On May 20, a storm cell hit Atlanta, causing catastrophic flooding and extreme traffic congestion. With inches of water covering much of the Downtown Connector, commuters became stranded, and local waterways were filled with polluted runoff that killed an unprecedented number of fish. With many climate experts warning that flash flooding will only continue to […]
Tag: Atlanta
Posted inStories of Atlanta
Atlanta’s Forgotten Pioneers
It is not hard to imagine how difficult life must have been for America’s early settlers. Most of us today would be ill-equipped at best to walk out into the wilderness and make a home for ourselves. In the 1800s however, it would have been expected of you. Tales abound in American history of the […]
Posted inStories of Atlanta
The Rise and Fall of the Peachtree Arcade
For nearly fifty years, Atlantans passed through a grand archway and entered a world unlike anything else the city had ever known. Beneath a soaring skylight, shoppers wandered marble corridors, entrepreneurs launched businesses, friends met for lunch, and generations of Atlantans gathered in what was once one of downtown’s most remarkable destinations. Known as the […]
Posted inStories of Atlanta
There’s a nickname for that
What if you moved to Atlanta and suddenly couldn’t understand the conversation around you? Not because people were speaking a different language, but because they were speaking Atlanta. Over the years, Atlantans have developed a remarkable habit of renaming the places, landmarks, institutions, and traditions that shape daily life. Some of those names are so […]
Posted inAtlanta Way 2.0
CHAPTER 1 (The intersection) // A 404 Day Essay
Games of Atlanta’s Legacy (GOAL) is a special journalism project through the Atlanta Way 2.0 Future of Journalism Initiative led by Atlanta journalist Floyd Hall. To deepen public understanding of Downtown Atlanta’s cultural, business, transit, and community infrastructure—past, present, and future—particularly in the context of major global events such as the 1996 Olympics and 2026 World Cup, […]
Posted inAdrianne Murchison, Columns
Andrew Young had a dream too, and it started in a garden
Back in the 1930s, the grandmother of former U.N. Ambassador Andrew Young could not have known that growing vegetables in her backyard garden in New Orleans would one day help inspire a movement to feed the world and rethink food production. Young watched his grandmother feed not only her family with vegetables from her garden, […]
Posted inStories of Atlanta
He got the Picture
One of the challenges of our 21st century lifestyle is trying to process the unprecedented amount of information available at any given moment. We are subjected to so much input on so many different topics that it is hard for us to imagine how people got along before the invention of instantaneous communications. It helps, […]
Posted inStories of Atlanta
The Oldest Child
When George moved from his home in Alabama to the City of Atlanta, he was only 16 years old but, none the less, he was acutely aware that the responsibility for the well-being of his mother and his 5-siblings rested squarely on his shoulders. Amid the fervor and chaos of an Atlanta recovering from the […]
Posted inStories of Atlanta
An Audacious Move
In 1976, Atlanta Braves owner Ted Turner found himself in trouble with Major League Baseball and fearing the worst from Commissioner Bowie Kuhn. Most owners would have laid low, apologized, and tried to smooth things over. Ted Turner had another idea entirely. What followed at a Los Angeles hotel during baseball’s winter meetings became one […]
Posted inMaria's Metro
Coca-Cola’s new CEO Henrique Braun: ‘Atlanta is my hometown’
Henrique Braun, who has been CEO of Coca-Cola Co. for less than two months, already is making his presence felt in Atlanta. Braun welcomed Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens to Coca-Cola’s headquarters on May 14 to be part of the FIFA World Cup Trophy Tour and to highlight Atlanta as one […]
Posted inStories of Atlanta
Bobby Cox and the Art of Ejection
On May 9th we got word of the passing of legendary Atlanta Braves coach Bobby Cox. He was 84 years old. In memory of his passing, we wanted to revisit one of our favorite Stories of Atlanta episodes, a story that captures not only Bobby’s fiery spirit, but the fierce loyalty that made him one […]
Posted inColumns
The bumpy road to bring Noah’s Ark Animal Sanctuary into a new and improved era
It hasn’t been an easy journey for Noah’s Ark Animal Sanctuary. The long-standing roadside attraction is famed in Atlanta, and not always for the right reasons. Many know of “BLT,” the trio of bear, lion and tiger cub rescued in 2001 that made the sanctuary famous. Sadly, all three have since passed. But Noah’s Ark […]
Posted inMedia, Stories of Atlanta
The Thinking Machine
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 […]
Posted inDelaney Tarr
ATLFF: Craig Zobel and James Ponsoldt on the fight to make Georgia films
Craig Zobel knows it isn’t easy to make a movie in Georgia. At an April 28 Atlanta Film Festival Creative Conference panel, the director of “The Penguin” and “The Mare of Easttown” got candid about the difficulty of creating in his home state. “The world doesn’t want you to,” he said. “You have to fight […]
Posted inStories of Atlanta
Thirsty People
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 ongoing issues, the Mayor had made a decision, a decision that would not only affect every single Atlantan for […]
Posted inAtlanta Way 2.0
The work behind a more welcoming Atlanta
Atlanta Way 2.0 is exploring how we can create a more welcoming city.
Posted inStories of Atlanta
Why So Wide?
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 […]
Posted inStories of Atlanta
He Got His Wish
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 […]
Posted inDelaney Tarr
MARTA readies to ‘meet the moment’ as World Cup inches closer to Atlanta
In 62 days, the FIFA World Cup will land in Atlanta for eight matches. It will bring an estimated 300,000 tourists to the downtown area and even more locals to the city’s core. City officials are working to ready the city for an influx of people. In an exclusive interview with SaportaReport after the Atlanta […]
Posted inStories of Atlanta
A Real Estate Bonus
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 […]
