Tag: Eastern Continental Divide

Hidden Decatur: Why Does the Railroad Run Through Decatur?

Decatur Station circa 1987 courtesy of RailPictures.net

So I realize that the railroad lines in Decatur are anything but “hidden”.

Horns blare. Trains regularly stop traffic.  Especially this week, as CSX has caused major traffic havoc along Decatur streets, closing the South McDonough and Candler Street intersections for rail maintenance.

But have you ever considered: why IS there a train line in Decatur?  Or perhaps a better question is “why was a railroad built through Decatur?”

Quite often the location of cities and towns are highly influenced by the natural landscape.  This is most obvious in cities situated along rivers, lakes and oceans.  Cities more likely to survive and thrive exist in areas when the natural landscape provides them with an advantage over other areas.  Think about the  “natural ports” of New York City, Charleston and Savannah.

Decatur – and Atlanta’s – natural advantage isn’t quite as noticeable as a large body of water or a rushing river.  Yes, Atlanta has a river, but the fact that it’s no where near the population center is a good clue that it wasn’t a major influencing factor in the settlement and success of the city.

To see Atlanta and Decatur’s natural advantage, you actually gotta look at a topographic map.

Continue reading “Hidden Decatur: Why Does the Railroad Run Through Decatur?”

Eastern Continental Divide Tourism!?

Get on this Decatur!  Apparently there’s tourism dollars in dem dar Divide. 😉

Ripped from the AJC’s recent article entitled “Duluth hopes to cash in on Eastern Continental Divide”…

“Any community [in Georgia] could mark the path the [Eastern Continental] divide takes, but I can almost guarantee that no other location along the divide presents the unique opportunity for personal interaction that this one does,” said Chris McGahee, the city’s economic development manager.

Personal interaction with the continental divide?

“It’s in the most scenic part of town.”

Oh. Um, OK.

“Hopefully, we can find a way to market and identify this,” Duluth Mayor Nancy Harris said. “We’re always looking for ways for Duluth to be a destination.”

Oh man, I really hope they’re about to say something about railroad tourism, since you know, the railroad follows the Eastern Continental Divide and established many of the cities along its route as regional centers.

“We might sell some Eastern Continental Divide ice cream,” McGahee said. “Who the heck knows. We can sell pizza with Gulf shrimp and Savannah shrimp.”

D’oh!  So close.