ni^ BANNER COUNl^ 
 
 of^neJsOUTH: 
 
Qass ^J2^2 
 
 Book feFi- 
 
irCiH^ix x^iHA^Titi^f ^ee^aca. 
 
 A COMPILATION OF FACTS FOR THE INFORMATION OF HOME 
 
 SEEKERS, BUSINESS MEN, AND THE 
 
 WORLD AT LARGE. 
 
 SETTING FORTH THE RESOURCES, ADVANTAGES, LOCATION, BUSINESS 
 INTERESTS, AND UNEXCELLED FACILITIES. 
 
 Published Under the Auspices of the Floyd County Industrial Association. 
 
 FLETCHER SMITH, PRINTER, ROME, GA. 
 
llntio^uctov^. 
 
 This work is published for the purpose of giving- to the world a truthful statement 
 of facts relative to Floyd County, Georgia, which has, not inaptly, been styled the 
 " Banner County of the South." The descriptive matter has been carefully prepared, 
 and the information furnished is accurate. The illustrations are from photographs, and 
 are faithful portrayals of natural and architectural scenes of this section. Any person 
 desiring more full or detailed information can obtain the same by addressing the Secre- 
 taiy of the Floyd County Industrial Association, Rome, Georgia. 
 
 r- 
 
 
FLOYD COUNTY. 
 
 IFts Soil an& DarietV! of proCtucts. 
 
 There is perhaps no section of country where 
 exists a greater varietj' of soil or a largei- range 
 of products. 
 
 Beginning with the alluvial soil of our three 
 great river valleys, fertile with the debris of 
 ages, and capable of producing the finest yields 
 of corn, wheat, oats, rye, barley, buckwheat, cow 
 l^eas, clover, timothy, orchard grass, red top, and 
 in fact all the most useful cereal and hay crops. 
 Besides, the finest grade of upland cotton grown 
 in America is produced on this soil and is known 
 in Liverpool as the best of this variety. 
 
 What has been said of our Etowah, Coosa and 
 Oostanaula river lands is also true of our creek 
 bottom or valley lands, and also of our higher or 
 table lands adjacent to those spoken of above, 
 with this exception: Our higher lands are some- 
 what less fertile, but better adapted to the grow- 
 ing of most fruits, such as pears, peaches, plums, 
 quinces, cherries, etc., as well as all kinds of ber- 
 ries, which require a soil rather l;ietter drained. 
 Apples, however, flourish best on our lower lands, 
 where large, magnificent old trees grow to per- 
 fection. 
 
 JVIuch of our higher mountain soil is very fer- 
 tile, sometimes loamy and sometimes gravelly. 
 
 These mountain tops and slopes are the true 
 home of the vine. All varieties of the grape 
 
grown east of the Rockies flouiisli in great 
 perfection and abnndant yield on these liigli- 
 lands. Here, also, the peach finds conditions and 
 soil best adapted to its perfect development. 
 
 Upon these isothermal heights the stinging- 
 frost is less apt to kill (lie buil or nip the bloom. 
 Often, when the valleys have little or no frnit, 
 the hills lear their heads toward the snii and 
 smile in plenty before the season is done. 
 
 Almost every vegetable is known to flourish 
 here, and many excel in flavor and yield. In a 
 word, this may be said to be 
 
 The iliniate most congenial to niiui. 
 Aliuiidinil (if liaivost, fruitful hxud. 
 There erystal spiinf^.s from out the rock 
 Gu.sh forth merrily for meadow and flock. 
 
 (Ilimate aiiD IfDealtbtulncss. 
 
 Climate is the most important condition in the 
 environment of a people. It embraces in its scope 
 health and comfort, spirits, brain force, muscular 
 power and vigor; in a word, nearly all our en- 
 joyments and our faculties. It affects profoundly 
 our modes of living and our indoor and outdoor 
 life, and comes home to us in a thousand ways. 
 It is a controlling condition on all vegetation, on 
 trees, grasses and natural products, and not less 
 so on cultivated crops, vegetables and fruits. 
 Equally so on animal life — on its vigor, its diet, 
 its needs and its supply of all food. In no part 
 of the world is it found more suitable to the 
 
genus homo than in this paradise of the Southern 
 States of America. 
 
 It has been said by a distinguished authority 
 on cHmate that a mean annual temperature of 60 
 degrees is the most conducive to comfort and 
 health. With such a mean the summer extreme 
 is not so great as to be relaxuig, nor is the winter 
 temperature so low as to affect even those of 
 feeble constitution. The mean annual temper- 
 ature of Floyd county, Georgia, is (JO.6 de- 
 grees, ranging from .59 to 02 The average for 
 winter is 44 and summer 78 ; spring and fall 01. 
 The range between maximum and minimum of 
 the year is 81 degrees. At St. Paul it is 132, 
 Denver 129, Cincinnati 118, Chicago 116. The 
 daily range of temperature is in spring 18, in 
 
 summer, autumn and winter 15, being less than 
 at any of the places just named. 
 
 The rains in this latitude are semi-tropical in 
 character. Drizzling weatlier is of rare occur- 
 rence. About two-thirds of the rainfall occurs 
 between dusk of one day and 8 a. ji. of the fol- 
 lowing morning, giving us a high average of 
 cloudless days. Tlius, Rome, Georgia, compared 
 with points in Minnesota and Dakota, noted for 
 their cloudless skies, gets twice as much rainfall, 
 but has a greater number of clear days. The 
 yearly average of rainfall ranges from 42 to 58 
 inches. This rainfall is well distributed through- 
 out the twelve montlis, so that this section never 
 suffers from drouth. There ai-e generally seven 
 months between the last and first killing frosts 
 of the year. 
 
It would be somewhat superfluous for us to 
 say people enjoy excellent health here. We 
 venture the assertion that in an assemblage of 
 the people of this section you will see a greater 
 proportion of broad-shouldered men and well- 
 rounded women than you ever saw before. At 
 all seasons of the year people can work out of 
 doors, and it is rare that ladies are kept at home 
 on account of the weather. Malaria is unknown 
 here. It is a well-known fact that yellow fever 
 and cholera patients have never been known to 
 infect in this climate. The exemption of the 
 inhabitants of this section from diseases of the 
 respiratory organs is proverbial. This is the 
 purest atmosphere recorded in the medical jour- 
 nals of America. 
 
 Allow us to quote the woi'ds of a physician of 
 forty years' experience and world-wide reputa- 
 tion : " The exemption from mortality which at- 
 tends the surgical oj)erations, the wonderful free- 
 dom from septic poison and the promptness and 
 kindness attending the healing process are re- 
 markable compared with the mortality attending 
 amputations in other parts North,West and South, 
 that is here nominal. The great discrepancy can 
 not be accounted for but in the extreme purity of 
 the atmosphere." 
 
 The swift-flowing and numerous rivers drain 
 the land, carrying off all organic growth that 
 would engender fever. Mortuary statistics show 
 that the mortality per thousand of tlie white 
 population is only 8.4 per annum, which is as 
 
good a record as can be shown Ijy any section in 
 the United States. 
 
 No surer test of the healthfuhiess of any lo- 
 cality can be found than that wliieh is afforded 
 by the physical a[)pearance of its inhabitants, 
 and especially the juvenile element. In tliis 
 respect Floyd county challenges comparison. 
 
 Surely nowhere else can one find a brighter gal- 
 axy of beauty than in the cluster of infantile 
 rosebuds given on the opposite page. Only a 
 glance at the chubby features and contented ex- 
 pressions of these dinipled dai'lings is needed to 
 shiiw that good health reigns supreme with the 
 pretty flock. 
 
