The history of Atlanta dates back to 1836, when Georgia decided to build a railroad to the U.S. Midwest and a location was chosen to be the line's terminus. The stake marking the founding of "Terminus" was driven into the ground in 1837. In 1839, homes and a store were built there and the settlement grew. Between 1845 and 1854, rail lines arrived from four different directions, and the rapidly growing town quickly became the rail hub for the entire Southern United States. During the American Civil War, Atlanta, as a distribution hub, became the target of a major Union campaign, and in 1864 Union William Sherman's troops set on fire and destroyed the city's assets and buildings, save churches and hospitals. After the war the population grew rapidly, as did manufacturing, while the city retained its role as a rail hub. Coca-Cola was launched here in 1886 and grew into an Atlanta-based world empire. Electric streetcars arrived in 1889, and the city added new "streetcar suburbs".
Asa Griggs Candler was an American business tycoon who owned the Coca-Cola Company. He also served as the 41st Mayor of Atlanta, Georgia from 1916 to 1919. Candler Field, the site of the present-day Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, was named after him, as is Candler Park in Atlanta.
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.
John Thrasher was the founder of the city of Norcross, Georgia, an original pioneer of Atlanta, and a well-travelled entrepreneur throughout the American Southeast.
Robert Winship Woodruff was the president of The Coca-Cola Company from 1923 until 1954. With a large net worth, he was also a major philanthropist, and many educational and cultural landmarks in the U.S. city of Atlanta, Georgia, bear his name. Included among these are the Woodruff Arts Center, Woodruff Park, and the Robert W. Woodruff Library.
Lemuel Pratt Grant (1817–1893) was an American engineer and businessman. He was Atlanta's quintessential railroad man as well as a major landowner and civic leader. In railroads he served as a laborer, chief engineer, speculator and executive all over the South. As part of his speculation, he owned enormous tracts of land in strategic areas. For example, at one point he owned more than 600 acres (240 ha) in what is now Atlanta. He designed and built Atlanta's defenses during the American Civil War and afterwards became an important civic leader: donating the land for Grant Park, Atlanta's first large park, and serving as councilman and on various boards and committees. His mansion is one of only four remaining original antebellum houses in the city of Atlanta.
Joel Hurt (1850–1926) was an American businessman. He was the president of Trust Company of Georgia, and a developer in Atlanta.
The Atlanta University Center (AUC) Robert W. Woodruff Library is a library in Atlanta which serves the four members of the Atlanta University Center, the world's oldest consortium of historically black colleges and universities and the Interdenominational Theological Center. The library, constructed in 1982, is named for Robert Winship Woodruff, former CEO of the Coca Cola Company. In 2010, the library completed a $16.2 million renovation, partly funded by donations from the Coca Cola Company.
The Hurt Building is an 18-story building located at 50 Hurt Plaza in Atlanta, Georgia with a unique triangular shape. One of the nation's earliest skyscrapers, the Hurt Building was built between 1913 and 1926, and was the initial home for the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. It was renovated in 1985. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1977.
The General Pipe and Foundry Company foundry and machine shop was located on the north side of Highland Avenue between Elizabeth Street and the BeltLine in Inman Park, Atlanta, Georgia. Coca-Cola executive Robert W. Woodruff worked here when he was 19 years old.
25 Park Place, formerly known as Trust Company of Georgia Building and later the SunTrust Bank Building is a 115 m (377 ft) 28-story skyscraper in Downtown Atlanta. Built across from Woodruff Park, construction was finished in 1971. It was once the headquarters for Trust Company of Georgia, which is now known as SunTrust. It is now owned by Georgia State University, housing many of its departments in the College of Arts and Sciences.
The Centennial Park District, formerly the Luckie-Marietta District, is a district of Downtown Atlanta named after the walkable neighborhood and entertainment district that surround Centennial Olympic Park. The district was originally created in 2007 by Legacy Properties, in support of their redevelopment projects in the district. However, "Luckie Marietta" was used by a wide range of Atlanta media to refer to the district. The district was rebranded the Centennial Park District and is now under the management of Central Atlanta Progress.
Hurt Park is a small park in downtown Atlanta in the triangle between Edgewood Avenue, Courtland Street, and Gilmer Street. It is named after banker, real estate, and streetcar developer Joel Hurt. When Hurt Park opened in 1940, it was the first public park in downtown Atlanta since the 1860s and represented one of the great achievements of Mayor William B. Hartsfield's first administration. The park was part of a 1937–1942 "transformation of [the city's] aging Municipal Auditorium and the surrounding area into a civic center that befitted Atlanta's rising status as a convention center". The park and its fountain were funded in part by the Woodruff Foundation and were designed by the noted landscape architect William C. Pauley. The park was one of downtown Atlanta's principal attractions during the 1940s and 1950s.
The Olympia Building is a landmark at the absolute center of Atlanta, Five Points in Downtown Atlanta. It was built between 1935 and 1936, architects Ivey and Crook. Since 2003, a flashing Coca-Cola sign has stood on top of the building, the space for which Coke pays $8,641 a month in rent. As of September 2012 the building was owned by the State of Georgia and was for sale, valued at $2.45 million. A complex rehabilitation of the building, beginning in 2015, includes the removal of all non-historic elements, of which there were many. This left only the building's terra cotta and marble facade and portions of its foundation. The iconic metal canopy will be reconstructed from historic images. The building currently houses a two-story Walgreens.
Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University is a nonprofit cancer research and patient care center based in Atlanta, Georgia. Winship Cancer Institute is the only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center in Georgia.
