There is a building in downtown Atlanta that is more than meets the eye. A treasure trove of Atlanta history, this building has generated over 100 years of stories. Built in 1906, the Candler Building is a 17-story high-rise meticulously constructed to the specifications of Coca Cola magnate Asa Candler and architect George Murphy. It […]
Category: Stories of Atlanta
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A historic name?
“Why did Constantinople get the works? That’s nobody’s business but the Turks.” At least, that was the opinion of the band “They Might Be Giants” when they sang about changing the name of the city of Constantinople to Istanbul. I only mention that because this week we’re taking a look at the names of some […]
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Once upon a time…
What is it about stories? Myths, legends, folk tales, fairy tales, tall tales, sagas, yarns, it doesn’t matter what type of story. We are captivated by all of them. We always have been. It probably has something to do with the fact that a good story skips the brain and goes right to the heart. […]
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It should come as no surprise
If you had to pick just one occupation that people throughout the ages would recognize as a job, what would you pick? Yeah, us too. This week’s story is about those who work for a living. More accurately, it’s about those who worked for a living in 19th century Atlanta. This topic came about quite […]
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A really big deal
At the corner of Peachtree and Carnegie Way there is an entrance to the Peachtree Center MARTA station. It hasn’t always been there, of course. Over one hundred years ago on that very same spot stood the Hotel Aragon, a six-story, 125-room establishment that opened for business in 1892. By all accounts, it was a […]
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Ever take a wrong turn in Atlanta?
If you’ve lived in Atlanta longer than about a day and a half, chances are pretty good that you have discovered navigating Atlanta’s road system can be a bit challenging and I’m pretty sure you didn’t need me to tell you that. I’ll never forget my first day driving in Atlanta as someone from another […]
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The demolition was a tad ironic
The hubbub began back in 2012 when an application was submitted that would lead to the demolition of a building located at 771 Spring Street. The building in question, the Crum and Forster building, had been constructed around 1926 and it served as the Atlanta location of the the Crum and Forster Insurance Company. The […]
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You Might Be Surprised to Learn Who Is Where
With all of the books, documentaries and tours, you would think that there was nothing new to be learned about the final resting place of Atlanta’s notable citizens. But if you happen to be a regular viewer of our stories, you already know that there is always more to the story. When you think about […]
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She took the road less traveled
Rebecca was older than Atlanta. By the time the tiny railroad terminus had been carved out of the north Georgia wilderness, she had lived for 3 years and, by the time she reached the age of 7, Rebecca was lucky enough to be given a seat on the very first passenger train to leave the […]
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The measure of his character
This is the story of a man named Walter who found his calling, applied himself and eventually took a place on the national stage. But in reality, this story is much more than a chronicle of a man’s career path. Walter White was born in Atlanta in 1893, the fourth of seven children, his mother […]
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The last of a legacy
This week’s story is one that is all too familiar to those understand Atlanta’s architectural history. Spoiler alert…don’t go looking for the subject of this story because it no longer exists. One of Atlanta’s first nicknames was The Gate City and, like the city itself, the nickname originated because of the railroad. That sort of […]
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Mystery Woman
Long before there were major shopping malls or grand department stores and even well before modern transportation, retail entrepreneurs busied themselves learning the art of the sale. It was not as easy then as it is now for customers to get from their homes into town for a day of shopping. And the difficulty in […]
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A little off the mark
History is replete with examples of those who put their predictions “on the record” only to have circumstances prove that they weren’t quite as prophetic as they would have had us believe. Famously, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, upon returning from a conference with Adolf Hitler, stood in front of #10 Downing Street and spoke […]
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Seek and ye shall find…right?
The flood of movie stars visiting Atlanta in recent years notwithstanding, Atlanta has had a long history of entertaining visiting luminaries, dignitaries, politicians and a host of other individuals who Atlantans generally wanted to see and be seen with. The late 1800s was a banner year for visitors to the Gate City, not the least […]
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They would have rung a bell…if they’d had one
Consider the question of fire in the early days of Atlanta. How would anybody who wasn’t immediately affected by the fire know that there actually was a fire? I’m not talking about the “big” fire that resulted from Sherman’s occupation but the everyday, commonplace fires that were all too frequent in a city built largely […]
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Not really a good idea
It is a common occurrence for cities to change the name of streets and Atlanta is no exception to that rule. With the passage of time, the old street names mean less to the newer generations than to previous generations and there is a natural desire to want to honor the contributions of more contemporary […]
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The way we were
Mathew Brady is known as one of America’s first photographers. It was Brady who personally financed and oversaw the effort to photographically document the Civil War. At his own expense, he hired a team of photographers who traveled with various Union armies and together those photographers produced over 10,000 plates; a body of work which […]
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What might have been
Oglethorpe University began its career as a liberal arts and sciences university in 1835 in the community of Midway, Georgia, not too far from, what at that time, was the state’s capital, Milledgeville. The Civil War interrupted Oglethorpe’s progression and the university closed its doors in 1862. In 1870 Oglethorpe relocated and reopened in Atlanta […]
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She knew it when
In 1826 the State of Georgia ordered a transportation survey to be undertaken. Ostensibly, the purpose of the survey was to evaluate the feasibility of building a canal through North Georgia and up into the frontier of Tennessee. Such a conveyance, it was reasoned, would allow Georgia merchants to gain access to the northern part […]
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The Stuff of Space
It is an iconic image, to say the least. Astronaut Alan Shepard, in his full spacesuit, standing on the surface of the moon…swinging at a golf ball. Amid all of the high tech, “get me to the moon and back” gear aboard the Apollo 14 mission, Shepard had smuggled a makeshift golf club and some […]
