This week in Atlantic
- Atlantic Specialty Care Trunk or Treat
Thu, Oct 29 · 3:30 PM · Atlantic Specialty Care- 1300 East 19th Street Atlantic
About Atlantic
Atlantic got its start in October 1868, when Franklin H. Whitney and a few partners laid out a town beside the East Nishnabotna River where the Rock Island Railroad was coming through; local lore says a coin toss between 'Atlantic' and 'Pacific' settled the name. Whitney is said to have marked Chestnut Street by plowing two furrows a hundred feet apart all the way to the tracks, and the Renaissance-style depot built in 1898 still stands at the north end of that street, restored by local volunteers and now home to the Chamber of Commerce. The railroad also helped win the Cass County seat, and after fire took the old clock-tower courthouse, the county built a new one in 1934 as Iowa's first courthouse paid for through the federal Public Works Administration. Since 1929 the Atlantic Coca-Cola Bottling Company has been part of the town's identity, honored today in a string of Coca-Cola murals downtown. Families come for Sunnyside Pool and splash pad, Schildberg Recreation Area, miles of trails and the log cabin in City Park, and the calendar fills with AtlanticFest in August and Christmas in Atlantic in December.