Hardy Pace (July 10, 1785 – December 5, 1864) was an American
ferry
A ferry is a boat or ship that transports passengers, and occasionally vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A small passenger ferry with multiple stops, like those in Venice, Italy, is sometimes referred to as a water taxi or water bus ...
man,
miller
A miller is a person who operates a mill, a machine to grind a grain (for example corn or wheat) to make flour. Milling is among the oldest of human occupations. "Miller", "Milne" and other variants are common surnames, as are their equivalents ...
, and early
settler
A settler or a colonist is a person who establishes or joins a permanent presence that is separate to existing communities. The entity that a settler establishes is a Human settlement, settlement. A settler is called a pioneer if they are among ...
of
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...
,
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States
Georgia may also refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Georgia (name), a list of pe ...
. He is the namesake of
Pace's Ferry
Through much of the 19th century, Pace's Ferry was an important ferry across the Chattahoochee River near Atlanta. Started in the early 1830s near Peachtree Creek, it was run by Hardy Pace, one of the city's founders. It was an important transp ...
, an important ferry in the 19th century; and all iterations of Paces Ferry Road in north Atlanta.
Early life and ferry
Pace was born in 1785 in
Anson County, North Carolina
Anson County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 22,055. Its county seat is Wadesboro.
History
The area eventually comprising Anson County was originally occupied by Native Ameri ...
to Stephen Pace and Catherine Gatewood Buchanan. In 1809, he moved to north Georgia. The area he settled is known today as
Vinings, Georgia, but at the time was known as (Pace's) Crossroads and, later,
Paces (now a neighborhood of
Buckhead
Buckhead is the wikt:uptown, uptown commercial and residential district of the city of Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, comprising approximately the northernmost fifth of the city. Buckhead is the third largest business district within ...
). By the 1830s, Pace had established a
ferry service on the
Chattahoochee River
The Chattahoochee River () is a river in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern United States. It forms the southern half of the Alabama and Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia border, as well as a portion of the Florida and Georgia border. It ...
which connected north Georgia and Chattanooga. His ferry business was highly successful, and Pace became a significant landowner in the Vinings area, accumulating 10,000 acres by some estimates. He also expanded into other businesses, including a
gristmill
A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and Wheat middlings, middlings. The term can refer to either the grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist is grain that h ...
(Pace's Mill),
farm
A farm (also called an agricultural holding) is an area of land that is devoted primarily to agricultural processes with the primary objective of producing food and other crops; it is the basic facility in food production. The name is used fo ...
, and
tavern
A tavern is a type of business where people gather to drink alcoholic beverages and be served food such as different types of roast meats and cheese, and (mostly historically) where travelers would receive lodging. An inn is a tavern that ...
, and owned more than 20 slaves. Pace married Lucy Kirksey (1786 – 1842) and they had five children: Karen, Parenthia, Catherine Gatewood, Solomon, and Bushrod.
Civil War and the Pace House
On July 5, 1864, Pace's ferry was the site of a
Civil War battle and Union victory. Following the battle, Union General
William T. Sherman
William is a masculine given name of Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle Ages and into the modern era. It is ...
and his troops spent 11 days in the Vinings area preparing for the
Battle of Atlanta
The Battle of Atlanta took place during the Atlanta Campaign of the American Civil War on July 22, 1864, just southeast of Atlanta, Georgia. Continuing their summer campaign to seize the important rail and supply hub of Atlanta, Union forces ...
. During this time, General
Oliver O. Howard
Oliver Otis Howard (November 8, 1830 – October 26, 1909) was a career United States Army officer and a Union Army, Union General officer, general in the American Civil War, Civil War. As a brigade commander in the Army of the Potomac, Howard ...
set up his headquarters in Pace's home.
The home was once believed to have also served as a hospital for wounded soldiers following the Battle of Atlanta, but this theory is now disputed.
Union soldiers burned down Pace's home following their occupation.
Only a set of granite stairs survived the fire. Pace's son, Solomon, rebuilt the home in the same location some time in the late 1860s or early 1870s, after returning to the Vinings area. The home still stands and is maintained by the Vinings Historic Preservation Society. Following renovations in the late 1990s, the home is now used for special events. In 2009, it was added to the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
.
Death and legacy
When Union troops occupied Pace's home, he and his family fled to
Milledgeville, Georgia
Milledgeville () is a city in and the county seat of Baldwin County, Georgia, Baldwin County, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States. Founded in 1803 along the Oconee River, it served as the List of current and former capital cities in the ...
. Pace died several months later in December 1864. An unverified legend suggests that Pace died of wounds received while defending his home with a shotgun from Union soldiers. He is buried in the Pace family cemetery at the top of
Mount Wilkinson, in Vinings.
Several streets in the Atlanta area are named for Hardy Pace, including Paces Ferry Road and Paces Mill Road. A bronze statue of Pace, sculpted by artist Hilarie Johnston, was erected in an office building on Paces Ferry Road in 1987.
References
Further reading
*
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pace, Hardy
Pioneers of Atlanta
1785 births
1864 deaths
People from Anson County, North Carolina
People from Vinings, Georgia
People from Milledgeville, Georgia