SAMPLES OF FLOYD GOUNTY'S FINEST PRODUCTS. 
 
Zbc Cltijcnsbip ot tbe Countv. 
 
 In point of an honest, law-abiding, God-serving 
 citizenship, no community on the American con- 
 tinent can boast a higher standard than Floyd 
 county, Georgia. 
 
 The population of the rural districts is made 
 up of men and women the large majority of 
 whom have felt the influences of education and 
 refinement far above the average in similar con- 
 ditions of society elsewhere. 
 
 There never was a more unutterable fallacy 
 than that which has so frequently been dissem- 
 inated to our detriment abroad that our people 
 are coarse, ignorant and uncouth, and that the 
 lives and property of Northern people are unsafe 
 
 among them. On the very contrary, they are a 
 people who are honest, intelligent, generous and 
 hospitable, and if they err at all it is generally 
 on the other side, in allowing unprincipled people 
 to take advantage of them because of their trust- 
 fulness in their fellow-men. 
 
 They are a chureh-g-oiug, school-supporting 
 people, quiet and orderly, and the stranger who 
 conies among them is always treated with the 
 utmost kindness, consideration, respect and good- 
 fellowship. A Northern man who has lived here 
 five years, the only way you can distinguish him 
 from a native, is that he is just a little more of 
 an enthusiastic Georgian than those to the man- 
 ner born. 
 
 Nowhere in the Union does the spirit of pure 
 
Americanism prevail to the same extent that it 
 does in tlie South, and in our own particular 
 community it is prevalent to a degree that can 
 not but be most attractive to all who understand 
 and appreciate the beauty of our free institutions. 
 Let those who doubt these statements inves- 
 tigate for themselves. We are content to place 
 our people beside any in the world for intelli- 
 gence, sobriety, honesty and good citizenshii). 
 
 flDtncrals. 
 
 In addition to the many attractions Floyd 
 county possesses, none commend it more highly 
 than its varied and inexhaustible deposits of 
 minerals. No less than sixteen to twenty varie- 
 
 ties have been found. So far only a few have 
 been utilized or the deposits properly prospected 
 and opened up. 
 
 The following ores have been found within the 
 county limits : Brown and red iron ores, man- 
 ganese, bauxite, marble (variegated and black), 
 slate, limestone (extending fi'om Cave Spring en- 
 tirely aci'oss the county), cement rock, litho- 
 graphic stone, blown stone kaolin, ochre, brick 
 clay, bituminous shale, extensive iron pyrites, 
 gold, silver and lead. The deposits of the lirown 
 iron ores begin in the southwestern portion of the 
 county below Cave Spring and extend in a north- 
 eastern direction across it. Parallel with these 
 deposits lie the manganese, which at certain in- 
 tervals comes in contact with the iron ores. Thou- 
 
 10 
 
sands of tons of both iron and manganese ores 
 have been mined and shipped. The analyses of 
 these ores prove that there are none better. 
 
 The deposits of marble, both variegated and 
 black, have been prospected and tested, and 
 proven to be inexhaustible. The marble takes a 
 most beautiful polish, and is highly recommended 
 for all ornamental and building purposes. 
 
 The bauxite deposits have been opened, and 
 thousands of tons shipped. These deposits bid 
 fair to be the most important of all Floyd county 
 minerals, and furnaces have already been erected 
 for working tire ore. 
 
 Several of the other minerals exist in great 
 quantities, needing only skill and capital to de- 
 velop them into paying industries. 
 
 These mineral lands can be bought at this time 
 at nominal figures, except where mines have been 
 opened and ores shipped. 
 
 iForestrg. 
 
 Among the twenty-five to thirty varieties of 
 woods grown in the county will be found almost 
 every species known in the Southern States. 
 
 The oaks and pines predominate in quantity, 
 and are mostly used in buildings, furniture and 
 manufacturing of farming utensils, wagons, etc. 
 Large quantities of lumber of each of these val- 
 uable woods are annually shipped. 
 
 There are six varieties of oaks, viz. : Red, 
 white, mountain or chestnut, black, water and 
 
 11 
 
post oak, and two varieties of pine, the long and 
 slioit leaf. 
 
 Theve are thousands of acres yet of these val- 
 uable timbers to lie found in the county, and 
 which can be bought at reasonable prices. 
 
 In addition to the oaks and pines, are found 
 poplar, ash, beech, chestnut, hickory, elm, maple, 
 walnut, iron wood, sugar beriy, sycamore, sweet 
 gum, black gum, dog wood, persimmon, sassafras, 
 willow, wild cherry, redbiid, warhoo and cedar. 
 Many of these exist in large (piantities, and can 
 be utilized in the manufacture of furniture and 
 hard-wood finish for dwellings. 
 
 Nearly all these varieties are easily dressed 
 and take a most beautiful finish. 
 
 Stoch IRatstno. 
 
 Among- the conspicuous industries of this 
 county is that of stock raising. To this profit- 
 able business less attention has been paid than is 
 warranted by inducements which the section 
 offers to the intelligent stock grower. Cotton 
 and other staples have attracted the attention of 
 planters to the exclusion of the more profitable 
 crops of the grasses. Near the city of Rome, 
 one planter, a year or two since, cu one field of 
 clover containing forty acres, and the plant was 
 an average of three feet in height, and the field 
 produced two hundred tons of ha', . This is an 
 indication of what can be done along this line. 
 
 12 
 
The early springs and late falls are great fac- 
 tors in the production of cheap stock. The grass 
 grows fresh and green until December, and early 
 in March the tender hlades begin to offer tempt- 
 ing food foi- the stock that have Vieen under shel- 
 ter for the three winter months. 
 
 The various native grasses here are numerous 
 and exceedingly well adapted both to the pur- 
 poses of grazing and of hay-making. Orchard 
 grass may be grazed for eleven months of the 
 year, and the clover crop may be cut three times 
 annually. 
 
 Bairinng. 
 
 Geographically, Floyd county is unsurpassed 
 as a dairy section. It is watered by three rivers 
 
 that rise in the heart f)f the Blue Ridge and 
 Alleghany ranges of mountains. Here are nu- 
 mei-ous creeks and ever-flowing springs, that 
 mark on the thermometer 58 to 6'2 degrees, 
 witli a mean temperature of 0(1.4 degrees, any 
 number of indigenous grasses, and lime enough 
 in the soil to grow to perfection the cultivated 
 grasses of the more northern States. 
 
 There is an aroma in the butter made here 
 that equals that of the celelirated Genesee Val- 
 ley, of New York. The cheeses are equal to the 
 best whole creams made at Elgin or elsewhere. 
 The possibilities of successful dairying are com- 
 mensurate with the amount of energy and enter- 
 prise put forth in the business. 
 
 As to soiling crops, rye and crimson clover 
 
 13 
 
■<^ 
 
 ^- r^ '■ i^f 
 
 GOOSA FARM HERD OFdERSEY CATTLE, G. AND P. NIXON. PROPRIETORS. ROME, GEORGIA. 
 
sown in September, oats in August, September 
 and October, rye again in October and Novem- 
 ber, will give a succession of cuttings from first 
 of March until middle of May. Early in March 
 corn can be planted, followed the middle of the 
 month with amljer cane, succeeded by more corn 
 and cow peas, golden-top sorghum, patches of 
 orchard grass, meadow oats and red clover. This 
 system, kejit up, will carry your herd from March 
 to killing frost. For winter feeding, ensilage, 
 aided by cotton-seed meal, wheat bran and corn 
 meal, cows can be econominally fed. Our lands 
 grow the following indigenous grasses, unsur- 
 passed singly or combined : Bermuda, Johnson, 
 crab, perennial paspalum (one of the best), an- 
 nual or drop-seed paspalum, that comes up in 
 
 June and remains green until frost, the brown 
 grass, Japan clover, native red top foxtail, and 
 many others that fill in the season. 
 
