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Villa Rica (Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese translation: Rich Village) is a city in Carroll and Douglas counties in the U.S. state of
Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...
. Located roughly 30 miles west of Atlanta, a decision to develop housing on a large tract of land led to a major population boom at the turn of the 21st century: the population was 4,134 at the 2000 census; it had grown by 238%, to 13,956, at the 2010 census; and is estimated at 16,058 in 2019, nearly quadrupling its population in just 19 years.


Geography


Location

Villa Rica is located in northeastern Carroll County and northwestern Douglas County at (33.731909, -84.919982). U.S. Route 78 (
Bankhead Highway The Bankhead Highway was a United States cross-country automobile highway connecting Washington, D.C., and San Diego. The Bankhead Highway's beginnings can be traced back to 1916 when the Bankhead Highway Association was organized to promote the ...
) passes through the center of the city, leading west to Temple and east to
Douglasville The city of Douglasville is the county seat of Douglas County, Georgia, United States. , the city had a population of 34,650, up from 30,961 in 2010 and 20,065 in 2000. Douglasville is located approximately west of Atlanta and is part of the ...
.
Interstate 20 Interstate 20 (I‑20) is a major east–west Interstate Highway in the Southern United States. I-20 runs beginning at an interchange with I-10 in Scroggins Draw, Texas, and ending at an interchange with I-95 in Florence, South Carolina. Between ...
passes through the southern part of the city with access from exits 24 and 26, and leads east to
Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
and west to
Oxford, Alabama Oxford is a city in Calhoun, Talladega, and Cleburne counties in the State of Alabama. The population was 22,069 at the 2020 census,. Oxford is one of two principal cities of and included in the Anniston-Oxford Metropolitan Statistical Area ...
. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and , or 1.04%, is water. Villa Rica sits on the ridgeline that separates the Chattahoochee and the Tallapoosa river basins. Slightly more than half of Villa Rica lies within Carroll County, and the remainder lies within Douglas County.


Climate

Villa Rica has a humid subtropical climate (Cfa) according to the Köppen classification system, with hot, humid summers and mild to chilly winters. On average, the warmest month is July. The highest recorded temperature was in 1980. On average, the coolest month is January. The lowest recorded temperature was in 1985. The most precipitation on average occurs in March. Despite its significant physical distance from the Gulf of Mexico (250 miles) and the
Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the "Old World" of Afr ...
(260 miles), on rare occasion Villa Rica is impacted by
hurricanes A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depe ...
, sometimes severely. Tornadoes are a more common occurrence in the area, although not usually as severe as those that occur in the midwest United States.


Transportation


Major roads

*
Interstate 20 Interstate 20 (I‑20) is a major east–west Interstate Highway in the Southern United States. I-20 runs beginning at an interchange with I-10 in Scroggins Draw, Texas, and ending at an interchange with I-95 in Florence, South Carolina. Between ...
* U.S. Route 78 * State Route 8 * State Route 61 * State Route 101


Pedestrians and cycling

* Gold Nugget Trail (Proposed)


Railroads

Historically, the Southern Railway ran several daily passenger trains, including the ''
Kansas City-Florida Special Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the we ...
,'' the ''Sunnyland'' and an Atlanta-Birmingham section of the ''
Piedmont Limited The ''Piedmont Limited'' was a named passenger train operated by the Southern Railway in the southern United States. For most of its life it was a New York— New Orleans train, operating over the same route as the more famous '' Crescent ...
,'' making flag or signal stops in Villa Rica. The last trains made stops in 1967.


