of Atlanta, in one of the least populated and most lawless counties of Georgia, the abode of moonshiners and shotgun gangs. The village then contained about 100 persons, and no man was ever sure of his life there. But what a wonderful transformation was effected by the building of a railway through the place, and no more peaceful community than that of Tallapoosa can be found to-day... The present population... exceeds 1,000.

"...the man who did it all -- R. L. Spencer... though I am among his most pronounced victims... I tell you he's a dandy -- a regular out-and-out Napoleon of finance and a diplomat from wayback. Why, I'm seen men foolish enough to think he had been swindling them go into in his office in Tallapoosa all prepared to fill him so full of lead that it would require six men and a windlass to bury him. In a few minutes they would reappear as happy as a boy with new boots, and with nothing except good words for their would-be victim."

INVESTORS COME TO GRIEF; THE GEORGIA-ALABAMA COMPANY'S BUBBLE BURSTS. FIFTEEN THOUSAND STOCKHOLDERS LEARN A LESSON IN FINANCIERING -- BIG DIVIDENDS PROMISED, BUT ONLY A RECEIVER LEFT -- R.L. SPENCER'S BRILLIANT RECORD. - The New York Times (July 15, 1892) (Adobe Acrobat .pdf file embedded in a Web page)

COMING SOON: R. L. Spencer - hero, villian, or both? The man who would cast a giant shadow here circa 1890

Too Many Irons in the Fire: The Failure of Land Development Companies in Tallapoosa, Georgia CA. 1880-1900 (thesis prospectus) by Benjamin Maynard, M.A. (Adobe Acrobat .pdf file)

In the late nineteenth century, Tallapoosa, Georgia, with the help of northern investors, grew from a small rural community into an emerging 'urban' town. Using census records, tax digests, county court records, Dun & Bradstreet credit ratings, promotional material produced by the Georgia-Alabama Investment and Development Company, and newspapers (local and national), this thesis will analyze Tallapoosa's change from a rural agrarian town into a 'Yankee city under the southern sky'.

Revolutionary War soldier gravesite ceremony

The Colonization of Tallapoosa by Prof. Carole E. Scott

Tallapoosa Territory (1952) by Lee S. Trimble, Sr. (a historical sketch of Tallapoosa focusing especially on the boom years of 1886-1900)

The Royal Vindicator and gold mining

President Benjamin Harrison speaks in Tallapoosa by Dr. Ron Feigenblatt

Detailed panoramic view of Tallapoosa in 1892

Photographs of Tallapoosa circa 1900

Digital Library of Georgia - Tallapoosa Sanborn® Fire Insurance Maps
(1888, 1890, 1895, 1903, 1909, 1914)

Growing up in early 20th century Tallapoosa (see page bottom)

The Lithia Springs Hotel Neighborhood - 1892, 1914, 2008

The Building (George M. William's Block)

History of Tallapoosa Presbyterian Church

Amelia's - The Johnson Family Homeplace