This week on Stories of Atlanta, we look back at a part of Atlanta’s history to which most of us never give much thought. Though we may live in a City of Atlanta neighborhood, chances are pretty good that few of us have spent much time wondering about the origins of the name of our […]
Tag: Atlanta History
Posted inMedia, Stories of Atlanta
Social Changes
In Atlanta’s storied past, there are tales in the city’s history that can only be described as cringeworthy. From our 21st century perspective, these stories make no sense. We want to look away but, as they say, no matter where you go, there you are. It’s the story of a highly accomplished man who, no […]
Posted inStories of Atlanta
The Dr. is Out
In the early 1970’s, the NBA, the ABA and an Atlanta sports franchise come together in this tale of what might have been. The stories of the history of Atlanta do not always have happy endings. Sometimes, try as one might, things just don’t work out. Such was the case in the early 1970s, when […]
Posted inStories of Atlanta
158 Days Shy
His decades-long, storied career nearing its end, a baseball legend finds himself in need of more time. . . and Atlanta comes to his aid. This week’s Stories of Atlanta examines a part of Atlanta’s history that may not be common knowledge to most Atlantans. The subject of our story was an athlete who many […]
Posted inStories of Atlanta
The Business of Survival
Atlanta has always been a city in a hurry. As far back as 1867, a Milledgeville newspaper observed that Atlantans lived fast, made money fast, spent it fast, and tore things down almost as quickly as they built them. Nearly 160 years later, not much has changed. Atlanta is a city defined by reinvention, where […]
Posted inLatest News
The 2028 Olympic torch relay will hit all 50 states — and it starts in Atlanta
For the first time in history, the famed Olympic Torch will relay through all 50 U.S. states before landing in its host city of Los Angeles — and the tour will kick off in Atlanta. The flame will be lit in Olympia, Greece, the birthplace of the Olympic Games, before heading through the United States […]
Posted inStories of Atlanta
Just Another Day at City Hall
For nearly 24 years, William B. Hartsfield was the face of Atlanta. And being the face of a growing city apparently required a mayor who would do just about anything. Fortunately, photographers were there to capture it. This week, Stories of Atlanta steps away from the usual history lesson and into the photo album for […]
Posted inMedia, Stories of Atlanta
This should come as no surprise to anyone.
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 […]
Posted inStories of Atlanta
Shave and a Future…
In the deeply segregated American South of the 19th century, one profession offered Black men a surprising path toward independence, prosperity, and even wealth. The opportunity existed, ironically, because of the very racial attitudes that otherwise worked against them. And succeeding required more than just skill with a razor. It meant learning how to navigate […]
Posted inStories of Atlanta
Banking in the Round: Atlanta’s C&S Tower
In the late 1960s, Atlanta’s Citizens and Southern Bank left its longtime downtown headquarters for a striking new circular tower in Midtown. Designed by Atlanta architect Richard Aeck and inspired by a revolutionary Frank Lloyd Wright concept, the new C&S building was anything but conventional. Its unusual construction solved a very practical problem for the […]
Posted inStories of Atlanta
Who Brought the Crowds Out?
What does it take to bring Atlantans out by the thousands? Sometimes the answer is obvious. A famous face, a historic occasion, a celebration, or simply the chance to witness something you may never see again. Over the years, Atlanta has produced some remarkable crowds, gathering for reasons that ranged from the deeply emotional to […]
Posted inMedia, Stories of Atlanta
Not to his liking
The pendulum of opinion swings freely when it comes to the question of form following function. It isn’t necessary to get into that debate here. I bring it up only to offer that, sometimes, it doesn’t matter where one stands on the question…form then function or function then form. Often, it’s the person paying the […]
Posted inStories of Atlanta
A Penny Saved
Joe Jacobs is a name familiar to most aficionados of the City of Atlanta. He is known because he was the owner of the pharmacy that sold the very first glass of Coca-Cola, ever…anywhere. His store was located at 5-Points. There is a plaque commemorating Jacobs’ role in the history of our hometown beverage, a […]
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Undeveloped Acreage
G.W. Collier was one of those Atlantans who arrived just as the ground itself was beginning to whisper opportunity. When he first came to the region, there was little more than wilderness, wagon ruts, and the faint outlines of a future not yet agreed upon. By the time Marthasville took on the name Atlanta, Collier […]
Posted inStories of Atlanta
The streetcar that almost wasn’t
Most people assume Atlanta’s first street railway began with rails and horses. It didn’t…It began with an idea. Just one year after the Civil War ended, while Atlanta was still clearing away the wreckage of war, a handful of visionary citizens convinced the Georgia legislature to charter a street railway company. It was a bold […]
Posted inStories of Atlanta
The Mission has Changed
What if one sentence could change the way you see an entire story? Years ago, I told the story of Roger Babson and the unusual monument he placed on Emory University’s campus. While revisiting that story, one phrase on the monument’s inscription caught my attention and sent me down a path I hadn’t explored before. […]
Posted inStories of Atlanta
Atlanta’s First Great Nickname
Atlanta knew how to throw a party. When the nation’s railroad leaders came to town in 1857, the city welcomed them with such enthusiasm that many Atlantans climbed aboard the departing train and traveled all the way back to Charleston just to keep the celebration going. Somewhere along that unforgettable journey, Atlanta earned a nickname […]
Posted inDelaney Tarr
Atlanta History Center opens ‘More Perfect Union: The American Civil War Era,’ its most ambitious exhibit so far
On July 10, the Atlanta History Center will open its most ambitious exhibit yet: “More Perfect Union: The American Civil War Era.” With hundreds of artifacts and roughly 9,000 square feet of space, the exhibit takes on the herculean task of telling the long tale of the Civil War. And it begins with a bang […]
Posted inStories of Atlanta
A Photographer’s Wink
Every photograph captures a moment. Most are forgotten. In 1927, someone walked the streets of downtown Atlanta with a camera, methodically photographing storefront after storefront. At first glance, the images seem almost painfully ordinary. A grocery store. A hardware shop. People standing on a sidewalk, unaware that anyone would ever care. A century later, those […]
Posted inLatest News
Martin Luther King Jr. Birth Home to reopen on July 4
You can quite literally hear the history inside Martin Luther King Jr.’s childhood home. The National Parks System pushes it through — the sound of silverware clinking in the dining room, soft music in the parlor and sibling arguments over a game of Monopoly. It’s an immersive approach to the early years of the Atlanta-raised […]
