Franklin P. Rice (October 28, 1838,

Sullivan County, New Hampshire Sullivan County is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of New Hampshire. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 43,063, making it the second-least populous county in New Hampshire. Its county seat i ...

- March 10, 1923, Atlanta) was an investor, businessman and local politician in

Atlanta, Georgia 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 ...

Career

He was elected to

Atlanta City Council The Atlanta City Council (formerly the Atlanta Board of Aldermen until 1974) is the main municipal legislative body for the city of Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It consists of 16 members: the council president, twelve members elected from di ...

in 1870 and served until 1874, and again 1886–1888. Rice was instrumental in the establishment of the Atlanta public school system. He served for nine years on the Board of Health, and served on the citizen's committee in favor of moving the state capital to Atlanta.Lucian Lamar Knight, ''A standard history of Georgia and Georgians, Volume 4''
/ref> From 1880 to 1884 he served as a representative in the

Georgia General Assembly The Georgia General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is bicameral, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. Each of the General Assembly's 236 members serve two-year terms and are directl ...

. In 1888 he was elected to the

Georgia State Senate The Georgia State Senate is the upper house of the Georgia General Assembly, in the U.S. state of Georgia. The Georgia State Senate and the lower house of the General Assembly, the Georgia House of Representatives, comprise the bicameral leg ...

. He was instrumental in obtaining land for the right-of-way for extension of the

Richmond and Danville Railroad The Richmond and Danville Railroad (R&D) Company was a railroad that operated independently from 1847 until 1894, first in the U.S. state of Virginia, and later on of track in nine states. Chartered on March 9, 1847, the railroad completed its ...

and

Georgia Pacific Railway The Georgia Pacific Railway was a railway company chartered on December 31, 1881, consolidating the Georgia Western Railroad and the Georgia Pacific Railroad Company of Alabama. The Georgia Western Railroad was chartered by the Georgia Legislat ...

. in 1897 he fought (and failed) to expand the Atlanta city limits to include what is now

Midtown Atlanta Midtown Atlanta, or Midtown for short, is a Urban area, high-density commercial and residential neighborhood of Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. The exact geographical extent of the area is ill-defined due to differing definitions used ...

, the

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campus,

English Avenue English Avenue and Vine City are two adjacent and closely linked neighborhoods of Atlanta, Georgia. Together the neighborhoods make up neighborhood planning unit L. The two neighborhoods are frequently cited together in reference to shared ...

Reynoldstown Reynoldstown is a Historic districts in the United States, historic district and Intown Atlanta, intown neighborhood on the near Eastside, Atlanta, east side of Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, located two miles from downtown. Histor ...

, and

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

. These areas would only become part of the city in 1904. Rice ran for mayor in 1901 and lost. He was elected a commissioner on the Board of Water in 1902. Rice owned "a large amount of central and well-improved real estate" in Atlanta.Wallace Putnam Reed, ''History of Atlanta, Georgia'', p.130
/ref> Rice died in 1923.

External links

Photo of the Frank P. Rice residence at West Peachtree and 5th St.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rice, Frank P. 1838 births 1923 deaths People from Sullivan County, New Hampshire Atlanta City Council members Members of the Georgia House of Representatives Georgia (U.S. state) state senators Burials at Oakland Cemetery (Atlanta) Businesspeople from Atlanta 19th-century members of the Georgia General Assembly