Norcross is a city in Gwinnett County, Georgia, United States. As of 2010, the population recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau was 9,116.
Named for former Atlanta Mayor Jonathan Norcross, it was chartered as a town on October 26, 1870, and selected to the National Register of historic Places by the Department of the Interior in the early 1980s, although its history began much earlier. This all changed with the creation of the Richmond-Danville Railroad, designed to open up the wilderness areas of northeast Georgia. The railroad was proposed in 1856 by Jonathan Norcross (a former Atlanta mayor) and was subsequently approved. Construction was delayed, however, until 1866 because of the Civil War. On September 12, 1869, the first twenty miles (32 km) were completed and on October 16, 1889, John J. Thrasherbought the 250 acres (1.0 km2) surrounding the terminal for $1,650 and a town was born – named for Thrasher’s good friend, Jonathan Norcross. The Brunswick Hotel was built in 1870 and Norcross quickly became known as a resort area, much like Eastlake, for Atlantans wanting to escape the rapidly growing city. The new town also meant the demise of the surrounding communities of Pinckneyville and Flint Hill, as people migrated in to build houses, churches, schools, and to be near the railroad.