Atlanta was formerly named Terminus because it marked the end of a railroad line.
The settlement began in the 1830s as the southern endpoint of the Western and Atlantic Railroad. It was first called Terminus, a name referring directly to the railroad’s planned endpoint. The community was later renamed Marthasville and then Atlanta in 1848.
Atlanta’s railroad connections helped it become a major commercial center in the Southeast. During the American Civil War, Union forces captured and burned much of the city in 1864. Atlanta was rebuilt afterward and became Georgia’s capital in 1868, replacing Milledgeville.
Savannah was Georgia’s first colonial capital, and Augusta and Milledgeville also served as capitals at different times. Atlanta’s rise reflects the importance of rail transport in nineteenth-century economic development. Today it is Georgia’s largest city and a major transportation, business, and cultural center.