Kingston, GA

Kingston is a Bartow County village whose story turns on rail lines, river freight, and the Civil War. When a new railroad and a steamboat connection on the Coosa River came through the region, Kingston became a distribution point for northwest Georgia. In May 1864, Sherman concentrated troops here after assuming Confederate general Johnston had moved toward Kingston and the Etowah crossings; the main Confederate force was actually farther east at Cassville. That mistake is now part of the town’s marker-and-map history. Georgia 293 runs through the center, with Cartersville and Rome at either end. Kingston is small today, but the old logistics are still the story.