Kingston, Georgia
Encyclopedia
Kingston is a city in Bartow County
, Georgia
, United States
. The population was 659 at the 2000 census; the 2005 official estimate listed a population of 868.
According to the United States Census Bureau
, the city has a total area of 0.8 square miles (2.1 km²), all of it land.
tribes once inhabited the area. Mississippian culture
were in the vicinity until abrout 1500 AD. Cherokee removal
was accomplished locally by 1838. Europeans settlers were moved in as early as 1832, after a land lottery.
On April 12, 1862, James J. Andrews
with 18 Ohio soldiers [US] in disguise, and 1 civilian, having seized the locomotive General
Big Shanty
intending to wreck the Western and Atlantic Railroad, were forced to side track here and wait for the southbound freights to pass. After a long delay "The General" continued north. Pursuing from Big Shanty, William Allen Fuller
(Conductor) led a crew which used a push-car and other means and eventually caught the highjackers
.
250 Confederate and two Federal soldiers mostly died of wounds, disease and sickness in the Confederate hospitals located here during 1862-1864. These men were wounded in the Battles of Perryville
, Chickamauga
, Missionary Ridge
, and in the Dalton-Kingston Campaign. The patients were moved to Atlanta in May 1864 to avoid capture by Federals. The hospitals were later used by the Federals. The dead are buried in unmarked graves nearby.
Sherman made his headquarters in the Hargis house May 16–19, for reorganization of forces in the campaign that would end at Atlanta
. Assuming Johnston's army had moved, from Adairsville, directly on Kingston and the river crossings south, May 18, led Sherman to concentrate his forces here—only to discover that Johnston had gone directly to Cassville where, without making a stand, he retreated to Allatoona
May 20. Sherman countered May 23, by moving due south.
On May 18, 1864, Lt. Gen. William J. Hardee
's A.C. (Army Corps) marched from Adairsville
on the road parallel to the Western and Atlantic Railroad
enroute to Cass Station. He turned east on this road to join General Polk
's and General Hood
's Confederate Corps at Cassville
which had moved on the direct Adairsville - Cassville road. Federal General Sherman
's erred when he assumed that all of Confederate Major General Joseph E. Johnston
's army had marched from Adairsville, as Hardee had, to Kingston. This resulted in his ordering his forces concentrated here—discovering later that the Confederate Army was 5.5 miles (8.9 km) east at Cassville and not at the Etowah River
south of Kingston.
On May 19 Union Generals Daniel Butterfield
and Major General Joseph Hooker
(20th A.C.) were headquartered at the house of Confederate Colonel Hawkins F. Price, a state senator who had voted Georgia Secession in 1861. Hooker had been ordered from Adairsville to Kingston, on false reports that Johnston [CS] had retreated there. South of the Price house Hooker discovered that Johnston had gone to Cassville.
On May 19, 1864, The IV Corps, followed by the XIV Corps reached Kingston at 8 a.m. The IVth turned east to Cassville. A division of the XIVth sent to Gillem's bridge, Etowah River, found no retreating Confederates. Johnston's forces were at Cassville, 5.5 miles (8.9 km) east. McPherson's XV Corps and XVI Corps, moving south from Barnsley's, camped on Woolley's plantation 2 miles (3.2 km) West. IV Corps, XX Corps
and XXIII Corps were at Cassville.
May 19, 1864, McPherson's Army (XVth & XVIth Corps) [US] arched from Barnsley's and camped on the Woolley Plantation. This right wing of Sherman's advance, Kingston to Dallas, crossed the river, heading south, on Woolley's Bridge crossing the Ethowah River, May 23d.
On October 11, 1964, while encamped on the Woolley Plantation, the Ohio soldiers of the XXIIId [US] Corps, voted in a State Election.
In 1864, a road southward from Wooley's Bridge (Etowah River) crossed the road near this point and ran to Van Wert (Rockmart) and Dallas. This was the route of Federal Major General James B. McPherson
's Army of the Tennessee
(15th and 16th Corps), [US] right wing of forces under Sherman moving from Kingston to the Dallas front, May 23, 24. The church stood at the N.W. angle of the crossroads until another edifice was erected on site of the present structure, 0.75 miles (1.2 km) eastward.
