Historedia
Episode 3 of 3

Renaming to Atlanta

When
December 26, 1845
Where
Atlanta
Part of
Western and Atlantic Railroad's Atlanta terminal fixed, origin of the city's name

In 1845, the name was changed to Atlanta, derived from the Western and Atlantic Railroad, following John Edgar Thomson's suggestion.

John Edgar Thomson, Chief Engineer of the Georgia Railroad, suggested renaming the town Atlanta, supposedly a feminine version of "Atlantic." This reflected the city's growing reputation as a transportation hub. The name change was enacted by Act 109 of the Georgia General Assembly, approved on December 26, 1845.

Sources

  1. Atlanta Wikipedia, revision of 2026-10-05
  2. History of Atlanta Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-21

Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.