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Summary History of The City of Atlanta Georgia
Links to the Counties of:
Barrow Bartow Cherokee Cobb Dawson DeKalb Douglas Forsyth Fulton Gwinnett Hall Paulding
Note: I am not a historian, but I have great interest in these areas where I sell homes.
The following information is culled from a variety of sources.
Although I can not guarantee accuracy within those sources,
I took care to write the following with as much accuracy as I could achieve.
City of Atlanta
Atlanta has been called the first great Inland city. Whether it’s the first, or just one of the first, unquestionably Atlanta is inland, .. and it is GREAT! I’ve lived in metro Atlanta for a long time, and I love this place! It is a bit tricky, though, to know exactly what someone means when they talk about “Atlanta.” --- Do they mean the city Atlanta? .. do they mean the mutli-multi county region of “metro Atlanta”? .. or do they mean one specific, relatively small spot within the wide metro area that may or may not even be technically in the city limits of Atlanta? If you have read my different summaries of various Counties within the northern arc around this city-center, you’ll realize there can be many differences in history, population, and activities between the different parts of “the whole” of Atlanta. But for these moments, in the set of words that are on this page, we are going to look specifically at the city, itself; the city which has made this entire multi-thousand square mile region a vital location in America, and in the world.
Atlanta is not without scars and terrible blemishes from the past. That might as well be said right up-front, because it’s the truth. There were gross injustices to the Indian Nations here, and to the individuals within those Nations. In earlier years when I lived in the Southwest I visited Indian settlement locations and museums in Oklahoma. Those visits were solemn events for me -- “The Trail of Tears.” One might say the name says it all; .. but I doubt that even this name says it all! And as I researched the history of North Georgia, some of the accounts brought my own tears. Here I was looking in detail at the beginning of that sad journey, the end of which I had reviewed years earlier in Oklahoma. It is a sin from the past. And here in the American Southeast there was yet another sin -- Slavery. My God, just that one word, if I stop and really reflect upon it, generates feelings of horror! I’ve lived in the Northeast, the Midwest, the Southwest, and the Southeast. Anywhere and everywhere in this country, slavery is the blight on the nation, the national sin, that has consequences and lasting ramifications in many more places than just the southeast. But, it is the Southeast where it occurred! So yes, there are terrible scars and blemishes. As I progress through this summary of our history, as I understand it, my intention is not to dwell on these facts, but also not to forget them.
Indians were here a long time before “the white man,” with Archaic Indians living here perhaps as early as 6000 B.C. It’s thought these evolved into a Woodlands culture, and then a Moundbuilder culture moved in. That group exhibited traits especially of the Mississippians and perhaps Hopewell culture, and they controlled much land around the Chattahoochee River, including the area that today is Atlanta. By the late 1700’s when Anglos were entering this region, it was primarily the Creek Indians who populated the lands on which Atlanta now sits. There were various Creek tribes in the region. And if you read my summaries of several counties, you will find that both Cherokee and Creek were in the lands that today comprise metro Atlanta. After battles between the Cherokee and Creek, the Cherokee Nation was primarily located to the north of the Chattahoochee River, Creeks to the south of the river, and there were some places in-between where Cherokee, Creek, and even Anglos could travel and trade without conflict (a sort of “open zone” or “green zone”). Again, though, when we talk about inhabitants around 1800 of the land that would become Atlanta, we’re primarily talking about Creek Indians.
Transportation would become (and certainly still is) a foundation of Atlanta’s strength and growth. And the Indians in a sense actually played a key role in helping the area become an important transportation center. During the War of 1812, and within that same time the Creek Civil War, two forts were built along this frontier area in order to bring protection for settlers and traders. One fort was constructed east of Suwanee at Hog Mountain, in what is now Gwinnett County. The other was built on the edge of what is today Buckhead, on the site of what had been an Indian settlement along the Chattahoochee River called Standing Peachtree (where Peachtree Creek comes into the Chattahoochee). A road was needed to connect these two important outposts. Luckily there was a Creek Indian Trail that ran from north of Suwanee all the way to Standing Peachtree. That trail provided most of the path for building Peachtree Road. Yes, the early beginnings of today’s Peachtree Road. As this road (this Creek Indian Trail) entered what is now Atlanta, one branch of it went west to Standing Peachtree, while the other branch kept going south into what today is downtown Atlanta. And there was an east to west Indian Trail (the Sandtown Trail) that it joined at that point, providing a very early vision of Atlanta as a hub for roadway traffic.
