History of Snellville and Snellville Days

A City Is Born by Christie Eagleson

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Located approximately 18 miles east of Atlanta and 45 miles west of Athens at the junction of U.S. Highway 78 and Georgia Interstate124, Snellville has been one of Gwinnett County’s fastest growing cities for the past thirty years. The city’s success stems from the southern hospitality of its inhabitants and versatility of surroundings. With stores, restaurants, theatres, schools, churches, a hospital, nearby attractions and one of the most beautiful parks in the area residents needn’t leave the city to meet their family and entertainment needs. The city slogan, “Everybody’s Somebody in Snellville” exemplifies the warmth and friendships that have blossomed here since the city was first born of the friendship between two young English gentlemen.

In 1874 seventeen-year-old friends from London, England, Thomas Snell and James Sawyer, secretly planned a voyage to the New World. On March 18, James Sawyer and his brother, Charles, left England but Snell’s parents, having learned of the plan, wouldn’t allow him to leave, thus delaying his departure. The Sawyer brothers arrived in New York on April 1st and, after a few weeks, headed towards Athens, Georgia and then to Madison County where they stayed and worked on a farm for $10 a month. Snell did eventually follow his friends to New York and made his way south to meet them. The three then made their way through Jefferson and Lawrenceville. Shortly after Snell’s arrival, Charles left for Pennsylvania, later returning to the south and settling in Alabama where he went into the turpentine business. James had gone also, in search of his brother, leaving Snell to work on the farm of A. A. Dyer.

Unable to find his brother, James Sawyer returned to New York and began work on a farm near the Hudson River area until his 21st birthday in 1878 when he returned to England to claim his inheritance. Shortly following, in August of 1879, he returned to Americus, Georgia and then Gwinnett County. Once in Gwinnett County Sawyer went to a small settlement near Stone Mountain then known as New London, where he found Snell. In the homestead that Snell now referred to as Snellville, the two built a small wood frame building and started a business together, Snell and Sawyer’s Store, similar to the one in which they were employed in London. As was common in small mill towns of the time, they printed store money with the trade value and Snell’s likeness on the front that regular customers could use to purchase goods. By the end of 1879 the business was prospering and catering to customers from the neighboring towns of Lawrenceville and Loganville. Travelers would buy supplies at “Snell and Sawyer’s” and often spend the night in the nearby oak groves, as the trip was too great for one day’s travel. It is uncertain when New London officially became Snellville, but the location of the partners’ store was referred to as Snellville in their advertising and the young town began to show a promising future.
But the partnership dissolved and Sawyer kept the old store, building granite stone above and around the old frame and then disassembling the wood frame from within. Snell built a new store of granite. In 1883 Sawyer built a home and married Miss Emma Webb, of the historic Snellville Webb family, on November 15. Sawyer opened Snellville’s first post office in 1885 and served as Postmaster from the back of his store.

Snell died at the early age of 39 in 1896 due to complications following an appendicitis operation. He was buried in Brownlee Mountain, presently known as Nob Hill, and later removed and buried again in nearby Lithonia. Thirty seven years after his death, the City of Snellville received their charter from the General Assembly of the State of Georgia (1923). The first mayor of Snellville was Gladston Snell and the first police officer was Byron Whitworth.

In the late 1920’s the charter went dormant and remained so for approximately 12 years before it was reorganized in 1940. W. C. Britt acted as Mayor and George Martin and Crawford Juhan served as police officers. The city limits were enlarged to a 1 mile radius from the center of town. Following Britt’s term, the charter was again dormant until WWII, at which time Arthur Stancil became Mayor. The charter has since remained active.
Initially forced into partial retirement due to his failing eyesight, Sawyer went into full retirement in the 1940’s following complete blindness. After that time the store was owned and operated by various merchants until it was destroyed in 1960 and a service station was built in its place. James Sawyer died in 1948 at the age of 91 and is buried in the Baptist Cemetery (now Snellville Historical Cemetery).

From the homestead, New London, to the birth of the city to the prospering present-day community, Snellville continues to grow and be one of the most successful cities in the Atlanta metro area.