Unattended Death and Biohazard Cleanup in Rockmart, GA

Rockmart is a town in Polk County, Georgia, in the northwestern part of the state, south of Rome.

Rockmart developed as a railroad depot town when the Southern Railway built a station in the area, about one mile north of the older town of Van Wert.

The community was incorporated in 1872 and was originally called Rock Market, indicating the importance of nearby slate deposits to its economy.

Rockmart was named for its economic position as a major quarry and rock market, after the abundant deposits of slate in the area, and many of its buildings are built of slate and brick from local mines and brickyards.

Its population was 4,732 at the 2020 census, when there were 1,557 households and 1,131 families residing in the town.

The Rockmart Downtown Historic District is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and the Rockmart Historical Museum is housed in the original Rockmart City Hall building.

Seaborn Jones Park, just behind the town square, is named for Seaborn Jones, who was instrumental in bringing Welsh settlers to the Rockmart area to work in his slate quarry and who donated land for five churches, the town square, the park, and the railroad right of way.

Rockmart's Welsh heritage — from the Welsh slate workers who settled there — is celebrated during the annual Welshfest held in the spring.

The Slate House in historic downtown Rockmart, built of the local slate the town was named after, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The Silver Comet Trail, a rails-to-trails path built on an abandoned Seaboard Air Line Railroad line and named for the Silver Comet passenger train that ran from 1947 to 1969, passes through Rockmart with several access points.