Of course when speaking of Atlanta as a transportation hub, railroads must be given the credit for turning it into a primary center of transportation for the entire Southeast. (Unfortunately this later meant it became a primary target of the North during the Civil War. But more about that in a bit.) As you’ll read in the accounts of DeKalb and Fulton County, Decatur Georgia was given the opportunity to become the terminus (the end point) of a new railroad that was to be built from what is now Chattanooga Tennessee into this part of Georgia. The Western and Atlantic Railroad (W&A) was making this offer, and Decatur residents turned them down. So planning shifted a bit further west, and the zero mile marker for the coming railroad was set near what today is Underground Atlanta, at the edge of downtown. Another new rail line, the Georgia Railroad, had been built between Augusta and Athens. Now, there was going to be a branch from Athens to the zero mile point of the W&A. Eventually these two rail lines became the center cog in a route connecting Charleston, South Carolina to Memphis, Tennessee. Construction of these lines along the W&A and Georgia railroads reached the zero mile point in Terminus between 1842 and 1845, with that end-point for the lines being moved a quarter mile east, to today’s location of Underground. For Atlanta (in 1842 called Terminus), this was just the beginning. By the Civil War a variety of major railways were entering the city from all points on the compass. In rebuilding after the war, even more railroads connected into this massive hub. Click here to see a map showing major rail lines making their way to this hub from all points on the compass.
As an interesting aside, the very original route for a railroad from the Tennessee River was not going to go to either Decatur or Terminus. It was going to be constructed to an end point between what today is Norcross and Duluth! As work began, though, it was realized they would encounter grades that were too steep. Therefore, a search began for a route that would follow more closely river plains. Although the eventual route from the Tennessee River to Terminus was jokingly viewed as being ridiculously curvy, it nonetheless was a better fit in terms of grades that steam engines could handle. Thus, in late 1836 the Georgia government agreed to the end point being further west. (Note: when it became apparent the terminus needed to be moved further west, initial thought was to place the terminus at Montgomery Landing along the river. But finally it was decided to move several miles away from the river, to the place ultimately chosen.)
Now to highlight how the “initial boundaries” of what would become early Atlanta developed. As a starting point, a person by the name of Hardy Ivy is often noted as the first European settler in this area. He acquired land in what today is downtown, and it was on part of that property (near what today is Underground Atlanta) that the initial zero marker for the railroad was placed. John Thrasher purchased land near the zero mile marker and built a grocery store. Over at Standing Peachtree, after Fort Gilmer was constructed (also called Fort Peachtree), Montgomery’s Ferry was established to cross the Chattachoochee, and became the first business in that area. Prior to the railroad, one of the first acts of the new DeKalb County, around 1823, was to build a road from the county seat of Decatur to the Montogomery Ferry landing at Standing Peachtree. The Creek Indian’s Sandtown Trail heading west from Decatur provided a route which then linked to Peachtree Road and north to the ferry landing. In 1835 near the juncture of these roads (Sandtown & Peachtree … approximately today’s downtown area of five points) a home was built that served as a tavern and inn, and a postal stop was established making this an election district, and it was called Whitehall. This was very close to the point where the terminus of the W&A rail line would be located a few years later. And then the last “corner” of what was beginning to grow as a “community” was in the area that today in known as Midtown. Anderson Walton built a resort near a spring there. The lands within a line loosely connecting the terminus point and grocery, the Whitehall district with its tavern near the intersection of primary roadways, Montgomery Ferry, and the Walton resort provided the first “sense” of a community that logically had some cohesion to it.
Bringing all the pieces of the city together was a challenge, but there always seemed to be someone willing to step-up to those challenges and solve the problem. For example, the Georgia Railroad being built from Athens was stalled, because it could not acquire a necessary right of way west of Decatur. Lemuel Grant, an engineer, stepped-in and bought the land and then gave the railroad the right of way. Mr. Grant later decided to settle in this community. And in 1882 he donated 100 acres to the city for creating the first permanent park, which in 1889 became Grant Park, and included an early version of the zoo.
