Circle route
Following his parole, English arrived in Atlanta on May 14, 1865, where he later became a banker. On December 1, 1880, he defeated developer H. I. Kimball to become mayor, taking office in January. He served as president of the American Trust and Banking Company (later rechartered as the Fourth National Bank) for thirty years. He also served twenty-four years on the board of directors of the Central of Georgia Railway Company. He was one of the incorporators of the 1883 Fulton County Street Railroad, which would later become famous for its Nine-Mile Circle route to what is now Virginia-Highland.