Boulevard (Atlanta)

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Atlanta Medical Center Atlanta Medical Center.JPG
Atlanta Medical Center
Shotgun houses on Auburn Avenue at Boulevard, part of the Martin Luther King, Jr., National Historic Site MLK Site 1.jpg
Shotgun houses on Auburn Avenue at Boulevard, part of the Martin Luther King, Jr., National Historic Site
Federal Penitentiary on postcard from 1920 Federal Penitentiary Atlanta 1920 postcard.jpg
Federal Penitentiary on postcard from 1920
YoBoulevard! banner 2012 Yo! Boulevard campaign banner.JPG
YoBoulevard! banner 2012

Boulevard is a street in and, as a corridor, a subdistrict, of the Old Fourth Ward neighborhood of Atlanta, Georgia. The street runs east of, and parallel to, Atlanta's Downtown Connector. It begins at Ponce de Leon Avenue in the north (north of which it continues as Monroe Drive), passing through the Old Fourth Ward, Cabbagetown, and Grant Park, and forming the border between Chosewood Park on the west and Boulevard Heights and Benteen Park to the east. It ends at McDonough Boulevard in the south, at the Federal Penitentiary.

Contents

History

It was not always so. In 1895, shortly after Boulevard was built, author Margaret Severance, in her book "Official Guide to Atlanta", described it as: "a beautiful avenue, [which] will be a great pride to Atlanta in years to come. Its height, width and number of magnificent homes, with their spacious lawns, assure every observer a boulevard that any city may point to with pride. This is one of the most desirable residence streets in the city." [1]

Boulevard remained a white street through the 1910s even as the side streets became increasingly African-American. This trend was due to Blacks moving eastwards from the Sweet Auburn area, seeking to consolidate their businesses and residences into safe, primarily black areas after the traumatic Atlanta race riot of 1906.

One institution in particular anchored the African-American presence on the neighborhood: Morris Brown College was founded in 1885 at Boulevard and Houston St. (now John Wesley Dobbs Ave.) and in 1922 expanded, acquiring the land at the southeast corner of Boulevard and Irwin St. [2] The college moved to its present location at the Atlanta University Center in 1932; [3] the site is now occupied by the Helene Mills Senior Center and the Mt. Zion Second Baptist Church.

From the 1920s through the 1940s many of Boulevard's homes began to be purchased by prominent African-American "doctors, bishops, ministers [and]...attorneys". [4]

The flight of better-off residents from Intown Atlanta also affected Boulevard and the houses were replaced with apartments, which eventually came to fall under "Section 8". Boston-based Continental Wingate manages 700 units of Section 8 housing on or near Boulevard in Old Fourth Ward.

Many believe that redevelopment and gentrification on Boulevard and the immediately surrounding streets is inevitable, as most areas surrounding it now contain mixed-income or upscale housing. [5]

2012 revitalization plan

In January 2012, City Councilman Kwanza Hall revealed a seven-point strategy, "Year of Boulevard", marketed as "YoBoulevard!" to revitalize the Boulevard corridor in the Old Fourth Ward, which included: [6]

As of July 2012, Creative Loafing (Atlanta) reported that the program was having some success with mentoring of local young people and "fewer guys hanging out on the street dealing drugs". [7]

Notable sites on Boulevard

From north to south:

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sweet Auburn</span> United States historic place

The Sweet Auburn Historic District is a historic African-American neighborhood along and surrounding Auburn Avenue, east of downtown Atlanta, Georgia, United States. The name Sweet Auburn was coined by John Wesley Dobbs, referring to the "richest Negro street in the world," one of the largest concentrations of African-American businesses in the United States.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jackson Ward</span> United States historic place

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clear Creek (Atlanta)</span> Stream in northeast Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.

