Sharpsburg Celebrates 150 Years of History
Downtown streets and shops bustle with business in 1970s Sharpsburg.
“Just like in yesteryear, we want to foster a sense of community. We want to have events. We want to have gatherings. We want a place to create memories.”
Founded in 1825, the town of Sharpsburg was officially incorporated on December 13, 1871. This December, the small city in Coweta County celebrates its 150-year history in a big way with the Sharpsburg Sesquicentennial.
The month-long observation is set to feature various events with local groups and businesses in cooperation with the Newnan-Coweta Historical Society.
The town of Sharpsburg was named for Judge Elias Sharp, one of the original town commissioners. Cotton production was plentiful in mid-19th century Sharpsburg, and completion of the Savannah, Griffin and North Alabama Railroad in 1870 aided in moving agricultural products to markets.
Halfway between Newnan and Senoia, early Sharpsburg had a bank, drugstore, cotton gins and other businesses that thrived in the community until the Great Depression hit America in 1929. Through the 1930s, people left the area in search of work, but the population gradually grew again as more families moved in.
Today, incorporated Sharpsburg is home to 354 residents; however, what Sharpsburg Mayor Blue Cole calls "metropolitan Sharpsburg" contains 22,000 residents.
Cole says most citizens don’t necessarily know or understand where the municipal borders lie. He explains: “The municipal borders go from East Coweta High School over to Highways 16 and 54, roughly, so just that little bit is the actual town of Sharpsburg. The zip code of Sharpsburg, the greater Sharpsburg area, goes from Highway 29 and Interstate-85 all the way down to 16 and 54.”
Preserving History
For the Sesquicentennial celebration, historical exhibits will be on display at the community center at 105 Main Street. Visitors will see memorabilia that has been preserved over the years with some going back to the late 1800s. The items include those from founding families of the town as well as digital newspaper articles highlighting life in Sharpsburg through the decades. One item of note is the Sharpsburg bank’s official early-1900s charter from the State of Georgia.
Included in the display are a voting packet from the December 1978 election and other municipal documents.
A Mayor's Personal Ties
Mayor Cole, whose family lineage goes back to 1800s Sharpsburg, says: “Throughout the years, just like the Newnan Coles, the Cole family in Sharpsburg was active in the business and civic community. They founded the bank, and they had partial interest in the general store.”
Of his family, Cole says they “did help install the first telephone line that ran from Newnan to Senoia.” A photo of that original phone line, which came through Sharpsburg, will be on display with the historical documents.
Sesquicentennial Events
Mayor Cole anticipates having both a Found Art Project, in conjunction with the Newnan-Coweta Art Association, and an Art Walk consisting of Sharpsburg-centric art from Kay Stanley, a local art teacher, and her students with art focused on the town and its history.
The Found Art Project is being created by local artists using natural and discarded material like bricks, glass, bottles and metal from Sharpsburg.
“The art can take nearly any form,” says Cole. “In fact, that’s part of the fun.”
By taking items that would have otherwise been discarded, artists involved in the project will display their folk art works at the art show held during the Sesquicentennial celebration.
Looking Ahead
Mayor Cole has high aspirations for the future of Sharpsburg.
“We want the sense of community, as in the sense of civic pride that we’ve had in the past, but we want to give the modern touch,” he says. “We want to modernize some things around here. We started that in Town Hall and we’re hoping that the ripples can expand outward. We’re looking at developing and improving our infrastructure. We’re looking to find partners who are capable and willing to invest in the town with us as we try to make it a place for families and businesses to prosper.”
Cole said work is ongoing to bring new classes and new topics to the Sharpsburg Community Center for all ages to utilize and benefit from.
“Just like in yesteryear, we want to foster a sense of community,” he says. “We want to have events. We want to have gatherings. We want a place to create memories. We look back at the articles from the early 1900s, where you had brass bands and fireworks and trains coming by. We want to bring back that sense of community, and everything that we’re doing here in Town Hall is to position us to get there. Our job at Town Hall is to set our businesses and our residents up for success.”
Future plans call for expanding and improving the local library, according to Cole.
“We see the library becoming the focus and the driving force behind these community improvements,” he says. “We want the library to have a larger place in town, not a larger physical space but a larger presence in town, so that we can do a lot of the promotion and engage with the children.”
Finally, Cole expresses appreciation for the City employees and Sharpsburg business community.
“One of the things that I’m super excited about and proud of is that everybody I've brought in is passionate about the town,” the mayor concludes. “We love this little town.” NCM
