Editing Mableton, Georgia (section)

=== Early history (1843–1912) ===
Between the 16th and 19th centuries, most of the land in present-day southern Cobb County belonged to the [[Cherokee]] and [[Muscogee|Creek]]. Two Native American villages were established near the area that will later become known as Mableton - the settlements of Sweet Water Town and Nickajack. Both tribes coinhabited the area peacefully, with one legend claiming that eventual ownership of the area by the Cherokee was settled via a ball game.<ref name="house">{{Cite web |date=2014 |title=The Mable House: Historic Structure Report |url=https://heritagepreservation.gsu.edu/files/2015/04/1-75-mable-house.pdf}}</ref> One of the early known records of white Europeans being aware of the inhabitants is an 1839 map depicting a 'Nickajack Creek' converging with the Chattahoochee River south and west of the [[Standing Peachtree]] settlement.<ref name="hist1">{{Cite web |title=Home, Gann Historical Society & Library, Inc. |url=http://gannhistoricalsociety.com/ |access-date=September 14, 2020 |website=Gann Historical Society & Library, Inc. |language=en-US}}</ref>

[[File:Robert Mable.jpg|left|thumb|231x231px|Robert Mable]]

The town was named after Scottish immigrant Robert Mable (October 18, 1803 – July 7, 1885), who on September 11, 1843, bought 300 acres (approximately 120 hectares or 1.2&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>) of land in southern Cobb County from the [[Gold Lottery of 1832|Georgia Land Lottery of 1832]]. Mable was a millwright and farmer who grew cotton, corn, potatoes, and sorghum in the area; he owned between 11 and 48 slaves by 1860. According to oral interviews, Mable was a "fair and kind" enslaver who educated slave children alongside his own, and eventually also liberated his slaves before any government mandate ordered him to.<ref name="house" /> The [[Robert Mable House and Cemetery]], located off [[U.S. 78]] on Floyd Road just north of Clay Road, now includes an amphitheater which hosts public events.<ref>{{cite web |title=MABLETON, Cobb County. Incorporated as a town, August 19, 1912 to August 17, 1916. The post office was established June 28, 1882 |url=http://www.kenkrakow.com/gpn/m.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20121205174827/http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:6E8BuaIUIDEJ:www.kenkrakow.com/gpn/m.pdf+mableton+incorporated&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=8&gl=us |archive-date=December 5, 2012 |access-date=April 4, 2019 |publisher=Archive.is}}</ref>

More white settlers moved into the northern edge of Mableton by [[Nickajack Creek]], near Smyrna, in the mid-1800s. They formed a community initially known as Mill Grove and later Nickajack. The creek provided ample power to run grist, saw, cotton, and woolen mills. A [[covered bridge]], originally built c. 1848–1850, traverses the stream and is now part of a [[Ruff's Mill and Concord Covered Bridge|historical district]]. It is one of the few remaining covered bridges in Georgia, and still highly active today after it was later buttressed to handle automobile traffic. A notable resident of the area during that period was John Gann, Cobb County's first state senator. His home, built in 1841, still stands today and is also part of the historical district.<ref name="hist1" />

During the [[Atlanta campaign]] of the [[American Civil War|Civil War]], Union officers [[Walter Q. Gresham]] and [[Francis Preston Blair Jr.|Francis P. Blair Jr.]] of the [[XVII Corps (Union Army)|XVII Corps]] reached Mableton on July 3, 1864, after the [[Battle of Kennesaw Mountain|Union defeat at Kennesaw]]. Gresham replenished his troops' supplies and received medical care at Robert Mable's house, and camped for the night before advancing to Atlanta.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Mable House |url=https://georgiahistory.com/ghmi_marker_updated/the-mable-house/ |access-date=September 9, 2020 |website=Georgia Historical Society |date=June 16, 2014 |language=en-US}}</ref> The house was spared from the carnage of [[Sherman's March to the Sea]].<ref name="Tiller">{{Cite news |last=Tiller |first=Katie |title=Mableton's namesake still has ties to community |url=https://www.ajc.com/news/mableton-namesake-still-has-ties-community/Db8US5fKBGPfdmPyYbf58M/ |access-date=September 9, 2020 |newspaper=The Atlanta Journal-Constitution |language=en}}</ref>
[[File:Mableton Depot.jpg|left|thumb|The Mableton train depot, constructed 1881]]
The [[Georgia Pacific Railway]] (later absorbed by [[Southern Railway (U.S.)|Southern Railway]] and today known as the [[Norfolk Southern Railway]]) opened a railroad station in Mableton in December 1881. The chief engineer erected a sign displaying 'Mableton' upon completion of the station in honor of Robert. The first train from Atlanta arrived at the station just before Christmas. Shortly after, the post office was established on June 28, 1882. This replaced the post office in Bryantville, a former settlement about {{convert|2|mi|km|spell=in}} southeast. The arrival of the railroad allowed Mableton to act as a commercial hub for then-rural Cobb County.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Mission & Vision Statement |url=https://www.mableton.org/mission-and-vision-statement/ |access-date=September 8, 2020 |website=Mableton Improvement Coalition |language=en-US}}</ref> Cotton export flourished throughout the county from the 1890s until the [[Great Depression]].<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/52982944 |title=Acworth |date=2003 |publisher=Arcadia |author=Acworth Society for Historic Preservation, Inc. |isbn=0-7385-1479-9 |location=Charleston, SC |oclc=52982944}}</ref>