August 17, 1842

1842 Julia Carlisle, Atlanta’s first baby, was born. Her parents -- Willis and Sarah Carlisle -- moved to Terminus from Marietta in June 1842, becoming one of the first families to settle in the small railroad town. Sarah was expecting, and when it came time for the birth, they traveled to her parents’ home in Marietta (as there were no doctors in Terminus). Three weeks after the birth of Julia, the Carlisles returned home. Though Julia was not actually born in the future site of Atlanta, she can claim to be its first baby.

August 17, 1860

1860 The Atlanta City Council passed an ordinance prohibiting residents from throwing water, dirt, and trash from their windows and doors.

August 17, 1903

1903 Gov. Joseph Terrell signed an act creating the State Board of Health. The board had broad responsibility in the area of health, but it had a special responsibility to prevent the spread of contagious diseases and infections through quarantines and other measures.

August 17, 1903

1903 The Georgia General Assembly adopted a joint resolution condemning the practice of whipping women inmates in state prisons.

August 17, 1903

Georgia towns and cities incorporated by acts approved on August 17:

1903 Barwick (Brooks and Thomas counties), Isabella (Worth County), Metter (Bulloch County), and Sand Hill (Carroll County)

August 17, 1905

1905 Gov. Joseph Terrell signed acts creating:

Crisp County (named for Georgia judge and speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives [1891-1893] Charles F. Crisp) from portions of Dooly County;
Grady County (named for former Atlanta Constitution editor Henry Grady) from portions of Thomas and Decatur counties;
Jenkins County (named for former governor Charles Jenkins) from portions of Burke, Emanuel, Bulloch, and Screven counties; and
Tift County (early Albany, Ga. pioneer and congressman Nelson Tift) from portions of Berrien, Irwin, and Worth counties.
The four new counties respectively were Georgia’s 138th, 139th, 140th, and 141st.

August 17, 1907

Other acts affecting Georgia towns and cities approved on Aug. 17:

1907 Charters of Battle Hill (Fulton County), Culverton (Hancock County), and Edgewood (DeKalb County) repealed

August 17, 1908

1908 Gov. Hoke Smith signed an act prohibiting corporations doing business in Georgia, and their officers, from making contributing any corporate funds -- directly or indirectly -- to any campaign or for any other political purpose.

August 17, 1908

1908 The Georgia General Assembly adopted a joint resolution officially designating the University of Georgia’s technological branch in Atlanta as the State School of Technology.

August 17, 1908

Georgia towns and cities incorporated by acts approved on August 17:

1908 Between (Walton County), Blairsville (Union County), Cedar Grove (Laurens County), Chamblee (DeKalb County), Dixie (Brooks County), Gratis (Walton County), Primrose (Meriwether County), Rockledge (Laurens County), Union City (Campbell, now Fulton County), Vidette (Burke County), Williamson (Pike County), Williamsville (Walton County), and Woodbine (Camden County)

August 17, 1909

Georgia towns and cities incorporated by acts approved on August 17:

1909 Arcade (Jackson County) and Clayton (Rabun County)

August 17, 1912

Georgia towns and cities incorporated by acts approved on August 17:

1912 Pine Park (Grady County)

August 17, 1912

Other acts affecting Georgia towns and cities approved on Aug. 17:

1912 Charter of Herod (Terrell County) repealed contingent upon referendum

August 17, 1915

1915 Through the early morning hours, the lynch mob who had seized Leo Frank from Georgia State Prison in Milledgeville drove by back roads towards Marietta. Sometime early on the morning of the 17th, they reached the outskirts of Marietta. Here, at Frey’s grove near Mary Phagan’s girlhood home, the gang decided to hang Frank. Asserting his innocence to the very end, Frank’s only request was that his wedding ring be returned to his wife (which it was several days later). When word of the lynching spread, crowds gathered to see the body hanging from a tree. Photographs were taken, one of which later became a souvenir postcard. A few in the crowd threatened, and even began to inflict, violence to Frank’s body, before former judge Newt Morris convinced them to stop. Frank’s body was rushed to an undertaker in Atlanta, with a line of vehicles trailing behind. Although the undertaker tried to keep the body concealed, a large crowd soon gathered demanding to see it. After a rock was thrown through a window, officials agreed to let the public view Frank’s body. Under police supervision, thousands of curious Atlanta-area residents filed by single file to view Frank’s body -- including the city detective who had arrested Frank. That night Frank’s body was quickly embalmed and placed on a train for New York, where the burial services were held in Brooklyn’s Mount Carmel Cemetary. As a footnote to the lynching, no one was ever prosecuted for the murder of Leo Frank.

August 17, 1920

1920 Gov. Hugh Dorsey signed into law Georgia’s first Workmen’s Compensation Act providing benefits to workers injured or killed in the course of their employment.

August 17, 1920

1920 Gov. Hugh Dorsey signed a proposed constitutional amendment creating Lamar County from portions of Monroe and Pike counties. The county was named for former congressman, U.S. senator, U.S. Secretary of the Interior, and justice of the U.S. Supreme Court Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar. Because the maximum number of counties allowed by the state constitution--145--had already been exceeded, creation of any additional counties required a constitutional amendment.The amendment was ratified by state voters on Nov. 2, 1920, making Lamar Georgia’s 160th county.

August 17, 1925

Georgia towns and cities incorporated by acts approved on August 17:

1925 Raleigh (Meriwether County)

August 17, 1973

1973 Famed Georgia poet Conrad Aiken died in Savannah. [See August 5, 1889 entry for biographical information.]

August 17, 1993

1993 Ted Turner expanded his Turner Broadcasting empire with the purchase of New Line Cinema and Castle Rock Entertainment.

August 17, 1997

1997 St. Simons Island’s Davis Love III won the 79th PGA Golf Tournament, finishing eleven strokes under par at this year’s championship at Winged Foot Golf Club at Mamaroneck, New York. Winning the 1997 PGA marked Love’s first major tournament victory.