Clear Creek is a stream in northeast Atlanta that is a tributary to Peachtree Creek and part of the Chattahoochee River watershed. It has two main branches, one originating east of the high ground along which Boulevard runs and another to the west originating on the northeast side of downtown Atlanta. The easterly branch of Clear Creek begins in several springs and branches in what are now Inman Park and the Old Fourth Ward. Flowing north, the creek was joined by other branches and springs, including Angier Springs near the end of Belgrade Avenue and the so-called Ponce de Leon Springs, which were “discovered” during railroad construction in the 1860s and gave rise to the eponymous park and avenue.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ponce de Leon Avenue</span> Road in Georgia, USA

Ponce de Leon Avenue, often simply called Ponce, provides a link between Atlanta, Decatur, Clarkston, and Stone Mountain, Georgia. It was named for Ponce de Leon Springs, in turn from explorer Juan Ponce de León, but is not pronounced as in Spanish. Several grand and historic buildings are located on the avenue.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ponce City Market</span> United States historic place

Ponce City Market is a mixed-use development located in a former Sears catalogue facility in Atlanta, with national and local retail anchors, restaurants, a food hall, boutiques and offices, and residential units. It is located adjacent to the intersection of the BeltLine with Ponce de Leon Avenue in the Old Fourth Ward near Virginia Highland, Poncey-Highland and Midtown neighborhoods. The 2.1-million-square-foot (200,000 m2) building, one of the largest by volume in the Southeast United States, was used by Sears, Roebuck and Co. from 1926 to 1987 and later by the City of Atlanta as "City Hall East". The building's lot covers 16 acres (65,000 m2). Ponce City Market officially opened on August 25, 2014. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chosewood Park</span> Neighborhoods of Atlanta in Fulton County, Georgia, United States

Chosewood Park is a neighborhood in southeast Atlanta, Georgia in the United States. It is located south of Peoplestown and Grant Park, west of Boulevard Heights and Benteen Park, northwest of Thomasville Heights and the Atlanta federal penitentiary, and northeast of South Atlanta and Lakewood Heights. It is situated directly on the path of the Atlanta Beltline, which has begun to acquire and develop properties along the rail lines in the Chosewood corridor, including the Boulevard Crossing Park.

Benteen Park is a neighborhood in southeast Atlanta, Georgia, bounded on the west by Boulevard and the Chosewood Park neighborhood, on the north by Boulevard Heights, on the east by Custer/McDonough/Gulce and on the south by Atlanta Federal Prison, which also lies in the Benteen Park neighborhood. The Atlanta Streetcar formerly served the neighborhood, with a line running down Mcdonough Ave.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Historic Fourth Ward Park</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Highland Avenue (Atlanta)</span>

Highland Avenue, east of the BeltLine North Highland Avenue, is a major thoroughfare in northeast Atlanta, forming a major business corridor connecting five Intown neighborhoods:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edgewood Avenue</span> Street in Atlanta, Georgia, United States

Edgewood Avenue is a street in Atlanta, Georgia, United States which runs from Five Points in Downtown Atlanta, eastward through the Old Fourth Ward. The avenue runs in the direction of the Edgewood neighborhood, and stops just short of it in Inman Park. Edgewood Avenue was first important as the route of a streetcar line to Inman Park, Atlanta's first garden suburb and home to many of its most prominent citizens. Today, the avenue is known for its restaurants and nightlife around its intersection with Boulevard.

References

  1. Severance, Margaret (1895). Official guide to Atlanta: including information of the Cotton States and International Exposition. Atlanta: Foote & Davies Co. p. 42. Retrieved January 2, 2011.
  2. A history of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, Charles Spencer Smith, Daniel Alexander Payne, p.354
  3. "Fountain Hall", City of Atlanta Urban Design Commission
  4. Black Atlanta in the Roaring Twenties By Herman Skip Mason, Jr., Herman Skip Mason Jr., p.75
  5. Henry, Scott (May 19, 2009). "Down on Boulevard: Positive change might finally come to Atlanta's lawless street". Creative Loafing (Atlanta) . Archived from the original on May 23, 2009. Retrieved June 6, 2009.
  6. "Seven Prong Plan Unveiled For Boulevard", East Atlanta Patch, January 13, 2011
  7. "Boulevard's coming out: Kwanza Hall's 'Year of Boulevard' project has yielded encouraging progress", Scott Henry, Creative Loafing, July 18, 2012

33°45′28″N84°22′20″W / 33.757892°N 84.372125°W / 33.757892; -84.372125