 Facilities for shipping are unequaled. Systems 
 of railroads and rivers penetrate to all important 
 inland and seaport cities. Ice can be stored in 
 winter, and the winters that are too mild it can 
 be procured in the city of Rome at very low 
 rates for factory purposes. 
 
 The popular breeds of dairy cows are : Jerseys 
 and their grades, Ayershires and their grades. 
 These breeds combine all that is necessary for 
 butter and cheese. As to healthfulness of dairy 
 cows, we could not ask more. Tuberculosis, thai 
 dread disease, is unknown. Taking everything 
 into consideration, geographically, topographi- 
 cally, temperature, fertility of soil, abundance of 
 
 15 
 
pure water, unequaled facilities for shipjiing, 
 Floyd county is indeed blessed as are few spots 
 on this carlli, and is surely the "Banner County 
 of the Enii)ii-e State of the South." 
 
 Jfruit Culture. 
 
 'i'he great abundance and variety of wild fruits 
 growing spontaneously and profusely in our for- 
 ests, fields and roadsides, demonstrate the natu- 
 ral advantages of our coiuity to fruit raising. 
 \VitliiH our bdiuids can lie found locations where 
 can be grown successfully every variety of decid- 
 uous fruits indigenous to the temperate zone. 
 The uinisual size, high coloring and delicious 
 flavor has given the fruits of our section a great 
 
 reputation in the markets, and has demonstrated 
 to the \\()rld our superior advantages for fruit 
 growing. The fi'uits grown on the ridges or ele- 
 vated table lands of our section have been pro- 
 nounced by the highest authorities to be the 
 most beautiful and highly-colored specimens they 
 have ever seen. One reason for the high coloring 
 of our fruits is the presence of iron in the soil. 
 This series of table lands also enjoy an immu- 
 nity from spiing frosts, and peaches and all other 
 fruits are as sure a crop as anywhere in our 
 country. There are splendid openings for com- 
 mercial fruit growing for the production of ap- 
 ples, peaches, pears, plums, grapes and small 
 fruits. For early apples we have the markets of 
 the North and West. For later apples we have 
 
 16 
 
the holiday and winter trade in all the cities 
 south of us, in the gulf region, where apples can 
 not be successfully grown. Our early peaches 
 come into market long in advance of the North- 
 ern fruits, and always bring remunerative prices. 
 The bulk of our peach crop comes into market 
 after the rush from middle Georgia and before 
 the Delaware crop, and owing to this fact and 
 tlie superior excellence and beauty of our fruit, 
 always l)riiigs the liighest prices. 
 
 Then, as regards ti'ansportation, we are much 
 nearer tJU' central markets than the great peach 
 region of central anil southern Georgia, so that 
 we save in time and expense of transportation. 
 
 Any one who will take the pains to investigate 
 tile ailaptation of our section to fruit gr )wing in 
 
 all its branches, will be convinced that it is pre- 
 eminently suited to the fruit industry. 
 
 TTrucft 3farmincj. 
 
 'I'his is an industry that has sprung up in our 
 section in the past few years, and now has as- 
 sumed large proportions. Our climate and soil 
 are particularly adapted to it. 
 
 We begin to plant in August, sowing onion 
 seed, which are transplanted in October, and the 
 following spring develop into tine onions, oi' they 
 grow neaily all winter. A good many gardeners 
 plant out early cabbage in October, and they 
 usually stand the wiiiter. Greens of all kinds, 
 
as well as lettuce, are planted in October. Let- 
 tuce can be easily forced, in a cold frame, for 
 market by Christmas. Peas are planted in early 
 February, also Irish potatoes, and then follows 
 the other vegetables in regular succession. Po- 
 tatoes planted in February can be dug in June, 
 sprouted in a trench and then replanted and 
 make a line second crop in September. Sti'aw- 
 berries make a fine yield. Planted in August, 
 they get a firm root before cold weather, and 
 give an abundant yield the following spring. 
 One patch of ten acres yielded and shipped 1,850 
 crates in a season, all fine fruit. Early cabbage 
 mature in May and reach fine heads. Celery can 
 be grown witli success, if irrigated. It can be 
 raised to reach thirty inches. Heans can be 
 
 raised in succession every month fi-om March to 
 October, using the matured seed to replant. 
 Our summers are not hot enough to burn up 
 * vegetation, and our rains ai-e usually copious and 
 well distributed thiough the season. 
 
 IRoaCs. 
 
 Floyd county is justly noted for lier good 
 roads. We liave the finest macadamized roads 
 in tlie .State, leading from the city in all direc- 
 tions. 
 
 There are now completed more than seventy- 
 six miles of the road, built of hard limestone 
 and marble, of easy grade and thoroughly 
 
 18 
 
STREET SGENE DURING COTTON SEASON. 
 
(li'iiiiifil. Thesf mads have lieeii huilt liy convict 
 labor, :in(l aie l)eiiig added to at the late of one 
 mile per month. The average cost per mile is 
 *l, 0(1(1. \Viih tliis splendid system of macad- 
 amize<l I'oads, travel and transportation to and 
 from K'ome lieconie easy and pleasant at all 
 seasons of the year. It is the policy of the 
 county aiithoi'ities to continue this system of 
 load-iiuilding. Tliey fully appieciate the im- 
 l)ortance of good roads to a community, and are 
 determined to keep Flnyd county in the van of 
 progress and fully abreast of the times on this 
 important subject. 
 
 Cost ot Xivina. 
 
 In leference to the cost of living it may be 
 safely affirmed that the necessities and lu.\uries 
 of life are to Ije obtained here at a rate as low, 
 and in many cases lower, than in any other sec- 
 tion of our country. Almost everything for the 
 table is cheap here, for the simple reason that 
 the land produces abundantly almost everything 
 that can l)e grown in the temperate zone, thus 
 enabling the farmer to make the cost of a well 
 and variously supplied table very small, and the 
 resident of a town or city, by buying judiciously, 
 can live as well here and for less money than in 
 almost any other locality. 
 
 Owing to the large supplies of lumber and its 
 
 so 
 
cheapness, and tlie t;iuility with which hiick eaii 
 1)6 mamifrtctured, Imildings of all kinds can lie 
 constructed cheaply'. 
 
 The mildness of the climate also lessens many 
 expenses, snch as large supplies of coal for win- 
 ter. The climate [ilavs an important part in the 
 expenses for wearing a|)[iarel. The fanner can 
 woi'k in his shirt sleeves almost the entire year, 
 needing only a coat in the cooler seasons of the 
 year. 'I'liere is anotiier feature in the cost of 
 living hei-e not genei'ally ]-ecognized, but which 
 enters very materially into the question. So far 
 as the farmer is concerned, he is not required to 
 house his stock for six months of the year. 
 Thereby he saves not only the expense of laying 
 in fodder, but the labor of taking care of his 
 
 stock during the entire winter months, and in 
 addition to this he does not have the expense of 
 providing a large and costly barn for the comfort 
 of his stock. 
 
 WLb's Besirablc for H^omc Seeftcrs. 
 
 As a place for home seekers there is no spot in 
 the country superior to Floyd county. Blest 
 with the purest ozone from the wind-swept 
 hills, ample springs of clear, cool, health-giving 
 water, blue skies and radiant sunshine, it is the 
 ideal home place of the sunny South. 
 
