Rome. 1 City (1990 pop. 30,326), seat of Floyd co., NW Ga., where the Etowah and Oostanaula rivers meet to form the Coosa, in a farm, timber, and quarry area; inc. 1847. The city was first established as cotton market and an industrial center, with textile and lumber mills, clothing factories, and foundries, and has become a manufacturing center that produces concrete and crushed stone, transportation and electrical equipment, plastics, tires, and metal and food products. Rome was settled (1834) on the site of a Cherokee village. It was captured by Union forces in the Civil War; Sherman burned the city in Nov., 1864. Shorter College is there, and Berry College is nearby. The tall clock tower (1871) atop one of the city's hills is Rome's famous landmark.
2 Industrial city (1990 pop. 44,350), Oneida co., central N.Y., on the Mohawk River and the Erie Canal; laid out c.1786 on the site of Fort Stanwix, inc. as a city 1870. It became recognized for its copper and brass manufactures and was dubbed the “Copper City.” Cooking utensils, machine tools, and strip steel are some of the products now manufactured. Nearby is the Rome Development Center as well as state parks. Rome is situated on Wood Creek, .5 mi (.8 km) from the Mohawk River. Because of its location, the city was a busy portage point, and it had great strategic importance during the French and Indian Wars and in the American Revolution. The Six Nation Treaty of 1768 was concluded at Fort Stanwix there. The unsuccessful British siege of the fort in the American Revolution led to the battle of Oriskany (see Saratoga campaign). Construction on the Erie Canal began (1817) in Rome.
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