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General, The

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.

From the record

“Western & Atlantic Railroad #3 General is a 4-4-0 "American" type steam locomotive built in December 1855 by the Rogers, Ketchum & Grosvenor in Paterson, New Jersey for the Western & Atlantic Railroad, best known as the engine stolen by Union spies in the Great Locomotive Chase, an attempt to cripple the Confederate rail network during the American Civil War. Today, the locomotive is preserved at the Southern Museum of Civil War and Locomotive History in Kennesaw, Georgia, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.”

Wikipedia article The General (locomotive), CC BY-SA 4.0.

One of 48 National Register listings published here for Cobb County · listed in 1973 · category: Structure.

Sources: the Wikipedia article · the case file at the National Archives · the National Register database, National Park Service

The listing

  • What is counted as historic. The nomination lists 1 structure as contributing to the listing.
  • Address. Big Shanty Museum of Cherokee St., Kennesaw, 30144
  • When was it listed? June 1973
  • Category. structure
  • Census division. Acworth-Kennesaw
  • National Register reference number. 73000617 - the number the National Park Service assigned this property when it was listed, and the key its nomination file is catalogued under at the National Archives.

Fires near this property

101 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 101 fires within 5 miles of General, The between 1992 and 2017, burning about 245 acres in total. 4 started naturally. 30 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause Fires
Debris and open burning38
Arson/incendiarism30
Misuse of fire by a minor13
Missing data/not specified/undetermined6
Natural4
Equipment and vehicle use3
Recreation and ceremony3
Smoking3
Railroad operations and maintenance1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
22 September 2007Misuse of fire by a minorunder an acreGeorgia Forestry Commissionnot named
22 September 1994Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreKennesaw Mountain National Battlefield ParkFIRE2
20 September 1997Arson/incendiarismunder an acreGeorgia Forestry Commissionnot named
19 September 1993Missing data/not specified/undetermined3.0 acresGeorgia Forestry Commissionnot named
18 September 1993Debris and open burningunder an acreGeorgia Forestry Commissionnot named
16 September 2013Recreation and ceremony1.5 acresGeorgia Forestry CommissionFY2014-CHEROKEE-002
16 September 1997Smokingunder an acreGeorgia Forestry Commissionnot named
15 September 1999Arson/incendiarismunder an acreGeorgia Forestry Commissionnot named

Every fire recorded in Cobb County

Mines and quarries near this property

10 of 12 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 12 workings within 5 miles of General, The: 9 past producers, 2 prospects, 1 producer. 1 still produces. What was taken out: Gold, Mica, Stone, Crushed/Broken. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Chalker MineMicaPast Producer
Kennesaw QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
CoxGoldPast ProducerVein
Freeman MineGoldPast Producer
GarrisonGoldProspectPlacer
HamiltonGoldProspectPlacer
Hamilton MineGoldPast Producer
House MineGoldPast Producer
Kendrick MineGoldPast Producer
Payne MineGoldPast Producer