History

The location which was to become Villa Rica was originally settled in 1826 along what is now Dallas Highway. This land was ceded by the
Creek people The Muscogee, also known as the Mvskoke, Muscogee Creek, and the Muscogee Creek Confederacy ( in the Muscogee language), are a group of related indigenous (Native American) peoples of the Southeastern Woodlandssecond Treaty of Indian Springs The Treaty of Indian Springs, also known as the Second Treaty of Indian Springs and the Treaty with the Creeks, is a treaty concluded between the Muscogee and the United States on February 12, 1825 at what is now the Indian Springs Hotel Museum ...
signed by Chief William McIntosh. In 1826, farmers and gold miners arrived in the area from Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware to what was then known as "Hixtown" (named after a local tavern operator, incorporated in 1830). One mile south was Chevestown, owned by Allison Cheeves. Hixtown and Cheevestown moved to Villa Rica's present location in 1882 when the
railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a prep ...
was built. Many of the original structures were physically moved to the new site (now known as the North Villa Rica Commercial Historic District) by rolling them on logs pulled by horses. The city was incorporated as Villa Rica in 1881. The name Villa Rica is derived from the Spanish for "rich village", and the city's name change was done to help promote the gold that had been found in the area.


Old Villa Rica (Hixtown)

Shortly after the arrival of the wagons in 1826, gold was discovered there. 1826 was also the year that Carroll County was created and named for
Charles Carroll of Carrollton Charles Carroll (September 19, 1737 – November 14, 1832), known as Charles Carroll of Carrollton or Charles Carroll III, was an Irish-American politician, planter, and signatory of the Declaration of Independence. He was the only Catholic sig ...
, Maryland, because he was the last living signer of the Declaration of Independence. Although it did not develop into the large gold rush that would strike Georgia a few years later, there was a small gold rush in Villa Rica in the late 1820s. When the
Georgia Gold Rush The Georgia Gold Rush was the second significant gold rush in the United States and the first in Georgia, and overshadowed the previous rush in North Carolina. It started in 1829 in present-day Lumpkin County near the county seat, Dahlonega, a ...
took hold in 1829, most of the Villa Rica miners moved northeast to the
Dahlonega The city of Dahlonega () is the county seat of Lumpkin County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 5,242, and in 2018 the population was estimated to be 6,884. Dahlonega is located at the north end of ...
area. Villa Rica was established in 1830. Nevertheless, some mining continued in the area, with several hundred men employed in nearby mines. In 1832, Hixtown had over 2,000 residents (60% of the county's population). Gold lots were $500 per acre compared to $2 per acre for land elsewhere in the county. There were at least 19 active gold mines. By 1860, the gold supplies in the area had been largely exhausted. Early Villa Rica had a
Wild West The American frontier, also known as the Old West or the Wild West, encompasses the geography, history, folklore, and culture associated with the forward wave of American expansion in mainland North America that began with European colonial ...
atmosphere complete with Indians, horse thieves, and vigilante justice. The area was originally part of the Creek Nation, but the Indians were driven out of their lands after the Treaty of Washington in 1826 and by 1827, there were no more Creek in Georgia. Most moved west into Alabama, but there, too, they faced the avarice of white settlers, who sparked a brief war in 1836 that ended with the forcible removal of all of the Creek from Alabama to Oklahoma as well. The local horse thieves were known as the Pony Club, and the vigilantes were the Slicks. At first, the Slicks would just hold Pony Club members caught stealing horses until a
jury trial A jury trial, or trial by jury, is a legal proceeding in which a jury makes a decision or findings of fact. It is distinguished from a bench trial in which a judge or panel of judges makes all decisions. Jury trials are used in a significant ...
could be held. But Pony Club members usually had no trouble finding witnesses to prove their innocence, so the Slicks eventually started holding their own trials and the guilty were whipped. Things came to a head during the election of 1832 when large numbers of Pony Club members and Slicks got into a brawl. The Slicks won the fight, and the Pony Club demanded a grand jury try the Slicks on charges of
assault An assault is the act of committing physical harm or unwanted physical contact upon a person or, in some specific legal definitions, a threat or attempt to commit such an action. It is both a crime and a tort and, therefore, may result in crim ...
and battery with intent to kill. However, the jury ended up commending the Slicks and thanking them for their work.


