An Expansion of Smyrna’s Photographic Resources

Marietta Daily Journal, March 6, 2017, Page 1 During the past year a committee of volunteers, working under the auspices of the Smyrna Arts & Cultural Council’s History Committee, met on a regular basis at the Smyrna Public Library to examine the back issues of the old Smyrna Herald and Smyrna Neighbor newspapers, published between …

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The Name Allston: An Appropriate Choice?

Boston’s Allston section is said to be the only community in the United States named for an artist---the great Romantic painter Washington Allston (1779-1843). This is of course is no small distinction. Allston “Self-Portrait, completed in 1805. By the 1820s this European trained painter was regarded as the greatest artist America had yet produced, having …

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John Singleton Copley’s Dilemma: Why America’s Leading Painter Fled Boston in 1774

Born in 1738, the son of recently-arrived Irish Protestant immigrants, John Singleton Copley was raised in cramped quarters over the family’s tobacco shop on Boston’ Long Wharf.

Annexation Embraced: Brighton’s 1873 Acceptance of Boston

  On October 7, 1873 the voters of the independent towns of Brookline and Brighton made sharply contrasting decisions on the question of annexation to the City of Boston. While two-thirds of Brookline’s electors rejected merger with the metropolis, fully 81 percent of Brighton’s electors eagerly embraced the opportunity to join the city. Why did …

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Annexation Spurned: Brookline’s 1873 Rejection of Boston

On October 7, 1873 the neighboring towns of Brookline, Brighton, and West Roxbury faced a momentous decision---whether to continue to be self-governing entities, or to relinquish their political independence to the City of Boston.

Upcoming Post’s: Annexation Spurned: Brookline’s 1873 Rejection of Boston & Annexation Embraced: Brighton’s 1873 Acceptance of Boston

On October 7, 1873 the voters of the independent towns of Brookline and Brighton made sharply contrasting decisions on the question of annexation to the City of Boston. While two-thirds of Brookline’s electors rejected merger with the metropolis, fully 81 percent of Brighton’s electors eagerly embraced the opportunity to join the city. Why did these …

Continue reading Upcoming Post’s: Annexation Spurned: Brookline’s 1873 Rejection of Boston & Annexation Embraced: Brighton’s 1873 Acceptance of Boston

The Jonquil Historical Trail, Part 2

[31] The Mount Zion Baptist Church and Adjacent African-American Cemetery Site (1877). The Mt. Zion Baptist Church was organized to serve the growing African-American community of Davenport Town, a small community situated on the eastern edge of Smyrna.  In 1877, the Rev. George Lloyd and others organized this church. The first pastor was the Rev. …

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The Jonquil Historical Trail, Part 1

When completed visitors will be able to bring up historical narratives and related images on their cell phones and other electronic devices, enabling them to conduct self-guided tours of the historical heart of Smyrna.

Upcoming Post: The Jonquil Historical Trail, Part 1

Smyrna, Georgia also known as the Jonquil City has been witness to many intriguing historical events and notable characters over is long and storied past. In Part's 1 and 2 of this series I will publish the full first draft of the proposal presented to the city government for the Jonquil City Historical Trail.