Editing Ball Ground, Georgia (section)

===Incorporation as a town===
Ball Ground was [[Incorporated town|incorporated]] as a town by [[Municipal charter|town charter]] on September 27, 1883, by an act of the [[Georgia General Assembly]]. The town limits were set as "one half mile in every direction from the present railroad crossing on the Gilmer Ferry road; that it shall be known and distinguished as the town of Ball Ground."<ref name="charter1883">{{cite act |type=Act |date=September 27, 1883 |article=401 |article-type=Municipal Corporation |legislature=Georgia General Assembly |title=To Incorporate the Town of Ball Ground, in Cherokee County |page=476–479 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eCBLAQAAMAAJ&dq=%22An+act+to+incorporate+the+town+of+Ball+Ground+in+the+county+of+Cherokee%22&pg=PA476 }} {{Cite web |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eCBLAQAAMAAJ&dq=%22An+act+to+incorporate+the+town+of+Ball+Ground+in+the+county+of+Cherokee%22&pg=PA476 |title=Acts and Resolutions of the General Assembly |date=1883 |access-date=September 22, 2022 |archive-date=September 23, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220923051800/https://www.google.com/books/edition/Acts_and_Resolutions_of_the_General_Asse/eCBLAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22An+act+to+incorporate+the+town+of+Ball+Ground+in+the+county+of+Cherokee%22&pg=PA476&printsec=frontcover |url-status=bot: unknown }}</ref>

In January 1896 a judge approved the sale of the Marietta and North Georgia railroad to the Atlanta, Knoxville, and Northern railway due to nonpayment of loans by the former railroad. The property to be sold included the depots along the railroad route which included the Ball Ground depot.<ref name="ajc_jan1896">{{Cite news |date=January 7, 1896 |title=Judge Newman Confirms the Sale of the Marietta and North Georgia Road |pages=9 |work=[[The Atlanta Constitution]] |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/109962797/ |url-status=live |access-date=September 21, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220923051800/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/109962797/the-atlanta-constitution/ |archive-date=September 23, 2022 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> The plaintiffs in the case were those owed money by the railroad and gave loans that were taken out to charter the railroad,<ref name="tmn_march1896">{{Cite news |date=March 1, 1896 |title=May Delay the Bondholders – A New Feature in the M. and N. Ga. Litigation |pages=8 |work=The Morning News (of Savannah, Georgia) |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/109962245/may-delay-the-bondholders/ |url-status=live |access-date=September 21, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220923051800/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/109962245/may-delay-the-bondholders/ |archive-date=September 23, 2022 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> but the scheduled April 1896 sale of the railroad was subsequently delayed through the courts by order of the same judge that initially approved the sale.<ref name="tmn_april1896_2">{{Cite news |date=April 23, 1896 |title=Marietta and North Georgia – The Sale of the Property Ordered Postponed |pages=2 |work=The Morning News (of Savannah, Georgia) |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/109963241/sale-postponed/ |url-status=live |access-date=September 21, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220923051800/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/109963241/sale-postponed/ |archive-date=September 23, 2022}}</ref> That same month the Marietta and North Georgia railroad missed their payment deadline and the sale moved forward.<ref name="tmn_april1896">{{Cite news |date=April 16, 1896 |title=Marietta and North Georgia |pages=6 |work=The Morning News (of Savannah, Georgia) |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/109960133/marietta-and-north-georgia-payment/ |url-status=live |access-date=September 21, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220923051800/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/109960133/marietta-and-north-georgia-payment/ |archive-date=September 23, 2022 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> On November 1, 1896, the Marietta and North Georgia Railroad was purchased by and turned over to the Atlanta, Knoxville, and Northern railway.<ref name="ajc_nov1896">{{Cite news |date=November 1, 1896 |title=In New Hands Today – Receivers of the Marietta and North Georgia Turn It Over |pages=22 |work=[[The Atlanta Constitution]] |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/109959754/mng-becomes-akn/ |url-status=live |access-date=September 21, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220923051800/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/109959754/mng-becomes-akn/ |archive-date=September 23, 2022 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> Atlanta, Knoxville, and Northern was sold to the [[Louisville and Nashville Railroad]] in 1902.<ref name="ajc1902">{{Cite news |date=April 9, 1902 |title=Purchase of Atlanta, Knoxville and Northern by Louisville and Nashville Means Greatly Improved Railway Facilities |pages=7 |work=[[The Atlanta Constitution]] |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/109963642/1902-akn-sold-to-ln/ |url-status=live |access-date=September 21, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220928041631/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/109963642/1902-akn-sold-to-ln/ |archive-date=September 28, 2022 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref>

An amendment to the town's charter was passed in 1903 to change the election times, clarifying the issuance of liquor licenses and set a price for said license at "not less than $500". The amendment also clarified how [[Ad valorem tax|''ad valorem'' taxes]] were to be collected.<ref name="charter1903">{{cite act |type=Act |date=August 4, 1903 |article=273 |article-type=Municipal Corporations |legislature=Georgia General Assembly |title=Ball Ground, Charter Amended |page=438–440 |url=http://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/id:dlg_zlgl_88438600 }} {{Cite web |url=https://dlg.usg.edu/record/dlg_zlgl_88438600 |title=Acts and resolutions of the General Assembly of the state of Georgia 1903 &#91;volume 1&#93; - Digital Library of Georgia |access-date=September 23, 2022 |archive-date=September 23, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220923051907/https://dlg.usg.edu/record/dlg_zlgl_88438600 |url-status=bot: unknown }}</ref> A further amendment in 1905 changed the 1903 amendment's $500 liquor license fee to $5,000.<ref name="charter1905">{{cite act |type=Act |date=August 22, 1905 |article=580 |article-type=Municipal Corporations |legislature=Georgia General Assembly |title=Ball Ground, License to Sell Liquors |page=637 |url=http://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/id:dlg_zlgl_92531691 }} {{Cite web |url=https://dlg.usg.edu/record/dlg_zlgl_92531691 |title=Acts and resolutions of the General Assembly of the state of Georgia 1905 &#91;volume 1&#93; - Digital Library of Georgia |access-date=September 23, 2022 |archive-date=September 23, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220923051909/https://dlg.usg.edu/record/dlg_zlgl_92531691 |url-status=bot: unknown }}</ref> An updated charter passed by an act of the Georgia General Assembly in 1911 greatly expanded the powers of the municipal government, including the ability to pass municipal ordinances, and established a school district within Ball Ground.<ref name="charter1911">{{cite act |type=Act |date=August 21, 1911 |article=308 |article-type=Municipal Corporation |legislature=Georgia General Assembly |title=Ball Ground, Town of, New Charter |page=650–699 |url=http://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/id:dlg_zlgl_109804493 }} {{Cite web |url=https://dlg.usg.edu/record/dlg_zlgl_109804493 |title=Acts and resolutions of the General Assembly of the state of Georgia. 1911 &#91;volume 1&#93; - Digital Library of Georgia |access-date=September 23, 2022 |archive-date=September 23, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220923051910/https://dlg.usg.edu/record/dlg_zlgl_109804493 |url-status=bot: unknown }}</ref>

In 1961 a Ball Ground Improvement Association was formed to add improvements to the city including new paint, a city park, and street lights.<ref name="pcp1961">{{Cite news |date=July 13, 1961 |title=Ball Ground Moves Ahead Adding City Improvements |pages=3 |work=Pickens County Progress |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/109973682/1961-improvements/ |url-status=live |access-date=September 21, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220923051908/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/109973682/1961-improvements/ |archive-date=September 23, 2022 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref>