Norcross
was founded in 1866 by
John Thrasher.
Thrasher named the town after his good friend
Jonathan Norcross,
the fourth
mayor of Atlanta.
Thrasher himself had been an early settler of
Whitehall,
but left in 1842. The site of Whitehall is now in
downtown Atlanta, just southwest of the city center.The original settlers in the Norcross area lived in Pinckneyville, two miles north of Norcross, at the crossroads of Peachtree and Medlock Bridge. They later abandoned their settlement and joined Thrasher in Norcross when the railroad was built in 1870. As the first train stop going northeast out of Atlanta towards Washington, D.C., it became a resort town for the Atlanta elite. Made more attractive by its slightly cooler temperatures due to the higher elevation, vacation homes were built in what is now Historic Norcross.
In recent years, Norcross has become a powerhouse in basketball as Norcross High School, in 2006, won its first state basketball championship and first state title in over 70 years. Its national preseason ranking has been even as high as #2(USA Today); they made a national television appearance on December 7th, 2006 against also nationally ranked Oak Hill Academy (VA). The game appeared on ESPN2 in a prime-time 9pm slot. Norcross also has a highly regarded football team, including its undefeated regular season and #1 state ranking. It can be said that Norcross High School is now recognized as one of the top athletic schools in the nation for the 2006-2007 school year.