<P> In 1842 , when a two - story brick depot was built , the locals asked that the settlement of Terminus be called Lumpkin , after Governor Wilson Lumpkin . Gov. Lumpkin asked them to name it after his young daughter instead , and Terminus became Marthasville . In 1845 , the chief engineer of the Georgia Railroad , ( J. Edgar Thomson ) suggested that Marthasville be renamed `` Atlantica - Pacifica '' , which was quickly shortened to `` Atlanta . '' The residents approved , apparently undaunted by the fact that not a single train had yet visited . The town of Atlanta was incorporated in 1847 . </P>
<P> In 1842 , when a two - story brick depot was built , the locals asked that the settlement of Terminus be called Lumpkin , after Governor Wilson Lumpkin . Gov. Lumpkin asked them to name it after his young daughter instead , and Terminus became Marthasville . In 1845 , the chief engineer of the Georgia Railroad , ( J. Edgar Thomson ) suggested that Marthasville be renamed `` Atlantica - Pacifica '' , which was quickly shortened to `` Atlanta . '' The residents approved , apparently undaunted by the fact that not a single train had yet visited . The town of Atlanta was incorporated in 1847 . </P>
what was atlanta named before the civil war
what was atlanta named before the civil war
Marthasville
Marthasville