The severe downturn of the national economy in 1837 also presented a challenge to the area. To this day, the Panic of 1837 may rate as the worst financial panic in the history of the country. Although there was somewhat of a rebound in 1838 to 1839, things turned very grim again over the following several years. But despite this, once work began on the Georgia Railroad it didn’t stop. And after a two year delay work on the Western and Atlantic restarted and finally reached enough of a completion so that by the mid 1840’s the first run could be made from Terminus to Marietta, across the newly created bridge over the Chattahoochee. Also in this period a few entrepreneurs entered the area. For example Jonathan Norcross came to Marthasville around 1844 and established a dry goods store plus a sawmill producing crossties and string timbers for the Georgia Railroad. Of note, in 1847 he led the first effort to get the state capital moved from Milledgeville to Atlanta.
The city went through several name changes before it became Atlanta. The first name of any type was Whitehall, mentioned above. With the W&A Railroad having its end point here, Terminus became a working title for the group of buildings growing around the depot, although it was never an official name. However, during that period of time having an “unromantic” name was probably for the best, because the area was populated by rowdy rail hands and prostitutes! In the early-mid 1840’s the former governor Wilson Lumpkin had the city named Marthasville, after his daughter Martha. But then a couple years later the name Atlanta was chosen, and it stuck. Some say this name still was in honor of Lumpkin’s daughter, Martha Atalanta Lumpkin. But it is also likely that the name was drawn from the importance of the Western & Atlantic Railroad, with Atlanta being a feminized version of Atlantic … this manner of creating a name was common at that time. In late 1847 Atlanta was officially incorporated. Early official city limits were set in a circle, with radius of one mile out from the zero milepost.
The Civil War brought population growth to Atlanta (increasing from about 10,000 to around 20,000 people) because the community became a hospital center as well as a strategically vital supply and staging center. But of course it also brought Union troops under the command of General Sherman, and various portions of the Union Army ultimately closed-in on Atlanta from every side! Before Sherman left in November 1864 it also brought the destruction of over 70% of all the buildings in the city, and a forced removal of the population, by order of Sherman, before the city was set ablaze.
General Sherman, head of Union forces in the Atlanta campaign, left Chattanooga for Atlanta in May 1864. There were a variety of strategic moves and battles along the way, bringing him to Cobb County where he would sit at the northwest edge of an attack on the city. The Western and Atlantic Railroad, which Sherman in general was following in his march to Atlanta, ran past Kennesaw Mountain where major Confederate forces were positioned. The Battle of Kennesaw Mountain was extremely bloody, and Union troops often had more failures than success. This Battle could hardly be called a Union victory. But as Union General McPherson was doing a flanking maneuver Confederate General Johnston withdrew his forces on the evening of July 2nd to a position on the other side of the Chattahoochee, in defense of Atlanta. In this fighting that began on June 11 between Kennesaw and Pine Mountains, Union deaths numbered 3,000, Confederate deaths were 1,000, and many, many of all stripes were wounded. The Union Army involved in this battle numbered around 100,000, and apparently General Johnston believed that he would have a better chance of defeating that army by attacking them while they were split apart, as they were crossing the river.
With Sherman now in Marietta, he had options concerning the best way to begin his attack of the city. He decided upon a forward-thinking strategy that sent General McPherson’s forces well to the east and then down into DeKalb County, in order to cut the Georgia Railroad lines so that reinforcements and supplies could not come from the east to help Atlanta. That gave Sherman the ability to stage just two major battles in his plan to defeat the city. These were the Battle of Atlanta and The Battle of Peachtree Creek. In my summary of DeKalb County history you can read about the July 22nd Battle of Atlanta, which was actually fought primarily along the edge of DeKalb County which faces the east side of Atlanta. In that battle the Union General McPherson (commander for this battle) was killed. But the Confederate attempt to outmaneuver and defeat this portion of the Union forces failed, paving the way for United States Army shelling of the city during the next month and a half, along with periodic raids into the city. The Battle of Atlanta, technically, was not fought inside the city.
Although it is possible General Johnston’s strategy might have worked, with respect to defeating Sherman’s forces as he tried to cross the river, General Johnston was replaced by General Hood on July 17th. General Hood was inclined to aggressive attacks, rather than wait to outmaneuver and perhaps beat the opponent when they were most vulnerable. Initial attempts by Union forces (under General Thomas) to cross the river in the area near what today is Buckhead were resisted. But a group made a successful crossing, and then secured other crossing points along the river. Hood was distracted by the fact that McPherson’s forces had moved into DeKalb County, on his eastern flank. This delayed his move against troops coming across the Chattahoochee, and by the time the bulk of Hood’s forces were ready to take action, most of the Union army was already across the river. Hood then moved aggressively to attack the Union forces around Peachtree Creek, but was thrown back and eventually retreated into Atlanta. With the Battle of Peachtree Creek won, and Union forces now in control of all of DeKalb County, Sherman could simply shell the city, keep it under siege, and wait for Confederate forces to eventually give up. Other bands of Union troops secured the western and then southern sides of the city, cutting other possible supply lines. (As a side note, Benjamin Harrison who would later become US President was a Colonel in the Union forces that fought at the Battle of Peachtree Creek.)