New Villa Rica

With the arrival of the new railroad line, Hixtown and Cheevestown combined to become the new city of Villa Rica. The first train rolled through town in June 1882. A round-trip ticket from the Union Passenger Depot in
Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
was only $1.00. This young community experienced two disastrous fires almost immediately. The first fire occurred in the business section on Montgomery Street in 1890. An entire block of stores composed entirely of wooden buildings was destroyed. The second fire occurred the night of July 27, 1908. The fire was bolstered by heating oil and chemicals from the drug store in which it started. Because of the strength of the fire, much of the focus was on saving the stock of the affected stores. In all, one-quarter of Villa Rica's business district was destroyed in three hours. In 1957 an explosion caused by a gas leak destroyed four buildings and killed 12 people.Mary Talley Anderson (1976), ''The History of Villa Rica (City of Gold),'' privately published. The
Bankhead Highway The Bankhead Highway was a United States cross-country automobile highway connecting Washington, D.C., and San Diego. The Bankhead Highway's beginnings can be traced back to 1916 when the Bankhead Highway Association was organized to promote the ...
was surveyed and eventually passed through Villa Rica in 1917. Named for Democratic
U.S. Senator The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and power ...
(from 1907 until his death in 1920)
John H. Bankhead John Hollis Bankhead (September 13, 1842March 1, 1920) was a Democratic U.S. Senator from the state of Alabama between 1907 and 1920. Life and career Bankhead was born on September 13, 1842, at Moscow, present-day Lamar County, Alabama (near ...
, it was the second transcontinental highway in the United States and the first all-weather one. In the 1930s it was rerouted through town, taking down the Velvin Hotel and extending Montgomery Street westward. It was a main east–west route through the area until Interstate 20 opened in December 1977. On May 14, 1961,
Freedom Riders Freedom Riders were civil rights activists who rode interstate buses into the segregated Southern United States in 1961 and subsequent years to challenge the non-enforcement of the United States Supreme Court decisions '' Morgan v. Virginia ...
passed through Villa Rica.


Historic sites

*Wicks Tavern (c. 1830) is the oldest commercial structure in Carroll County. The tavern was built in Hixtown by New York immigrant John B. Wick. Wick's Tavern was a local gathering place for gold miners working area mines in the early 19th century. The building is a classic example of the "Dutch"-style timber framing method. When the
Georgia Pacific Railway The Georgia Pacific Railway was a railway company chartered on December 31, 1881, consolidating the Georgia Western Railroad and the Georgia Pacific Railroad Company of Alabama. The Georgia Western Railroad was chartered by the Georgia Legislat ...
passed through town in 1882 and the homes and businesses were moved, the tavern was considered too large to be moved. It was later turned into a home. In 1998, the "Friends of Wick's Tavern" raised the funds necessary to rescue this historic building from being demolished and finally helped it make the journey to downtown Villa Rica. Wicks Tavern now serves as a living history museum and the home of Forrest Escort SCV and the Friends of Wicks Tavern. *The Stockmar Gold Mine (19th–20th centuries) is presently being preserved as a city park and gold museum currently under the name Pine Mountain Gold Museum at Stockmar Park. As a division of Villa Rica Parks and Recreation, the museum was opened in 2008 and serves as a historical landmark for the city. *Fullerville (1916-1956) is a small community northwest of Villa Rica which had several
textile mill Textile Manufacturing or Textile Engineering is a major industry. It is largely based on the conversion of fibre into yarn, then yarn into fabric. These are then dyed or printed, fabricated into cloth which is then converted into useful goods ...
s (notably hosiery). Fullerville was granted a charter in 1916 but returned it to the state in 1956, allowing the city to be annexed into Villa Rica. The area retains its early 20th-century character. Its most notable feature is the Fullerville Jail which dates to 1828 on county property records. *Mt. Prospect Baptist Church was officially formed in July 1887. The first church building was erected in 1888–1890 on Beecher Hill (now Wilson Street) and was dedicated on the second Sunday in May 1892. This was the building in which Thomas A. Dorsey learned about music. The second church building, built in 1928, was the first black-owned church building in Carroll County. This building was destroyed by fire in February 1945. A new church building was immediately commissioned and completed in five months. In 2005, work began on a larger sanctuary next to the existing one, and the congregation moved into the new church March 11, 2007. *The First Presbyterian Church of Villa Rica was organized as Villa Rica Presbyterian Church in 1855. A white frame building was constructed on Candler Street in 1885 for worship. The building was moved to its current location in 1930 onto property donated by the family of Mr. W. B. Candler who had served as Clerk of Session from 1888 to 1921. The structure was bricked and a basement was added for Sunday School rooms. The mahogany
pew A pew () is a long bench seat or enclosed box, used for seating members of a congregation or choir in a church, synagogue or sometimes a courtroom. Overview The first backless stone benches began to appear in English churches in the thi ...
s, pulpit, and the
stained glass Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...
windows were purchased from Old Wesley Memorial Church in
Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
when it was torn down. The windows were made from a color formula that has been lost over time, making them irreplaceable antiques. The Candler home, situated behind the church building, served the church in many capacities before it was torn down in 1998 and replaced with a new fellowship building. *First United Methodist Church of Villa Rica: Although historical documentation is sketchy, it is believed that the Methodist Church built their first building, a log cabin, in 1830, making them the first church in the city. Around 1845, a wooden church building was built. When Hixtown moved and Villa Rica was created, the church elected to build a new white frame church. It was constructed in 1886 on the current church site. The old church was abandoned in 1890. The construction on the current church began in 1905 and was first used in July 1906.


