Kennesaw: Then and Now

Saturday afternoon, the Kennesaw Historical Society hosted an educational lecture at the entitled "Kennesaw: Then and Now," highlighting many of the city’s transformations over the years.

Guest speaker Joe Bozeman, co-author of the book "Images of America: Kennesaw," presented a pictorial documentary of the city along with some poignant moments from his youth.

Bozeman's family has resided in the Kennesaw area since the early 1830s.

The lecture began with a dedication to the memory of retired United States Army Colonel James B. Bogle who passed away this past September at the age of 95.

Bozeman said Bogle had been invaluable in the start of the museum and had also chosen to bequeath many of the historical artifacts in his personal collection to it.

Bogle had also been one of the great authorities on . The Confederate locomotive, The General, is currently housed at the Southern Museum.

“Stealing the locomotive put this town into national history,” Bozeman said. “The railroad was the whole reason the town of Kennesaw came into existence.”

He said the entire area was originally Indian territory and that labor camps had sprung up along the railroad. Kennesaw, then called Big Shanty due to the numerous workers' shanties that populated the area, was utilized for its two springs that produced gallons of fresh water.

The area was also the highest point between Atlanta and the Etowah River. A train leaving Big Shanty had a downhill run going north or south, a feature which was instrumental in the recapture of the General during the chase, he said.

The incline can still be observed at the downtown crossing today.

Bozeman also shared many before and after photographic images of the city. One photo showed a stretch of road called Dead Man’s Curve, located near Kennesaw First Baptist Church along present day Main Street. The photograph depicted a number of wooden crosses along the byway.

This stretch of road was the way to Florida before U.S. 41 and the interstate, he said. The crosses represented the numerous car crashes that occurred in the bend.

Other photographs included Pendley’s Service Station, which stood near the city’s newly erected walk-through tunnel, and a picture of Dixie Highway (Old 293) where was eventually built.

Bozeman's father and uncle ran Bozeman Grocery in the late 1940s where the Whistle Stop Café once stood. The grocery was eventually sold to Bobby Grant. Grant’s Food Store then relocated to where Kennesaw Carpets currently resides. The store had been one of the few places residents could buy food in the early days of the city's history, he said.

Bozeman also said that when he was growing up, a tennis court once occupied the area of downtown, now called Fuller Park, located across from .

“, is one of the city’s most misunderstood citizens,” said Bozeman. "If it wasn’t for Myers, the General probably wouldn’t be here, and consequently, neither would the Southern Museum.”

In 1962, Myers had single-handedly organized a campaign to clean up one of the city’s founding springs, located behind City Hall. For some reason, the city had elected to fill in the spring with dirt and the whole area was being used for trash, said Bozeman.

He further noted that while working full-time at Lockheed Martin, Myers had worked tirelessly toward having the General returned to Kennesaw in 1972, after sitting at Union Station in Chattanooga for many years.   

Attendees of the lecture included some of Bozeman’s relatives, including his cousin, Randy Bozeman, visiting from Florida, and his aunt, Eleanor Bozeman, Kennesaw United Methodist Church's eldest living member at the age of 97.

This series of free lectures at the Southern Museum will continue next month.  A lecture entitled “Marietta: Then and Now” will be held on Saturday, June 11.