Atlanta had done some significant things to defend itself. For example, Lemuel Grant (mentioned earlier regarding his purchase of land to help the railroad) had designed and overseen a defensive line, ten miles long, to help defend ferry crossings along the Chattahoochee. But the military was not able to take advantage of this. And now the final destruction began. When Confederate General Hood abandoned Atlanta the evening of September 1, 1864 he ordered all storehouses of supplies, rail equipment, and anything else that might be used by the enemy destroyed. Union troops now located in Jonesboro could see fire light up the night sky. The city officially surrendered on September 2nd. Sherman set up camp in and around the city. Then in November General Sherman ordered the civilian population to leave the city and head north. On November 11 he ordered the city burned to the ground. Over 70% of all buildings were destroyed. After a plea from Father Thomas O’Reilly of the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, he spared the city’s churches and hospitals.. Leaving a few soldiers behind to control the city, on November 15 Sherman’s forces moved out of Atlanta, through DeKalb County, as they began their march to the sea. That march cut a path of destruction fifty miles wide, ruining crops and destroying railroads as they went. About a week after Sherman left Atlanta residents returned to the city, and began to rebuild.
Out of the rubble events took place that carry names easily recognized by many of today’s residents. In 1865 Atlanta National Bank was chartered, which after name changes and mergers eventually became a major part of Wachovia. In 1867 Morris Rich, at age 19, opened a small store on Whitehall Street in downtown Atlanta. This was the beginning of Rich’s, an Atlanta department store truly loved, which survived for well over a hundred years. In 1870 Oglethorpe University which had been located in Milledgeville reopened, this time in Atlanta. In 1871 a streetcar company opened, with the first line running to a military installation named Ft. McPherson. By 1872 streetcar service was added to Peachtree Street, Decatur Street, and Ponce de Leon Avenue. Citizens Bank of Georgia opened in 1873. And of additional note, in 1877 any remaining vestige of Reconstruction ended with the Presidency of Rutherford B. Hayes, who became the first sitting President to visit Atlanta. And yes, in January 1879 General Sherman revisited Atlanta and attended a ball at Ft. McPherson.
Georgia was under the control of the United States military following the war. In 1867 Atlanta was named headquarters of the Third Military District under Reconstruction and General Pope was put in command, with that command soon switching to General Meade. In January 1868 General Meade removed Governor Jenkins and the state treasurer from office, and essentially dissolved the civilian government. In February of 1868 General Meade ordered state offices moved from Milledgeville to Atlanta, and installed a military governor. In April 1868 an election was held that gave approval to Atlanta as the new state capitol, and elected a Republican working majority to the state General Assembly and a majority in the Senate, with 29 of the 84 Republicans in the General Assembly being black, and 3 of the 27 Republican Senators being black. All Democratic Party members in both state houses were white. The Democratic Party in the state joined forces with the Ku Klux Klan to coerce people to vote Democratic and threaten them if they did not, and by late 1868 the Klan was already strong in parts of the state. Democratic politicians held rallies and maneuvered to have black representatives in the Georgia Assembly removed, which did happen. The Governor called for federal military help, and in 1869 more troops were inserted into Georgia. Meanwhile the Republican Party was divided, with conservatives disgusted by fraud and corruption on the part of Republican Governor Bullock. In Atlanta in 1870 Republican Dennis Hammond was elected Mayor and for the first time there were two black members on the city council. After U.S. Military control of Georgia ended, the Democratic Party was able to gain the upper hand and control the state legislature and governor posts for over a century. Some of these Democratic politicians who ousted the Republican coalition of southern and northern whites, plus newly-freed blacks, called themselves “Redeemers.”
There were actually several phases to what is officially known as Reconstruction. But beyond mere acts by the President or the U.S. Congress, the actual work of “reconstructing” Georgia involved a huge variety of things, including physical rebuilding, political changes, rebuilding state and local governments and laws, rebuilding the state’s agrarian economy, recovering from worthless Confederate currency and bonds, rebuilding local and regional financial systems, rethinking and changing attitudes, and much more. These efforts did not always go well and in 1869, as noted in the paragraph above, there had to be an insertion of more U.S. troops into Georgia. Georgia went through periods of being recognized as a state, then having that removed, and then finally gaining acceptance back into the union in July 1870.