National Register of Historic Places

The Dorough Round Barn and Farm was added to the National Register of Historic Places on January 20, 1980. Located about southwest of Villa Rica on Hickory Level Road, the farm consists of a 19th-century farmhouse, several other outbuildings, and the famous round barn. Built in 1917, the Round Barn is quite significant architecturally due to its circular shape. When constructed, this would have been considered a progressive agricultural building technique. The barn was designed by Floyd Lovell. It had two levels, the upper one smaller than the lower. At the time the barn was added, it was still generally structurally intact. The upper level is now completely gone, and the lower level is falling apart as well. The barn is privately owned, and it is unknown whether there are any plans to restore it. The North Villa Rica Commercial Historic District was added to the National Register of Historic Places on December 31, 2002. This district includes several blocks of buildings, some dating back to 1875, which were built in the early commercial style. The area houses the City of Villa Rica Police Department along with several antique stores, restaurants, and other commercial businesses. The boundary is basically North Avenue, East Gordon Street, West Church Street, and the Southern Railroad line. The Williams Family Farm was added to the National Register of Historic Places on March 25, 2005. The farm-house, built in 1892, is in excellent condition and sits in front of a Civilian Conservation Corps camp established in 1937 to help struggling farmers with their cotton fields. There are several outbuildings and an historic landscape. This farm is also known as the Williams-Mitchell Farm. The Pine Mountain Gold Museum at Stockmar Park was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2008. The 1826 gold rush of the city, called "Georgia's Forgotten Gold Rush", was at Stockmar Park, and a museum was built to tell the story. The remains of some original buildings and equipment are on site, along with a stamp mill, grist mill, panning area, and live farm animal exhibit. The South Commercial Historic District is eligible for the National Register of Historic Places, but the completed nomination form is currently held up because of the controversy over the Old Library/Old Clinic for the past several years. The building is one of the most significant in West Georgia and a keystone of the proposed historic district. The city and the Downtown Development Authority desired to tear down the oldest International design Old Clinic. Built as the Berry-Powell-Berry Clinic, the doctors chose cutting-edge architecture to showcase their practice as cutting edge. Built in 1951, the building later served as the Old Library and then again as a clinic. After several years of efforts to save the structure, the city tore it down in December 2007. Previously insisting for years on the need for parking, immediately after demolition the site was made into a parking lot for local businesses. The city also allowed Tanner Medical Center to demolish the old hospital (1955) which was built with the same architecture and used by the same collation of doctors.


