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 […]
Tag: downtown Atlanta
Posted inHannah Jones
Another era of Underground Atlanta: The city beneath the city
Since Underground Atlanta changed ownership late last year, the folks working there have pushed to re-establish its name and make the underground city a hub of art and entertainment. One key effort is a new initiative adopted in August called the Underground Roots Program, which provides rent-free space to 70 local artists and entrepreneurs along […]
Posted inStories of Atlanta
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 […]
Posted inStories of Atlanta
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 […]
Posted inStories of Atlanta
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 […]
Posted inStories of Atlanta
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 […]
Posted inStories of Atlanta
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 […]
Posted inStories of Atlanta
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 […]
Posted inStories of Atlanta
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 […]
Posted inStories of Atlanta
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 […]
Posted inKelly Jordan
Art of Banksy opening – Underground Atlanta – Sept. 2, 2021
Read the column from Hannah E. Jones about The Art of Banksy: “Without Limits” here.
Posted inStories of Atlanta
He made the best out of what he could find
As sure as there is breakfast, lunch and dinner, there is snacking. Satisfying those between-meal cravings is a need we all have. While some people exercise discipline where consumption of snacks are concerned, most of us, at one time or another, have succumbed to the snacking temptation. Snacking certainly is not a new innovation. It […]
Posted inStories of Atlanta
That ball is REALLY out of here!
Atlanta’s major league baseball team, the Braves, began their Atlanta baseball history in 1966, but baseball’s history in Georgia predates the Atlanta Braves by nearly 100 years. Before the Braves, there were the Atlanta Crackers, a member of the Southern League and the Atlanta Black Crackers, charter members of the Negro Southern League. Though they […]
Posted inStories of Atlanta
This one changed the game
It is obvious that for pretty much everything there had to be a beginning, a first, something that got the ball rolling Sometimes if you’re the first you get to control the category. The name of your product actually becomes the name of all products in the same category: Coke, Kleenex, Jello, Xerox, Gatorade, Cuties. […]
Posted inStories of Atlanta
Only one team can ever make this claim.
When asked to name something that is quintessentially American, right after apple pie people usually will say…baseball. It is a long-held belief that baseball is, in fact, America’s national pastime. And while there are many who maintain that football has eclipsed baseball in American popularity, it is hard to argue with the facts of baseball’s […]
Posted inStories of Atlanta
Not so fast
This week’s story comes to us from Saporta Report reader and all-around Atlanta history buff Greg Hodges who wrote to ask if we knew the story of Richard Petty’s 1959 victory at Atlanta’s Lakewood Speedway. We did not and it turns out that it is just our kind of story. Long-time Atlantans will remember the […]
Posted inStories of Atlanta
The value of getting involved
A graduate of the school now known as Spelman College, she was a teacher in Atlanta and the mother of a young son. Searching for a way for parents in Atlanta – and elsewhere – to get involved in their chilren’s schooling, she laid the groundwork for an education icon.
