by S. Lorraine Norwood (Author)
Duluth was originally founded as Howell's Cross Roads in 1821 by prosperous farmer Evan Howell. The little farming village got a boost and a name change when the railroad came through in 1871. At the dedication of the new depot, Evan Howell's grandson named the town Duluth in honor of a little railroad town in Minnesota that had taken a drubbing in Congress. The name stuck, and in the next 100 years Duluth grew from an agricultural hamlet to a populous suburb of metropolitan Atlanta. Duluth was home to Alice Strickland, a prohibitionist and the first woman mayor in Georgia. It was also the site of early genetic engineering that resulted in the ubiquitous white chickens now dominating the poultry industry. The town's community spirit also built a hospital and inspired a nation to provide medical care to rural areas.