 Those in search of picturesque home sites 
 have a varied abundance from which to choose — 
 hill and dale, mountain slope and river side, wood 
 
 31 
 
and field — all spread nut like a paiioraiiui, invit- 
 ing the home seeker to stay his wanderings and 
 find rest and repose. 
 
 The climate is such that tlie home may l)e 
 surrounded by an endless variety of shrnlis and 
 flowers, there being only a few weeks in the year 
 when flowers are not lilooniing in tiie open air. 
 The temperate winds and regular rainfall insure 
 the growth of ornamental trees, vines and shrub- 
 bery. 
 
 In the matter of convenience to schools and 
 churches, the county offers the strongest induce- 
 ments, there being located at short intervals 
 throughout the length and breadth of the county 
 
 commodious houses and well-conducted schools 
 and churches with large congregations. 
 
 The public roads of the county render inter- 
 course among neighbors an easy and agreeable 
 matter, and the journey to the marl^et town or 
 tlie railway station is rendered a delight instead 
 of a dread. 
 
 The warm-hearted generosity, intelligence, 
 morality and open-handed hospitality add the 
 crowning attraction to Floyd as a place for those 
 in search of homes surrounded by home com- 
 forts, and in these particulars this grand old 
 community stands unchallenged. 
 
 sa 
 
SCENE AT ROME OIL MILL. 
 
IROtllC. Othei' lands may boast tlieir Iroiiliies, 
 
 Vai/udus vaj^aries of art. 
 
 Kiianleil by tliy mighty mountains, Nature needs no straining stroj.lies 
 
 .Softly tor.ed by suii and shade. To reveal tliy golden liearl : 
 
 Watered by thy tlnwing lounlains \,i,l j,„|,.ljl,ly recnrrled 
 
 Flashiii!. Iliroiigli each glen and glade, i,, eacli love-illumiiu.l lomr, 
 
 I'wined amid tliy winding rivers. ].-,e^. f,.o,„ e^.y,.y instinct sordid 
 
 Mirroicd ill tlieir sliiiiing foam. Shii es thy story, radiant Honie! 
 Where thy g!o%viiig splendor ijiiivers. 
 
 Star.dest tlioii, imiierial Rome! 
 
 Fertile fields and fiimzy fallows, 
 lireezy banks whtre violets blow. 
 
 Fragrant Hags anil mrsky mallows 
 Framed i;i drowsy drejis below. 
 
 Pi ai-e ai.d jilenty reign around thee, 
 
 I )n tliy liliMiin embroidered slopes, i. . . -u i i 
 
 ^ I'ntenl jnogress gilds each dome 
 
 I'irtnred iiliins and verihiiH xalkys 
 
 Flnshrd with glorious, harvest hope 
 lilitbe till' balmv breeze that dallies 
 
 Opulent with promise s|iringing 
 From tlie freshly-furrowed loam. 
 
 .Inbilaiit the joy bells ringing 
 On thy hills, resplendent liomel 
 
 Wbeie fliy stihvart sons have crowned thee 
 liealined in lirhes. regal Rome! 
 
 24 
 
Tlicrr may each wayfaring straii<;er, 
 
 Free as falls the suininer dew, 
 MeiKued by no dread or dangei', 
 
 Find a welcome warm and true: 
 Frio to share in all thy treasures 
 
 And to find in thee a home, 
 Peace pursue and plenteous pleasui'es 
 
 In thy precincts, prosperous Romel 
 
 Sriirdy sons and star-eyed daughters 
 
 Blend their songs of hope and joy, 
 Sweet as sound of falling waters 
 
 liusied with each sweet employ: 
 Sliiulowy woodlands, liistory-haiinted. 
 
 Where each fancied nymph and gnome 
 Lon'^T thy varied ch;irms have vaunted. 
 
 IJomc. inromparalih' l.'ome! 
 
 Ube CiU: ot IRome. 
 
 Rome is the capital of Floyd county, and tlie 
 principal city of t^herokee Geoigia. It is the 
 coninierciiil center nf the most attractive and 
 progressive section of the industrial .South. It 
 has a population of 15,0(io souls, and is ste;i(lily 
 increasing in wealth, numbers and commercial 
 importance. 
 
 The location of liome is ideal. Nature in- 
 tended that a great city should rest on the 
 foundations where Home sits. The sf)il, climate, 
 minerals, limliers, water and drainage furnished 
 by nature for the situation of itorae, give it ad- 
 vantages that few cities of the United vStates 
 possess. 
 
 25 
 
The rivers ot Rome add much to its beauty 
 and commercial importance. The winding Eto- 
 wah comes gliding in from the southeast, through 
 fertile valleys and undulating fields, to meet, at 
 the very base of Rome, the rippling Oostanaula, 
 that flows in from the northeast through tangled 
 forests and sloping grass lands; and these two, 
 mingling their waters, make the magnificent 
 Coosa, that moves majestically away to the 
 southwest, carrying on its bosom much of tlie 
 commerce of tliis splendid section, and finding 
 its way, through the Alabama, to the Gulf. 
 
 On the many picturesque bills that rise and 
 find their way to the water's edge, at the point 
 where the Etowah and Oostanaula unite, modern 
 Rome sits enthroned, compact and beautiful. 
 
 progressive and full of energy, gaining surely 
 and steadily every year in population and com- 
 mercial importance. 
 
 As the lines of progress have developed, the 
 peninsula between the rivers has overflowed with 
 people, and the tide of population has swept 
 across these w-aters, until now, on their opposite 
 banks, but all connected to the city by splendid 
 iron bridges, are the populous siaburbs of East 
 liome. South Rome (now the Fifth wai'd), and 
 West Home, all natural feeders to the city and 
 adding constantly to its trade and growth. 
 
 lioine is the geographical center of the indus- 
 trial Soutli. Take a railroad map of the South, 
 and place one end of a compass on Rome as a 
 center and the other upon Birmingham, sweep 
 
 aa 
 
the magic circle, and you have almost the full 
 tervitovy of the new industrial South ; that sec- 
 tion whose magical development, matchless re- 
 sources and splendid prospects have excited, 
 within the past decade, the attention and ad- 
 miration of the world. 
 
 Within this charmed and charming circle clus- 
 ter the splendid cities of Knoxville, Cleveland, 
 Chattanooga, Dalton, Gadsden, Birmingham, 
 Selma, Anniston, Macon and Atlanta, and many 
 other growing and aggressive towns, with match- 
 less and unmeasured agricultural and mineral 
 riches and possibilities in every clambering hill 
 and smiling valley in the country that surrounds 
 them. 
 
 Of all this splendid region, Rome is the nat- 
 
 ural and commercial center, and is in quick and 
 easy touch with every point by rail or river. 
 Whatever of wealth lies in the soil and air and 
 water of these surroundings and tributaries, 
 nmst necessarily be found in richer quality and 
 greater abundance near this central heart, Rome. 
 And that this is true is attested by indisputable 
 proofs and by the confession of them all. The 
 blue ribbon of superiority has been so freely and 
 so frequently awarded to Rome's own county of 
 Floyd, when in competition with other counties 
 of the State, that further proof or argument is 
 but needless waste of time. A volume might 
 not say more. 
 
 It only remains to say that the splendid city of 
 Rome is worthy of such a location and such sur- 
 
 27 
 
loundings. She is rising to her full stature to 
 meet and embrace the oppoi-tunities that confront 
 her. She is moving with steady and unfaltering- 
 step to the greater prosperity of the near future. 
 Her foundations for success are as sure as the 
 iiills about her and (in which slie so firmly sits. 
 Iler jieople are intelligent, progressive and patri- 
 otic; hei- climate is unitnrni, temperate and de- 
 lightful; her society is cultured, refined and hos- 
 pitable; her health is well-nigh perfect, her 
 schools are the best, and her churches ciown 
 almost every hill. 
 
