Growth and development at the University of Georgia activated a positive chain reaction which established Athens and Clarke County as a leading community in the state and nation during the antebellum period. University growth stimulated growth in education, business, industry, transportation, communication, and agriculture.
Not surprisingly, Athens' fortunes tended to rise and fall with those of the university, especially during the early years before business and industry were firmly established. The town struggled during the early decades of the 19th century when the Legislature was less than generous in its support of the university. A perhaps extreme example of existing problems was suggested by an Athens newspaper editor. He expressed the hope that his financial condition would soon improve because his sow had given birth to seven pigs.
Some stability was achieved in the 1820s when a more sympathetic Legislature helped President Moses Waddel stabilize the university.
Improvements in local business and frustration with the South's continuing debtor status prompted entrepreneurs to develop cotton factories and compete with the North at its own game. Three cotton factories were begun along the banks of the Oconee River between 1829 and 1833 by William Dearing, John Nisbet, and others. By 1840 they employed 220 persons and Clarke County ranked second only to Chatham County (Savannah) in the amount of capital invested in manufacturing interests.
Development of the cotton factories prompted growth in other areas, especially transportation. An article in the Southern Banner, in June 1833, urged that a railroad be built between Athens and Augusta.
The success of the cotton factories and the development of the railroad stimulated other developments. The Bank of the State of Georgia established a branch in Athens in February 1834, and this facility along with the Georgia Railroad bank, begun in 1835, provided the banking services necessary for expansion in business.
By 1840 Clarke County had a total of 45 stores, many of them in Athens. There were several hotels and general merchandise stores and some specialty houses, including a confectionary which once advertised the biggest cake ever made in the area. A. Brydie, the proprietor, said it weighed upwards of 200 pounds and would be cut and sold for 50 cents a pound.
Athens government made significant progress in at least six areas between 1845 and 1860 that enabled the area to continue among the state's leading counties in industry, business and related areas. A town hall and market was constructed on Market (now Washington) Street, a new form of government (Intendant and Warden) was instituted, fire protection was greatly improved, the Oconee Hill Cemetery was opened, gas lights were introduced, and local streets were improved and officially named.
By 1860 Athens had almost 4,000 of the county's 11,218 residents and about 50 of its more than 60 stores. By March 1860 workmen had installed gas lines in much of the downtown area and were preparing to extend gas lines through Cobbham, a major residential area that flourished in the latter part of the antebellum period and is still flourishing today. A night watchman was paid $3 a month to light the street lamps in the downtown area.
Watkinsville also grew over the years but not so much as Athens. In 1827 it had a courthouse, jail, clerk's office, academy, 20 houses and four stores. But it fell behind Athens' rapid growth, and in 1860 had 873 residents as compared with 4,000 in Athens. By the 1850s it also had several factories, including the Watkinsville Manufacturing Company for leather goods and the Watkinsville Steam Mills, but its major activity continued to be the county government and business activity that it generated.
Clarke County's third town in the antebellum period, Salem, is now listed among Georgia's dead towns. Salem, located 10 or 11 miles south southwest of Watkinsville, was a thriving farming community. It was incorporated in 1818 with a commission form of government similar to that assigned the other towns when they were incorporated in 1806.
In 1827 Salem had 21 houses, two stores, three offices, seven shops, a male and female academy, a Methodist church, and a tannery. Salem's population reached 100 in the 1840s and apparently leveled off at about that number. In 1860 it was referred to as a village of 30 houses, and later it dropped from town to community status.
This article published in the Athens Banner-Herald on Sunday, June 17, 2001.
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