Years of Atlanta Magazine
Bearing witness to a city's evolution
“This is Atlanta in the ‘60s,” boasted Atlanta magazine’s first feature. It was May of 1961, and big changes were afoot in Georgia’s capital. This new publication, guided by the ambitious vision of editor Jim Townsend, would chronicle them with courage and in style. The inaugural issue captures the city’s energy in those years: a giddy, congratulatory triumph infused with self-consciousness. Could Atlanta reach the heights envisioned by its true believers?
Sixty-five years later, the city is still reaching, and we at Atlanta have kept apace. Like the place we cover, we have often missed the mark—controversies avoided, subjects overlooked—but the many hands who make this magazine have always strived to bear witness to our changing city.
To celebrate our 65th anniversary issue, we invited some of the city’s sharpest minds to look back on Atlanta’s transformation since our coverage began and to contemplate the heights the city aims for today.
This is Atlanta in the 2020s. Big changes are afoot, and we aim to chronicle them—as we always have—with courage and in style.
Covering Atlanta
Can you judge a magazine by its cover? Absolutely.
That’s why Atlanta magazine has put enormous effort into them, from our first printing in May 1961 to the issue you’re now reading. Some have stood the test of time, while others now seem like head-scratchers (those ’70s swimsuit covers—really?). Many have a local focus, but more than a handful speak to national issues. Our logo has changed on four occasions in six decades, transforming from a bold serif to a minimalist script. But one thing has remained constant: Each cover has attempted to highlight the people, the places, and the stories readers care about most.
1960s
In May 1961, Atlanta magazine’s first cover made quite a splash with a glossy, four-color illustration of the city skyline from local artist Norm Kohn. It immediately established the magazine’s identity as a publication with heft. “The density and gloss of the color was astonishing,” wrote Robert Coram in a 1996 Atlanta magazine retrospective. “Color that rich could come only from laying down more ink on a page than was believed to be possible.” Additional illustrated covers followed throughout the decade, including a house wrecked by the words Urban Renewal and a drawing of celebrating Atlanta Braves players by acclaimed artist LeRoy Neiman.
May 1961
January 1962
June 1963
January 1964
July 1965
December 1966
March 1967
April 1968
August 1969
1970s
This decade in covers offered a little bit of everything, from celebrity portraits to political cartoons and some very cringey ones featuring swimsuit models. In October 1971, a cover story on MARTA preceded the transportation agency’s debut bus system by a year. (MARTA’s first rail service, the East Line, commenced in 1979.) The April 1974 cover photo of Hank Aaron was fortuitously timed: It was published the month of his record-breaking 715th home run, which surpassed that of Babe Ruth. The magazine wasn’t afraid to tinker with its logo, adding futuristic Y2K flare to its August 1973 cover and letting Santa take over in December 1972.
September 1970
October 1971
December 1972
August 1973
April 1974
June 1975
October 1976
January 1977
May 1978
January 1979
1980s
At the start of the decade, we kicked off our first annual “Best & Worst” awards, a precursor to the “Best of Atlanta” issue that remains a staple of our magazine’s editorial calendar. We also asserted our authority on the city’s dining scene with a cover feature on Atlanta’s “50 Greatest Dishes” (including La Grotta’s cold grilled wild mushrooms, a version of which the restaurant still serves). Travel became a more regular part of our coverage, with cover stories on regional destinations such as Tampa, Greensboro, and the Georgia coast. And our March 1987 cover featured a local traffic cop and this question: Traffic—how bad will it be before it gets better? Answer: We’re still waiting to find out.
February 1980
January 1981
June 1982
February 1983
March 1984
June 1985
April 1986
March 1987
November 1988
July 1989
1990s
Evander and Paulette Holyfield. Brett Butler. Lynne Russell. Atlanta magazine marked the ’90s with celebrity covers aplenty, which helped newsstand sales spike. Dining was also a reliable seller, and we found new ways to cover it, such as “27 Restaurants Approved by Cupid” for our January 1993 issue (just in time for Valentine’s Day reservations). We also tapped into the city’s growing affinity for tennis, which hasn’t shown signs of abating.
May 1990
May 1991
November 1992
January 1993
November 1994
April 1995
June 1996
May 1997
May 1998
January 1999
2000s
Atlanta’s homegrown stars graced our covers this decade, including Outkast’s Andre 3000 and Big Boi (we called the duo “more influential than the governor or Coke’s CEO”). We also featured Food Network star and Atlanta resident Alton Brown with a chili pepper moustache and the original cast of The Real Housewives of Atlanta, including Kim Zolciak, NeNe Leakes, and Lisa Wu. University of Georgia mascot Uga came out of his climate-controlled doghouse long enough to give us a photo, and we played off The New York Times’ popular “Modern Love” column with a fleet of local Atlanta love stories.
May 2000
May 2001
February 2002
June 2003
November 2004
February 2005
November 2006
April 2007
February 2008
September 2009
2010s
During this decade, we looked back at the ’90s with nostalgia (Cartoon Network! TLC!) and forward to 2040 with dread (Shrinking yards! Massive floods!). We explored fall style with Danai Gurira of The Walking Dead, which filmed all over the city. And one of our bestselling issues gave a 24-hour tour of Buford Highway, helping readers discover Atlanta’s 30-mile stretch of global cuisine, inexpensive spa treatments, and specialty grocery stores. Young Hui Han of Stone Bowl House, who showed off her spicy kimchi stew on that cover, went on to grab the attention of Michelin reviewers; the restaurant was recognized in the 2024 Atlanta Michelin Guide.
January 2010
May 2011
November 2012
August 2013
January 2014
March 2015
September 2016
November 2017
January 2018
October 2019
2020s
For our August 2020 issue, Atlanta-based artist Dr. Fahamu Pecou painted a portrait of Ahmaud Arbery during his fateful run; the accompanying feature by David Dennis Jr. won the 2021 American Mosaic Journalism Prize. Another heralded cover came in October 2025, when we marked Delta Air Lines’ centennial anniversary: It was nominated for a Society of Publication Designers Members’ Choice Award. A little more than halfway into the decade, we have many more covers to unveil, including ones focused on food, travel, top doctors, great neighborhoods, and other topics that matter to our readers.
August 2020
August 2021
May 2022
February 2023
June 2024
October 2025
