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Norcross
About Norcross
Place to Imagine
From the Cherokees who first inhabited this land and the farmers and merchants who later helped it become a thriving town, to modern day visionaries who cherish its history while embracing the future, over the centuries, the land we know as the City of Norcross has been home to a diversity of people. Yet there has always been a strong sense of community, composed of individuals who enjoy the unifying bond that living here creates. It’s truly a unique place to live and grow, to work and play. And because of the creative and intellectual contributions made throughout all the past generations, and due to its collective vision for the future, Norcross continues to be a place that people are proud to call home: a place to imagine.
History
- In 1869, Atlanta entrepreneur J.J. Thrasher purchased 250 acres around the first stop north along the proposed Richmond Danville rail lines. One year later, the area was incorporated. Thrasher named the new town for his good friend and fellow entrepreneur Jonathan Norcross, who was also the fourth mayor of Atlanta. Eventually, Norcross became known as “Atlanta’s Favorite Summer Resort,” and beginning in 1878, a commuter train called the “Airline Belle” made round trips twice a day, carrying visitors between Atlanta and Norcross.
- Norcross is the second oldest city in Gwinnett County and was the first to be placed on the Register of Historic Places.
- The Eastern Continental Divide runs through the heart of the original community, passing alongside Thrasher Park and down the middle of North Peachtree Street. It is a ridge along which the Cherokee Indians once had a well-traveled path leading to the Chattahoochee River. In the early 1800s, when it was being widened into a road by early Norcross-area resident William Nesbit, it was reportedly called “Pitch Tree Road” after all the pine trees in the area, which the Cherokee used to get pitch to seal their canoes. Later, the road became known as “Peachtree Road,” and it’s now lined with restored Victorian homes, stroller-friendly sidewalks and lovely oaks.
- The first car manufactured south of the Mason-Dixon Line was built here in Norcross by Edward Buchanan in 1908. It was called the “NorX,” and some people say that a reason the company failed is because no one knew how to pronounce it!
- Located in the long white building next to City Hall, the Old Cotton Gin was once owned by the Summerour family. Norcross farmer Homer Summerour became well-known nationwide in the early 1900s for developing a special, more productive variety of cotton. The seeds were so famous that people from across the country could request a sample just by writing a letter addressed with nothing more than “Cotton Seed Man” and “Georgia” on the envelope. The orders were filled by the Summerour Gin which still stands next to City Hall.
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