included the depots along the railroad route which included the Ball Ground depot. The plaintiffs in the case were those owed money by the railroad and gave loans that were taken out to charter the railroad, 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. That same month the Marietta and North Georgia railroad missed their payment deadline and the sale moved forward. On November 1, 1896, the Marietta and North Georgia Railroad was purchased by and turned over to the Atlanta, Knoxville, and Northern railway. Atlanta, Knoxville, and Northern was sold to the Louisville and Nashville Railroad in 1902. 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 taxes were to be collected. A further amendment in 1905 changed the 1903 amendment's $500 liquor license fee to $5,000. 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. In 1961 a Ball Ground Improvement Association was formed to add improvements to the city including new paint, a city park, and street lights. Revitalization A television documentary aired in December 1971 on North Georgia's Channel 11 that focused on the city of Ball Ground and described it as a city in decline, and interviewed Ball Grounders about "the slow deterioration of the town." Two weeks after the broadcast of the documentary, the city's merchants announced that they had organized the Ball Ground Merchants Association to promote trade and to function as a Chamber of Commerce for the city. The Ball Ground Community Association was formed in early 1972 to promote the town and to organize festivals and cultural events. The first event the association organized was the May 1972 spring festival and parade, which included a delegation from the Cherokee Nation. This marked the first time the Cherokee returned to the area in any official capacity since they were removed from the area during the 1830s. As part of the festival, two Cherokee teams played a game of stickball against one another, and then-Lieutenant Governor