Mableton, Georgia
Mableton is a city in Cobb County, Georgia, United States. Voters of the unincorporated area of Mableton approved a referendum to incorporate on November 8, 2022, and six council members were elected on March 21, 2023, with Michael Owens elected as mayor of Mableton in the 2023 Mableton mayoral election. According to the 2020 census, the census-designated area Mableton had a population of 37,115.
History
Early history (1843–1912)
Between the 16th and 19th centuries, most of the land in present-day southern Cobb County belonged to the Cherokee and Creek. Two Native American villages were established near the area that will later become known as Mableton - the settlements of Sweet Water Town and Nickajack. Both tribes coinhabited the area peacefully, with one legend claiming that eventual ownership of the area by the Cherokee was settled via a ball game. One of the early known records of white Europeans being aware of the inhabitants is an 1839 map depicting a 'Nickajack Creek' converging with the Chattahoochee River south and west of the Standing Peachtree settlement.The town was named after Scottish immigrant Robert Mable, who on September 11, 1843, bought 300 acres of land in southern Cobb County from the Georgia Land Lottery of 1832. Mable was a millwright and farmer who grew cotton, corn, potatoes, and sorghum in the area; he owned between 11 and 48 slaves by 1860. According to oral interviews, Mable was a "fair and kind" enslaver who educated slave children alongside his own, and eventually also liberated his slaves before any government mandate ordered him to. The Robert Mable House and Cemetery, located off U.S. 78 on Floyd Road just north of Clay Road, now includes an amphitheater which hosts public events.
More white settlers moved into the northern edge of Mableton by Nickajack Creek, near Smyrna, in the mid-1800s. They formed a community initially known as Mill Grove and later Nickajack. The creek provided ample power to run grist, saw, cotton, and woolen mills. A covered bridge, originally built c. 1848–1850, traverses the stream and is now part of a historical district. It is one of the few remaining covered bridges in Georgia, and still highly active today after it was later buttressed to handle automobile traffic. A notable resident of the area during that period was John Gann, Cobb County's first state senator. His home, built in 1841, still stands today and is also part of the historical district.
During the Atlanta campaign of the Civil War, Union officers Walter Q. Gresham and Francis P. Blair Jr. of the XVII Corps reached Mableton on July 3, 1864, after the Union defeat at Kennesaw. Gresham replenished his troops' supplies and received medical care at Robert Mable's house, and camped for the night before advancing to Atlanta. The house was spared from the carnage of Sherman's March to the Sea.
The Georgia Pacific Railway opened a railroad station in Mableton in December 1881. The chief engineer erected a sign displaying 'Mableton' upon completion of the station in honor of Robert. The first train from Atlanta arrived at the station just before Christmas. Shortly after, the post office was established on June 28, 1882. This replaced the post office in Bryantville, a former settlement about southeast. The arrival of the railroad allowed Mableton to act as a commercial hub for then-rural Cobb County. Cotton export flourished throughout the county from the 1890s until the Great Depression.
Original incorporation (1912–1916)
On August 19, 1912, Mableton was incorporated as a town but was disincorporated on August 17, 1916. In that year, the town suffered from a heavy flood that overwhelmed its sewer system, resulting in an unexpected tax burden being placed upon the residents for repairs. But after locals successfully demanded that a tax on storm drains be shared by all of Cobb County instead, the town's charter was revoked and Mableton was disincorporated. Homer A. Glore, a medical doctor served as the first mayor of Mableton.Unincorporated area (1916–2023)
Restored municipality (2023–)
In 2020, a local initiative known as the South Cobb Alliance fostered a debate for cityhood. A feasibility study conducted by the Carl Vinson Institute of Government stated that the potential city would generate $11.3 million in operating expenses and $14.6 million in revenue. Alternatively, nearby Smyrna considered annexing parts of Mableton. This move would have made Smyrna the largest city in Cobb County, surpassing the county seat of Marietta, and would have ultimately disrupted Mableton's cityhood efforts.Following the 2022 midterm elections, a referendum on cityhood was passed, with 13,162 in favor of Mableton's cityhood and 11,675 rejecting it. The majority of no votes were concentrated in the north of Mableton, where household income is higher. Human resources director Mark Sette said it was a "power grab" to annex unincorporated areas of north Mableton to "pay for all of the projects that they want down there ". Thousands of people signed a petition to de-annex areas that voted no from the city. Mableton was different in that the supporters of de-annexation were multi-racial and multi-generational while organizers of similar secession movements tended to be mainly older white residents.