Sherman's forces in camp to May 23, when advance across the Etowah River began.
The first Decoration, or Memorial Day, was observed in Kingston in late April 1865, and has been a continuous observance here since that day, the only such record held by any community in this Nation. The first Memorial, or Decoration Day, was observed while Federals still occupied this town, flowers being placed on both Confederate and Federal graves that day.
On May 12, 1865, Confederate Brigadier General William T. Wofford
surrendered 3000 to 4000 soldiers to Union Brigadier General Henry M. Judah
. These were the last significant Confederate regulars to surrender east of the Mississippi. These were mostly Georgians, not paroled in Virginia, North Carolina, and elsewhere. During final negotiations, Gen. Wofford's headquarters were at the McCravey - Johnson residence on Church Street. General Judah's headquarters were at Spring Bank, the home of the Rev. Charles Wallace Howard, 2 mi north of Kingston. Rations were supplied to the Confederate soldiery by the Federal Commissary.
of 2000, there were 659 people, 248 households, and 191 families residing in the city. The population density
was 817.3 people per square mile (314.1/km²). There were 287 housing units at an average density of 355.9 per square mile (136.8/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 68.59% White, 29.59% African American, 0.15% Pacific Islander, 0.76% from other races
, and 0.91% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.52% of the population.
There were 248 households out of which 32.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.2% were married couples
living together, 22.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 22.6% were non-families. 20.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.66 and the average family size was 3.04.
In the city the population was spread out with 26.1% under the age of 18, 10.3% from 18 to 24, 26.3% from 25 to 44, 24.3% from 45 to 64, and 13.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 97.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.3 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $27,083, and the median income for a family was $36,667. Males had a median income of $28,333 versus $22,353 for females. The per capita income
for the city was $18,319. About 10.4% of families and 15.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 17.8% of those under age 18 and 18.6% of those age 65 or over.
List of Kingston area Historic markers:
Bartow County, Georgia
Bartow County is a county located in the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2010 census, the population was 100,157. According to the U.S. Census Bureau's July 1, 2009 estimate, the county's explosive growth resulted in a population of 96,217, a 26.5% increase in less than ten years...
, Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The population was 659 at the 2000 census; the 2005 official estimate listed a population of 868.
Geography
Kingston is located at 34°14′9"N 84°56′41"W (34.235749, -84.944648).According to the United States Census Bureau
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...
, the city has a total area of 0.8 square miles (2.1 km²), all of it land.
- RomeRome, GeorgiaLocated in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, Rome is the largest city and the county seat of Floyd County, Georgia, United States. It is the principal city of the Rome, Georgia Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of Floyd County...
and CartersvilleCartersville, GeorgiaCartersville is a town in Bartow County, in the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 19,7314. The city is the county seat of Bartow County.-Geography:Cartersville was named for Colonel Farish Carter....
both claim Kingston as part of their "area." Kingston is 11 miles (17.7 km) from Cartersville, and 12 miles (19.3 km) from Rome.
History
Native AmericanIndigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
tribes once inhabited the area. Mississippian culture
Mississippian culture
The Mississippian culture was a mound-building Native American culture that flourished in what is now the Midwestern, Eastern, and Southeastern United States from approximately 800 CE to 1500 CE, varying regionally....
were in the vicinity until abrout 1500 AD. Cherokee removal
Cherokee removal
Cherokee removal, part of the Trail of Tears, refers to the forced relocation between 1836 to 1839 of the Cherokee Nation from their lands in Georgia, Texas, Tennessee, Alabama, and North Carolina to the Indian Territory in the Western United States, which resulted in the deaths of approximately...
was accomplished locally by 1838. Europeans settlers were moved in as early as 1832, after a land lottery.
On April 12, 1862, James J. Andrews
James J. Andrews
James J. Andrews was a Kentucky civilian who worked for the Union Army during the early years of the American Civil War. He led a daring raid behind enemy lines on the Western and Atlantic Railroad, known famously known as the Great Locomotive Chase...
with 18 Ohio soldiers [US] in disguise, and 1 civilian, having seized the locomotive General
The General (locomotive)
The General is a type 4-4-0 steam locomotive that was the subject of the Great Locomotive Chase of the American Civil War. The locomotive is preserved at the Southern Museum of Civil War and Locomotive History in Kennesaw, Georgia, and it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.-...
