County of city: Polk County
Location of city: west central in county, NW portion of state; crossroads of US-27 & US-278
Location of old city hall: Main St. & Prior St., Cedartown
Elevation: 840'
Population: 9,782 (2013)
"Ours is a history that stretches back more than 170 years ago, when the first settlers of this land – the Cherokee Indian tribe, made their home among the shade of the Cedars and along the edges of a crystal clear, bubbling limestone spring.
"That spring, now called Big Spring, remains as the crown jewel of our community even today.
"Early in our country’s history, the land we presently know as Cedartown, and the spring that nourished it, was much sought after by Native Americans. In fact, legend has it that the Cherokees took possession of the area by winning a high-stakes ballgame against the Creek Indian tribe.
"It was the Cherokees that first named their new home the “Valley of the Cedars."
"As this bygone “Cedar Town” continued to develop, The Pony Club – a notorious gang of thieves and outlaws ravaged the area. Historians report that the gang killed so many settlers and burned their homes that dozens fled the area; others were afraid to come. The early fathers of Cedar Town banded together and put an end to The Pony Club in 1834, bringing peace back to the area.
"In 1867 Cedar Town was re-chartered by the State of Georgia as Cedartown, and during the years that followed, became an important player in early industry and development. A.G. West, an iron worker from New York, visited Cedartown and was so impressed with the city that he decided to build an iron foundry not far from the Big Spring, even though the closest railroad was eight miles away. The materials used in the foundry’s construction were brought in by rail from the North and then hauled to Cedartown by ox teams. The 1880s saw a massive land sale which attracted many new industrialists. One of them, a man named Thomas Adamson, was Cedartown’s first factory owner. He bought land in the city, and along with his sons, established a textile mill called the Cedartown Cotton Manufacturing Company.
"The city’s Main Street was created; both sides of the thoroughfare were wrapped in late 19th and early 20th century grandiose displays of masonry and architectural detail that can still be seen today. In 1913, Cedartown boasted a “Great White Way,” referring to the state-of-the-art electric lampposts that lined the city’s Main Street (they cost 50 cents per night to operate).
"The Cedartown Cotton Manufacturing Company, opened in the 1890s, later became the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company in 1925 and served as the county’s largest employer for years. A news article in a 1949 Atlanta magazine stated that “one of Cedartown’s most cosmopolitan factories” was the Rome Plow Company (opened 1934) that exported farm implements and disk plows all over the world. That factory remains in operation." ~ City of Cedartown