Historical markers

Villa Rica currently has three historical markers. The first one was erected in 1994 marking the birthplace of Thomas A. Dorsey, the father of
gospel songs Gospel music is a traditional genre of Christian music, and a cornerstone of Christian media. The creation, performance, significance, and even the definition of gospel music varies according to culture and social context. Gospel music is com ...
. Dorsey learned about music as a child at Mt. Prospect Baptist Church. After leaving Villa Rica, Dorsey became a famous blues musician known as Georgia Tom. After the death of his first wife and son, he returned to religious music, but the influence of the blues resulted in the creation of a new style of music which was eventually referred to as gospel. The second historical marker was erected in 2003 with information about the grove, the ancestral home of the Tyson family. Having moved here in 1853, the Tysons are among the oldest families in Villa Rica. The third historical marker was erected in 2007 on the 50th anniversary of the Villa Rica Explosion. The explosion was caused by a
gas leak A gas leak refers to a leak of natural gas or another gaseous product from a pipeline or other containment into any area where the gas should not be present. Gas leaks can be hazardous to health as well as the environment. Even a small leak into ...
in Berry's Pharmacy which completely destroyed that building and three neighboring buildings. Twelve people died and twenty others were injured. In terms of injury and loss of life, the explosion remains the most catastrophic event in Carroll County history.


September 2009 flooding

On September 21, 2009, the biggest flood in
Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...
's history impacted Villa Rica. It caused nearly 500 million dollars in damage to the state. This event caused damage to water lines and infrastructure, causing many of the residents to go without water for nearly a week.


Arts, entertainment, festivals

*Thomas A. Dorsey Festival, closest Saturday to July 1, features gospel music and blues *Gold Rush Festival, Saturday after Labor Day *Homecoming Parade/Pep Rally *The movie '' Randy and the Mob'' was filmed mostly in Villa Rica in August 2005. *Taste of VR *Golden City Car Cruisers - Cruise In *The MILL Amphitheater *V-PLEX Fireworks Show


Education


Carroll County School District

The Carroll County School District provides education from pre-school through grade twelve and consists of twelve elementary schools, six middle schools, and five high schools. As of 2019–20, the district has 945 full-time teachers and 15,005 students. Schools located in Villa Rica include: *
Villa Rica High School Villa Rica High School is a public high school, part of the Carroll County School System, located in Villa Rica, Georgia. The school's mascot is the Wildcat. Football team mass baptism In 2015, the school came under severe scrutiny for allowing a ...
* Bay Springs Middle School * Glanton-Hindsman Elementary School * Ithica Elementary School * Villa Rica Elementary School


Other public schools

The Douglas County School District and Paulding County School District also operate two elementary schools located in Villa Rica. * Mirror Lake Elementary School (Douglas County) * New Georgia Elementary School (Paulding County)


Private schools

*Sunbrook Academy at Bay Springs *Mirror Lake Academy


Demographics


2020 census

As of the
2020 United States Census The United States census of 2020 was the twenty-fourth decennial United States census. Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2020. Other than a pilot study during the 2000 census, this was the first U.S. census to off ...
, there were 16,970 people, 5,166 households, and 3,766 families residing in the city.


2000 census

As of the census of 2000, there were 4,134 people, 1,550 households, and 1,114 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 1,769 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 79.32% White, 17.90%
African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of enslav ...
, 0.80% Native American, 0.27% Asian, 0.02%
Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/ racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of Oce ...
, 1.06% from other races, and 0.63% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.18% of the population. There were 1,550 households, out of which 35.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.9% were married couples living together, 17.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.1% were non-families. 22.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.67 and the average family size was 3.14. In the city, the population was spread out, with 28.0% under the age of 18, 9.9% from 18 to 24, 31.1% from 25 to 44, 20.1% from 45 to 64, and 10.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females, there were 93.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.5 males. The median income for a household in the city was $31,161, and the median income for a family was $37,138. Males had a median income of $31,103 versus $21,516 for females. The per capita income for the city was $14,310. About 11.4% of families and 13.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 11.1% of those under age 18 and 29.6% of those age 65 or over.


