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Etowah and Stegall Station

The DAILY CONSTITUTIONALIST [AUGUSTA, GA],
May 27, 1864,
p. 1, c. 1
Etowah Iron Works.—A dispatch was received in this city yesterday says the Savannah Republican of the 25th, stating that the Yankees had made a complete destruction of these works which were situated a few miles above Cartersville. Most of the valuable machinery had been removed to a place of safety. Where the equipment was moved is not known. From July 12 to November 10, 1864, the 6th Independent Battery, Wisconsin Light Artillery was stationed here.

Built by Jacob Stroup in the 1830's, this foundry was the first in the area. Mark Anthony Cooper, a citizen from Elberton, purchased the foundry from Stroup in 1844. Cooper was very influential and made improvements to the Etowah River with Stroup and Wiley as business partners. The company had a blast furnace, foundry, rolling mill, nail factory, 2 flour mills, 2 saw mills, 2 corn mills and a bank plus other shops, warehouses and a hotel. Etowah manufactured nails, bolts, hollow ware, railroad iron, pots and pans. The flour mill produced two to three hundred barrels of flour daily. Iron was shipped to England to be converted to steel. Coal was sent from Coopers Coal mines in Dade County for the bloomery furnace.

Etowah was about five to six miles away from the W & A Railroad. The Etowah spur was completed October 19th, 1858 with L. Kendric as the contractor for the road and Eugene LeHardy as the chief engineer.

The town of Etowah was almost totally destroyed by Sherman's troops. It was the home to 2,000 people. The only remains is the furnace at Cooper Iron Works.The town was flooded when the Corps of Engineers created Lake Allatoona. All that remains today is this furnace and a chimney. A railroad cut leading from Etowah Station on the old Western and Atlantic Railroad to the furnace is still visible on River Road.

The City of Emerson as it is known today was known as Stegall Station in honor of Ensley Stegall, a noted land owner and business man from about the time of the Civil War until it was incorporated in 1889.

Returning veterans found widespread destruction. The W & A Railroad was in ruins; the Iron Works at Etowah and the town were destroyed. There was no salt, corn or livestock. Gov. Joseph E. Brown quickly put forces to work repairing the railroad. In the interim he had wagons haul salt and corn to the area.

After the war Stegall Station began to grow because of the mining operations nearby. The town of Etowah never recovered. The people met in a Trading Post at the present corner of Old Alabama and Puckett Rd. to form a church. It was called Stegalls Chapel and became the First Methodist Church of Emerson..