 'J'he honest home seeker can find no better 
 land than this. It is such a place as Moses de- 
 scribed to the hesitating Israelites in the wilder- 
 ness, when they were pining for the melons and 
 
 flesh pots of Egypt: "A good land; a land of 
 brooks, of waters, of fountains and <leptbs that 
 spring out of valleys and hills: a land nf wheat 
 and barley and vines and fig trees and p(iiiu_'graii- 
 ates; a land of oil olive and honey: a land of 
 coin, and wine and oil, that drinketh water of 
 the rain of heaven; a land which <;od caret li 
 for and sendeth the rain in his season; a land 
 wherein thou shalt eat bread without scarceness; 
 a land whose stones are iron and out of whose 
 hills thou mayest dig brass." 
 
 Already the tide is setting this way. Already 
 the South is feeling the thi-obbings of a ]]e^\' life. 
 Already enterprising ca[>ital from the East has 
 found us out, and tlie splendid jilant of the Mas- 
 sachusetts Cotton -Mills is rearing its walls in 
 
 28 
 
sight of Rome. Our hills beckon and our valleys 
 smile a welcome. The sunshine falls cheerily on 
 abundant harvests and the over-arching skies 
 give blessing and benediction. The message we 
 send out to the home seeker is, " Ccmie, and we 
 will do you good!" 
 
 IRome's mUbolcsale anC IRctail /iDarftets. 
 
 Rome, the commercial center of Northwest 
 Georgia, ranks among cities of twice her size 
 as a wholesale market. TJiere are a number of 
 reasons why this should lie, and it is not strange 
 that we rank so hiah in the world of trade. Geo- 
 
 graphically situated in the center of as magnifi- 
 cent an agricultural center as exists, Wome has 
 for years been the marketing place of the prod- 
 ucts of the fields. This l)rings in close touch the 
 merchants in the smaller towns an mud us, and it 
 is but natural that tliey should piefer to do Inisi- 
 ness here. .And, on a strictly business basis, they 
 find it greatly to their advantage. 
 
 liome has eight shipping outlets, and has as 
 low freight rates as any other city, and buying 
 and manufacturing goods as cheajily as it can l)e 
 done, it has been found that Rome houses can 
 compete with tliose of any city. That they do 
 this successfully is proven l)y ihe big trade that 
 has been built up over North Georgia and into 
 Tennessee and Alabama. This is done in all lines 
 
 •29 
 
of goods, and some specialties mainifactniert here 
 find tlieii' way all over the country. 
 
 As a wholesale market in all lines Rome can 
 not be excelled. Jobbing houses here buy in as 
 large lots as do those of larger cities, and in what 
 is known as IJome's territory, have more reason 
 and incentive to sell at closer profits than houses 
 at a distance. They are better able to do so, as 
 it is less expensive for them to reach the trade. 
 
 As a cotton market, Koine lias no rival in all 
 this section. F'rom over one hundred nules cot- 
 ton is brought here in wagons. The planters 
 realize that they get the best market jirice for 
 their cotton, and, indeed, for all of their products. 
 Then, while our wholesale market is attractinff 
 
 the merchants, as a i-etail market no city is supe- 
 rior. Farmers naturally want the highest mar- 
 ket price for theii- [)rodncts, lint want the money 
 they receive to go as far as possible in purchas- 
 ing what they need. IJotli of these advantages 
 ai-e found in lionic and in all lines goods are re- 
 tailed at prices that cari not be lowered liy the 
 merchants of any other market. 
 
 In addition to this, lionie's merchants have a 
 well-deserved leputation for hospitality and good 
 will. There are no nioie honest or clever mer- 
 cliants to lie found tlian those of Home, and it is 
 lint natural that their friends and patrons and 
 their teiritory should continually increase. 
 
 30 
 
NEW POST-OFFIGE, ROME, GEORGIA. 
 
/IDanutactiucs. 
 
 Floyd county presents unusual advantages to 
 niaiiufactui-ers, there being several undeveloped 
 water powei's in the county. The following list 
 of factories in or near Ifome give an idea of the 
 development in this line already, and it is well 
 known that it is better to locate new enterprises 
 where others have finuul conditions favorable 
 and profitable: 
 
 J. A. J)ale — Guano factory. 
 
 Bowie it Terhune — Manufactuie stoves, grates, 
 hollow-ware, etc. Employ thirty to forty hands. 
 Pay-roll ?i!4U0 to StidO per week. t<hip their prod- 
 ucts to North Carolina, South Carolina, (Georgia, 
 Floriaa, Alabama, llississippi, Louisiana, Texas. 
 
 Electric Power Company. 
 
 Excelsior Nurseries — Employ from forty to 
 fifty hands. Have 400 salesmen on the road. 
 Trade extends to almost everj' State in the 
 United States. 
 
 Foster's Ginnery and Mill — Have four gins, 
 with a capacity of thirty bales cotton per day. 
 
 Gailock Packing Company — Manufacture all 
 kinds of packing for engines. 'J'heir shipments 
 cover the entire South. 
 
 Georgia Cotton Oil Company, liome Mill — 
 Manufacture cotton-seed oil meal and hulls, and 
 have capacity to crush ninety tons cotton seed 
 per day. Employ eighty hands during season. 
 
 J. A. (ieorge Foundry and Machine Work.s — 
 Employ from twelve to twenty hands. Do a 
 
 32 
 
regular foundry and machine shop business. 
 Their shipments embrace the following States : 
 Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennes- 
 see, Kentucky and Texas. 
 
 Loeb's Water Mills — Has a capacity of 300 
 bushels meal and grits per day. 
 
 Massachusetts Mills, in Georgia — Capital stock 
 $600,000, employing 600 operatives. Have 30,- 
 000 spindles and 1,036 looms. 
 
 O'Neill Manufacturing Company — Manufacture 
 flooring, ceiling, moulding, stairs, mantels, sash, 
 doors and blinds, and ship to Virginia, West 
 Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama 
 and Georgia. Employ sixty to eighty hands 
 manufacturing sash, doors, blinds, flooring, 
 moulding, stairs, etc. 
 
 Rome Chemical Company — Employ fifty hands. 
 Capacity 8,000 to 10,000 tons phosphate and am- 
 raoniated guano per season. Ship to Georgia, 
 Alabama and Tennessee. 
 
 Rome City Mills — Capacity 400 bushels meal 
 per day. Also do custom grinding. 
 
 Rome Compress Company — Have eighty-inch 
 cylinder Morse Tyler press. Compress annually 
 60,000 to 100,000 bales cotton. 
 
 Rome Cotton Factory — Manufacture cotton 
 duck and wrapping twine. Ship to almost every 
 State in the Union; also to China, Japan and 
 South America. 
 
 Rome Foundry and Machine Works — Man- 
 ufacture Davis water wheel, and do a general 
 foundry and machine shop business. 
 
 33 
 
Rome Furniture ISIanufacturing Company- 
 Make a specialty of fine oak furniture, both 
 plain and quartered oak. Employ 100 hands. 
 Ship to every New England State and all South- 
 ern States. Pay-roll 8650 per week. 
 
 Rome Ice Company— Have a Boyles machine 
 of fifteen -tons capacity. 
 
 Rome Iron Company — Manufacture charcoal 
 pig iron and have a capacity of forty-five tons 
 per day. Employ fifty hands. 
 
