Budapest, Georgia
Encyclopedia
General
Budapest is a small unincorporated communityUnincorporated area
In law, an unincorporated area is a region of land that is not a part of any municipality.To "incorporate" in this context means to form a municipal corporation, a city, town, or village with its own government. An unincorporated community is usually not subject to or taxed by a municipal government...
of seven buildings in Haralson County
Haralson County, Georgia
Haralson County is a county located in the U.S. state of Georgia. It was created on January 26, 1856 and was named for Hugh A. Haralson. As of 2000, the population was 25,690. The 2007 Census Estimate shows a population of 28,718...
in the U.S. state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
of Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
. It is located at 33°42′54"N 85°13′4"W, at an elevation of 1340 feet (408.4 m) on the USGS Bremen Quadrangle. Budapest is located on U.S. Route 78
U.S. Route 78
U.S. Highway 78 is an east–west United States highway that runs for 715 miles from Memphis, Tennessee, to Charleston, South Carolina. Between Memphis and Birmingham, Alabama, it is being upgraded to become Interstate 22....
, about five miles (8 km) southeast of Tallapoosa
Tallapoosa, Georgia
Tallapoosa is a city in Haralson County, Georgia, United States. The population was 2,789 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Tallapoosa, incorporated in 1860, is located in Haralson County, in northwest Georgia, about west of Atlanta, just north of Interstate 20 and east of the Alabama state line...
. However, there are no highway signs for Budapest because it is too small.
Budapest is named after the capital city
Budapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
of Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
.
In 1882, real-estate developer Ralph L. Spencer of Essex, Connecticut, invited 200 Hungarian wine-making families then employed in the mining industry in Pennsylvania to settle on 2000 acres (8.1 km²) of land at this site. Many accepted this offer. They named their largest community Budapest in honor of the capital of Hungary. A nearby village was named Tokaj in honor of a wine-producing region in Hungary. Tokaj was founded to satisfy the desire of brothers Jacob and Paul Estavanko for lots larger than 10 acres (40,468.6 m²).
Under the guidance of a Catholic priest, Father Frances Janisek, they established Budapest. Various groups from Ohio and other parts of the United States were attracted to the area and the new industry. The colony quickly flourished into a town with sixty buildings including a Catholic church, stores and a post office. Soon the sloping hills were garlanded with grape vines. Storage vats were prepared and wineries were planned.
It looked as though a new industry had succeeded in the South, but with passage of the Georgia Prohibition Act of 1907 the wine industry fell into ruins. One by one the families were forced to go elsewhere for their livelihood until today there are only one or two of the original families remaining.
The wine produced in and around Tallapoosa was sold in the North. The last of the descendants of the Budapest settlers still living there died in 1964. All that today remains of the Hungarian colonies is the original 6000sq/ft mansion built by Father Janisek and the immigrants, it is currently referred to as "Keys Castle" for the man "William Key" (relative of Francis Scott Key) that purchased the house and several Vineyard plots from the Hungarians in 1906. The Priest's home is still owned by descendants of the Key family . The Estavanko family remained in Haralson County after the demise of the wine industry.