It is a safe bet to say that there were no Atlantans who fought at the Battle of the Alamo. Safe because the battle was over and done with a year before the terminus stake was ever driven into the ground. And yet…there is a connection between Atlanta and the Alamo. Not surprisingly, the connection […]
Tag: Georgia History
Posted inStories of Atlanta
An-out-of-towner raises the roof
The term “carpetbagger” is defined as one who is an unscrupulous opportunist. But just as it is true that all that glitters is not gold, it is also true that not all who came to Atlanta following the Civil War were solely unscrupulous, opportunistic carpetbaggers. Take the case of Hannibal Ingalls Kimball. H.I. Kimball was […]
Posted inStories of Atlanta
Not everyone in Atlanta was pleased
Atlanta’s connection to the newspaper business is long and colorful. And over the years, there have been a large number of publications that tried to make a go of it in our town. Most did not stand the test of time. The Atlanta Journal and the Atlanta Constitution are two of the obvious exceptions, as […]
Posted inStories of Atlanta
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 […]
Posted inStories of Atlanta
Out of tragedy came opportunity
One of the more interesting aspects of a circus is that it is, essentially, a visual art form. Unlike almost any other form of public performance, television, radio or movies to name a few, one does not need to speak the language of one’s audience to put on a circus. And though the circus has […]
Posted inStories of Atlanta
Knowing your place
It is becoming increasingly difficult to get lost. In fact, with the exception of traversing the fringe regions of the planet, those areas without access to a cell signal, wi-fi or satellite reception, one has to work pretty darn hard to lose one’s way. For sure, you can get confused or disoriented…but lost? Thanks to […]
Posted inStories of Atlanta
It was the country’s first, but it didn’t last
Today, a visit from the President of the United States often means traffic jams and inconvenience. But, in the early days of the City of Atlanta, a visit from the Commander in Chief was an occasion for great fanfare. Probably because such visits were few and far between and the opportunity to see, first-hand and […]
Posted inStories of Atlanta
Maybe not what he had in mind
Atlanta’s history is intertwined with Atlanta’s religion. Houses of worship were not just a presence in Atlanta, they were one of the major forces that helped shape and support our community. This week, we tell the tale of Leonard Broughton who came to Atlanta to lead a church and ended up building one of Atlanta’s […]
Posted inStories of Atlanta
One day you’re the hammer, the next you’re the nail
Sometimes you eat the bear and sometimes the bear eats you. That’s pretty much how it goes in life. You can’t win them all. Fortunately, not everything is a contest and, sometimes, being second is still pretty cool. To be sure, as Mel Brooks once said, “It’s good to be the King.” But if you […]
Posted inStories of Atlanta
It’s often how things get done
In almost every significant step forward, there are the people who get the credit and then there are the people who actually did the work. Sometimes they are the same people and sometimes not. It was Coca-Cola Chairman Robert W. Woodruff who supposedly said, “There is no limit to what a man can do or […]
Posted inStories of Atlanta
Out with the old, in with the new…again
I don’t understand “spacetime” any more than I do the argument that there is no such thing as time. It all makes about as much sense to me as the quantum theory of multiple universes where everything that can happen is happening and at the same time, which is odd because I thought there was […]
Posted inStories of Atlanta
Look, up in the sky…
“Twinkle twinkle little star. How I wonder what you are.” You might ask, what in the world does a 19th century English lullaby have to do with a picture of a Coca-Cola sign stuck in the middle of nowhere? Good question, if you’re a first-time viewer. But if you’ve been here before, you know that […]
Posted inStories of Atlanta
It’s a game of 6-degrees
This week we play a game of “connect the dots” as we trace the relationship of two famous Georgians who each played a role in Atlanta’s young but stellar past. We start with the birth of Crawford Long in 1815 and take a brief look at why we all owe him a major debt of […]
Posted inStories of Atlanta
Not suitable for young girl’s eyes
There is a building in downtown Atlanta that is more than meets the eye. A treasure trove of Atlanta history, this building has generated over 100 years of stories. Built in 1906, the Candler Building is a 17-story high-rise meticulously constructed to the specifications of Coca Cola magnate Asa Candler and architect George Murphy. It […]
Posted inStories of Atlanta
A historic name?
“Why did Constantinople get the works? That’s nobody’s business but the Turks.” At least, that was the opinion of the band “They Might Be Giants” when they sang about changing the name of the city of Constantinople to Istanbul. I only mention that because this week we’re taking a look at the names of some […]
Posted inStories of Atlanta
Once upon a time…
What is it about stories? Myths, legends, folk tales, fairy tales, tall tales, sagas, yarns, it doesn’t matter what type of story. We are captivated by all of them. We always have been. It probably has something to do with the fact that a good story skips the brain and goes right to the heart. […]
Posted inStories of Atlanta
It should come as no surprise
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
A really big deal
At the corner of Peachtree and Carnegie Way there is an entrance to the Peachtree Center MARTA station. It hasn’t always been there, of course. Over one hundred years ago on that very same spot stood the Hotel Aragon, a six-story, 125-room establishment that opened for business in 1892. By all accounts, it was a […]
Posted inStories of Atlanta
Ever take a wrong turn in Atlanta?
If you’ve lived in Atlanta longer than about a day and a half, chances are pretty good that you have discovered navigating Atlanta’s road system can be a bit challenging and I’m pretty sure you didn’t need me to tell you that. I’ll never forget my first day driving in Atlanta as someone from another […]
Posted inStories of Atlanta
The demolition was a tad ironic
The hubbub began back in 2012 when an application was submitted that would lead to the demolition of a building located at 771 Spring Street. The building in question, the Crum and Forster building, had been constructed around 1926 and it served as the Atlanta location of the the Crum and Forster Insurance Company. The […]
