History  of  Atlanta  Michigan

              Atlanta-1949

Atlanta was named by Alfred J West of Capac, Michigan., He saw the area while building a road here in the late 1800’s. In 1881 he bought a tract of forestland and built a sawmill. The area reminded him of Atlanta, Georgia which he saw while fighting in the Civil War. West built a boarding house here to house his employees in the woods and the mill.

          Montmorency County was organized in 1881, after having been part of larger counties, and Briley Township was one of the original three townships and is now one of eight. Atlanta was incorporated as a village for a short time and was named the County Seat by an election vote in 1893. Atlanta later reverted to Township government, and has operated as Briley Township ever since.

          The area around Atlanta, primarily Montmorency County, shows the effects of the great glaciers that moved across North America. The fieldstone of which many early homes and cottages were built from is the rounded rocks left by receding glaciers in their "outwash plains". The area's hills are glacial moraines, ridges of earth left by melting glaciers, and many of its swamps and natural lakes are in depressions left by the glaciers.

          Arrowheads and other artifacts are evidence of the area's use by Chippewa Indians, part of the Ojibawa nation, who spoke a variation of the Algonquin language. The Indians settled more permanently along the Great Lakes shores, making homes of birch bark over frameworks of young trees. Few settlements have been found inland from the great lakes, a clue that they used this area for summer hunting from temporary camps in the area.

          When white people first settled in the area, the forests of large white pine were the primary resource. These were logged off, using rivers and streams, horses and oxen, and later, railroads. There are many logging roads and former railroad beds in the area, used to cut and move the great stands of trees, then abandoned as the camps moved into other areas.

          As hardwoods, jack pines and red pine regenerated in the logged areas, deer herds expanded in numbers, and hunting and recreation became important here. Atlanta became a popular hunting area in the 1940's and 1950's, and deer season was a busy time with all hotels filled and private homes renting rooms.