The Rich History of Vinings Village
Until the late 18th Century the indigenous presence of Crete and Cherokee Nations predominated.
The 1830s forced relocation and movement of Native American Nations from Southeastern parts of the United States following the Indian Removal Act of 1830 caused many to suffer from exposure, disease and starvation en route" The Trail of Tears" to their destinations west of the Mississippi River to Oklahoma. Many died, including 4,000 of the 15,000 relocated Georgia Cherokee.
The 1832 Gold Lottery awarded 40 acre land lots in the newly named county of Cobb. Hardy Pace capitalized on the accumulation of lots, in anticipation of expanding settlement and placement of the railroad around the eastern side of Vinings Mountain.
By 1838, Hardy Pace had moved his family across the river, and established himself through a grist mill, inn, ferry, post office, and farming interests. Known initially and briefly in the beginning as Paces Crossroads, Pace had positioned himself to be fully cooperative and beneficial to the coming railroad.
By the late 1840s a train stop and telegraph was eventually established as the Vinings Station.
Hardy Pace, along with his friend and business partner P. H. Randall mentored the business of Vinings Station. The Western & Atlantic Railroad was initially completed between Atlanta and Marietta by1842.
A particular trestle being constructed across a gorge on the north side of the then Pace's Mountain began a two year project under a 26 year old young Civil Engineer by the name of William H. Vining.
In 1864 Vinings Station was captured and occupied by Union forces en-route to Atlanta. The then "Vinings Community", still a railroad stop and small community in the late 1800s, rebuilt and survived the Civil War.
In 1904 a steel one-lane bridge replaced the Paces Ferry, for which the road between Buckhead and Cobb County was known. In that same year, the unincorporated community and bridge were officially recognized by Cobb County as Vinings.......... a long way from 1838, when Hardy Pace stood in the midst of a dusty ferry road and could see a perfect place to live.