List of city nicknames in Georgia (U.S. state)

This partial list of city nicknames in Georgia compiles the aliases, sobriquets and slogans that cities in Georgia are known by (or have been known by historically), officially and unofficially, to municipal governments, local people, outsiders or their tourism boards or chambers of commerce. City nicknames can help in establishing a civic identity, helping outsiders recognize a community or attracting people to a community because of its nickname; promote civic pride; and build community unity.^[1] Nicknames and slogans that successfully create a new community "ideology or myth"^[2] are also believed to have economic value.^[1] Their economic value is difficult to measure,^[1] but there are anecdotal reports of cities that have achieved substantial economic benefits by "branding" themselves by adopting new slogans.^[2]

Some unofficial nicknames are positive, while others are derisive. The unofficial nicknames listed here have been in use for a long time or have gained wide currency.

Nicknames by city

• Abbeville - Wild Hog Capital of Georgia^[3]
• Albany - The Good Life City^[4]
• Alpharetta - Awesome Alpharetta!^[5]
• Ashburn - Peanut Capital of the World^[6]
• Athens - The Classic City^[7]
• Atlanta

• Contemporary nicknames of Atlanta include, in alphabetical order:
  • The A/da A: It is used in local media such as Only in the A, a video channel shown on MARTA rapid transit trains in Atlanta^[8] and Straight from the A, a popular^[9] Atlanta-based blog targeted at African Americans.^[10] "The A" or "da A" is also used in hip hop and rap songs such as Ludacris and Lloyd's "How We Do It (in da A)", Lil Scrappy's "The A", and T.I.'s "In da A". Atlanta newspaper Creative Loafing listed as one of its "reasons to love Atlanta" that it's "the only city easily identified by just one letter".^[11]
  • A-Town^[12]
  • The ATL,^[13] for its airport code
  • Bangalore of US Tech [^[14]]^[15]
  • The Big Peach^[16]
  • Black mecca^[17]
  • City in a Forest^[18] or City of Trees,^[19] for its unique tree canopy
  • Dogwood City^[20]
  • Empire City of the South^[21]
  • Hot 'Lanta, now more commonly spelled Hotlanta, first popularized by an instrumental song performed by the Allman Brothers Band. It debuted on their live album At Fillmore East, released in July 1971, the fifth song on the album.^[22][23]
  • Hollywood of the South, became popular recently due to the city's boom in the film industry.^[24]
• Historical nicknames for the city include:
  • Gate City, Gate City of the South, or Gate City of the New South (from Reconstruction through the early 20th century)^[25][26]
  • New York of the South^[27] (1870s–1890s)
  • Chicago of the South (1880s–1900s): for Atlanta's "new men, new industries, new buildings, and new spirit" - though it was often remarked that the nickname was not quite accurate in terms of the size of Atlanta vs. the much larger Chicago^[28][29][30]
  • The City Too Busy to Hate^[31][32] (during Jim Crow and the Civil Rights struggle)
  • Convention City of Dixie (Land) (1910s–1920s)^[33][34]
  • Dogwood City^[20]
• Augusta
  • The Garden City^[35]
  • Disgusta^[36]
  • Hellscape
  • The Asscrack of Georgia
  • Shithole of The South
  • Corruption Capital of The South
• Blakely - Peanut Capital of the World^[6]
• Canon - The Big Gun^[16]
• Canton
  • Film Capital of North Georgia
• Claxton - Fruitcake Capital of the World^[37][38]
• Colquitt - Mayhaw Capital of the World^[37][38]
• Columbus
  • The Lowell of the South^[39]
  • The Fountain City^[40]
• Cordele - Watermelon Capital of the World^[6]
• Dalton - Carpet Capital of the World^[41][42]
• Darien - Hidden Gem of the Golden Isles^[43]
• Dawson - Spanish Peanut Capital of the World^[38]
• Decatur - People's Republic of Decatur^[44]
  • Dickhater
• Elberton - The Granite City^[45]
• Ellijay - Georgia's Apple Capital^[6]
• Fort Valley - Peach Capital of Georgia^[6]
• Gainesville - Poultry Capital of the World^[41]
• Griffin - Iris City^[46]
• LaGrange - The Greatest Little City^[47]
• Lithonia - City of Granite^[45]
• Macon
  • The Central City^[48]
  • Cherry Blossom Capital of the World^[49]
• Metter - Everything's Better in Metter^[50]
• Milledgeville - Old Capitol City^[51]
• Milton - Rich White Bitches
• Nashville - City of Dogwoods^[46]
• Newnan - City of Homes^[46]
• Powder Springs - P-Town^[46]
• Quitman - The Camellia City^[52]
• Sandersville - Kaolin Capital of the World^[41]
• Savannah
  • America's Most Haunted City^[53]
  • Turf Grass Capital of the World^[54]
• Sylvester- Peanut Capital of the World^[55]
• Thomasville - City of Roses^[56]
• Thomson
  • Camellia City of the South^[57]
  • Tournament City^[57]
• Tifton - The Friendly City^[58]
• Valdosta
  • The Azalea City^[59]
  • Winnersville U.S.A.^[60]
• Vidalia - Sweet Onion Capital of the World^[6]
• Warner Robins - Georgia's International City^[61]
• Warwick - The Grits Capital of Georgia or The Grits Capital of the World^[62]
• Waynesboro - Bird Dog Capital of the World^[54][63]