Big Shanty
Kennesaw, Georgia
Kennesaw is a city in Cobb County, Georgia, United States. It had a population of 29,783 according to the 2010 census. It is part of the Atlanta metropolitan area. Founded in 1887, Kennesaw has a past surrounded with railroad history...
intending to wreck the Western and Atlantic Railroad, were forced to side track here and wait for the southbound freights to pass. After a long delay "The General" continued north. Pursuing from Big Shanty, William Allen Fuller
William Allen Fuller
William Allen Fuller was a conductor on the Western & Atlantic Railroad during the American Civil War era. He was most noted for his role in the 1862 Great Locomotive Chase, a daring espionage mission and raid conducted by non-uniformed personnel of the Union Army in northern Georgia...
(Conductor) led a crew which used a push-car and other means and eventually caught the highjackers
Great Locomotive Chase
The Great Locomotive Chase or Andrews' Raid was a military raid that occurred April 12, 1862, in northern Georgia during the American Civil War. Volunteers from the Union Army, led by civilian scout James J...
.
250 Confederate and two Federal soldiers mostly died of wounds, disease and sickness in the Confederate hospitals located here during 1862-1864. These men were wounded in the Battles of Perryville
Battle of Perryville
The Battle of Perryville, also known as the Battle of Chaplin Hills, was fought on October 8, 1862, in the Chaplin Hills west of Perryville, Kentucky, as the culmination of the Confederate Heartland Offensive during the American Civil War. Confederate Gen. Braxton Bragg's Army of Mississippi won a...
, Chickamauga
Battle of Chickamauga
The Battle of Chickamauga, fought September 19–20, 1863, marked the end of a Union offensive in southeastern Tennessee and northwestern Georgia called the Chickamauga Campaign...
, Missionary Ridge
Battle of Missionary Ridge
The Battle of Missionary Ridge was fought November 25, 1863, as part of the Chattanooga Campaign of the American Civil War. Following the Union victory in the Battle of Lookout Mountain on November 24, Union forces under Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant assaulted Missionary Ridge and defeated the...
, and in the Dalton-Kingston Campaign. The patients were moved to Atlanta in May 1864 to avoid capture by Federals. The hospitals were later used by the Federals. The dead are buried in unmarked graves nearby.
Sherman made his headquarters in the Hargis house May 16–19, for reorganization of forces in the campaign that would end at Atlanta
Battle of Atlanta
The Battle of Atlanta was a battle of the Atlanta Campaign fought during the American Civil War on July 22, 1864, just southeast of Atlanta, Georgia. Continuing their summer campaign to seize the important rail and supply center of Atlanta, Union forces commanded by William T. Sherman overwhelmed...
. Assuming Johnston's army had moved, from Adairsville, directly on Kingston and the river crossings south, May 18, led Sherman to concentrate his forces here—only to discover that Johnston had gone directly to Cassville where, without making a stand, he retreated to Allatoona
Allatoona, Georgia
Allatoona was a town located in extreme southeastern Bartow County, Georgia. Built along Allatoona Creek, it was a gold mining area later in the first U.S. gold rush, which occurred in Georgia and North Carolina. Reaching its height in the 1840s, the Georgia Gold Rush continued into the 1850s...
May 20. Sherman countered May 23, by moving due south.
On May 18, 1864, Lt. Gen. William J. Hardee
William J. Hardee
William Joseph Hardee was a career U.S. Army officer, serving during the Second Seminole War and fighting in the Mexican-American War...