 Rome Rolling Mill Company. 
 
 Rome Steam Tannery — Capacity 15,000 hides 
 per year. Employ twenty-five hands. Pay-roll 
 $225 per week. Make 600,000 pounds belting 
 leather annually, grading with the best in the 
 United States. 
 
 Rome Mattress Factory — Capacity twenty- 
 five mattresses per day. 
 
 Standard Scale Company — Manufacture plat- 
 form, wagon and railroad scales and full line of 
 trucks. Shipments to all the Southern States. 
 
 Towers & Sullivan ^Manufacturing Company^ 
 Manufacture plows, steel goods and cultivators. 
 Employ 125 to 150 hands. Weekly pay-roll 
 1500 to 8550. Ship to all the Southern States. 
 
 Towers Excelsior and Ginning Company — Em- 
 ploy ten men during ginning season. Capacity 
 forty bales per day. 
 
 Wardlaw Mattress Company — Capacity twenty- 
 five mattresses per day. 
 
 The following are in Floyd county, outside of 
 Rome: John C. Foster, mill and ginnery; S. S. 
 
 34 
 
ROME STOUE WORKS, BOWIE & TERHUNE, PROPRIETORS.- 
 
Johnson, mill iind ginnery ; M. A. Wimpee, flour- 
 ing mill and ginnery ; G. J. Briant, flouring mill 
 and ginnery ; Jones' Mill, flouring mill and gin- 
 nery ; Echols' Mill, flouring mill and ginnery ; 
 Rounsaville ct Bro., mill and excelsior works ; 
 John Iviee, mill and ginnery; Barnett's Mill, 
 mill and'gmnery; Barnetl's Lower Mill, mill 
 and ginnery; Crayton's Mill, flouring mill and 
 ginnery; Chubb's Mill, flouring mill and ginnery ; 
 Harper & Carroll, mill and ginnery; J. B. Porter, 
 mill and ginnery; H. C. Johnson, mill and gin- 
 nery ; Dr. Jeffreys, mill and ginnery; Seaborn 
 Wright, mill and ginnery; A. P. Pedmond, mill 
 and ginnery ; Alie Redmond, mill and ginnery. 
 
 IRome as a iPoint for /IDanufacturtng. 
 
 The city of Rome has advantages for manu- 
 facturing second to no city in the South. When 
 we consider its geographical position in the State, 
 its transportation facilities, its mild and healthy 
 climate, its abundance of raw material, its water 
 supply to furnish all kinds of plants what they 
 need and require, its good city government, its 
 well and kindly disposed population — the whites 
 largely predominating — we may say that we are 
 justified in declaring that Rome's advantages and 
 facilities for manufacturing all the great staple 
 products, as well as for the location of the 
 smaller industries, are unsurpassed. 
 
 The city of Rome is situated in Floyd county. 
 
 36 
 
$OUTHERN FERTILIZER COMPANY'S WORKS. ROME, GEORGIA. 
 
Georgia, between the Oostanaula and Etowah, 
 and at the confluence of these rivers, seventy 
 miles soiitli of Chattanooga, sixty miles north- 
 west of x\thvnta, and sixty miles north of Annis- 
 ton, Alabama, in the northwestern part of the 
 State, twenty miles from the Alabiinia line, and 
 at the head of navigation on tlie Coosa river. 
 
 Tliis river is navigable for one hundred and 
 eighty miles, down to (Jreenspoit in Alabama, 
 and the work of opening it to navigation is 
 nearly completed to tiie Ten Island shoals, and 
 will ultimately be entirely completed by the 
 United States government to Wetum[)ka, Ala- 
 l)ama. This will open this stream from Kometo 
 Mobile for the passage of steamers. The Coosa 
 has lieen navigable since the settlement of the 
 
 country by a regular line of boats as far as 
 Greensport, running as regularly the year around 
 as on any river in the South, bringing to Uome 
 the productions of the Coosa valley, consisting 
 of lumber, iron, grain, cotton and all ]n'0(Uictions 
 of the Coosa valley. 
 
 'I'he Odstanaula is navigal)le one hundred and 
 twenty miles, as far as Carter's landing in Whit- 
 held county. 'I'he lioats on this river also bi'ing 
 to Home all the staple productions of the Oos- 
 tanaula valley. Also large quantities of wabuU, 
 poplai' and oak lumber. 
 
 In the way of railroa-l trans[iortation. there 
 are eight lines entering and passing through 
 liome. The Xasliville, Chattanooga and St. 
 Ltaiis Comes in from Kingston on the east by 
 
 38 
 
■*sw^ 
 
 k\eCv^Aii^-<<e£i- 
 
 ROME BRICK WORKS. 
 
the old lioine Kailn.art route, giving a connection 
 to Atlanta on the south by the Western and At- 
 lantic, and by the same to Chattanooga on the 
 north. The Southern Railroad comes through 
 Rome, giving a connection on the north to Chat- 
 tanooga and all points in the northwest, to East 
 Tennessee and all points noitheast, embracing 
 New York, Philadelphia and Washington City. 
 
 The Southern Railroad divides at Rome, the 
 Georgia division going to Atlanta, Macon, Bruns- 
 wick and Savannah and all points in Florida. 
 The Alabama division beginning at Rome con- 
 nects with lines at Anniston to Montgomery and 
 Mobile, and direct on to Selma, i\Ieridian, ^'ieks- 
 burg. New Orleans and all jxiints south and west. 
 
 The Chattanooga, Rome and Columbus con- 
 
 nects with the Central of Georgia, giving direct 
 communication with Savannah and all points 
 south and to Florida. It (the Chattanooga, 
 Rome and Columbus) passes through Rome 
 north to Chattanooga, there connecting with all 
 the lines entering from the north and northwest. 
 
 The Rome and Decatur (Alabama), now ope- 
 rated by the Southern Railroad, comes up the 
 valley of the Coosa from Attalla and Gadsden, 
 Alabama, bringing all the raw material and 
 products of the country from the north side of 
 the Coosa valley. 
 
 On the west side of the city the Rome and 
 Decatur and Chattanooga, Rome and Columbus 
 are parallel for three or four miles. 
 
 The Chattanooga, Rome and Columbus and 
 
 40 
 
ROME IRON FURNACE. 
 
the (ieo)gia and iMabiiina divisions of the South- 
 ern are also parallel fur the same distance. On 
 the south side, the old Itonie Railroad and the 
 Southern are parallel for two miles. This paral- 
 lel, detailed as to these different lines, gives very 
 superior advantages in the location of manufac- 
 turing plants for the securing of convenient 
 transportation and the benefits of competition in 
 freight rates. 
 
 It will he seen that such a statement of trans- 
 portation advantages is almost unequaled by any 
 one place in the country. 
 
 Our climate is mild, healthy and salubi'ious. 
 No loss of time need be had on account of ex- 
 cessive heat fir ccld. 
 
 The wiiter can state that Rome is unsurpassed 
 
 in the healthfulness of its situation. After a res- 
 idence of nearly forty years, he is able to give 
 the strongest testimony to the truth of this 
 statement. 
 
 In raw material subject to manufacture we 
 have, first, cotton, receiving at this point from 
 eighty to one hundred thousand bales annually, 
 grown within a radius of seventy-five miles from 
 the city of Rome, much of which is produced 
 in the immediate vicinity of Rome, and ginned 
 within the city and suburbs. Cotton mills lo- 
 cated at this point have the opportunity to buy 
 cotton in the seed, and where they are engaged 
 in the production of fine fabrics, spinning the 
 cotton directly from the gin located within the 
 mills, thus saving ten or fifteen per cent, in bag- 
 
 42 
 
STANDARD SCALE WORKS, ROME, GEORGIA. 
 
ging and ties, on waste cotton, smeared and 
 caked. This is very advantageous, and has been 
 very profitable to mills located in this vicinity. 
 
