Oakland Cemetery has restored the graves of two black women who accomplished the unthinkable at the turn of the 20th century. One was graduated from medical school and her sister served as a lawyer and professor at Morris Brown College.
Tag: historic preservation
Posted inColumns
Lithonia promotes rock solid revitalization
By Guest Columnist MELODY HARCLERODE, who promotes significant historical, cultural, and natural sites as an architect, non-profit consultant, and writer
The city of Atlanta receives much press as the financial, cultural, and transportation hub of the metropolitan area, yet small cities in this region also offer amazing stories for the public to appreciate. Consider the city of Lithonia, a town with approximately 2,000 residents covering a radius of one square mile of land north of I-20 and outside I-285.
Posted inColumns
A year after fire, questions plague future of Gaines Hall
Second column in a two part-series. Last week: Revival of Hancock County’s Courthouse in Sparta, Ga.
The story of two eerily similar buildings reveals a tale of two cities.
The Hancock County Courthouse in Sparta caught fire on Aug. 11, 2014. Atlanta’s Gaines Hall caught fire Aug. 20, 2015. Both designed by the same architect – William Parkins – before the turn of the 19th Century.
But the similarities end when we look at how both communities have responded since their respective fires.
Posted inColumns
Save Atlanta’s Olympic Cauldron, move it to Centennial Olympic Park
By Guest Columnist NICK STEPHENS, a writer and Atlanta native, interested in historic and environmental preservation
Over the last few weeks, as the 20th anniversary of Atlanta’s Olympic games came and went, much of the discussion of this city’s Olympic legacy naturally focused on the successful continuing use of so many of the games’ facilities, a rare feat for any city. But in an Aug. 8 interview on WXIA-TV, Olympic organizer and former Atlanta Mayor Andy Young admitted that one crucial component of the Olympic infrastructure was never as great as it could have been – and remains an under appreciated and mostly ignored relic.
Posted inColumns
Deadline nears on state historic preservation plan; archaeologists worry about roads
Georgia’s sometimes competing interests in balancing road construction with historic preservation are unfolding as a deadline looms for public comment on part of the state’s five-year historic preservation plan. Meanwhile, no members have been appointed to the Georgia House Study Committee on Historic Preservation.
Posted inLatest News
Oakland Cemetery contains some 872 remains in African American section
Some 872 probable human remains have been discovered in the African American section of Atlanta’s Oakland Cemetery. Information about upcoming preservation efforts are to be provided Saturday during a Juneteenth program sponsored by the Historic Oakland Foundation.
Posted inLatest News
Georgia’s road policies draw fire from Muscogee (Creek) Nation
A potentially messy battle over Georgia’s road projects could unfold if the Muscogee (Creek) Nation pushes hard over its concerns that artifacts of ancestors could be paved over by state road projects.
Posted inSubmitted Photos
Photo Pick: Save Gaines Hall by Chad Carlson
From Chad (with a couple of edits): “We the citizens of Atlanta bought this building earlier this year. Not to save it would be a tragedy. It is one of the oldest buildings in the city – (1869) on the campus of one of the first African American higher educational institutions – the Atlanta University Center (Spelman, […]
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Newnan’s Carnegie Library — the reclamation and return of a lost legacy; and a Southern Litfest featuring “bourbon on the porch”
This week guest contributor LAUREN JONES, Newnan Carnegie Library Foundation member, and a Georgia Humanities board member, tells the story of the Carnegie library in Newnan, from its creation to its decline and rebirth.
If a building could have a soul, the Newnan Carnegie Library might be a shining example. The library was built on dreams and determination through an unlikely alliance.
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In a city never too busy to demolish, Peachtree Street’s iconic buildings on display at Ga. Tech
In a city that doesn’t hesitate to tear down old buildings, Georgia Tech is providing glimpses of the iconic structures that created Atlanta’s marquee Peachtree Street corridor.
Posted inUncategorized
Stories that move us and make us — a tale of freed slaves who started their own community, schools, and businesses
Georgia is one of the oldest states in the country and holds many seminal stories, historic episodes, and unusual occurrences that have influenced the course of American history. But there are countless stories of brave and determined Georgians who have changed the course of their family’s or their community’s history, if not that of the nation.
Posted inMain Slider, Submitted Photos
Photo Pick: Olympia Building Rehab By Wendy Darling
Wendy has been capturing photos showing progress on the rehab work underway at the Olympia Building, located right at Five Points in Downtown. By the end of 2015, this historic building will have a new use as a Walgreen’s.
Posted inDavid Pendered
Olympia building at Five Points to be restored to historic grandeur
The historic Olympia building at Five Points is to be restored to its original grandeur, right down to the neon lighting from its days as the showroom for Wormser Hats.
The entire plan for the exterior of the building is based on photographs of the building when it opened soon after the Great Depression, according to Michael Wirsching, with Atlanta-based ASD Inc.
The building is to have a single tenant. Further commercial details were not available from city records and a principal with the owner, Florida-based Encore Real Estate, could not be reached for comment.
Posted inDavid Pendered
Auburn Avenue gets state incentive to spur businesses along streetcar route
The effort to spur businesses that could be served by the future Atlanta Streetcar along Auburn Avenue got a lift Tuesday in the form of a state program that provides tax credits for new jobs.
A section of Auburn Avenue now is an Opportunity Zone. The designation will provide a tax credit of $3,500 for one new job to companies that create two net jobs. The tax credit lasts five years, according to the state Department of Community Affairs, which approved the new zone.
The designation is particularly important, coming as it does amidst a whirlwind of activity – both planned and halted – along the street that once was the center of black commerce in the south.
