Downtown Atlanta Walking Tour- Peachtree Center to the State Capitol

Entries on This Tour

1. "Expelled Because of Color" Historical Marker and Sculpture

Dedicated in February 1978, the "Expelled Because of Color" historical marker and statue is dedicated to thirty-three African American legislators who were elected by the people of Georgia in 1868. Each of these men faced armed white mobs and were refused their seats and expelled from the Georgia state legislator by the previous and all-white state legislature. However, in 1870 and with the support of the U.S. Army, the election results of 1868 were upheld. The election of 1868 was the first to occur under the terms of the 14th Amendment which guaranteed suffrage to Black men. Between 1868 and the mid-1870s, Black men voted and won elections throughout Georgia and other Southern states. By the mid-1870s, however, armed white supremacists used violence and fraud to deny the vote to African Americans and the rest of the nation responded by withdrawing the U.S. Army and considering the experiment of interracial democracy a failure until the modern Civil Rights Movement. A dedication panel was presented to the State of Georgia by African American members of the Georgia General Assembly who served between 1963 and 1978. The historical marker and statue symbolizes Black political awareness from "the Black Georgian's struggle from the slave ship to the Senate House."

2. Replica of the Statue of Liberty

Dedicated by the Atlanta Council of the Boy Scouts of America in 1951, the Replica of the Statue of Liberty stands outside the Georgia State Capitol. The replica statue commemorates the 40th anniversary of the Boy Scouts and represents the motto, "Strengthen the Arm of Liberty." The statue is an 8 1/2 foot version of the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor, which welcomes visitors, immigrants, and Americans who are returning to the United States.

3. Georgia Capitol and Museum

The Georgia State Capitol was designed by Chicago architects Willoughby J. Edbrooke and Franklin P. Burnham to mirror the Classical design of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. Construction of the building was completed by Miles and Horne, a construction company headquartered in Toledo, OH, in 1889. The structure boasts a four-story portico that includes a large stone pediment supported by six Corinthian columnns. The Georgia Coat of Arms is engraved on the pediment alongside two additional figures. The building was among the first to incorporate centralized steam heat, elevators, and a combination of both gas and electric lights. The Capitol has undergone many renovations since its construction, the most notable being the gilding of the structure's dome in 1958.

4. Central Presbyterian Church

Central Presbyterian Church has been an active and integral religious institution in Atlanta since its inception in 1858. The church building was erected in 1885 and designed by Edmund G. Lind, an English native who lived in Atlanta for ten years. Lind designed the building in the English Gothic style. The church is perhaps better known for its long-standing support to social and economic justice, a characteristic that has kept it at the forefront of pressing issues of the day, such as labor and civil rights. For these reasons, the church was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986.

5. Georgia Railroad Freight Depot

The Georgia Railroad Freight Depot is one of the oldest buildings in downtown Atlanta. Construction of the facility was completed in April 1869 and the site quickly became one of the most important stops along the Georgia Railroad line. The depot was the tallest building in Atlanta at the time of its construction but was reduced to one story following a fire in 1935. The structure was renovated in 1981 by the Georgia Building Authority and opened for public use shortly thereafter. Much of the original brickwork and freight bays were preserved during the renovation. The depot can be rented for large gatherings such as weddings and other events.

6. Sit-in at Rich's Magnolia Room, 1960-1961

The Magnolia Room was a highlight of Rich's Department Store as an Atlanta institution. Similar to all other white-owned downtown department stores in Atlanta, Rich's maintained a policy of racial discrimination. For example, African Americans could purchase items from the store, but they were not allowed to try on any of the clothing, use the white-only washrooms, or enjoy a table in the Magnolia Room. Because Rich's was an institution and the Magnolia Room was a powerful symbol of the color line, Atlanta's African American students made the Magnolia Room the center of their struggle for integration. In 1960 and 1961, hundreds of students participated in sit-ins throughout the city. The campaign ended with the integration of the city's lunch counters in the fall of 1961. During the year of protests, the Magnolia room became one of the central theaters of the protest movement after Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was arrested during a sit-in at Rich's in October of 1960. This entry includes two videos related to King's address- a statement by King himself following his arrest and a remark from attorney Donald Howell speaking about King's arrest the following week.

7. Jacobs' Pharmacy and Historical Marker for the First Coca-Cola Served

Jacobs' Pharmacy was the first establishment to serve the now famous beverage, Coca-Cola, on May 8, 1886. Jacobs' acquired the building in 1884 and sold his interest in Coca-Cola to Asa Candler, who later took control of the company from the drink's inventor, John Pemberton. The building has long since been demolished, but this historical marker, installed in 2016, represents the history of the pharmacy and its now-famous beverage.

