In July 2013 Central Georgia Technical College and Middle Georgia Technical College consolidated operations to form a new institution called Central Georgia Technical College. The merger was one of several between 2009 and 2013 designed to reduce administrative costs and improve student access to programs within the Technical College System of Georgia (TCSG). The mergers integrated the colleges’ administrations and their local boards of directors, with all campus locations remaining open.

Conyers, located twenty miles east of Atlanta on Interstate 20, is the seat of Rockdale County and part of the Atlanta Metropolitan Statistical Area. The known history of Conyers and Rockdale County dates back more than 10,000 years, when Native Americans, referred to as the “Mound Builders,” made the area their home. The Great Indian Road, or Hightower Trail, in northern Rockdale County served as the boundary between the Creek and Cherokee nations and later became a path for early white settlers during the Revolutionary War era (1775-83).

Crown Cotton Mill No. 2, located on Chattanooga Avenue in Dalton, is pictured in the late 1920s. Established in 1884, Crown Cotton Mill brought much-needed economic activity to Whitfield County and by 1916 employed 1,000 workers. The New Georgia Encyclopedia does not hold the copyright for this media resource and can neither grant nor deny permission to republish or reproduce the image online or in print. Requests for permission to publish or reproduce the resource should be submitted to the Georgia Archives.

David B. Mitchell, a three-time Georgia governor during the early nineteenth century, held numerous political offices in the state during his career. A native of Scotland, Mitchell is notable for being the last governor of Georgia born outside the United States. Historical sources differ as to whether Mitchell County, in southwest Georgia, was named in his honor or that of Revolutionary War (1775-83) general Henry Mitchell. David Brydie Mitchell was born on October 22, 1766, in Muthill, Perthshire, Scotland, the son of Annie Brydie and John Henry Mitchell.

David Bushnell is credited as the inventor of the submarine, which was first used to launch explosives against British ships during the American Revolution (1775-83). Under a different identity, the New England native settled in Georgia after the war and spent the rest of his life there. Bushnell was born on August 30, 1740, in Saybrook, Connecticut, to Sarah Ingham and Nehemiah Bushnell. He worked on his family’s farm and spent his free time in the pursuit of knowledge.