DELTON, GEORGIA - The Capital of the South

[longshoreman26 1]

Delton, Georgia was founded in 1881, as an industrial enterprise.  It was named Delton, after James Seymour Delton, the founder of Delton Iron Company who developed the city. 

The City of Delton officially opened for business on June, 1 1881 with the newly formed Delton-Harpers Land Company selling lots near the crossing of the L&N and Norfolk Southern Railways.  The area near the railroad junction was notable for the deposits of iron ore, coal, and limestone - the three principal raw materials used in making steel.  Delton is one of the few places where significant amounts of all three can be found in close proximity.  From the start the new city was planned as a great center of industry.  The city however got off to a slow start with the iron price crash of 1889 and with a Cholera outbreak in 1893. But soon afterward began to grow. 

The turn of the century brought substantial growth that gave Delton the nickname "The Shining City' presumably from the reflection of the sun on the silver metal roofs of the Delton Iron Factory.  The city was laid out with Broad Street as its central north-south spine and a railroad reservation area dividing the city into the north and south side with 10 rail lines traversing it.  Avenues run East to West while Streets run North to South in Delton. 

Planning:

Before the first structure was built in Delton, the plan of the city was laid out over a total of 1,160 acres by the directors of the Delton-Harpers Land Company. The streets were numbered from west to east, leaving Broad Street to form the central spine of downtown, anchored on the north by Fairmont Park and stretching into the slopes of Shoal Creek Mountain to the south. A "railroad reservation" was granted through the center of the city, running east to west and zoned solely for industrial uses. As the city grew, bridges and underpasses separated the streets from the railroad bed, lending this central reservation some of the impact of a river (without the pleasant associations of a waterfront). From the start, Delton's streets and avenues were unusually wide at 80 to 100 feet , purportedly to help evacuate unhealthy smoke.

Today in 1912 the City of Delton is on the cusp of a tremendous growth spurt with rail traffic at an all time high.  Anderson Presbyterian University was founded on the east side of the city and is already the best private college in the state. The city just completed Delton Central High School at 3rd Avenue North and 3rd Street West.  A newspaper has set up shop the "Delton Daily Times". 

More updates coming soon:

*Expanded residential districts.

*Expanded railway facilities

These photos will introduce you to the city of Delton.

This is my first city journal,

Let me know what you think and how I could improve things.

[Jman47 0]

Looks good so far, ill be waiting for more!

[AceofSpades 1]

Water your hi tech buildings... I hate those water zots. But other than that its very impressive. Keep up the good work.

[Schulmanator 5,787]

Love the idea! But, everyone Nashville is where it's at now in the south!

[Mikeaut1 261]

Excellent work so far, loving the midrise sprawl!

[seemurray2 21]

This looks very, very good for your first cj! 

[richgray100 0]

the only criticism i can offer is the lack of custom content. download a variety of nice resi and commercial lots and it with be good!

[longshoreman26 1]

This update will cover 1915 to 1945.

The City of Delton experienced tremendous growth in the first decade of the twentieth century.  Business and industry seemed to be expanding faster than the city could build new streets and cast iron water lines to serve them. 

With all the new growth Delton would become home to a new regional newspaper the Delton Herald Sun.  This newspaper is an affiliate of the New York Times and is sure to crush any journalist competition in the city.  The paper would open a massive headquarters on Broad Street that alone struck fear into the hearts of other newspaper owners in the city.

The immensely important rail lines were bringing in thousands of new people ready to work in Delton's new shops, offices and factories.  The City of Delton City Council sponsored a deal with the L & N Railway to pay for half of a new Rail Terminal to be built just west of Broad Street on First Avenue North.  The City was given the task of designing and supervising construction of the new terminal and L & N simply required that its consultant be part of the process.  Delton selected Warren & Wetmore Architects of New York City, NY to design the new station.  It would feature expansive waiting rooms and ticket counters with the finest marble and brass finishes on walls and equipment.  Construction began in 1917 and the new station opened for business on December 20, 1918 just in time to welcome home the hoards of soldiers coming back after the end of World War I just a month earlier. 

View of Terminal Station at it's completion.

The city took advantage of the new traffic created by the station by building a new business district with parks and wide sidewalks across 1st Avenue.  The Federal Hotel would open and bring a new cosmopolitan feel to the young downtown business district.