8. Olympia Building

Built by famous Atlanta architects Ivey and Crook in the midst of the Great Depression, this pie-shaped building is best known for its iconic Coca-Cola sign. The building was donated to the city of Atlanta to help support their effort in bringing the Olympics to Atlanta in 1996. It went under restoration after many years listed as an endangered historic landmark and reopened in 2016. The building now stands where Atlanta’s first post office and general store once stood.

9. Thornton Building (10 Pryor Street, 10 Park Place)

The Thornton building, constructed from 1930 to 1932, is one of Atlanta's last commercial buildings erected before the slowdown caused by the Great Depression. The building is located on land that was owned by the Thornton family, who arrived in Atlanta during the 1870s. The structure included many modern features of its age, such as its movable office walls, gear-less elevators, and ice cold drinking water for each floor. At the same time, the lack of ornate detailing that typified buildings constructed just a few years prior speaks to the ways that building designed changed following the financial crisis that shook the banking sector in 1929. In the 1930s, the Ultra Modern style of Art Deco architecture became the standard in the construction of federal and office buildings and featured efficient design with minimal ornamentation.

10. W.D. Grant Building

Completed in 1898, the W.D. Grant Building is one of the oldest steel buildings in Atlanta, representing a period of growth and change for the city following a period of slow recovery from the destruction of the Civil War. In the final decades of the 19th century, Atlanta grew into a metropolitan center with the core of commercial growth clustering around the first skyscrapers such as the W.D. Grant Building. Known originally as the Prudential Building, this structure was soon joined by other skyscrapers at the turn of the century.

11. Healey Building

The sixteen-story Gothic Revival Healey Building opened its doors in 1914 and stands today as the last major skyscraper built in Atlanta during the pre-World War I construction boom. The second tower that was to connect to the first tower never came to fruition, mostly due to World War I.

12. The Flatiron Building (English-American Building)

Completed in 1897, Atlanta's Flatiron Building was designed by New York architect Bradford Gilbert. Gilbert was a former student of renowned architect Daniel Burnham, who designed New York's Flat Iron Building, which shared the unique wedge-shaped design and was constructed five years later. Atlanta's Flatiron Building was the second skyscraper built in Atlanta and stands as the oldest standing steel-framed skyscraper in the city. Rufus Brown Bullock was one of the principal figures involved in the English-American Trust & Loan Company and had previously served as Georgia governor during the Reconstruction Era and sought better economic and political rights for African Americans. The KKK and other groups helped push him out of the state because he supported Reconstruction, but he returned years later and became a successful Atlanta businessman.

13. Bell Building, Atlanta

The Bell Building was constructed in 1907 and housed the Southern Bell Telephone and Telegraph Company's switchboard. The three-story steel Neoclassical structure with a brick facade has simple detailing and large first-floor windows. In 1922, an addition was built onto the left of the original building. In 1968, Bell Telephone sold the structure to the Trust Company of Georgia who planned to build two skyscrapers. The second skyscraper was never built and the Bell Building was sold by the bank (now SunTrust) to Georgia State University. Today, the building's addition is in danger of being demolished by its owner, the Georgia State University Foundation, to create a parking lot or green space despite opposition from some local residents and preservationists.

14. Southern Bell Telephone Building

Construction of Atlanta's Southern Bell Telephone Company Building occurred during three stages: 1929, 1947-48, and 1963. The onset of the Great Depression resulted in the completion of only six of the planned twenty-five-story building design. Though the structure never reached its planned height, it remains downtown Atlanta's only true example of modernistic design. The building also serves as a reminder of Atlanta's central role within the regional telephone and communications network.

15. Hurt Building

Joel Hurt, a wealthy engineer, bank owner, railroad industrialist, and entrepreneur developed Atlanta's first streetcar and built several commercial buildings and skyscrapers, including his namesake: the Hurt Building. Mainly built in 1913 (with finishing touches added more than a decade later), it stood as one of the tallest buildings in the world when finished. Though Hurt was an influential figure in the city's history and immortalized by having his name on the building and other features in Atlanta, it is also well-established that Hurt and his family built much of their fortune using African American laborers who were unpaid and abused through a system known as convict leasing. The practice was widespread in the South at the turn of the century and eventually banned after Hurt and many others were investigated and the practices they used were condemned.