The “official” date when Reconstruction ended can vary a bit from account to account, but 1877 is often considered the date, even though by 1872 northern control over Georgia affairs was waning. Strong control by the North, reinforced by troop support, had significantly weakened by late 1870 after troops were removed. During the period of 1865 to 1877 people known as “Radical Republicans” wanted to see economic, social, and political changes brought to the South, and wanted to achieve voting rights for the recently freed black population along with all the other standard rights of citizenship. These were primarily people coming from the North to establish businesses, pursue humanitarian efforts, and/or become involved in southern politics. Southern inhabitants who took offense at this, plus Democratic Party politicians who opposed these views, called the Northerners Carpetbaggers, because many of these people used carpet bags as inexpensive luggage. And they called white Southerners who switched to the Republican Party Scalawags. Although there were certainly some scoundrels among the Carpetbaggers, many historians now treat this group with much less bias.
The above three paragraphs are included in this summary for Atlanta, even though they relate to the whole state and not just this city. The information is included because most of the actions which surrounded these events and people took place in Atlanta, and only then “spread-out” in their impact on the entire state.
Economic conditions began to improve, and by the mid 1870’s the rail rebuilding program started to bring significant improvement to the state. (By the way, in 1886 it was mandated that all railroads in the south be regauged from 5 feet which had been the standard gauge in the south to the northern standard of 4 feet 81/2 inches.) The city of Atlanta was getting back on its feet. But many areas outside of Atlanta struggled. With the loss of any significant banking support after the war, farmers sought help from seed suppliers, with suppliers lending seed for planting and then receiving payment after the harvest. Before the war crops like corn and wheat had been planted in addition to cotton. But now with this crop-lien system, the general stores lending seed on credit pressed farmers to focus on cotton instead of other crops, because cotton could command a much higher profit. Becoming dependent on cotton created a repeating boom-bust cycle, that eventually proved disastrous when cotton prices fell and the boll weevil came.
In the 1880’s a lot of ingenuity helped to spur Atlanta’s revival. For example, in spite of a national recession/depression starting in the 1880’s, Hannibal Kimball, Henry Grady, and Samuel Inman worked to bring an International Cotton Exposition to Atlanta. Massachusetts economist Edward Atkinson had proposed an exhibition to promote better quality of cotton from the south, and the original thinking was to hold the exposition in New York or Washington. This trio from Atlanta, through months of effort, finally succeeded in bringing the expo to Atlanta, in order to prove to the world that the south, and especially Atlanta, was and would be a leader in textile production. Kimball, Grady, and Inman won state government support for the endeavor, and they also convinced the community to build a new hotel (the third one in town) to provide more accommodations for the large number of visitors that would come. The Exposition was located at Oglethorpe Park, a new working cotton mill was built specifically for the Expo, and over a thousand exhibitors came from thirty three states and six foreign countries to display at the show. The Exposition ran for two months in 1881, 350,000 people attended, and it truly put Atlanta back on the map as a major player in commerce. Very importantly, it played a significant role in attracting investment (primarily northern money) to this region. The Western and Atlantic Railroad offered a reduced fair for Expo patrons, and the entire community rallied to this effort. General Sherman even attended! And when the Expo was over, the new mill was purchased by Lemuel Grant and others, and turned into a major business which employed around 500 people.
In a location just east of downtown Jacob Elsas and Isaac May had begun a small cloth and paper bag manufacturing business. They received financial backing from a Cincinnati banker and in 1881 enlarged the facility. By 1889 Jacob incorporated as the Fulton Bag and Cotton Mill Company, and subsequently moved to new, larger facilities. By the turn of the century a community of small houses, called Cabbagetown, were built near the plant for the employees. Employment grew to as many as 2,600. Today this area of small homes has become one of the “in” locations as housing in urban Atlanta has gone through its own form of “reconstruction” from the 1990’s into this decade. But back in the 1890’s into the turn of the century this enterprise was another example of Atlanta coming to life as an economic power.
