The Good Old Days

Starting around 1850, Gainesville enjoyed a period of growth and prosperity that lasted over a century. The discovery of mineral springs in the area led to the development of health spas and resort hotels, which brought customers from all over the south. The influx fueled an expansion of businesses offering goods and services to the visitors. During the Civil War nothing of strategic military value existed in Hall County and the railroads had not yet arrived. The land in northeast Georgia was too rugged for large plantations growing cotton, and few mountain families had slaves. People were concerned more with just daily survival rather than supporting the Southern war effort. Business went on pretty much as usual and the city continued to grow and prosper. The Civil War of Margaret Mitchell’s “Gone with the Wind” was fought from Chattanooga to Atlanta along the Western and Atlantic Railroad lines, and down to Savannah on Union General Sherman's March to the Sea. The railroads arrived in 1870 to support of the virgin timber industry in northeast Georgia. At the turn of the century, the textile industry, lured by the railways, built large factories that helped Gainesville become the “Queen City of the Mountains. After WWII, with the success of the poultry industry, Gainesville earned the title of “Poultry Capital of the World”.

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