You might recall that, 10 years ago, when a North Fulton community was contemplating a name for the new city they were in the process of creating, they picked Riverside.
But they backed off when it was pointed out that Georgia already had a city of Riverside. And so they decided on Johns Creek – forever confusing the rest of metro Atlanta with that missing apostrophe.
It may be time to reconsider. For Riverside, Ga., is no more.
The Georgia Municipal Association was informed Monday that a Colquitt County superior court judge had accepted the surrendered charter of the 109-year-old city, located on the edge of Moultrie. The judge actually issued the order of dissolution in August, but apparently there was no one left to ferry the news to Atlanta.
The GMA’s Amy Henderson tells us that, according to U.S. census records, Riverside had 35 residents as of 2010.
The court record says otherwise:
"There are only five voters registered to vote in Riverside….Two of those five registered voters, Sandra Gail Mason and Kimberly Renee McKaughan, no longer reside within Riverside….Only seven households are located within the boundaries of Riverside, and Riverside has only 11 residents."
The actual charter that the city of Riverside surrendered has long since disappeared, but the 1907 act of the Legislature that created it was readily available. It includes this paragraph:
Be it further enacted, That the mayor and alderman of said city shall have the right to pass ordinances, and the power to enforce the same; to take up and impound any horse, mule, asses, cows, hogs, goats, sheep or other animals running at large in said town, and to make and enforce all ordinances that may be necessary for the regulation and control of such animals in said city, and they have the power to levy a tax on each dog in said city, not to exceed one dollar per year; and to enforce said tax as other taxes are enforced; in addition to which they shall have the right to pass ordinances order the police officers of said city to impound or kill all dogs for which the tax be not paid."
Clearly, turn-of-the-century Georgia had a problem with scofflaw dogs.
But seriously, let’s talk about John’s Creek. Er, Johns Creek.
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