Big Shanty

Big Shanty is a Georgia historical marker in Cobb County, dedicated 1954.

At the intersection of Cherokee and Main Streets in Kennesaw.

Get directions ↗Start a road trip Historical trails

In 1838-41, a construction camp of laborers grading & building the State R. R., was located at the spring approximately 250 yds. W. of here, where temporary structures (shanties) housed the workmen. Track level here was some 345 ft. above the level at Cartersville, 19 mi. N.; the grade was 18 ft. per mi. at time of construction. In railroad parlance, this was known as "the big grade to the shanties" -- later shortened to "big shanty grade" and finally to "Big Shanty", which was changed to Kennesaw in about 1870. In June 1864, Federal forces on the Kennesaw Mtn. front drew supplies at this point.

TodayHistorical map

Slide toward Today to fade the historical sheet and see the modern map underneath.

David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries

Historical maps covering this location

1831 · Georgia. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1838 · Georgia (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1842 · Georgia. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1864 · Part of Cobb County, Georgia / from surveys made by the Topl. Engrs. of the Dept. of the… (Lionel Pincus and Princess Firyal Map Division, The New York Public Library)
1874 · Military Operations of the Atlanta Campaign. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)

Georgia, 1838, covering the location of Big Shanty, with a pin at the marker's coordinates — Georgia, 1838, covering this location. David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries. The pin is ours, placed from the marker's coordinates.

Example

For example, one family's tree showed the Articles of Confederation marker in Pennsylvania standing under a mile from where William Gabby lived in the 1760s.

What that marker records spans 1777 to 1789, overlapping William Gabby's years there.

From one family's 77-marker roster

Upload your family tree and TreeAlive finds the markers near where your own ancestors lived.

See your family's markers

Start with a tree file, a FamilySearch sign in, or a WikiTree ID.

Report a problem with this page

The marker isn't at this spotOur pin may be off. If you know where it stands, tell us.I couldn't find the markerWe record what the source recorded. We have not been to look.The sign reads differentlyThat would be an error, and we can pass it to the program.The historical map looks wrongThe period map behind the pin, not the marker itself.Something else

We may pass what you report to the state's marker program. Please don't include personal details.

This historical marker is part of the Georgia Historical Marker Program and was erected by the Georgia Historical Commission. Marker texts and locations come from the Society's own marker database.

More markers nearby

Site: Lacy Hotelsame spot
The Andrews Raidsame spot
Federal Occupation of Big Shantysame spot
Stewart's Corps at Big Shantysame spot

On the National Register nearby

Big Shanty Village Historic District140 ft
The General270 ft

Places within about 300 feet of this marker that are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. A nearby listing is not always the marker's own subject.