 The quality of the cotton produced in Floyd 
 and adjoininsi counties is of superior length and 
 strength of fiber, coming out of a large boll, 
 double the size compared with cotton grown on 
 ordinary ujjlauds, owing to the fertility of our 
 valleys. 
 
 Liverpool buyers have been known to make 
 offeis in advance at the highest price for such 
 and such a man's crop, gi'own in the Coosa valley. 
 This indicates the value placed upon the staple 
 grown in this section by sjjinners abroad. 
 
 Numberless sites are available in the suburbs 
 of Rome with the conveniences of transportation 
 
 and water supply for the erection of cotton mills 
 with an illimitable number of spindles and looms, 
 particularly for the finer fabrics. 
 
 All the mills located in this section have been 
 eminently successful and profitable to all who 
 have invested in them. Labor is cheap, expenses 
 of living as low as anywhere in the United States, 
 everything favorable to the health and happiness 
 of a manufacturing population. 
 
 We know of no city in the United States which 
 can offer better advantages and facilities in the 
 manufacture of cotton into all its products than 
 Rome and Floyd county. 
 
 In the manufacture of iron and steel we are 
 supplied right at our doors with illimitable beds 
 of iron ore of several varieties, lean in phosi^ho- 
 
 44 
 
!'.. S'fi!?** 
 
 tS,^:. ji ) 
 
 ^>i 
 
 ^■'" " "^5(f*^T*;->:''.V''?o;'>'-'-'.-^-> 
 
 .M 
 
 #■■' 
 ■^^"T^^^'- 
 
 "r"*" -,7« 
 
 
 .-J^fekv 
 
 * Liia^'^ 
 
 CTtatr:>".tM#Mt 
 
 .«W^# 
 
 SHORTER COLLEGE, ROME, GEORGIA. 
 
rons, limestone close l)y and along side of the 
 ore for fluxing, charcoal furnished in almndance 
 at five and three-fourth cents per bushel, deliv- 
 ered, for making car- wheel and fine soft bar iron. 
 One large furnace in the suburbs of Rome is in 
 operation, and never stopped during the panic. 
 A number of other furnaces have been in opera- 
 tion off and on for years in our immediate vicin- 
 ity, so that the very best quality of \ng iron is 
 sold in Rome for any purpose as cheap as any- 
 where in the United States. For the use of large 
 plants in the manufacture of cotton, iron, steel, 
 or for use in any other industry, coal for steam 
 can be and is laid down in Rome at from $1.50 
 to $1.80 per ton; so we are all right, and down 
 with the lowest on cheap fuel. 
 
 We have an abundance of all kinds of lumber. 
 Pine from -^o to §10 per thousand and oak from 
 *7 to $12. 
 
 Oui- furniture factories and i)laning mills are 
 all doing a fine business. There is no better 
 point for car building than can be found hei-e 
 with us. Ij.iuxite is found in great quantities in 
 Floyd, Polk and Bartow counties — more in these 
 thi-ee counties than any section in the United 
 States. This is the place of all others for the 
 manufacture, cheaply, of the new metal alum- 
 inum, alumiiuim steel and the salts of alumina. 
 Too nuieh can not be said of this growing indus- 
 try, and the profit to our farmers at their leisure 
 time in mining the bauxite and shipping it to 
 distant points. Marble is found in quantities all 
 
 46 
 
over the county of beautiful variegated varieties, 
 as has been proven at our State fairs in the past. 
 
 A splendid system of water works, supplied 
 by water pumped from the Oostanaula to the 
 reservoir on the top of Fort Jackson hill gives 
 an abundant supply for all purposes for several 
 miles around. This is one of Rome's boasted 
 advantages, particularly in connection with her 
 splendid fire department. 
 
 A fertile soil, cheap living, tine public schools, 
 a kindly disposed, generous, hospitable and easy- 
 to-get-along-wilh people, all combine to make 
 Ivome and its vicinity unsurpassed for the loca- 
 tion of the plants and manufactories of small 
 industries too numerous to mention. 
 
 The Etowali river, which unites at Rome with 
 
 the Oostanaula, forming the Coosa, furnishes im- 
 mense water power, which can be cheaply util- 
 ized, there being plenty of cheap available ma- 
 terial for construction. This stream can also be 
 relied upon for constancy of supply throughout 
 the year. There are several shoals within a few 
 miles of liome, beginning in the incorporate 
 limits of the city, from which a selection could 
 be made. A thoroughly competent and reliable 
 engineer estimates that on any of these shoals, 
 a dam of fifteen feet at lowest water would 
 afford 2,400 horse power, offering extra induce- 
 ments for any one desiring to invest in anything 
 of this kind. 
 
 Scores of ideal sites for manufacturing enter- 
 prises of every kind can be found along the val- 
 
 47 
 
ley of Silver Creek, adjacent to the city. On it 
 is already located two flouring mills, an iron 
 furnace, chemical works, steam tannery, and the 
 Massachusetts Cotton Mills, in Georgia. This 
 region is destined, ere long, to be a manufactur- 
 ing center. 
 
 A fairer land the sun never shone upon. 
 
 With all these God-given blessings and ad- 
 vantages, we invite any and all who wish to find 
 a living and a home to come hither and see for 
 themselves the proof of these statements. 
 
 jflovJ? CEountg Schools. 
 
 There are 10,000 children in Floyd county be- 
 tween the ages of six and eighteen years. Of 
 
 this number 8,000 attended school during the 
 year 1894. The city of Rome has a system of 
 nine months' tuition, and employs an able and 
 efficient superintendent and about twenty-five 
 teachers that are up to date in the improved 
 methods of the best city schools of the country. 
 The county also has an experienced superintend- 
 ent, about one hundred and twenty-five schools 
 and one hundred and fifty teachers, and a system 
 of five months' tuition. There has been a de- 
 cided improvement in the county system during 
 the last five years, and the present policy is to 
 establish graded schools wherever the population 
 in any sub-district will justify it. 
 
 There are also three chartered institutions in 
 the county: Shorter College, \\itli liuildings and 
 
 48 
 
TOWERS X SULLIUAN PLOW FACTORY, ROME, GEORGIA. 
 
endowment of 1:150,000; ITeani Institute, with 
 endowment and property of $30,000, and Everett 
 Springs Seminary, with good Imildiiio-s and no 
 endowment. 
 
 (Iburcbcs. 
 
 Rome may be aptly called the "City of 
 Churches." There are sixteen cluueh organ- 
 izations, white and colored, nearly all of which 
 own houses of worship A nninlicr of the 
 churches are exceptionally fine sirnctnres. The 
 statement has been made that fifty per cent, of 
 the population are memliers of the churches. 
 The societies represented are the .Methodist, 
 
 Kaptist, Presbyterian, Epi&copal, Roman Catholic 
 and Jewish. They have large, appreciative con- 
 gregations, flourishing Sunday-schools, various 
 missionary societies, and all the aids of religious 
 development, making Rome a desirable place for 
 residence in this respect. Pastors of ability iire 
 employed, and the large church attendance is 
 evidence of the nmrality and ujiright character 
 of the citizens. 
 
 IPublic Xiobtinti Svstciu. 
 
 A gas company for many years has been sup- 
 plying the city with light. Its pipes permeate 
 every section of I tome's wide area, and a cheap 
 
and excellent system of illumination is furnished 
 its patrons. 
 