's A.C. (Army Corps) marched from Adairsville
Adairsville, Georgia
Adairsville is a city in Bartow County, Georgia, United States. The population was 2,542 at the 2000 census. As of 2007 data Adairsville's population was 3,076: 1,414 males and 1,662 females. Adairsville is south of Calhoun, northeast of Rome and north of Atlanta.-Geography:Adairsville is an...
on the road parallel to the Western and Atlantic Railroad
Western and Atlantic Railroad
The Western and Atlantic Railroad of the State of Georgia' is a historic railroad that operated in the southeastern United States from Atlanta, Georgia to Chattanooga, Tennessee....
enroute to Cass Station. He turned east on this road to join General Polk
Leonidas Polk
Leonidas Polk was a Confederate general in the American Civil War who was once a planter in Maury County, Tennessee, and a second cousin of President James K. Polk...
's and General Hood
John Bell Hood
John Bell Hood was a Confederate general during the American Civil War. Hood had a reputation for bravery and aggressiveness that sometimes bordered on recklessness...
's Confederate Corps at Cassville
Cassville, Georgia
Cassville is an unincorporated community in Bartow County in the U.S. state of Georgia. It was originally the county seat before the name was changed from Cass County...
which had moved on the direct Adairsville - Cassville road. Federal General Sherman
William Tecumseh Sherman
William Tecumseh Sherman was an American soldier, businessman, educator and author. He served as a General in the Union Army during the American Civil War , for which he received recognition for his outstanding command of military strategy as well as criticism for the harshness of the "scorched...
's erred when he assumed that all of Confederate Major General Joseph E. Johnston
Joseph E. Johnston
Joseph Eggleston Johnston was a career U.S. Army officer, serving with distinction in the Mexican-American War and Seminole Wars, and was also one of the most senior general officers in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War...
's army had marched from Adairsville, as Hardee had, to Kingston. This resulted in his ordering his forces concentrated here—discovering later that the Confederate Army was 5.5 miles (8.9 km) east at Cassville and not at the Etowah River
Etowah River
The Etowah River is a waterway that rises northwest of Dahlonega, Georgia, north of Atlanta. Its name is the Cherokee version of the original Muskogee word Etalwa, which means a "trail crossing". On Matthew Carey's 1795 map the river was labeled "High Town River"...
south of Kingston.
On May 19 Union Generals Daniel Butterfield
Daniel Butterfield
Daniel Adams Butterfield was a New York businessman, a Union General in the American Civil War, and Assistant U.S. Treasurer in New York. He is credited with composing the bugle call Taps and was involved in the Black Friday gold scandal in the Grant administration...
and Major General Joseph Hooker
Joseph Hooker
Joseph Hooker was a career United States Army officer, achieving the rank of major general in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Although he served throughout the war, usually with distinction, Hooker is best remembered for his stunning defeat by Confederate General Robert E...
(20th A.C.) were headquartered at the house of Confederate Colonel Hawkins F. Price, a state senator who had voted Georgia Secession in 1861. Hooker had been ordered from Adairsville to Kingston, on false reports that Johnston [CS] had retreated there. South of the Price house Hooker discovered that Johnston had gone to Cassville.
On May 19, 1864, The IV Corps, followed by the XIV Corps reached Kingston at 8 a.m. The IVth turned east to Cassville. A division of the XIVth sent to Gillem's bridge, Etowah River, found no retreating Confederates. Johnston's forces were at Cassville, 5.5 miles (8.9 km) east. McPherson's XV Corps and XVI Corps, moving south from Barnsley's, camped on Woolley's plantation 2 miles (3.2 km) West. IV Corps, XX Corps
XX Corps (ACW)
Two corps of the Union Army were called XX Corps during the American Civil War. Though both served in the Union Army of the Cumberland, they were distinct units and should be recognized as such.- McCook's Corps :...
and XXIII Corps were at Cassville.
May 19, 1864, McPherson's Army (XVth & XVIth Corps) [US] arched from Barnsley's and camped on the Woolley Plantation. This right wing of Sherman's advance, Kingston to Dallas, crossed the river, heading south, on Woolley's Bridge crossing the Ethowah River, May 23d.
On October 11, 1964, while encamped on the Woolley Plantation, the Ohio soldiers of the XXIIId [US] Corps, voted in a State Election.
In 1864, a road southward from Wooley's Bridge (Etowah River) crossed the road near this point and ran to Van Wert (Rockmart) and Dallas. This was the route of Federal Major General James B. McPherson
James B. McPherson
James Birdseye McPherson was a career United States Army officer who served as a General in the Union Army during the American Civil War...