See also

• List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state)
• List of city nicknames in the United States

References

1. Muench, David "Wisconsin Community Slogans: Their Use and Local Impacts", December 1993, accessed April 10, 2007.
2. Alfredo Andia, Branding the Generic City :), MU.DOT magazine, September 10, 2007
3. Claims to Fame - Animals, Epodunk, accessed April 16, 2007.
4. AlbanyGeorgia.biz, accessed December 9, 2015
5. Alpharetta Convention and Visitors Bureau page, Georgia Tourist Guide website, accessed January 8, 2012.
6. Claims to Fame - Agriculture, Epodunk, accessed April 16, 2007.
7. Viewbook, University of Georgia
8. Only in the A
9. DoubleClick Ad Checker by Google
10. Straight from the A: About
11. "Because we're the only city easily identified by just one letter", Creative Loafing, November 23, 2011
12. Google News Archive search for "A-Town + Atlanta"
13. "Love it or loathe it, the city's nickname is accurate for the summer". Atlanta Journal-Constitution. June 16, 2008. p. C1.
14. "Urvaksh on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 2016-12-08.
15. "atlanta bangalore urvaksh - Twitter Search". twitter.com. Retrieved 2016-12-11.
16. U.S. City Monikers, Tagline Guru website, accessed January 5, 2008
17. See article Black mecca for extensive references
18. "Atlanta May No Longer Be the City in a Forest", WSB-TV
19. Karen K. Snyder (2007), Frommer's Atlanta, page 3
20. "The Democrats Atlanta: A City of Changing Slogans", Time magazine, July 25, 1988
21. "Could 'Empire City of the South' play host to 2024 summer games", 11 Alive News
22. McManus, John (11 January 2016). "Taylor Morrison, Acadia Deal: What it Means". Builder. Retrieved 25 May 2016.
23. "Florida city America's sex capital?". NBC-2.com. 18 July 2012. Retrieved 25 May 2016.
24. http://www.washingtontimes.com, The Washington Times (29 August 2015). "How Atlanta became the Hollywood of the South". The Washingtion Times. Retrieved 25 May 2016.
25. "Our Quiz Column", Sunny South, p.5
26. Rebecca Burns (2009), Rage in the Gate City: The Story of the 1906 Atlanta Race Riot, University of Georgia Press, ISBN 0-8203-3307-7.
27. Sources documented on Barry Popik's Big Apple blog:
    • 5 October 1872, Appletons' Journal of Literature, Science and Art, pg. 376: "Marvellous tales are told of this antique period in the history of the present 'New York of the South,' concerning acres upon acres of land, near the heart of the city, selling for fifty cents per acre, but which now are worth a snug little fortune. Such was Atlanta less than three decades ago."
    • 17 June 1879, Daily Constitution (Atlanta, GA), pg. 4: "...the future New York of the south,France of Britain- as it was predicted at the opening of the Port Royal railroad in 1873."
    • The Mother Of Continental Parliaments
    • 6 July 1881, The New York Times, pg. 4: "The New-Orleans Democrat says that that city is the New-York of the South, and yet has no public library."
    • 29 January 1884, Atlanta Constitution, pg. 4: "The New York of the South. From the New York Tribune: THE ATLANTA CONSTITUTION draws a sad picture of its environment. "Within one hundred yards of the officer," is its plaintive mean, "wagons are literally up to the hub in mud. Part of Ellis street, in a quarter mile of the depot, is literally impassable." Assuming that our contemporary's account of these wagons and this streets is literally correct, it looks as if Atlanta was likely to be known as the New York of the south."
    • 12 November 1891, Atlanta Constitution, pg. 4: "Atlanta is a grand city. It is the New York of the south, and henceforth it can get the finest attractions produced, for its patronage is sufficient to make the very best and most expensive show a financial success."