It is the largest city in Cobb County in terms of population, with the new city incorporating about 47,000 residents. The city limits also include areas of unincorporated Smyrna and Austell.
The City of Mableton was approved by the voters in a referendum on the General Election Ballot on November 8, 2022.
Mableton was the only one of four proposed new cities in Metro Atlanta to be approved; the other three, East Cobb, Lost Mountain and Vinings, all failed to be incorporated as municipalities in referendums. In May 2022, Brentin Mock of Bloomberg News described the city movement in Metro Atlanta as being "defeated". Though Mock reported that Mableton was different as it was the only one out of the four to have a majority non-white population and is assembling around "principles of diversity, affordability and inclusive voting rights". Politically, Mableton is in Cobb County whose board of commissioners was majority white and Republican for most of its history, until 2020 when it became majority black and Democrat. According to a preliminary analysis from Cobb County, the incorporation of Mableton would result in a net annual loss of $8 million from the city's budget after accounting for the services that the county would no longer provide for it.
The referendum was the result of the General Assembly's passage of House Bill, which set the boundaries of the city, established city council districts, and laid out the powers of the Mayor and Council. The law also established March 21, 2023, as the date for a special election for the first council members and mayor of Mableton.
De-annexation calls
Michael Owens stated that he was not against de-annexation but that his focus was on the majority of Mableton residents who wish to be in the city. LaTonia Long and Michael Murphy both opposed de-annexation. Mayoral candidate Aaron Carman said that he supported the people involved in the de-annexation effort but stated that if the de-annexation efforts do not pass, Mableton needed someone that could "bring the city together". State representative David Wilkerson submitted two de-annexation bills that would have allowed some areas to de-annex from Mableton but both failed in the Georgia General Assembly. A compromise bill in response to the bills submitted by Wilkerson was drafted by state representatives Terry Cummings and Michael Smith but this also failed as it was not published in time.2023 mayoral election
The 2023 Mableton mayoral election took place on March 21, 2023, in Mableton, with a runoff held on April 18, 2023, as no candidate got 50% of the vote in the general election. Aaron Carman gained the most votes in the first round but lost the runoff to former Cobb County Democratic Committee chair Michael Owens who became the first mayor of Mableton, Georgia in over 100 years. Despite the runoff election being described as historic, only 6,113 votes were cast and voter turnout remained low at 12.9% of 47,200 registered voters.Geography
Mableton is located at . The Chattahoochee River acts as the southeast border, separating Cobb County from west Fulton County — where the historic African-American neighborhood of Collier Heights and the former site of the Bankhead Courts housing project are nearby. Two suburban cities directly border Mableton: Austell in the west and Smyrna in the north. Lithia Springs, an unincorporated community, is directly southwest.Mableton is approximately 15 miles west-northwest from the city of Atlanta, and approximately 20 miles from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.
Demographics
Mableton appeared as an unincorporated place in the 1960 U.S. census. It was not listed in the 1970 U.S. census. It was listed as a census designated place in the 1980 United States census.2020 census
2000 census
As of the census of 2000, there were 11,339 housing units at an average density of. There were 10,894 households, out of which 34.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.5% were married couples living together, 14.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.9% were non-families. 21.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 6.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.72 and the average family size was 3.12.Government
Mableton, Georgia was incorporated as a city on August 19, 1912, before being disincorporated on August 17, 1916, as a result of a flood overwhelming the city's sewer system. In November 2023, the city was reincorporated in an election.The mayor is the highest elected official in the city. The current mayor is Michael Owens, who was elected in the 2023 Mableton mayoral election.