Atlanta was founded on sprawl—and hospitality 2/19
Jump to… 19 things you didn’t know about Atlanta’s past Swimmers and boaters once flocked to a six-acre lake in Grant Park Atlanta was founded on sprawl—and hospitality W.E.B. Du Bois wrote The Souls of Black Folk at Atlanta University Zoo Atlanta was founded with animals from a defunct circus There’s a hidden cave in Chastain Park Little Richard and James Brown cut their teeth at the Royal Peacock Atlanta’s first celeb chef was the mother of modern Southern cooking Rich’s downtown hosted annual fashion shows that drew the likes of Pucci and Hubert de Givenchy Atlanta’s first talk radio station launched national voices The country’s deadliest hotel fire prompted new national safety codes Atlanta once had its own “Berlin Wall” Atlanta had its own version of Haight-Ashbury In the 1970s Atlantans hit the ski slopes in Vinings The Sex Pistols made its American debut in a Piedmont Road shopping center Pleasant Peasant brought casual fine dining to Atlanta Eastside Atlanta neighborhoods were almost split by an interstate The Kinks, Willie Nelson, and ZZ Top left their handprints on Peachtree Road Smokey and the Bandit II blew up Atlanta’s most famous roller coaster CNN Center was once the site of the world’s largest indoor amusement park
The first white settlements in the area did not emanate from a distinct town center. In the 1830s the community was comprised of scattered homesteads established by ferrymen at the best points to cross the Chattahoochee. Westward-moving pioneers, adventurers, and traders tended to veer south of the Appalachians, and these ferrymen helped them across the river. Other entrepreneurs built up watering holes and inns along the stagecoach routes.
2/19
Jump to… 19 things you didn’t know about Atlanta’s past Swimmers and boaters once flocked to a six-acre lake in Grant Park Atlanta was founded on sprawl—and hospitality W.E.B. Du Bois wrote The Souls of Black Folk at Atlanta University Zoo Atlanta was founded with animals from a defunct circus There’s a hidden cave in Chastain Park Little Richard and James Brown cut their teeth at the Royal Peacock Atlanta’s first celeb chef was the mother of modern Southern cooking Rich’s downtown hosted annual fashion shows that drew the likes of Pucci and Hubert de Givenchy Atlanta’s first talk radio station launched national voices The country’s deadliest hotel fire prompted new national safety codes Atlanta once had its own “Berlin Wall” Atlanta had its own version of Haight-Ashbury In the 1970s Atlantans hit the ski slopes in Vinings The Sex Pistols made its American debut in a Piedmont Road shopping center Pleasant Peasant brought casual fine dining to Atlanta Eastside Atlanta neighborhoods were almost split by an interstate The Kinks, Willie Nelson, and ZZ Top left their handprints on Peachtree Road Smokey and the Bandit II blew up Atlanta’s most famous roller coaster CNN Center was once the site of the world’s largest indoor amusement park
