Powder Springs is the fastest-growing city in Cobb County thanks in part to a thriving downtown area, plenty of greenspace, and city officials who are smart about growth. Read on to find out more about what makes Powder Springs special, as told by Marsellas Williams, Powder Springs’ Economic Development Director.
What is your town known for?
The seven mineral springs inside our city were well-known to both the Creek and Cherokee, who used the water for its medicinal value and called the area Gunpowder Springs because of the gunpowder-like sediment. We were incorporated as Springville in 1838, and in 1859, the name was changed to Powder Springs. This history and more are shared at the Seven Springs Museum in the Historic Bodiford House on Marietta Street.
Today, people still come here for the outdoors. The Silver Comet Trail runs right through the center of the city, and on a Saturday morning, you’ll see cyclists roll off the trail and straight into our downtown shops. Thurman Springs Park and its amphitheater anchor a downtown that hosts concerts, festivals, movie nights, the Powder Springs Seafood Festival, Juneteenth Unity Celebration, and our Christmas parade and tree lighting.
What is a new and exciting destination people will want to visit?
Vesuvio Pizzeria Napoletana at 4469 Marietta Street. Massimo and Lindsay Andreozzi opened their first location in downtown Kennesaw in 2022, and Powder Springs is their first expansion. The reviews have been outstanding. Massimo told a reporter that Powder Springs is “on the cusp of growing.” When a successful operator chooses your downtown for their second location, that tells you something no marketing budget can.
Near Vesuvio, you have Skint Chestnut Brewing Company (West Cobb’s first brewery) Sangster’s Cafe, The Book Worm Bookstore, and Powder Springs Bistro. Individually, those are good businesses. Together, they’re a walkable evening, and that’s an entirely different story than what we had 10 years ago.
What is the first thing about your town that a visitor or new resident should know?
We are the fastest-growing city in Cobb County — and we’re being deliberate about it. We went from 13,940 residents in 2010 to 16,887 in 2020, and roughly 21,000 today. The Atlanta Regional Commission puts us among the 20 fastest-growing cities in the entire metro. That’s about a 24-percent increase since the last census.
Growth by itself isn’t the point. Everything else here is downstream of it — new rooftops downtown, new restaurants opening, a downtown master plan, and an updated Livable Centers Initiative plan called Springs in Motion. We’re building for the city we’re becoming, not just maintaining the one we were.
What makes your city the best place to have a business or start a nonprofit?
The ease of doing business with the city. We’re small enough that you can get a decision-maker on the phone. They call my office, and if the question is about permitting or planning or an incentive, I can usually get them to the right person in the same conversation. Our mayor and council take genuine pride in being accessible, and that isn’t a talking point — it’s a competitive advantage.
What aspects of living in your city have changed the most over the past decade?
Downtown. It isn’t close. Ten years ago, downtown Powder Springs was a place you drove through; today it’s a place you go. Thurman Springs Park — a $4.1-million investment — opened with the amphitheater, a splash pad, greenspace, and direct access to the Silver Comet Trail. Springside brought 226 residential units to the heart of downtown, across from the park.
Put together, that’s the difference between a downtown with buildings and a downtown bustling with people at 7 p.m. on a Friday.
The other change is who lives here. We are a growing, diverse, family-centered community, and our downtown is starting to reflect that — which is exactly what it should do.
Where do you see your city in the next 10 years?
I think we will make downtown Powder Springs one of the best downtowns in the state — receiving national attention. Ten years out, I want visitors to be able to park once — or better, arrive by trail — and spend an entire day here.
And I want us to be a place where people don’t just live and shop but build. We have residents starting businesses right now who drive inside the perimeter for resources they ought to be able to reach at home. The measure of a great downtown in 2036 won’t only be how many people visit it — it’ll be how many businesses got their start here and still are thriving. I want people to leave saying, “I love Powder Springs!”