16. Dixie Coca-Cola Bottling Company Plant

The Dixie Coca-Cola Bottling Company Plant is the oldest surviving structure directly connected to the early production of Coca-Cola. The building served as the headquarters for Coca-Cola's parent company, Dixie Coca-Cola Bottling Company, from 1900 to 1901. A uniquely shaped building located on a corner, the Victorian-styled structure itself was built in 1891 and originally served as living quarters on the second floor and housed shops on the first floor before transforming into the Coca-Cola Bottling Plant. During its time operating as the Bottling Plant, the offices were located on the second floor, and the factory for syrup production could be found in the basement.

17. The APEX Museum

The African-American Panoramic Experience (APEX) Museum is situated in downtown Atlanta's Sweet Auburn Historic District. The museum includes numerous exhibits and programs related to the local, regional and national experience of people of color. The museum also offers programs for children and community lectures and other events that present the African American perspective throughout history. The museum was established by Dan Moore in hopes of highlighting the contributions of African Americans. Since it opened in 1978, thousands of visitors from more than forty countries have toured the museum.

18. Auburn Avenue Research Library on African American Culture and History

The Auburn Avenue Research Library on African American Culture and History is situated in Atlanta's Sweet Auburn Historic District and is part of the Atlanta-Fulton Public Library System. The reference and archival collections housed within the facility are dedicated to both the study and preservation of African and African American history and culture. The research library was recognized by the state of Georgia in 2001 when it was awarded the Governor's Award in the Humanities.

19. First Congregational Church of Atlanta

One of the oldest African American Congregational churches in the United States, First Congregational Church of Atlanta dates back to 1867 when former slaves and free men and women of color gathered together to hold services. The congregation received support from the American Missionary Association, a group of Northern African Americans and whites who traveled to the South and helped establish schools and churches in the aftermath of the Civil War.

20. Ford Freeman Building

This Art Deco building first stood as the home to a Ford Dealership and assembly center that was operated by the Charles E. Freeman Company. Plans and designs for the building occurred during the height of America's booming 1920s economy and the building demonstrates the craftsmanship of the era. During the early 1930s the dealership moved out and the building was home to a car repair center and later served as a parking garage. Today, the building operates as the Ford Factory Loft Apartment complex.

21. Rhodes–Haverty Building, Atlanta (Marriott Residence Inn)

This twenty-one-story skyscraper was completed in 1929 and stood as Atlanta's tallest building until 1954. The building was designed by real estate investors J.J. Haverty and A.G. Rhodes who made their fortunes in the furniture business and had previously formed a retail partnership. The building was financed by the Rhodes-Haverty Investment Company and was completed in the same month as the stock market crash of 1929. The Depression stalled but did not reverse the city's growth and the building has been home to numerous tenants over the past century and now serves as the home of Marriott's Residence Inn.

22. The Candler Building

The Candler Building is a seventeen-story structure commissioned by Coca-Cola founder and executive, Asa Griggs Candler, and was completed in 1906. The building remained the tallest structure in the city until 1954. "Candler Investment Co. 1904 Geo. E. Murphy Architect" is inscribed on the building's cornerstone and the structure is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The building continues to serve as office space.

23. Ellis Hotel and the Winecoff Hotel Fire of 1946

At fifteen stories high, the Winecoff Hotel was considered one of the first skyscrapers in Atlanta in 1913. It also claimed to be a fire proof building. However, on December 7, 1946 a large fire claimed the lives of 119 guests and staff. The tragedy remains the deadliest hotel fire in United States history. The hotel reopened in 1951 as the Peachtree Hotel along with numerous modifications and added safety features. The hotel is now the Ellis Hotel.

24. Carnegie Building (Wynne-Claughton Building)

Atlanta's Carnegie Building is a twelve-story structure that was constructed from 1924 to 1925. The wedge-shaped building was originally known as the Wynne-Claughton Building and is composed of reinforced concrete with a brick veneer and limestone detailing. The Carnegie Library once stood across the street from this building. In 2012, the Carnegie Building was added to the National Register. The building is one of only a handful of early twentieth-century buildings in this section of Atlanta, such as the Winecoff Hotel which was completed in 1913. The building now serves as the home of the Courtyard Atlanta Downtown hotel.

This Tour is a Walking Tour.

Downtown Atlanta Walking Tour- Peachtree Center to the State Capitol

Created by Clio Admin on January 12th 2020, 2:50:04 am.

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Description

This tour begins at several historic buildings and landmarks within Atlanta's Peachtree Center and moves south to include two dozen historic buildings, monuments, and markers in the heart of downtown Atlanta. The tour concludes at the State Capital. The tour includes landmark buildings and places related to icons of Atlanta history from turn-of-the century business leaders to influential Atlanta residents such as Marin Luther King, Jr. and the founders of Coca-Cola.

Entries on This Tour

Downtown Atlanta Walking Tour- Peachtree Center to the State Capitol

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