The Chronicles Of Grant County:
Georgia Street

April 21, 2021

The Azalea is the official wildflower of the State of Georgia.
Azaleas come in a variety of colors from purple and red to orange and yellow.
(This photograph was provided courtesy of CHIHYUNG through Pixabay, 2021.)

Georgia Street received its name from the State of Georgia.  The American state itself was named after King George II of the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland (the two countries were separate entities at the time) when it was initially established as a British colony in North America.  In its early days, Georgia included its current territory as well as the bulk of the States of Alabama and Mississippi.

This roadway is one of several in Silver City that gets its name from a southern state.  Others include streets named after Alabama, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Virginia. 

Many states have a variety of official symbols.  The State of Georgia is no different.  According to the Office of the Georgia Secretary of State, among the state’s official symbols include, in addition to the azalea noted above, such items as an official tree (Live Oak), official gem (Quartz), and official flower (Cherokee Rose).  But Georgia also has some rather unusual symbols.  For example, its official prepared food is Grits, its official folk live play is “Swamp Gravy,” and its official ‘possum – yes the State of Georgia has an official ‘possum – is the Pogo ‘Possum.

In 1868, the year in which Grant County was founded within New Mexico Territory, the State of Georgia ratified the 14th Amendment to the U S Constitution, according to edition of The Daily New Mexican dated July 30, 1868.  This newspaper article reported that with the approval by Georgia, the U S Secretary of State had proclaimed “...that the amendment has been ratified by three-fourths of the states and is now valid as a part of the constitution.”  The 14th Amendment included guarantees that people born on the soil of the United States were American citizens.

Atlanta is the capital of Georgia.  “Atlanta began as the terminal point of the Western and Atlantic Railroad, a project authorized by the State of Georgia in 1836,” according to the U S National Park Service.  “Originally known as ‘Terminus,’ and later ‘Marthasville,’ by the Civil War Atlanta was a bustling city.  Crippled by the burning of the city during the war, Atlanta rebounded during the last part of the century.  Today it is home to more than 4 million people and is considered the entertainment and cultural center of the South…Atlanta became the birthplace of the Coca-Cola empire…Popular authors Margaret Mitchell (‘Gone With the Wind’) and Joel Chandler Harris (‘Uncle Remus Tales’) called Atlanta home, as well as major leaders in the Black community such as Alonzo Herndon, a former slave who founded the Atlanta Life Insurance Company, and Civil Rights movement leader, Martin Luther King, Jr.”

Atlanta is the capital of the State of Georgia.
(This photograph was provided courtesy of William Thompson through Pixabay, 2016.)

Do you have questions about communities in Grant County?

A street name?  A building?

Your questions may be used in a future news column.

 Contact Richard McDonough at chroniclesofgrantcounty@mail.com.

© 2021 Richard McDonough