The story is not that the building was torn down. The story is what happened to the building after it was demolished on this week’s Stories of Atlanta.
Category: Stories of Atlanta
Posted inStories of Atlanta
A unique offer
Legendary Brooklyn Dodgers GM Branch Rickey set his sights on a member of the Atlanta Crackers and makes baseball history in the process on this week’s Stories of Atlanta.
Posted inStories of Atlanta
He had strong beliefs
W.E.B. DuBois was born in 1868 on the heels of the Civil War and by 1963, when he passed away, he had left behind a lifetime of accomplishment and dedication that forestalled any doubt about his sincerity and his passion. He wore many hats during his 95 years: educator, sociologist, writer, poet and scholar but […]
Posted inStories of Atlanta
The Course Correction
What do you do when you pursue your dream and it turns out to be a nightmare? That’s exactly the dilemma one Atlantan faced when he woke up to discover that he really didn’t like his job all that much. It’s course correction 101 for overachievers on this week’s Stories of Atlanta.
Posted inStories of Atlanta
They called it…home
Back in the day, there was a long-standing tradition among Atlanta’s elite to spend summers on the coast or in the mountains. But not everyone enjoyed retreating from Atlanta’s summer temperatures. Some chose to remain close at home. This week we have a tale that begins in the early 1900’s with the building of a […]
Posted inStories of Atlanta
The Chimes
There are those in some parts of our country who will disagree with this story, but such is the nature storytelling. Clearly, not every historical account is packaged up nice and neat with indisputable documentation attesting to the veracity of its facts. Such is the case about a story connecting an Atlanta radio station with […]
Posted inStories of Atlanta
The Dance Instructor
In its over 100 years of operation in Midtown Atlanta, the elegant Georgian Terrace Hotel has played host to a who’s who of dignitaries, movies stars and entertainers. Situated at the corner of Ponce and Peachtree on land that was once the site of the Livingston Mims house, the Georgian Terrace has seen midtown Atlanta […]
Posted inStories of Atlanta
The right side of history
Ivan Allen Jr. served two terms as the mayor of Atlanta, but his two terms happened to coincide with one of the most tumultuous times in America, let alone Georgia. Allen was mayor of the city during most of the 1960s. He succeeded the longest serving mayor of our city when William B. Hartsfield retired […]
Posted inStories of Atlanta
Miss Dorothy
This week, it’s an origin story that results in unintended consequences. A loving reminder that a life in pursuit of one’s passion is a life well-spent. We’ll visit a woman who touched Atlantans well beyond what she might have imagined for herself. To this day, her influence contributes significantly to the grace and style of […]
Posted inStories of Atlanta
The Upstart
There are many factors that can play a determining role in the success or failure of a given endeavor. Most metro Atlanta commuters can probably relate to the well-worn phrase “Timing is everything.” If you’ve ever left 5-minutes later than you normally start your commute, you can certainly understand the value of good timing. But […]
Posted inStories of Atlanta
The first visit
It’s 1844 and a young 1st lieutenant visits the area around Marthasville. It would not be his last visit. Makes one wonder how things might have been different if the residents of the young town had known what the future would hold for the 1st lieutenant.
Posted inUncategorized
A show of gratitude
The Lord works in mysterious ways, as the saying goes, and, were he here today, the Reverend Frank Quarles would, no doubt, offer his personal testament to that adage. Like so many of his time, the Reverend Quarles was a former slave but he had also become an ordained minister and, as a freedman, he […]
Posted inStories of Atlanta
Seem Familiar?
Samuel Spencer was killed at the age of 59. The accident that took his life happened in the predawn hours of Thanksgiving Day in 1906. Spencer and some of his friends were in Spencer’s private rail car headed for a hunting trip in Virginia. While Spencer and his fellow passengers were asleep, his railcar became […]
Posted inStories of Atlanta
Future Atlantans
There is an interesting side benefit to reading about history and it has to do with being able to predict the future. Well, not so much “the” future as “a” future. At various stages along the path of historical research, one becomes familiar with the players in a particular story. When a new character is […]
Posted inStories of Atlanta
Seek and ye shall find
The flood of movie stars visiting Atlanta in recent years not withstanding, Atlanta has had a long history of entertaining visiting luminaries, dignitaries, politicians and a host of other individuals with whom Atlantans generally wanted to be seen. The late 1800s was a banner year for visitors to the Gate City, not the least of […]
Posted inStories of Atlanta
Some improvements were needed
Historically, the jail house has been among the first of the public buildings constructed in most new communities. It is interesting to note that, initially, jails were intended to be little more than holding cells…places to keep criminals until they could be tried. And that is exactly the purpose that led to the construction of […]
Posted inMedia
The Augusta Connection
Since officially becoming a city in Georgia, Marthasville had experienced its share of challenges. Growth was slow, real estate sales were sluggish but there were promising signs. A new arrival in 1845 turned out to be just the push the town needed. The spark that ignited a city is the subject of this week’s Stories […]
Posted inStories of Atlanta
The generous Mr. Norcross
You might be familiar with the term “Y’allywood.” It is a nickname that many have recently applied to Atlanta. For those not into, as The Dude would say, the whole brevity thing, perhaps you’re familiar with “Hollywood of the South.” Either way, both of those names will just have to be added to the lengthy […]
Posted inStories of Atlanta
Brick by brick
If you could leave a message, knowing that it would be seen for years to come, what would you say? Thousands of people took just that opportunity before the 1996 Olympic Games came to Atlanta. What they chose to say – and how they said it – is the subject of this week’s Stories of […]
Posted inStories of Atlanta
Little package – Big voice
They say, big things come in small packages and, usually, when a phrase like that populates our lexicon, there is a reason. Most often, that reason is because, more times than not, it’s true. Another such phrase that comes to mind is don’t judge a book by its cover. Whichever phrase you lean to, there’s […]