Every working recorded in Cobb County

Storms near this property

41 since 1994

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Kennesaw, the town this property stands in, in 41 storm reports between 1994 and 2022: 16 hail, 15 thunderstorm wind, 6 lightning, 2 flash flood. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
February 2005LightningKennesaw$500,000The Marietta Daily Journal reported that lightning struck and set on fire four homes in the northern portion of the county. Three of the homes suffered major damage.
May 2010LightningKennesaw$250,000The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that lightning struck a home on Summit Wood Drive resulting in a fire. The home suffered major damage from the fire. The lone occupant was able to escape without injury.
July 2007LightningKennesaw$250,000WXIA Television of Atlanta reported that lightning struck a home in the Kennesaw area causing substantial damage to the structure.
July 2002Thunderstorm WindKennesaw$175,000The Cobb county Emergency Management Director reported that a thunderstorm microburst caused extensive damage to two Preferred Jet Center Hangers at McCollum field, just southeast of Kennesaw. The walls were moved in. However, no aircraft were damaged. While the tower at the field only reported 45 mph winds, a localized microbust was suspected with winds up to 100 mph.
February 1997Thunderstorm WindKennesaw$50,000no account filed
August 1995Thunderstorm WindKennesaw$8,000Thunderstorm winds blew campers over on Highway 41.
April 2006LightningKennesaw$5,000The public reported that a home was struck by lightning. The damage amount was undeterminable.
July 1999LightningKennesaw$5,000A fire started by lightning damaged the roof of a home on Wade Green Road.
July 1997Thunderstorm WindKennesaw$5,000The remnants of Hurricane Danny, which made landfall in south Alabama on Saturday July 19th, moved slowly across the Atlanta metropolitan area in the early morning hours of July 23rd. As it approached north Georgia, a Flash Flood watch was issued for an area north of a line from Peachtree City in Fayette county to Athens in Clark county at 5 pm on the 22nd. This area was extended south to a line from Hamilton in Harris county to Forsyth in Monroe county to Eatonton in Putnam county to Washington in Wilkes county at 10 pm on the 22nd. A severe thunderstorm associated with convective rain bands from the remnants of Danny passed over Kennesaw State University in Cobb county at approximately 6 am on the 23rd. Campus police officers reported a big boom which lasted for a couple of minutes at approximately 6:10 am. Several trees were knocked down at the Administrative building, as well as at the main entrance. Numerous trees were down on Chastain Road, at the intersection of Paulding Avenue and Dallas Drive, on Cobb Avenue, and at the intersection of Dallas Drive and Frey Lake Road. Power lines were also knocked down by falling branches on Frey Lake Road and Dallas Drive. Across the street from the campus, several trees were knocked over. Campus police reported that several pieces of equipment were either blown off of roofs or at least blown over. At least one parked vehicle sustained damage from flying debris. An air conditioning unit was pushed to the edge of a trailer as well.
June 1994Thunderstorm WindKennesaw$5,000Thunderstorm winds downed several large trees and limbs along United States Highway 41 in Kennesaw.
August 2004Thunderstorm WindKennesaw$3,000The Cobb County 911 Center reported that several trees were blown down between Kenneesaw and Blackwells.
May 2001Thunderstorm WindKennesaw$3,000The public reported numerous trees down at the intersection of Interstate 575 and Chastain Road.
March 1997Thunderstorm WindKennesaw$3,000no account filed
June 2013Thunderstorm WindKennesaw$2,000Trained spotters and the public reported several trees down in Cobb County that were not related to the tornado. Trees were snapped and uprooted in the area of Kennesaw State University and near Southwick and Etheridge Drives specifically. A home northeast of Kennesaw had its shutters blown off.
July 2004LightningKennesaw$2,000A trained spotter for the National Weather Service reported that lightning strikes knocked out three electrical transformers. One of the transformers was set on fire.
July 2002Thunderstorm WindKennesaw$2,000The Marietta Daily Journal and a tree service company reported that numerous trees were down.
April 2018Thunderstorm WindKennesaw$1,000The public reported a tree blown down across Clover Road near Old Highway 41.
June 2018Thunderstorm WindKennesaw$1,000The Cobb County Emergency Manager reported a tree blown down at Mack Dobbs Road and Stilesboro Road.
April 2015Thunderstorm WindKennesaw$1,000The Cobb County 911 center reported several trees down from Kennesaw to Smyrna, including one down on Cooper Lake Road.
July 1999Thunderstorm WindKennesaw$500The public reported trees blown down on Pine Mountain Road.
July 2022Thunderstorm WindKennesaw-Tree down on road at Kennesaw Due West Rd and Stilesboro Rd NW.
February 2020Flash FloodKennesaw-Social media post indicated water flowing over the roadway at Loring Road near Butler Creek. Radar estimates indicate that 2.5 to 4 inches of rain occurred, falling on already wet soils and resulting in flash flooding.
May 2012HailKennesaw-The public reported quarter sized hail near Kennesaw, which lasted for about 10 minutes.
December 2008Heavy RainKennesaw-An amateur radio operator relayed a report of street and highway flooding at Morris Mill Road and Howell Road. All lanes of Interstate-75 were blocked in this area because of high water, except the HOV lane. Heavy rain of 1.0 to 1.5 inches fell in about one hour across much of Cobb county as a line of heavy thunderstorms traversed the area during this time frame.
March 2008HailKennesaw-The public reported quarter-sized hail in far northwest Cobb county, west of Kennesaw and penny-sized hail in the Marietta and Fair Oaks area.
March 2008HailKennesaw-An off duty meteorologist with The Weather Channel observed hail ranging in size from dimes in the northern part of Kennesaw to almost golf balls in the southern part of Kennesaw.
February 2005HailKennesaw-The public reported penny-sized hail.
August 2004Heavy RainKennesaw-The Cobb County 911 Center reported minor street flooding on several streets in the area. In addition, some minor flooding was reported at a local shopping mall.
July 2003Flash FloodKennesaw-The public reported that Kennesaw Avenue was flooded, with up to two feet of water over the road in spots between Kennesaw and Marietta. Others reported that some roads in the Six Flags area of far south Cobb county were flooded with several inches of water flowing over the roads.
May 2003HailKennesaw-The public reported golf ball-sized hail.
May 2003HailKennesaw-The public reported golf ball-sized hail in Kennesaw and penny-sized hail in Marietta.
May 2002HailKennesaw-The public reported dime size hail.
June 2001HailKennesaw-The public reported quarter size hail.
February 1999HailKennesaw-A couple of public reports indicated nickel to quarter size hail fell in Cobb county. A large tree fell on a swing set in Austell, cutting it in half.
September 1999HailKennesaw-A CNN meteorologist and several public reports indicated dime to quarter size hail fell across Cobb county. The meteorologist said quarter size hail covered the ground in Marietta.
June 1999HailKennesaw-There were numerous reports from the public of hail ranging from dime to golfball size.
March 1999HailKennesaw-The Kennesaw Emergency Services reported dime to quarter size hail.
July 1999HailKennesaw-no account filed
May 1998HailKennesaw-no account filed
April 1998HailKennesaw-no account filed
April 1997HailKennesaw-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Cobb County

Map coverage status

No historic map-sheet match is published for this property yet. That does not mean no map exists. This record needs a coordinate-quality review before it can be joined to a sheet boundary. Browse the county's mapped places while that work is pending.

Listed places nearby

6 within 8 miles

Other National Register properties close enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties to their map sheets.

Photograph PropertyDistance Listed
Big Shanty Village Historic Districtunder 500 feet1980
Camp McDonald0.2 miles1980
Summers Street Historic District0.3 miles1980
Cherokee Street Historic District0.3 miles1980
North Main Street Historic District0.4 miles1980
Hiram Butler House1.3 miles1995

Sources for this property

National Archives recordThe nomination case file for reference 73000617 in Record Group 79.
Wikipedia articleCommunity-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA.
Cobb CountyAll 48 listed properties in this county.

Provenance

  • Listing record. National Park Service National Register of Historic Places, listed-properties dataset, current to 2026-05-22.
  • Map join. Address geocoded through the United States Census geocoder, then tested against the published boundary of every sheet in the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection.
  • How this page is made. Listing fields come from federal records; map-sheet coverage is a labelled coordinate-to-boundary calculation, not a source-field claim.
  • Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
  • Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
  • Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.