List of oldest structures in Atlanta

Last updated

Judge William Wilson House (1857) Judge William Wilson House.jpg
Judge William Wilson House (1857)
Lemuel P. Grant Mansion (1856) Front of the LP Grant mansion.jpg
Lemuel P. Grant Mansion (1856)
Georgia Railroad Freight Depot (1869), oldest building located within city limits when built Georgia Railroad Freight Depot.JPG
Georgia Railroad Freight Depot (1869), oldest building located within city limits when built
Tullie Smith House (1840), moved from original location in North Druid Hills to Atlanta Tullie Smith Farmhouse.jpg
Tullie Smith House (1840), moved from original location in North Druid Hills to Atlanta

Various buildings can lay claim to the title of oldest structure in Atlanta.

Contents

The primary reason that Atlanta does not have an abundance of older structures is that the vast majority of pre-civil war buildings were destroyed in Sherman's March to the Sea, in which General William T. Sherman and his Union troops burned nearly every structure in Atlanta during the Civil War. Thus, those pre-civil war buildings that remain are heavily protected by various government programs and designations due to their scarcity.

Oldest structures in Atlanta

The Oldest structures within the current city limits and still in its original location are:

As far as cemeteries are concerned, Utoy Cemetery, circa 1826, is Atlanta's oldest. Atlanta's first physician and DeKalb County's first sheriff are buried at the site. [1] [2] Oakland Cemetery was begun in 1850.

The oldest structure now within city limits, but which originally stood outside the current city limits is the:

Previous oldest structures

Holland House (demolished). Built in 1842 or 1848, this was the oldest house in Atlanta still standing in the early 1900s. Holland House (b. 1848 or 1842) at the time oldest house in Atlanta from 1904 book.JPG
Holland House (demolished). Built in 1842 or 1848, this was the oldest house in Atlanta still standing in the early 1900s.

In the early 1900s, the oldest house in the city was the Holland House, built in 1842 [3] or 1848. [4] It originally had stood at the northeast corner of Whitehall (now Peachtree St. SE) and Alabama streets. It was later moved to what is now Trinity Ave., on the north side between Peachtree and Forsyth street. [5] The site is now a parking lot.

Thereafter, one of the oldest houses in the city was the Huff House, built in 1855, upon the foundations of an older building dating from 1830. [6] It was located at the northeast corner of Huff Road and Ellsworth Industrial Ave, [7] overlooking the site of the Battle of Peachtree Creek. The house was razed in 1954 to build a factory on the site. [8]

The former oldest structure with an Atlanta postal address was the Goodwin House, built in 1831. It was located at 3931 Peachtree Road in Brookhaven, Georgia, 0.5 miles (0.80 km) east of the Atlanta city limits. The house was dismantled and moved to an undisclosed location in 2016. [9]

Other structures notable for their age

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Decatur, Georgia</span> City in Georgia, United States

Decatur is a city and the county seat of DeKalb County, Georgia, United States, part of the Atlanta metropolitan area. With a population of 24,928 in the 2020 census, the municipality is sometimes assumed to be larger since multiple ZIP Codes in unincorporated DeKalb County bear Decatur as the address.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Midtown Atlanta</span> Neighborhood in Fulton County, Georgia, United States

Midtown Atlanta, or Midtown, is a high-density commercial and residential neighborhood of Atlanta, Georgia. The exact geographical extent of the area is ill-defined due to differing definitions used by the city, residents, and local business groups. However, the commercial core of the area is anchored by a series of high-rise office buildings, condominiums, hotels, and high-end retail along Peachtree Street between North Avenue and 17th Street. Midtown, situated between Downtown to the south and Buckhead to the north, is the second-largest business district in Metro Atlanta. In 2011, Midtown had a resident population of 41,681 and a business population of 81,418.

There were several historic mills around the metro Atlanta area, for which many of its current-day roads are still named. Most of the mills date back to the 1820s and 1830s, and were built along the area's many streams. The locations of many of these mills are shown on a map of 1875 showing U. S. military operations around Atlanta in 1864. This map is now located in the U. S. Library of Congress but can be seen on the webpage linked here.

From its incorporation in 1847, the municipal boundaries of Atlanta, Georgia, United States, were extended repeatedly from a small area around its railroad station to today's city covering 131.7 square miles (341 km2).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cascade Heights</span> Neighborhood in Atlanta, Georgia, United States

Cascade Heights is an affluent neighborhood in southwest Atlanta. It is bisected by Cascade Road, which was known as Sandtown Road in the nineteenth century. The road follows the path of the ancient Sandtown Trail which ran from Stone Mountain to the Creek village of Sandtown on the Chattahoochee River and from there on into Alabama. Ironically, the name lived on even after the Indians were expelled in the 1830s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Five Points station</span> MARTA rail station

