How did industry change?

New industries continued to grow in Georgia after World War II. Atlanta benefited most because people moved to the city looking for jobs in new businesses. In 1947, Ford Motors opened a new plant in Hapeville. A year later, General Motors also opened a plant in Doraville.

Of all the new businesses, Lockheed had the most impact. After the war, Bell Aircraft closed its plant in Marietta. It reopened a few years later as Lockheed. Lockheed produced needed aircraft, and it was Georgia's largest employer by the end of 1950's. Atlanta has had many office parks. Office parks are places built in parts of the city made to house offices. With so many businesses moving into and starting in Atlanta, new office parks allowed the city to accommodate them. By the end of the 1940's, more Georgians worked in industy and factory jobs than on farms.

How did the population change?

Not only did Atlanta grow due to migration, it also grew due to annexation. Annexation is when a city expands, and land that used to be on the outskirts of the city becomes part of that city. In 1952, Atlanta grew by over one hundred thousand new residents when it annexed more than eighty square miles formally outside of the city. As more and more people left rural areas and other parts of the country to move to Atlanta, the city had to get new land in order to keep growing.

The GI Bill also helped Georgia grow. Congress passed this bill to help war veterans readjust to society, once they returned from the war. It allowed them to get loans for homes and provided money for education. As a result, Atlanta and other cities' suburbs grew as returning soldiers brought new homes and started families. The University of Georgia and other colleges in the state also saw their enrollments increase as the GI Bill allowed more people to attend college than ever before.

How did Agriculture Change?

While factories and other businesses grew, agriculture still remained an important postwar industry for Georgia. New technology such as tractors and processors helped those who remained on the farms by making planting and harvesting faster and more efficient.

In addition, FDR's New Deal and the wartime demand for crops finally gave farmers the financial motive and opportunity they needed to diversify their crops. As a result, the state no longer depended on cotton to be the main source of its agricultural income. Other crops, like peanuts and pecans, became increasingly important to Georgia beginning in the 1930's and 1940's. In fact, today, nearly half of the U.S. peanut crop comes from Georgia.