Atlanta began as a railroad boomtown that was more reflective of the Wild West than refined Southern gentry. The city was initially called Terminus in 1837 when the area was chosen as the end of the Western and Atlantic Railroad that provided a trade route from the Atlantic to the Midwest. Later, the mayor renamed the city after his daughter calling the railway town Marthasville in 1843. That name only lasted a few years as the city wanted a name that reflected its progressive nature. When the city finally incorporated in 1847, it was called Atlanta—after the railroad that gave life to the city.

Atlanta enjoyed a prosperous economy as a Southern hub of transportation and became the heart of the Confederacy during the Civil War. As such, the city was a strategic city for the Union to conquer on its mission to destroy the South’s spirit for war. When Union troops conquered the city in 1864, they forced Atlanta residents to evacuate as the city was torched to the ground. Only churches and hospitals were not targeted in the destruction and the fire left only a few antebellum structures.

The city did not mourn its loss long, but immediately began to rebuild the city with fervor for the future. Without looking back, Atlanta was rebuilt from the ashes with modern architecture that did not resemble the antebellum structures that were lost. Atlanta’s resiliency after the War made the phoenix an apt symbol of the city.

Atlanta continued to face struggles in the future despite its solid economy. In the 1960s, Atlanta experienced significant racial tensions—as did much of the South—when Brown vs. Board of Education forced schools to integrate. While the city touted itself as “The City too Busy to Hate,” Atlanta experienced minor race riots and confrontations despite its efforts to avoid such encounters. Home of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Atlanta soon became the organizing center for the Civil Rights Movement.

In 1996 Atlanta continued to show the world its progressive and resilient spirit when it hosted the Olympic Summer Games. Despite organizational inefficiencies and the Centennial Olympic Park bombing, the city proved itself superior as one of only three cities in the United States to host the Olympic Summer Games.

Today, Atlanta continues to be a major rail junction with a thriving economy. With 13 Fortune 500 companies located in the Atlanta metro area and a tremendous amount of mid-rise and high rise building projects on the horizon, Atlanta has not only risen from the ashes to be an example of the American work ethic, but has become a city of international influence.