The City of Austell
Nestled in southwest Cobb County, Austell is a small southern city located 18 miles west of the city of Atlanta. The city is 5.7 square miles, with a relatively flat topography and the Sweetwater Creek flowing through. Famous as a natural health resort, the city boasts a serene, picturesque setting of parks and oak trees making it an ideal place for not only visitors but also residents.
Historically recognized as a therapeutic city, the city of Austell was founded in 1885, after the neighboring Lithia Springs earned prominence by game hunters for its curative properties in the early 1800s. The emergent popularity of the spring resulted in an increased migration of people, forcing the owner of the property around Austell, Mr. G.O. Mozeley, to subdivide and sell forty acres of his lot, leading to the creation of the city of Salt Springs. The old Georgia Pacific railways added to the eminence of the city by not only making it a transit station, but also a division node for the two routes of Birmingham and Chattanooga. To honor the work of General Alfred Austell in establishing railway networks in the south, the city was later named ‘Austell.’
Strategically located 4 miles north of the interstate I 20, the city of Austell is well connected with major cities like Marietta, Douglasville, Hiram and Atlanta. The city continues to be a significant station division terminal, hosting several trains and transferring passengers each day.
"Austell Embraces Innovation, Opportunity and Urbanism. The city of Austell strives to be a city of opportunity with dynamic communities and a small town atmosphere. The city aims to revitalize itself, to create attraction and bring growth prospects for business and citizens.”
City Vision 2017 - 2027
PLEASE CONTACT (770) 944- 4309 or communityaffairs@austellga.gov TO SHARE OLD PHOTOS OF THE THREADMILL (INTERIOR / EXTERIOR) AND OTHER HISTORICAL ITEMS.
Threadmill Complex
Located in the city of Austell, The Coats and Clark Threadmill Complex is a beautifully restored multi-use complex housing numerous City, County, and State offices as well private offices since 2001. The entire third floor of the complex is leased to Greif, a recycled paperboard and packaging company.
A Scottish textile business; the Clark Thread Company, purchased the old Acworth Hosier Mill in 1894. In 1932 Clark built Clarkdale, one of the last planned communities in Georgia. Engineers and a construction firm were hired to create the entire mixed-use community on fifty acres. The Coats and Clark Threadmill was built on top of a hill, surrounded to the west at the bottom of the hill by 138 homes on curvilinear tree lines streets. The recreation facilities and green spaces planned in the original village and added during its first twenty years remain part of the historic district.
In 1950, the mill civic association added Pineview Lake and stocked it with fish. The mill began selling the homes to residents in the 1960s. After the mills thread making operations ceased in 1983, the new owners nominated the district to the National Register of Historic Places, noting that the village remains today almost without intrusion as it was first designed and built. The Clarkdale Mill and Village were added to the National Register of Historic Places.