    • 21 October 1892, Atlanta Constitution, pg. 5: "Work will cease altogether and the New York of the south will pay honor to the brave navigator, who in spite of the hardships he had to endure, pointed out a new land to the ignorant people of the time."
    • 19 January 1895, Atlanta Constitution, pg. 4: "Cedartown Standard: Atlanta aspires to be the New York of the south - in fact, she is, and so it is perfectly natural that she should follow New York in having the big police scandal and investigation that is now on hand
28. "Proceedings of the annual convention", National Association of Life Underwriters, Life Underwriters Association of Canada
29. The American South: a history, Volume 2 by William J. Cooper, Jr.
30. Urban America: a history with documents
31. History, on City of Atlanta website
32. Ron French, Atlanta: Black-white gap shrinks, The Detroit News, January 28, 2002
33. "Whatever Happened to Georgia's Downtown Hotels?", Georgia History Today
34. The Rotarian, Jun 1916, p. 497
35. Augusta, Georgia
36. , Augusta Chronicle, accessed October 21, 2007.
37. Claims to Fame - Food, Epodunk, accessed April 16, 2007.
38. The World Capital of Whatever, The New York Times by Harold Faber, September 12, 1993.
39. Weinraub, Anita Zaleski (1 December 2006). Georgia Quilts: Piecing Together a History. Wormsloe Foundation. p. 129. ISBN 978-0820328508.
40. Serafin, Faith (4 September 2012). Haunted Columbus, Georgia: Phantoms of the Fountain City. The History Press. ISBN 978-1609495527.
41. Claims to Fame - Products, Epodunk, accessed April 16, 2007.
42. Greetings From America's Secret Capitals, Time (magazine), July 13, 1998.
43. "Visit Darien". Darien-McIntosh Chamber of Commerce. Archived from the original on December 24, 2011. Retrieved December 26, 2011.
44. "Squaring off over shutdown". Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved February 2, 2014.
45. Claims to Fame - Rocks, Epodunk, accessed April 16, 2007.
46. Claims to Fame - Plants, Epodunk, accessed April 16, 2007.
47. Julia Traylor Dyar, Remembering LaGrange: Musings from America's Greatest Little City, Arcadia Publishing. Accessed December 9, 2015
48. The New York Times, June 8, 1895.
49. MaconGa.org, MaconGa.org, listed under Special Events, accessed June 10, 2010
50. Wanda McKinney, Our Favorite Town Slogans, Southern Living, April 2005
51. Old Capitol City Classic 5K and Fun Run, accessed December 9, 2015
53. http://www.americasmosthauntedcity.com/
54. Claims to Fame - Favorites, Epodunk, accessed April 16, 2007.
55. City of Sylvester website, accessed January 8, 2012. Nickname appears in the banner on the top of the page.
56. Rogers, William W. "Thomasville." New Georgia Encyclopedia. 24 September 2014. Web. 13 March 2015.
57. Susan D. Morris and New Georgia Encyclopedia staff. "Thomson". New Georgia Encyclopedia.
58. City website.
59. City website. On city seal.
60. "Video". CNN. October 31, 1988.
61. Warner-Robins.org, in title graphic, accessed June 10, 2010
62. National Grits Festival website (accessed January 24, 2008). "On Feb. 12, 2002, Rep. Johnny Floyd of Cordele, Rep. Ray Holland of Ashburn led the Georgia House of Representatives to approve a resolution that made Warwick 'The Grits Capital of Georgia.' On March 19, 2003, Governor Sonny Perdue recognized Warwick as The Grits Capital of the World."
63. Rob Pavey, Even if White House got name wrong, world is now watching Burke County., Augusta Chronicle staff blog, February 18, 2010

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