 More recently the Electric l^ight Company has 
 aided in the matter of furnishing light to Rome. 
 With modern patents, skillful experts and me- 
 chanics, this company contributes largely and very 
 satisfactorily towards turning night into day. 
 
 Street IRailwas. 
 
 Among the many claims of substantial progress 
 to be found in liome, nothing affords Romans 
 more opportunity for city pride than the elegant 
 electric street car system. It penetrates the city 
 to the suburbs with four branches extending 
 
 along the cardinal points of the compass. Ele- 
 gant cars, polite oflBcials, quick schedules and a 
 successful business management of its interests 
 make it a matter of pride to citizens of the town. 
 
 l^oimo /IDen's Xibrar? Hssociation. 
 
 The Young Men's Library Association was or- 
 ganized in 1879. It has a membership of about 
 •200. There are 4,700 books in the library, in- 
 cluding the standard works of fiction, history, 
 travel, biography, etc., besides many valuable 
 books of reference. The beautiful rooms of the 
 association are adorned with maps and pictures, 
 and the library is a useful factor in Rome's liter- 
 ary and educational growth. 
 
 51 
 
Secret Societies. 
 
 The various I'laternal and beneficiary orders 
 are well represented in Rome. Among the most 
 prominent are the following : 
 
 Cherokee Lodge, No. 66, F. and A. M., with 
 218 members. 
 
 Oostanaula Lodge, No. 113, F. and A. M,, with 
 82 members. 
 
 rtome Chapter, No. 2(i, IL A. M., with 100 
 members. 
 
 L'ome Council, R. and S. M., with 40 members. 
 
 Rome Commandery, No. S, K. T., with 75 
 members. 
 
 There are two lodges of Knights of Pythias — 
 
 Riverside and Mount Alto — with a membership 
 of over 150. 
 
 Rome Lodge, No. 10, L O. <). F., has a mem- 
 bership of about 100. 
 
 Hill City Council, l{oyal Arcanum, has 220 
 members. 
 
 Rome Council, National Union, has 80 mem- 
 bers. 
 
 Live Oak Camp, Woodmen of the World, has 
 over 100 members. 
 
 There are councils and lodges of Knights of 
 Honor, Legion of Honor, National Fraternity, 
 Proi^ressive Endowment <Tuild, and others, num- 
 bering in the aggregate several hundred mem- 
 bers. 
 
 52 
 
KanWng facilities. 
 
 Two national banks afford the people of the 
 county good banking facilities. The First Na- 
 tional, with a large capital, has been in operation 
 for many years. The Merchants National, though 
 younger, is managed by a board of directors who 
 are among the ablest and most prominent busi- 
 ness men in the county, and it also has a large 
 capital. 
 
 flewspapers. 
 
 The city of Kouie is well supplied with news- 
 papers. Of the dailies The Tribune is the morn- 
 ing and The Hustler the evening paper. Each 
 
 of these publish a weekly, and each has a large 
 circulation in North Georgia. The other weekly 
 papers are The Southern Argus, l^he Piedmont 
 Farmer and The Rome Georgian. The Masonic 
 Herald is published monthly. 
 
 (lave Spriiuj. 
 
 Of the different towns and localities in Floyd 
 county that are deserving of special notice, we 
 have only space to refer in a very short notice to 
 Cave Spring, a town of over one thousand inhab- 
 itants, located in the southwestern part of the 
 county, on the line of the Alabama division of 
 the Southern Railroad, sixteen miles from Rome. 
 
 53 
 
This town is situated in Vans Valley, one of the 
 most heuutiiul and fertile valleys in North Geor- 
 gia. In the side of a well-wooded hill in the 
 southeastern side of the village is a large Hme- 
 stone cave, and bursting forth from the foot of 
 this hill is a gurgling spring of beautiful, clear, 
 mild limestone water, from which the town de- 
 rives its name, Cave Spring. This spring fur- 
 nishes several thousand gallons of water per 
 minute, of a uniform temperature of 62 degrees. 
 Cave Sprhig, with its surroundings, is one of the 
 most picturesque and pleasant spots in the world. 
 In natural attractiveness it is almost without a 
 peer, and some day grand hotels, bath houses, 
 fountains and parks will ara\^• to this spot thou- 
 sands of guests. 
 
 Cave Spring is especially noted for its educa- 
 tional advantages, as here are located Hearn In- 
 stitute, Hearn Female Seminary, and Wesleyan 
 Institute, all of which are well equiped schools, 
 under the control of highly educated, cultured 
 teachers, conducted after the most approved 
 methods, and enjoying an enviable position among 
 the formost schools of the state. Here is also 
 located the Georgia Institute for the Deaf and 
 Dumb, which is a model institution of its class, 
 and is the peer of any similar institution in the 
 country. 
 
 The Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian and Epis- 
 copalians, all have good congregations, commo- 
 dious houses of worship, and are well attended. 
 They all have flourishing Sunday-schools. 
 
 54 
 
The valley in which Cave Spring is situated is 
 noted lor its fertility, yielding immense crops of 
 clover, grass, corn, wheat, oats, potatoes, cotton, 
 vegetables, etc. The hills around the town are 
 also especially adapted for fruit growing. 
 
 In the immediate vicinity of Cave Spring on 
 Big Cedar Creek, numerous never-failing water 
 powers can be had, yielding from 75 to 300 liorse 
 power each. Very little ilifference being precept- 
 ible in the winter and summer flow of this stream. 
 All of these powers can be utilized at a compara- 
 tively small cost for manufacturing purposes. 
 In this locality there is also an abundance of 
 fine timber — different varieties of oak, hickory, 
 pine, ask, poplar and other woods. There is also 
 in this locality a vast amount of mineral wealth, 
 
 cjuantities of iron, manganese and kaolin, all of 
 fine quality and higli grade. The iron ores are 
 being shipped daily to different parts of our coun- 
 try. Manganese ores have been shipped to Pitts- 
 burg, Pa., New York, and Liverpool, England. 
 They are the finest to be seen in North Georgia, 
 and of this valuable ore there are vast deposits. 
 There ai-e also vast de^iosits of marble, princi- 
 pally of the black, black and white variegated, 
 and red varieties, and also lithographic stone of 
 fine quality. Fortunes are awaiting the men who 
 have tlie means to develop this splendid section. 
 "To those who desire to live where the temper- 
 ature has reached loo only twice, and zero only 
 three times in forty years ; breathing the pure 
 air wafted fnim the mountain tops, drinking the 
 
 55 
 
sparkling waters flowing- from luindreds of 
 springs at their feet ; surrounded by unsurpassed 
 school and church facilities, and at the same time 
 enjoy generous returns fiom labor expended in 
 factories, in mines, upon farms, orchards, and 
 vineyards, Cave Spring extends an invitation, 
 and promises a hearty welcome." 
 
 If you have any thought of changing your loca- 
 tion, or bettering your location, we invite you to 
 visit Floyd County, and investigate for yoniself, 
 believing that you will agree with us that like a 
 poem, spreads out our fair land, with its forest 
 crowned hills, protecting fertile valleys, through 
 
 which wind crystal brooks, the offspring of clear 
 limped springs gushing from the rocks; our air 
 laden with ozone, our skies blue, and more cloud- 
 less than those of other lands_ here you feel it a 
 joy to live. 
 
 The prolific jiower of oui' cereal and textile pro- 
 ducticn, the cattle upon our thousand hills, our 
 wonderful mineral resources, and a thousand 
 other wealth producing elements under the crea- 
 tive energies of American civilization, are the 
 mighty forces which stand as sponsors for our 
 fulure growth and greatness. 
 


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