In 1922 after the Federal Hotel had proven to be a commercial success the City of Delton would approve $400,000 to build a "municipal meeting space" worthy of Georgia's largest and fastest growing city.  The Delton Municipal Auditorium would open to great fanfare in 1924 with a surprise visit from President Calvin Coolidge who stated that the new building was "grander than any public venue in the nation".  The venue can seat 4,500 people and has a stage with modern electric lights.  The Federal Hotel is located at the bottom center.

In April, 1929 the L & N Railway would be sold to Georgia Southern Railways, an up and coming transportation powerhouse.  The GSR (Georgia Southern Railway) began taking stock of its newly acquired rail lines and determined that the Delton line could be more efficiently operated if a "railway river' would created where surface traffic can flow over it unhindered.  The project began in September of 1929 with crews working 24 hours a day to begin digging the massive trenches on the east and west sides of Terminal Station.  Well fate had other plans for the project and work slammed to a halt on October 29, 1929 with the Great Depression knocking the city on it's feet.  Luckily for Delton, The New Deal was enacted and sent hundreds of thousands of federal dollars to the city to help decrease unemployment.  The Works Progress Administration would quickly partner with GSR to restart work on the trench if GSR would supply the materials.  They agreed and work restarted on the Railroad Reservation Trench in February of 1930.   The trench would be completed on March 4, 1934.

Work Begins on the Railroad Reservation trenches

Work is completed 1934.

As part of the project a new viaduct was completed at 5th Street West.

Business was booming in the city with the decline of the Great Depression and many new buildings were added to Delton's fledging skyline.  The center of this growth was the intersection of 2nd Avenue North and 2nd Street West.  This district would be known by locals as "The 2nd & 2nd" and the "Heaviest Block in the South" because of the close proximity of so many tall, heavy steel frame buildings.  Also in 1936 a massive new U.S. Federal Building was built on Broad Street.  This is Delton's only Frank Lloyd Wright designed building.  Also you can see the 4th Avenue Viaduct in the top of this photo.  The 4th Avenue Viaduct was the first elevated roadway built below the Mason-Dixon line and was built by the State of Georgia Highway Department to speed through traffic out of downtown.  The Viaduct or "Elevated" was built in 1934. 

NOTE THIS PHOTO IS FROM 1941.

With the Railroad reservation modernization project complete, expanded railways brought hundreds of new people and hundreds of thousands of dollars to the city.  A new entertainment district was born with the opening of the grand Regal Theatre (opened 1934) at 4th & Broad and the smaller Schuman Theatre (opened 1937) on 1st Street West. 

With the Great Depression drawing to a close the city council had been fielding many complaints about the inadequacy of Delton's city hall (built in 1907).  The building was small and cramped and offered little room for the city's many new departments and employees to work.  A task force was started and the team recommended the city built a new "municipal civic center" near Broad and First Avenue North adjacent to the Barrett County Courthouse.  So in 1938 the City of Delton began construction on a new 300,000 square foot city hall and government center on 1st Street East.  A park was to front the new building called Memorial Park in honor of Delton's WWI soldiers.  The new complex opened in record time on January 1, 1939.  The city would also deed property in the new park to the League of Commerce for a building of their own to promote business growth.

In April, 1939 the League of Commerce announced plans to build a massive 28-story tower to house its growing staff and would rent 22 of the floors out to other businesses.  The tower would be funded with contributions of the League, the State of Georgia, the City of Delton and the Georgia Southern Railway.

With the new city hall complete, the city quickly demolished the lovely, historic parks around the old city hall and sold of the land to commercial ventures who quickly snapped it up.  The old building was shuttered and now contains unused city records and is where the city's Christmas decorations are stored after the holiday season.  The building has sadly fallen into disrepair as the city must pay for the bond issues it took out to build the new city hall and has little money to maintain its unused facilities.

NEXT UPDATE:

Delton from 1945-1960

[longshoreman26 1]

Actually the next update will only cover one decade 1945-1955

[Shingure 56]

Wow , Is this covering an actual city .

[longshoreman26 1]

The city is VERY loosely based on Birmingham, Alabama

[jacqulina 162]

very good start and intro,very nice start to your building and planning,excellent work and pics

[Benedict 3,119]

Excellent work for a first CJ - well thought out, great choice of images, and very nice use of labels. I really like this one, and I hope to see a lot more.

[rossjman1 0]

Very creative. I like it.

[FissileBread 0]

Good work with the railroad, I like the network you've got going there.

[Schulmanator 5,787]

Nice work! and you are true to the look and feel of the era you cover.