Editing Rockdale County, Georgia (section)

==History==
[[File:Rockdale-baptist-church-fog.jpg|thumb|right|150px|Rockdale Baptist Church]]

Rockdale County was formed on October 18, 1870<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rockdalecounty.org/main.cfm?id=2581|title=History of Rockdale County|publisher=Rockdale County|access-date=June 28, 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140625103720/http://rockdalecounty.org/main.cfm?id=2581|archive-date=June 25, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://georgia.gov/cities-counties/rockdale-county|title=Rockdale County|publisher=Georgia.gov|access-date=June 28, 2014}}</ref> and received its name from Rockdale Baptist Church (est. 1846), which was named after the [[granite]] strata that rests under the county's red [[clay]] top soil.<ref>{{cite book | url=http://www.kenkrakow.com/gpn/r.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030917130018/http://www.kenkrakow.com/gpn/r.pdf |archive-date=September 17, 2003 |url-status=live| title=Georgia Place-Names: Their History and Origins | publisher=Winship Press | author=Krakow, Kenneth K. | year=1975 | location=Macon, GA | pages=191 | isbn=0-915430-00-2}}</ref>  A bill introduced by John F. Hardin and John Harris carved Rockdale out of the northern portion of [[Newton County, Georgia|Newton County]]; parts of Rockdale County also came from neighboring [[Henry County, Georgia|Henry]], [[Walton County, Georgia|Walton]], [[Gwinnett County, Georgia|Gwinnett]], and [[DeKalb County, Georgia|DeKalb]] counties.  [[Conyers, Georgia|Conyers]], Rockdale's only incorporated town and urban center, became the county seat.

Prior to Rockdale becoming a county, the land had been inhabited by the [[Muscogee (Creek)|Creek]] and [[Cherokee]]; the boundary between the two native nations, the Hightower Trail, ran directly through the area. Burial remains have been discovered in the Honey Creek and Hi-Roc areas. Whites began migrating to the area in the early 19th century and initial white settlers suffered from Indian raids. Early white settlements developed along Big Haynes Creek in the northern part of the county, the Yellow River in the middle portion of the county, and Honey Creek in the south.

Communities formed around grist mills and newly formed churches such as Haralson Mill, Costleys Mill, Dial Mill, Zacharys Mill, McElroys Mill, Union Grove Baptist Church, Ebenezer Methodist Church, Philadelphia Methodist Church, Salem Baptist Church, Smyrna Presbyterian Church, Pleasant Hill Baptist Church, Bethel Christian Church, Honey Creek Baptist Church, and Whites Chapel Methodist Church. Other communities included Magnet and Zingara. These settlers were largely subsistence farmers.

During the [[American Civil War]], General [[William Tecumseh Sherman]] marched the [[Union Army]] north of Conyers on his way to [[Covington, Georgia|Covington]] from [[Lithonia, Georgia|Lithonia]]. Seizure and destruction of property accompanied his army's march through the area. Many of the residents of Conyers, fearing Sherman would raze the city, fled to nearby [[Social Circle, Georgia|Social Circle]] in Walton County, since Conyers was an important stop on the Georgia Railroad, but Conyers remained unscathed by the war.

The city is a fine example of residential and commercial architecture of the 19th century. According to a historical marker on U.S. Highway 278 west of Conyers, Major General [[Joseph Wheeler]] of the [[Confederate States Army]] and part of his staff were captured by Union troops pursuing [[Jefferson Davis]] on May 9, 1865. Wheeler was later released in [[Athens, Georgia|Athens]] only to be recaptured again. He was wounded three times and had his horse shot out from under him sixteen times.

During [[Reconstruction era of the United States|Reconstruction]], Conyers and Rockdale County experienced tremendous growth. According to the local newspaper, ''The Weekly Farmer'', the population of Conyers increased from 300 to 2,000. The number of stores, businesses, schools, and churches of the county rapidly multiplied as well. Parts of the county were infamous for [[moonshining]] and the county became dry in 1882, prohibiting the sale and manufacture of liquor except by a licensed pharmacist as prescribed by a physician. The economy of the county was still based primarily on agriculture into the early 20th century. The [[PBS]] documentary ''The Lost Children of Rockdale County'' is about a [[syphilis]] outbreak which occurred in the county during the 1990s.