The growth boom

Over most of its 180-year history, Villa Rica was a small rural railroad and factory town with a fairly stable population of around 4,000 people. This is in spite of the fact that it is located only an hour from downtown Atlanta. However, throughout the 1990s, a tract of land surrounding a lake known as both Val-Da-Mar Lake and Stockmar Lake got a lot of interest from developers. One group proposed the creation of a
Gone with the Wind Gone with the Wind most often refers to: * ''Gone with the Wind'' (novel), a 1936 novel by Margaret Mitchell * ''Gone with the Wind'' (film), the 1939 adaptation of the novel Gone with the Wind may also refer to: Music * ''Gone with the Wind'' ...
theme park, while others considered more standard ideas such as building homes and businesses. What finally occurred was the creation of a subdivision named Mirror Lake which supplied the oft-named lake with a third name. At the time the subdivision was proposed, Villa Rica had approximately 1,500 homes. The Mirror Lake subdivision added over 2,000 homes in its original proposal, and subsequent changes and additions have increased that number so that there will be almost 3,000 residences by the time the project is fully completed. The substantial investment in Mirror Lake inspired other developers to begin proposing other projects around Villa Rica. Although the other developments were on a much smaller scale, all of the other building projects combined almost matched the Mirror Lake project in total number of residences. Before the economic recession forced the cancelation or postponement of many projects, Villa Rica's population projections were as follows: The 2025 population projection was estimated to be 34,784. However, as noted above, the 2010 census showed Villa Rica's actual population to be less than projected.


Notable people

*
Asa Griggs Candler Asa Griggs Candler (December 30, 1851 – March 12, 1929) was an American business tycoon and politician who in 1888 purchased the Coca-Cola recipe for $238.98 from chemist John Stith Pemberton in Atlanta, Georgia. Candler founded The Coca-C ...
,
Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pemberton in Atlan ...
business executive and mayor of Atlanta * Warren Akin Candler, bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and tenth president of Emory University * John A. "J." Collins - Funeral director and politician from Georgia. Former mayor of Villa Rica and member of Georgia House of Representatives from District 68. *
Jae Crowder Corey Jae Crowder (born July 6, 1990) is an American professional basketball player for the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Not being heavily recruited out of high school, Crowder committed to South Georgia Technical ...
, professional basketball player * Thomas A. Dorsey, early innovator of
black gospel music Black gospel music, often called gospel music or gospel, is a genre of African-American Christian music. It is rooted in the conversion of enslaved Africans to Christianity, both during and after the trans-atlantic slave trade, starting with w ...
*
Maidie Norman Maidie Ruth Norman (October 16, 1912 – May 2, 1998) was an American radio, stage, film, and television actress as well as an instructor in African-American literature and theater. Early life Norman was born Maidie Ruth Gamble on a plantat ...
, actress * David M. Parsons, poet laureate of Texas, 2011 * Rufus B. Nalley, pioneering US college football player * Rod Man - standup comedian, winner of ''
Last Comic Standing ''Last Comic Standing'' was an American reality television talent competition show on NBC that aired from June 1, 2003, to August 9, 2010, then again in 2014 and 2015. The goal of the program was to select a comedian from an initially large grou ...
'' *
Morgan Saylor Morgan Frances Saylor (born October 26, 1994) is an American actress. She is best known for starring as Dana Brody in the Showtime series ''Homeland'', 2019's '' Blow the Man Down'' and for her critically acclaimed portrayal of Leah in the 2016 ...
, actress *
Dixie Walker Fred E. "Dixie" Walker (September 24, 1910 – May 17, 1982) was an American professional baseball player, coach, scout and minor league manager. He played as a right fielder in Major League Baseball from 1931 to 1949. Although Walker was a fiv ...
, professional baseball player * Herman "Thunderfoot" Weaver, professional football player


References


Further reading

*Mary Talley Anderson. ''The History of Villa Rica (City of Gold).'' Privately printed, 1976.


External links


City of Villa Rica official website''Villa Rica News''Villa Rica tourism websitePine Mountain Gold Museum
on Georgia.gov {{authority control Cities in Georgia (U.S. state) Cities in Carroll County, Georgia Cities in Douglas County, Georgia Populated places established in 1826 1826 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state)