Inman Park was conceived and developed in the 1880’s, as Atlanta’s first suburb, located straight east of Atlanta just inside the Fulton County line. The developer was Joey Hurt, an accomplished businessman who had helped revive the Atlanta Building and Loan Association, had established the Atlanta Home Insurance and East Atlanta Land Companies, and oversaw construction of the world’s first financially successful electric street railway. Hurt wanted people to be able to live in a country like atmosphere and still have easy access to city-center activities. In 1889 he auctioned land lots for homes. He then built a streetcar line from Inman Park to downtown Atlanta. Today this area has undergone a wonderful “reconstruction” and is once again a favorite place to live. (Hurt would also play a role in the creation of another favorite area, Druid Hills.)
Two more major exhibitions would be held in Atlanta before the turn of the century, this time each being held on the grounds of today’s Piedmont Park. In 1887, under the encouragement of Henry Grady, Atlanta hosted the Piedmont Exposition, designed to help keep Atlanta in the international limelight. A high point of the fair was a visit by President Grover Cleveland. Then in 1895 Atlanta hosted The Cotton States and International Exposition. Again President Grover Cleveland was present, and this time John Phillip Sousa was here too, dedicating his King Cotton march to the people of Georgia. At the Expo Booker T. Washington delivered his Atlanta Compromise speech. Attractions included Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show, and the Liberty Bell. But most importantly, almost a million people attended and it brought tremendous positive attention and investment to Atlanta, as well as to the entire southeast region. By 1903 Atlanta would become the headquarters for many national and regional companies. After the Exposition (in 1904) the grounds were purchased by the city of Atlanta, and this became Piedmont Park. (Of interest Atlanta Constitution editor Henry Grady, who helped bring the Expos of 1881 and 1887 to Atlanta, was also instrumental in promoting the creation of Georgia Tech.)
About this time, another economic giant-in-the-making was about to join cotton and the railroads as a local icon. A pharmacist named Dr. John Pemberton created a soda fountain drink made from a sweet syrup. Some say the final version was an accident, when the soda jerk added carbonated water instead of straight water to the syrup. Dr. Pemberton’s bookkeeper, Frank Robinson, named the beverage Coca-Cola, and created the script for that name which is still used on the product today. The drink was first sold at the soda fountain in Jacob’s Pharmacy in Atlanta. In its first year, they sold an average of nine glasses a day. Another native of the area, Asa Candler, by 1891 secured the rights to Coca-Cola, for $2,300. He became the Coca-Cola Company’s first President, and was phenomenal at marketing this product to soda fountains around the country. One of his marketing techniques was to distribute a variety of products that had the Coca-Cola name on them, keeping the name in front of soda fountain customers. By 1895 there were syrup plants in Chicago, Dallas, and Los Angeles. A Mississippi businessman was the first to put Coca-Cola in bottles, and suggested this to Candler, who initially was not responsive to the idea. In 1899 two Tennessee lawyers were the first to receive the right to bottle the product. In 1916 an Indiana based company won the contract to design a distinctive bottle whose shape could be recognized in the dark. By 1920 there were around 1,000 bottlers of Coca-Cola. In 1919 Ernest Woodward bought the company from Candler. In 1923 his son Robert Woodward became Company President, and Coca-Cola soon was being promoted world wide.
Ansley Park (now in what’s called Midtown, and situated between Piedmont Park and Peachtree Stree) was developed in four phases between 1904 and 1913. By 1930 it was basically completed, and provides lovely winding streets, enough parks so that each house is no more than a ten minute walk from a park, and a golf course at one corner of the community. With everything from cute bungalows to gracious mansions, it was designed for elegant, pastoral-like living only a short distance from the city-center.
A building boom in downtown Atlanta took place in the 1920’s and high-rise structures began to change the skyline. Also changing downtown, a system of viaducts was conceived around 1900 to elevate auto traffic over the railroad tracks. In 1910 several iron bridges were built over the tracks. The bridges were then rebuilt in concrete and connected by a mall. Merchants along the street moved their businesses to the second floor which now became “street level,” with the lower level used for storage or left vacant. In recent decades this lower level was turned into shops, restaurants, and clubs, and called Underground Atlanta.
In the 1920’s Atlanta again positioned itself as the king-maker of transportation hubs. About three hundred acres off the south edge of the city had been purchased by Asa Candler in 1909 to build an auto race track. By the early 1920’s that venture had run its course, and Candler Field was abandoned. At that same time William Hartsfield was given the task of locating an appropriate spot for a new airport that Mayor Sims had proposed. Hartsfield obtained a lease for Candler Field free of charge for five years, and this put Atlanta in a good position to obtain one of the new air mail contracts being given out by the U.S. Postal Service. Air mail service began out of Candler Field in the late 1920’s, and passenger service was inaugurated on October 15, 1930 with flights by American Airlines to Dallas and Los Angeles. In December a flight to New York was added and in January 1931 service to Florida. In 1934 Delta Airlines (then of Monroe, Louisiana) won an air mail contract between Atlanta to Charlotte, North Carolina. Within two years Delta built a maintenance facility at Atlanta and this became their base.