Five Points is a metro station of the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) rail system in Atlanta, Georgia. It is the transfer point for all rail lines and serves as the main transportation hub for MARTA. It provides access to the Five Points Business District, Georgia State University, Underground Atlanta, City Hall, the Richard B. Russell Federal Building, CobbLinc, Ride Gwinnett, GRTA Xpress Transit, Station Soccer, and the tourism heart of Downtown Atlanta. It provides connecting bus service to Zoo Atlanta, Grant Park, Atlanta University Center, East Atlanta Village, Martin Luther King Jr. National Historical Park, Carter Center, Atlanta City Hall, South Dekalb Mall and Fulton County Government Center.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neel Reid</span> American architect

Joseph Neel Reid, also referred to as Neel Reid, was a prominent architect in Atlanta, Georgia, in the early 20th century as a partner in his firm Hentz, Reid and Adler.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sylvan Hills, Atlanta</span> Neighbourhood of Atlanta, Georgia, United States

Sylvan Hills is a historic intown neighborhood in southwest Atlanta, Georgia, United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Perkerson Park</span> Park in Georgia, US

Perkerson Park is a 50-acre (200,000 m2) park in the Capitol View and Sylvan Hills neighborhoods of Atlanta, Georgia with many amenities such as a disc golf course, six tennis courts, basketball half-court, splash pads, an elaborate playground, recreational fields, all under the shady canopy of huge oak trees. The park is open 6:00 AM to 11:00 PM daily.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">G. L. Norrman</span> American architect

Godfrey Leonard Norrman, was an important architect in the southeastern United States. A number of his commissions are now listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and in 1897 he was made a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects.

The Perkerson neighbourhood is located in Southwest Atlanta, Georgia, in NPU-X. The name change was made at the request of residents and members of the Perkerson Civic Association (PCA) in order to keep people from confusing the neighbourhood with Perkerson Park.

Chelsea Heights and Westchester Hills are adjacent neighborhoods, separated by a municipal park, in the northwest corner of the Atlanta, Georgia suburb of Decatur. Chelsea Heights straddles the east and west sides of the CSX railroad tracks, falling within the City of Decatur and the unincorporated DeKalb County, respectively. The latter part, though located east of what historically was Druid Hills, is part of the Druid Hills CDP and participates in the Druid Hills Civic Association: see Chelsea Heights.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Decatur Cemetery</span> Historic graveyard in DeKalb County, Georgia, US

The Decatur Cemetery is a historic graveyard within the city of Decatur, Georgia, United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Streetcars in Atlanta</span> Aspect of the history of Atlanta, Georgia, USA

Streetcars originally operated in Atlanta downtown and into the surrounding areas from 1871 until the final line's closure in 1949.

Albert Anthony Ten Eyck Brown (1878–1940) was an architect active in Atlanta, Georgia and other areas. Brown was born in Albany, New York. He studied at the New York Academy of Design.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roy Blass</span> American architect

Roy Blass was an American architect whose work included design of Lustron houses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Willis F. Denny</span> American architect

Willis F. Denny (1874-1905) was an architect active in Atlanta, Georgia around the turn of the twentieth century. He was the architect of Rhodes Hall (1903) and the Kriegshaber House, both listed on the National Register, as well as the demolished Piedmont Hotel (1903).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Goodwin House (Brookhaven, Georgia)</span>

The Solomon Goodwin House was located at 3931 Peachtree Road in Brookhaven, Georgia, 0.5 miles (0.80 km) east of Atlanta city limits. Dating back to 1831, it was the oldest building still standing in DeKalb County, Georgia and the oldest building "Inside the Perimeter". The home once headed up a 600-acre (240 ha) farm.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Utoy Cemetery</span> Historic cemetery in Atlanta, Georgia, US

Utoy Cemetery is one of the oldest cemeteries within the current city limits of Atlanta in the U.S. state of Georgia and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Located near the intersection of Venetian Drive SW and Cahaba Drive SW in the Venetian Hills neighborhood in southwest Atlanta, it was used for burials as early as 1828.

References

  1. "Utoy Cemetery", National Register of Historic Places
  2. "History", Utoy cemetery website
  3. Atlanta Journal, June 8, 1902 as reprinted on "Lost Generations" (blog)
  4. Souvenir of Atlanta and Vicinity (1904), p, 28
  5. The house was moved to Peters Street (now Trinity Street), according to the 1902 Atlanta Journal article, across from Trinity Church (according to Atlanta illustrated, Edward Young Clarke, 1881, p.21)
  6. "My 80 years in Atlanta by Sarah Huff
  7. "From the description in My 80 Years in Atlanta and from Mr. Hannah of Howell Station and Robert Haywood of Murray Co., the site of the house was at the top of the hill at the northeast corner of Huff Road and Ellsworth Industrial Avenue," on "The Huff House", Marietta Street Artery website
  8. "Atlanta's oldest house razed to make way for modern plant", Rome News-Tribune, May 13, 1954
  9. Kahn, Michael (2016-11-07). "Dekalb County's oldest home — built in 1831 — has been dismantled". Curbed Atlanta. Retrieved 2019-07-30.
  10. Jones, Tommy H. "G. W. Collier House (c. 1868)" . Retrieved 2010-03-11.
  11. Hammonds House Museum Archived 2012-02-02 at the Wayback Machine