History of South Fulton Georgia begins with unincorporated land in southwestern Fulton County. Residents voted to create the city on November 8, 2016. Chattahoochee River communities like Campbellton, Sandtown, and Red Oak once dotted this same landscape. Because Fulton County stretched so far south of Atlanta, local governance stayed distant for decades. That distance eventually pushed residents to found their own city government.
Creek and Cherokee peoples once lived along the Chattahoochee River here. The Creek Nation ceded much of this land to Georgia by 1821. State land lotteries then opened the area to white settlers. Farmers and planters established small communities near the riverbanks. Villages like Sandtown grew from an earlier Creek settlement called Buzzard’s Roost.
The Georgia legislature created Campbell County along the river in 1828. Officials chose Campbellton, a river town, as the new county seat. However, Campbellton refused the Atlanta and West Point Railroad in the 1850s. The rail line went through Fairburn instead, and Campbellton slowly emptied out. Campbell County itself merged into Fulton County in 1932.
Several small communities grew across what is now South Fulton. Sandtown, Cliftondale, Ben Hill, and Red Oak developed as farming crossroads. Ferries once carried travelers across the Chattahoochee near Campbellton and Hutcheson’s Landing. Over time, roads and bridges replaced the old ferry crossings. These scattered communities remained unincorporated for more than a century.
After World War II, Atlanta’s suburbs expanded rapidly into southern Fulton County. Subdivisions and shopping centers replaced much of the old farmland. Meanwhile, county government provided services like police and fire protection directly. Residents in the area had no local city hall of their own. That gap in representation would later fuel calls for cityhood.
Sandy Springs became a city in 2005, starting a wider cityhood movement. Other Fulton County communities soon followed with their own incorporation votes. South Fulton residents attempted cityhood too, but voters rejected it in 2007. Advocates argued that annexation by neighboring cities threatened the area’s future. Even so, the idea of a unified South Fulton did not disappear.
Cityhood advocates returned to the Georgia legislature nearly a decade later. Lawmakers authorized a new referendum for South Fulton in 2016. On November 8, 59 percent of voters approved incorporation. As a result, Fulton County became Georgia’s first county without unincorporated land. County departments soon began transferring services to the new city.
South Fulton held its first mayoral election on March 21, 2017. Voters chose Bill Edwards, a former county commissioner, as mayor. Incorporation officially took effect on May 1, 2017. The new city gradually assumed policing, fire protection, and zoning duties. By 2018, South Fulton operated nearly all major municipal departments.
In November 2017, the city council selected Renaissance as a new name. Many residents objected, since they had no vote on the change. Student activist Kendall Henry organized a petition against the name. More than 800 people signed it within days. Mayor Bill Edwards vetoed Renaissance, and South Fulton kept its original name.
South Fulton grew quickly into one of Georgia’s largest cities by population. Census figures show the city with an overwhelmingly African American majority. Mayor khalid kamau later embraced this identity through civic programs and outreach. Homeownership rates in South Fulton rank among the highest in the nation. That civic pride continues to shape the young city’s identity today.
South Fulton’s history stretches from Creek settlements to a modern city government. Campbellton once anchored this land before railroads left it behind. Suburban growth and a decades-long cityhood movement eventually reshaped the area. Voters created South Fulton in 2017 after decades of debate. Today, the city continues building its own identity along the Chattahoochee River.