In 1940 the U.S. government declared the airport an air base. During World War II it doubled in size. In 1946 Candler Field was renamed Atlanta Municipal Airport, and in 1948 more than one million people passed through the war surplus hangar that was being used as the terminal. In May 1961 a new terminal opened. It was the largest in the country, but in its first year of operation it was already handling 150% of its designed capacity. Under Mayor Maynard Jackson the city began a new airport project in 1971. It was the largest construction project in the South, and opened in September 1980, on time and under budget! The name was the William B. Hartsfield International Airport. A fifth runway was opened in 2006 to help relieve some air traffic problems caused by smaller aircraft using the primary runways. To honor Maynard Jackson, Atlanta’s first African-American Mayor, the airport was renamed to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.
Atlanta has been, and continues to be, a focal point for African-American progress in the United States. And certainly when we think of that, one of the first names to come to mind is Martin Luther King, Jr. As a minister, a primary leader in the Civil Rights movement, and a political activist, Dr. King consistently exhibited a grace along with persistence in driving for equality through non-violent activism. In 1959 he traveled to India to visit the Ghandi family. In a radio address during his last night in India he is quoted as saying, “Since being in India, I am more convinced than ever before that the method of nonviolent resistance is the most potent weapon available to oppressed people in their struggle for justice and human dignity.”* Dr. King organized and led marches for rights of all types, rights that most certainly should be guaranteed to all American citizens. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 captured in law many of the issues Dr. King had worked so hard to address. The King Center was established in 1968 by Coretta Scott King, dedicated to the legacy of Dr. King. The Center is located just east of downtown Atlanta.
Before concluding, just a word about sports, recreation, and sight seeing. With respect to sports, I can’t think of many other places in the U.S. that are as filled with spectator alternatives as metro Atlanta. For college sports of all types we have local institutions that are part of two of the biggest and best major conferences in America. And there are plenty of local choices regarding smaller colleges as well. And then the pro ranks provide most every sport of interest today. Regarding recreation there is everything from water sports at Lake Lanier and Allatoona Lake to some of the finest restaurants and night spots that you will find (with an astounding variety from which to chose, regardless of your taste in food & fun .. as they say, “something for everybody!”). Or take in a concert under the stars at Chastain Park, or perhaps attend one of the many activities within the Woodruff Arts Center. Also, the selection and alternatives for shopping are supurb, with even more upscale and trendy outlets opening soon. And there is a lot of sightseeing available; so much that even the long-time locals rarely touch the surface of what’s here, from the Margaret Mitchell home (and various Gone With The Wind points of interest) to the CNN Center, and from Stone Mountain to the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center. The options, and the variety, in terms of what Atlanta offers is almost endless, and growing larger all the time.
… This has been a very, very long summary, compared to all of my summaries for various Counties. And truth be told, I could have made it even longer! But certainly it is long enough!! The reason for providing so much information is that the city itself really IS the lifeblood and nervous system of the entire metro area. Each different county and suburb has its own distinctive nature as well as its own special history. But nothing has affected each of those communities like the one city at the heart of it all, .. Atlanta. So I hope this relatively in-depth look at how and why the city developed as it did will give you an appreciation for the city, for the greater metro area, and for our heritage as a vibrant center of action.
