Editing Villa Rica, Georgia (section)

===New Villa Rica===
[[File:Villa Rica land sale.jpg|thumb|right|Handbill originally distributed to announce a land sale in Villa Rica, Georgia, c. 1882.]]
With the arrival of the new railroad line, Hixtown and Cheevestown combined to become the new city of Villa Rica. The first train rolled through town in June 1882. A round-trip ticket from the [[Atlanta Union Station (1871)|Union Passenger Depot]] in [[Atlanta]] was only $1.00.<ref name="HistoryOfVR"/>

This young community experienced two disastrous fires almost immediately. The first fire occurred in the business section on Montgomery Street in 1890. An entire block of stores composed entirely of wooden buildings was destroyed. The second fire occurred the night of July 27, 1908. The fire was bolstered by heating oil and chemicals from the drug store in which it started. Because of the strength of the fire, much of the focus was on saving the stock of the affected stores. In all, one-quarter of Villa Rica's business district was destroyed in three hours. In 1957 an explosion caused by a gas leak destroyed four buildings and killed 12 people.<ref name="HistoryOfVR">Mary Talley Anderson (1976), ''The History of Villa Rica (City of Gold),'' privately published.</ref><ref>Program, ''50th Anniversary Remembrance Ceremony, December 5, 2007,'' Villa Rica Historic Preservation Committee.</ref>

The [[Bankhead Highway]] was surveyed and eventually passed through Villa Rica in 1917. Named for [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] [[United States Senate|U.S. Senator]] (from 1907 until his death in 1920) [[John H. Bankhead]], it was the second transcontinental highway in the United States and the first all-weather one. In the 1930s it was rerouted through town, taking down the Velvin Hotel and extending Montgomery Street westward. It was a main east–west route through the area until Interstate 20 opened in December 1977.<ref>Blevins, Ernest Everett, "Bankhead Highway Cuts Though Villa Rica," ''The Villa Rican'', Vol. 73, No. 27 (10 July 2008), 10.; Blevins, Ernest Everett, "Villa Rica Section of Interstate I-20 Celebrates 30 Years," ''The Villa Rican'', Vol. 73, No. 1 (10 January 2008), 1.</ref>

On May 14, 1961, [[Freedom Riders]] passed through Villa Rica.<ref>Determined by the well-documented date of the bus firebombing and Atlanta newspaper accounts of the arrival and departure. With Bankhead Highway/U.S. 78 the main east-west route it was determined when the Freedom Riders passed through and stopped at the bus station then located on the first block of South Carroll Road. &ndash; Ernest Everett Blevins</ref>