's Army of the Tennessee
Army of the Tennessee
The Army of the Tennessee was a Union army in the Western Theater of the American Civil War, named for the Tennessee River. It should not be confused with the similarly named Army of Tennessee, a Confederate army named after the State of Tennessee....
(15th and 16th Corps), [US] right wing of forces under Sherman moving from Kingston to the Dallas front, May 23, 24. The church stood at the N.W. angle of the crossroads until another edifice was erected on site of the present structure, 0.75 miles (1.2 km) eastward.
Sherman's forces in camp to May 23, when advance across the Etowah River began.
The first Decoration, or Memorial Day, was observed in Kingston in late April 1865, and has been a continuous observance here since that day, the only such record held by any community in this Nation. The first Memorial, or Decoration Day, was observed while Federals still occupied this town, flowers being placed on both Confederate and Federal graves that day.
On May 12, 1865, Confederate Brigadier General William T. Wofford
William T. Wofford
William Tatum Wofford was an officer during the Mexican-American War and a general in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War.-Early life and career:...
surrendered 3000 to 4000 soldiers to Union Brigadier General Henry M. Judah
Henry M. Judah
Henry Moses Judah was a career officer in the United States Army, serving during the Mexican-American War and American Civil War...
. These were the last significant Confederate regulars to surrender east of the Mississippi. These were mostly Georgians, not paroled in Virginia, North Carolina, and elsewhere. During final negotiations, Gen. Wofford's headquarters were at the McCravey - Johnson residence on Church Street. General Judah's headquarters were at Spring Bank, the home of the Rev. Charles Wallace Howard, 2 mi north of Kingston. Rations were supplied to the Confederate soldiery by the Federal Commissary.
Demographics
As of the censusCensus
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
of 2000, there were 659 people, 248 households, and 191 families residing in the city. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
was 817.3 people per square mile (314.1/km²). There were 287 housing units at an average density of 355.9 per square mile (136.8/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 68.59% White, 29.59% African American, 0.15% Pacific Islander, 0.76% from other races
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, and 0.91% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.52% of the population.
There were 248 households out of which 32.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.2% were married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
living together, 22.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 22.6% were non-families. 20.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.66 and the average family size was 3.04.
In the city the population was spread out with 26.1% under the age of 18, 10.3% from 18 to 24, 26.3% from 25 to 44, 24.3% from 45 to 64, and 13.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 97.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.3 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $27,083, and the median income for a family was $36,667. Males had a median income of $28,333 versus $22,353 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...
for the city was $18,319. About 10.4% of families and 15.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 17.8% of those under age 18 and 18.6% of those age 65 or over.
Landmarks
- Kingston also has a small museum and several historical landmarks related to both the Civil War, and the Native American tribes which once lived there.
- Kingston Saltpeter CaveKingston Saltpeter CaveKingston Saltpeter Cave is the largest cave in Bartow County, Georgia, United States of America, and was formerly used as a source of saltpeter, the critical oxidizing component of gunpowder, by the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War...
, the largest cave in Bartow County used by the Confederate States of AmericaConfederate States of AmericaThe Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
to produce gunpowder during the American Civil WarAmerican Civil WarThe American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
.
List of Kingston area Historic markers:
- Confederate Memorial Day
- Hardee's Corps at Kingston
- Historic Price House northeast is the Site of the Thomas V. B. Hargis house
- Kingston Methodist Church. The original Methodist church, with another name at another location, was built in 1845. It was rebuilt in Kingston in 1854, and dedicated by Rev. Lovick PierceLovick PierceRev. Lovick Pierce was the father of Methodist Bishop George Foster Pierce. Lovick was a Pastor and a Chaplain in the War of 1812....
. It was the only church remaining after Sherman's march through Kingston. It opened its doors to all denominations. It also served as Kingston's schoolhouse for many years. - Old Macedonia Church Organized 1847
- Spring Bank
- Georgia (Bartow County), Kingston The post-war surrender of Confederate Troops took place here.
- The Federal Army at Kingston