Town of Cassville

In this valley was once situated the proud town of Cassville, begun in July 1833 as the seat of justice for Cass county and soon the center of trade and travel in the region recently comprising the Cherokee Nation. Both the county and town were named in honor of Gen. Lewis Cass, Michigan statesman and Secretary of War in the Cabinet of President Andrew Jackson. A decade after its founding Cassville lost its preeminence as a trading center due to the location of the state-owned Western and Atlantic railroad two miles west of its limits. It continued to flourish however, and in 1860 was a community of some 1300 persons. Two four-year colleges located here and its newspaper, The Cassville Standard, gave weight to its claims of being the educational and cultural center for all northern Georgia. In 1861 the name of the county was changed by action of the Georgia Legislature to Bartow in memory of Gen. Francis S. Bartow, a native Georgian killed in the First Battle of Manassas, and the name of the town became Manassas. The entire town was destroyed by fire Nov. 5, 1864 at the hands of the Fifth Ohio Cavalry [USA]. Only three houses and three churches were left standing. So complete was the destruction that no rebuilding of the town was attempted.