Editing Rome, Georgia (section)

=== City founding period ===
Rome was founded in 1834 as European Americans increasingly settled in Georgia. Founders were Col. Daniel R. Mitchell, Col. Zacharia Hargrove, Maj. Philip Hemphill, Col. William Smith, and [[John Henry Lumpkin|John Lumpkin]] (nephew of [[Wilson Lumpkin|Governor Lumpkin]]); most were veterans of the War of 1812. They held a drawing at [[Alhambra-Home on the Hill|Alhambra]] to determine the name of the new city, with Col. Mitchell submitting the name of Rome because of the area's hills and rivers.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=IP4vAAAAIBAJ&pg=4128%2C469592 | title=Floyd County| work=Calhoun Times | date=September 1, 2004 | access-date=April 24, 2015 | pages=75}}</ref> Mitchell's submission was drawn, and the Georgia Legislature chartered Rome as an official city in 1835. The [[county seat]] was subsequently moved east from the village of [[Livingston, Georgia|Livingston]] to Rome.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.romegeorgia.com/founders_of_rome.html |title=Founders of Rome - Guide to Rome Georgia &#124; RomeGeorgia.com |first= Brett|last=Hart|work=RomeGeorgia.com |date= July 1999 |access-date=March 8, 2011}}</ref>

With the entire area still occupied primarily by Cherokee, the city developed to serve the agrarian needs of the new cotton-based economy. Invention of the [[cotton gin]] in the late 18th century made processing of short-staple cotton profitable. This was the type of cotton that best thrived in the upland areas, in contrast to that grown on the [[Sea Islands]] and in the [[South Carolina Lowcountry|Low Country]].

Much of upland Georgia was developed as what became known as the [[Black Belt (geological formation)|Black Belt]], named for the fertile soil. Planters brought or purchased many enslaved African Americans as workers for the labor-intensive crop. The leading Cherokee participated in the cultivation of cotton as a commodity crop, which soon replaced deerskin trading as a source of wealth in the region. The first [[steamboat]] navigated the Coosa River to Rome in 1836, reducing the time-to-market for the cotton trade and speeding travel between Rome and [[New Orleans]] on the [[Gulf Coast of the United States|Gulf Coast]], the major port for export of cotton.

By 1838, the Cherokee had run out of legal options in resisting removal. They were the last of the major Southeast tribes to be forcibly moved to the [[Indian Territory]] (in modern-day [[Oklahoma]]) on the [[Cherokee removal|Trail of Tears]]. After the removal of the Cherokee, their [[Georgia Land Lotteries|homes and businesses were taken over by Whites]], with much of the property distributed through a land lottery.

The Rome economy continued to grow. In 1849, an {{convert|18|mi|adj=on}} rail spur to the [[Western and Atlantic Railroad]] in [[Kingston, Georgia|Kingston]] was completed, significantly improving transportation to the east. This route was later followed in the 20th-century construction of [[Georgia State Route 293|Georgia Highway 293]].<ref name=Roadside>{{cite web |url=http://roadsidegeorgia.com/city/rome.html |title=Rome, Georgia |first=Bobby |last=McElwee |work=Roadside Georgia |publisher=Golden Ink |access-date=March 8, 2011 |archive-date=December 27, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171227211727/http://roadsidegeorgia.com/city/rome.html |url-status=usurped }}</ref> By 1860 the population had reached 4,010 in the city, and 15,195 in the county.