Snellville, Georgia

Snellville, nestled into beautiful countryside between Atlanta and Athens, is a small community of just under 20,000 residents, but it lives large. With a world-class hospital and acclaimed schools, this historic suburb is also home to popular annual festivals and is a destination for visitors who come to visit nearby Stone Mountain Park and the stunning Veterans Memorial. Residents celebrate local life and culture during Snellville Days, the annual Fall Festival and the popular International Festival.

Snellville is an OTP community without direct interstate highway access to Atlanta. In a sense, that's part of its charm. Situated about 25 miles from the city, Snellville offers well-traveled access to US Route 78 and State Highways 84 and 124 . Reliable morning and afternoon bus service whisks commuters to the Civic Center MARTA station each morning and returns them in the afternoon to Snellville's First Baptist Church. Getting around town is easy, because the land area of Snellville is only 10 square miles. The city's green spaces and parks, including a small lake, encourage walking, jogging, cycling, picnicking and outdoor recreation.

Snellville's downtown includes shops, eateries, offices and local commerce. The community boasts nearly 4,000 business firms, but residents find the quality of life and a unique future vision most attractive. The Towne Center Project is a "placemaking" effort viewed as a way to re-establish the downtown area as the heart of community life. It's an ongoing plan to assure that Snellville's future remains as vital as its past. There is a thriving community garden and award-winning farmers' market. A theater group and ballet company stage local performances, and the community festival calendar draws seasonal throngs.

Snellville's story is essentially one of grit and determination against all odds. In the early 1870s, three young English friends arrived in the area of what is now Gwinnett County. By 1879, two of them were operating a store in New London, but they printed "store money" that bore Thomas Snell's likeness. The location of that prosperous store eventually became Snellville. Although Snell died young at age 39, he was the catalyst for growth not only of business, but of the town itself, eventually renamed Snellville. His descendants are still prominent in Atlanta.