From The U.S. Census Bureau
2000 Population:
Population change (April 1, 2000 to
July 1, 2003):
Median Household Income 2004:
Housing Units 2005:
Home Ownership Rate 2000:
Households 2000:
Persons per Household 2000:
2000 Land Area (sq miles):
2000 Persons per Sq Mile:
416,474
1.7%
34,770
186,925
43.7%
168,147
2.30
132.00
3,161.2
Resources for constructing this summary included:
Wikipedia website, Rich’s page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rich's
Wikipedia website, Wachovia page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wachovia
Wikipedia website, Atlanta in the Civil War page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlanta_in_the_Civil_War
Wikipedia website, Battle of Peachtree Creek page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Peachtree_Creek
Wikipedia website, Battle of Atlanta page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Atlanta
Wikipedia website, Jonathan Norcross page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Norcross
Wikipedia website, Panic of 1837 page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panic_of_1837
City Directory of Atlanta website, A Short History of Atlanta 1865-1877 page: http://www.city-book.com/Overview/history/history3.htm
City Directory of Atlanta website, A Short History of Atlanta 1878-1899 page: http://www.city-book.com/Overview/history/history4.htm
Secretary of State Karen Handel website, History of Atlanta page: http://sos.georgia.gov/tours/html/atlanta_history.html
Emory University website, A Brief History Of Atlanta page: http://www.emory.edu/ADMISSIONS/about/brief-history.htm
The New Georgia Encyclopedia website, Lemuel Grant page: http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-2888
Roadside Georgia website, Atlanta Prehistory to 1847: http://roadsidegeorgia.com/city/atlanta01.html
Roadside Georgia website, Atlanta 1848 to 1868: http://roadsidegeorgia.com/city/atlanta02.html
Roadside Georgia website, Atlanta 1868 to 1879: http://roadsidegeorgia.com/city/atlanta03.html
About North Georgia website, The Battle of Kennesaw Mountain page: http://ngeorgia.com/history/kennesawmtn.html
About North Georgia website, A Needless Waste of Lives – The Battle of Kennesaw Mountain page: http://ngeorgia.com/history/kennesaw.html
About North Georgia website, Creation of the Western and Atlantic Railroad page: http://ngeorgia.com/railroads/warr01.html
About North Georgia website, Reconstruction page: http://ngeorgia.com/history/reconstruction.html
The New Georgia Encyclopedia website, Reconstruction in Georgia page: http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.com/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-2533
Our Georgia History website, Reconstruction Georgia – Georgia History 101 page: http://ourgeorgiahistory.com/history101/gahistory08.html
Wikipedia website, Reconstruction page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reconstruction
Wikipedia website, Carpetbaggers page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carpetbagger
Railga.com Georgia’s Railroad History and Heritage, Western & Atlantic Railroad page: http://railga.com/watl.html
Railga.com Georgia’s Railroad History and Heritage, Georgia Railroad page: http://railga.com/georgia.html
Our Georgia History website, Western and Atlantic railroad page: http://ourgeorgiahistory.com/ogh/Western_and_Atlantic_Railroad
National Park Service Atlanta website, Western & Atlantic Railroad Zero Milepost page: http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/travel/atlanta/wes.htm
Atlanta.net website, Atlanta History page: http://www.atlanta.net/visitors/history.html
The Coca-Cola Company website, The Chronicle of Coca-Cola page: http://www.thecoca-colacompany.com/heritage/chronicle_birth_refreshing_idea.html
The Coca-Cola Company website, History of Bottling page: http://www.thecoca-colacompany.com/ourcompany/historybottling.html
The Coca-Cola Company website, Heritage Timeline page: http://heritage.coca-cola.com/
About.com website, The History of Coca-Cola page: http://inventors.about.com/od/cstartinventions/a/coca_cola.htm
Our Georgia History website, 1881 International Cotton Exposition, Atlanta, Georgia page: http://ourgeorgiahistory.com/ogh/1881_International_Cotton_Exposition,_Atlanta,_Georgia
Wikipedia website, Cotton States and International Exposition page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cotton_States_and_International_Exposition_(1895)
Wikipedia website, Fulton Bag and Cotton Mills page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fulton_Bag_and_Cotton_Mill
A State of Georgia website, Getting To Know Georgia (pdf) file: http://sos.georgia.gov/state_capitol/getting_to_know_georgia.pdf
Welcome to Inman Park website, A Short History of Inman Park page: http://www.inmanpark.org/flyer.html
Welcome to Inman Park website, Joel Hurt page: http://www.inmanpark.org/hurtj.htm
About North Georgia website, Candler Field page: http://ngeorgia.com/feature/airmail.html
Wikipedia website, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hartsfield-Jackson_Atlanta_International_Airport
Wikipedia website, Martin Luther King, Jr. page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Luther_King,_Jr.
Wikipedia website, Atlanta Compromise page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlanta_Compromise
The King Center website, Welcome page: http://www.thekingcenter.org/tkc/index.asp
U.S. Census Bureau website, Atlanta, Georgia page: http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/13/1304000.html
Web Site Design, Photos, Videos, and All Original Content in this website
2007 Copyright by Ronald Dowell