[citation needed] Howell's Crossing was renamed "Duluth" in 1871 after Congress funded a north–south railroad line into the community.

The Midwestern city had gotten its own railroad connection not long before, which had prompted Rep. J. Proctor Knott, a Kentucky Democrat, to make a speech in Congress mocking the project as wasteful.

According to contemporary reports, Evan P. Howell himself jokingly suggested the name change in a speech about the arrival of railroad service in the Georgia town.

(Duluth, Minnesota, is named for Daniel Greysolon, Sieur du Lhut (1636–1710), a French captain and explorer of the upper Midwest, who negotiated peace between the Chippewa and the Sioux nation.

[citation needed] In 1922, Duluth elected Georgia's first female mayor, Alice Harrell Strickland.

Georgia Governor George Busbee became a resident of Duluth in 1983 after leaving office, moving to the Sweet Bottom Plantation subdivision developed by Scott Hudgens.

In March, Fulton County Courthouse shooting suspect Brian Nichols was captured in a Duluth apartment after holding a woman hostage.

In April, local resident Jennifer Wilbanks was reported missing a few days before her planned wedding to John Mason.

Approximately 25 mi (40 km) from Downtown Atlanta, the city lies in the west-central section of Gwinnett County, bounded to the north by the Chattahoochee River (which also acts as the county line), northeast by Suwanee, south by unincorporated land, and west by Berkeley Lake.

A significant part of the nearby city of Johns Creek in Fulton County shares at least one ZIP code with Duluth.

The city hosts an annual Fall Festival on the last weekend of every September, which is held in the town center.

These attractions and more collectively contribute to the charm and allure of downtown Duluth, offering a mix of arts, dining, and family-friendly experiences.

The club currently hosts the Greater Gwinnett Championship, a Champions Tour golf tournament that initiated in 2013.

Duluth is also home of the Georgia Swarm of the National Lacrosse League since 2016 and shares the Gas South Arena with the Gladiators.

Apart from Buford Highway, these roads bring traffic to Interstate 85, connecting the Duluth area to central Atlanta about 25 mi (40 km) away.

It is a shared use path, cycle track, and bike lane used to connect Duluth to neighboring Berkeley Lake, Norcross and Suwanee.

[24] There is community-wide support from the community in both neighboring Johns Creek and Duluth for the pedestrian river bridge for the project.

In March 2018, the Gwinnett County Commissioners approved the agreement with the Johns Creek City Council.

The engineers will determine whether to replace or rehabilitate the existing Rogers Bridge over the Chattahoochee River, will take into account the environmental impacts of each option, and will restore the working bike/pedestrian connection between Duluth and Johns Creek.