[4] In 1884, Thomas Snell and James Sawyer, 17-year-old friends from London, secretly planned a voyage to the United States.

The Sawyer brothers arrived in New York City on April 1, and after a few weeks, headed toward Athens, Georgia, and then to Madison County, where they stayed and worked on a farm for $10 a month.

Shortly after Snell's arrival, Charles left for Pennsylvania, later returning to the South and settling in Alabama, where he went into the turpentine business.

As was common in small mill towns of the time, they printed store money with the trade value and Snell's likeness on the front that regular customers could use to purchase goods.

[6] Initially forced into partial retirement due to failing eyesight, Sawyer later lost his sight completely.

[12] In early November 2000, then-Mayor Brett Harrell began negotiating a land swap to transform an abandoned supermarket into a municipal complex and the now-former city hall into part of a church campus.

[citation needed] The owner of the shopping center wanted to sell his property by the end of 2000, while the city council decided to take no action for a six-month period.

[citation needed] Some citizens expressed concerns about the project at the city council meeting and asked for the deal to be put to a referendum.

More opponents than supporters spoke at the meeting, and a few senior citizens presented a petition against relocating their center which was part of the land swap plan.

[17] As preparation for the swap began, the city hit a snag in June 2001, when a possibility arose of perchloroethylene soil contamination from an old dry cleaner site in the Oakland Village Shopping Center.

The Georgia Department of Natural Resources Environmental Protection Division responded that even in the event of contamination, a clean-up may not be required if no one lives close enough to the site or no one is using the ground water in the area.

In response, the city began exploring a local ordinance banning the construction of new wells and closing any existing ones.

The city council also decided to include the realignment of Oak Road and Henry Clower Boulevard at U.S. 78 in the land swap project.

The Snellville City Council approved funding for a multipurpose complex combining municipal functions and police services, plus offering a public gathering spot.

In the final plan, the land swap would include an 8-acre (32,000 m2) project encompassing a new city hall, police department, senior center and public forum area.

Mayor Jerry Oberholtzer was quoted that arriving at the dedication day took "five years, four elections, three architectural firms, and two lawsuits".

[24] The city hopes to one day expand the complex by adding a parking deck and a new public safety annex.

On August 13, 2007, the city council awarded a $52,000 contract to Smithco Construction of Gainesville to demolish and remove the remaining piece of the old Oakland Village Shopping Center.

On September 7, 2017, Witts was indicted on 66 counts, included allegations that he “consistently underreported income and over-reported deductions” on tax returns; that he used more than half of his 2015 mayoral campaign funds on expenses like cruises, plane tickets, and adult-entertainment websites, and that Witts’ company completed multiple jobs for the city of Snellville, a violation of state law.

The plan that emerged from this visioning process provides a new town green and shopping district, bordered by neighborhoods that incorporate a variety of housing types.

[11] Snellville (along with the rest of the Atlanta metropolitan area) has a humid subtropical climate according to the Köppen classification, with generally hot, humid summers and mild winters by the standards of most of the U.S.[27][28] Compared to most large cities around the world at approximately the same latitude (33°39'), such as Beirut, Casablanca, Dallas, Los Angeles, and Phoenix, Snellville has lower average winter temperatures.

The primary reason for this is that the North American continent extends into high latitudes that allows systems to form and move eastward and southward without obstruction by major mountain ranges.

Other factors include Snellville's distance from large bodies of water; its higher elevation, which can lead to rapid weather changes; prevailing wind patterns; and extensive tree cover, which reduces the urban heat island effect (an advantage during summer).

[citation needed] In the winter, weather systems sweeping south from Canada, through the Midwest, bring temperatures that can reach below 25 °Fahrenheit (−3.9 °Celsius) a few times a year.

Like the rest of the Southeastern U.S., the Atlanta metropolitan area experiences abundant rainfall, which is relatively evenly distributed throughout the year.

In late 2018, Mayor Witts was suspended (following his 2017 indictment) due to misuse of funds, spending them on travel and adult websites.

The afternoon eastbound route terminates at the First Baptist Church of Snellville, with a stop at the Hewatt Road Park&Ride.

[41] On August 21, 2007, the Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners approved an agreement with GRTA to add five new Motor Coach Industries D4500CL buses to the route.