We know the last name but apparently no one bothered to write down the first name. It’s a cautionary tale about the value of taking notes on this week’s Stories of Atlanta.
Category: Stories of Atlanta
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He wanted to play ball
Though he would lead a very exciting and successful life, Leonard Wood’s time in Georgia gave him the opportunity to do something he’d always wanted to do.
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Never Seen Again
He was among the more well-known writers of his day, often compared to the creator of Sherlock Holmes. He traveled in a rarified circle of fame and success which was certainly a far cry from his days writing sports for the Atlanta Journal. A Georgia man who made it big discovers the end is near […]
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In 1891 Atlanta’s Mayor began spending the City’s money, secretly buying land on the outskirts of Atlanta. It wasn’t a case of embezzlement, just good old business common sense. In attempting to solve one of the City’s on-going issues, the Mayor had made a decision, a decision that would not only affect every single Atlantan […]
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A chance to chill
It was rumored to have miraculous, healing properties and, if the first-person accounts were to be believed, drinking the water from this spring was good for what ails you. Miracle cure or not, what it most definitely turned out to be was a really good business opportunity. It is the tale of thirst and the […]
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The last of his kind
Two men sit down for a conversation. As a result, one of the men, and influential industrialist and newspaper owner, commits his political support to the other man. This is enough to get the other man elected to the Georgia House of Representatives, where, according to the plan they hatched during their conversation, the new […]
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G.W.’s land
G.W. Collier was one of those Atlantans who got in on the ground floor of a good thing. When he first came to the region there was nothing but wilderness and Indians. When Marthasville was incorporated as Atlanta, he became the city’s 1st postmaster and to fulfil his duties, he purchased a small parcel of […]
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The story of a friendly man
One of the early residents of Atlanta was Dr. Joseph Thompson, who had been lured to the young city by an old friend. Dr. Thompson had a well-known and respected 20-year medical career in Decatur but issues with rheumatism put an end to his practice. He was running an inn when J. Edgar Thomson, a […]
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He chose Atlanta
He was on his way from Covington to Newnan via a 2-horse coach when Richard Peters first laid eyes on the young city of Marthasville. It was 1844 and Peters, an engineer for the Georgia Railroad, was part of the team building a rail line that would connect Augusta to Marthasville. As he passed through […]
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From the story files of an Atlanta institution
“You want to be where everybody knows your name.” That is a line in the chorus of the theme song from the long-running TV show “Cheers,” a show about a fictional Boston tavern and its regular customers. “Cheers” was patterned after Boston’s Bull and Finch Pub, an actual tavern that opened for business in 1969 […]
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He didn’t stay long
It was not long after 3-railroad lines were connected to a central point in north Georgia that people began beating a path to Atlanta. Word had spread of the abundant opportunities and cheap land and those seeking better lives were arriving to the young city every day. There were, of course, those looking for jobs […]
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Couldn’t hold him down
Bill dreamed of becoming a lawyer but, at a young age, he had to drop out of school to help support his family. He got a job as a law clerk for an Atlanta firm where he discovered that there was more than one way to get an education. It’s the tale of the self-taught […]
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The beginning was almost the end
Looking at photographs of downtown Atlanta in the late 1800’s one cannot help but be impressed with the number of railroad tracks that populated the area we now call The Gulch. By some accounts, at the height of Atlanta’s railroad history there were over 350 trains a day that traveled through the city. Atlanta was […]
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The boss’s daughter
A young man from Cartersville, GA comes to the big city hoping to pursue a career in medicine. He walks the streets of Atlanta, knocking on the door of every drug store in town. As the sun is setting, he is hired on the spot by one of the best-known druggists in Georgia and his […]
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A new way to dine
When the Hyatt Regency on Peachtree Street opened as the Regency Hyatt House in 1967, it immediately became one of Atlanta’s biggest tourist attractions. It was, in fact, completely unique in the history of modern hotels and people came from near and far to experience architect John Portman’s newest creation. Part of that experience involved […]
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The Walker farm
That almost everything was something else before it became what it is today is hardly news to anyone. Knowing that fact, however, does not make the observation of the evolution of a city any less fascinating. Such is the case with the subject of this week’s Stories of Atlanta. At its heart, this story is […]
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Solomon
He was a freedman, a barber at the Atlanta Hotel and, by all accounts, well-liked and respected. He just picked the wrong day to step outside for some fresh air as you’ll see in this week’s Stories of Atlanta. Producer’s Note: this story references a lamppost located in Underground Atlanta and, while true at the […]
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Final resting place
At the intersection of Ponce de Leon Avenue and Oakdale Road sits a grand old home, one of many along that stretch of Ponce. Built for well-heeled Atlantans, many of the homes, including this one, are no longer residences but, unlike most of the grand homes that once lined Ponce, this home is memorialized in […]
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Hedging his bet
As automobile fever began to sweep across America, not everyone was enthralled with the new type of transportation. Among those said to be less than thrilled with the new-fangled form of conveyance was the founder of the Coca-Cola company, Asa Candler. A passing fad thought Atlanta’s best-known businessman, which makes one wonder why, then, did […]
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A tragic end
As we have so often observed, there is a reason for everything…you just have to know the story. That is not true, at least, when it comes to Martin and Susan DeFoor. You may recognize the name, the DeFoors gave rise to one of Atlanta’s many streets named after ferry proprietors. Unfortunately, Atlanta history remembers […]
