TheAtlanta Rolling Mill (later theConfederate Rolling Mill) was constructed in 1858 by Lewis Schofield and James Blake and soon after, Schofield andWilliam Markham took it over and transformed it into the South's second most productiverolling mill, after theTredegar Iron Works inRichmond, Virginia.[1]
Their specialty was re-rolling worn out railroadrails but during theAmerican Civil War it also rolled out cannon, iron rail, and 2-inch-thick (51 mm) sheets of iron to clad theCSSVirginia for theConfederate navy.[1]
It was bought out byCharleston, SC interests in 1863 and became known as theConfederate Rolling Mill when it produced the former products as well as cannon.[1]
Shortly after midnight on September 1, 1864, cavalrymen under the command of the retreatingConfederate General J.B. Hood set fire to 81 ammunition train cars parked outside the mill to prevent them from being acquired byGeneral Sherman. The ensuing explosions destroyed the mill and destroyed or greatly damaged structures within 1/4 mile. The events were so loud that Sherman himself heard the explosions from approximately 23 miles away atLovejoy's Station.[2]
Part of what is nowBoulevard was named Rolling Mill Street, when the street was extended north of the railroad in the late 1860s, thus commemorating the already destroyed mill. The name was changed to Boulevard around 1880.[1]
It was located on the current site of theFulton Bag and Cotton Mill (now residential lofts) inCabbagetown on the south side of theGeorgia Railroad just east ofOakland Cemetery.[1]
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