Forest Trail Region

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HOMETOWN HEROINE

Founded in 1872, Atlanta was named for the city in Georgia, the former home of many settlers of this area. The community retains a Southern character with tree-lined streets and a quaint downtown with brick-paved sidewalks filled with antiques stores, gift shops and other businesses. The town site was platted during construction of the Texas & Pacific Railroad, and the renovated depot now houses the Atlanta Historical Museum. Exhibits include a diorama of the T&P Railway as it appeared from 1890 through 1910; railroad and depot equipment; and cotton processing from the field to the gin. A scale model of a Curtiss Jenny bi-wing plane is the museum’s centerpiece, accompanying a display honoring Bessie Coleman, who was born in Atlanta in 1892 and became the world’s first licensed African American female pilot after learning to fly in France. Coleman returned to the U.S. in 1921 and performed stunts at air shows. Tragically, she died in 1926 during a test flight before a show. In 1995, the U.S. Postal Service issued a commemorative stamp in Coleman’s honor. The museum also displays artifacts and interpretive information about the Caddo Indians, who once farmed the area that is now Atlanta State Park along the south shore of Lake Wright Patman.