Archive Atlanta

Archive Atlanta A weekly history podcast sharing stories about the people, places and events that shaped the city of Atlanta.
(1)

05/27/2026

Premiering June 15th!

By 1930, over 37% of the city’s African American population lived on the west side. Westview Drive was the limit of Blac...
05/27/2026

By 1930, over 37% of the city’s African American population lived on the west side. Westview Drive was the limit of Black settlement, and white residents did not allow Black builders to build within 100 yards and kept roads unpaved.

Things were changing by the 1940s and I talked extensively about this in the Mozley Park episode. In 1946, the city closed Mims Street one parcel short of connecting to Chicamauga Street. Why? With the “hope of halting Negro expansion”.

Opened in 1930, as the Huntington Apartment (1765 Peachtree), they were designed by C. Wilmer Heery and financed by Hugh...
05/26/2026

Opened in 1930, as the Huntington Apartment (1765 Peachtree), they were designed by C. Wilmer Heery and financed by Hugh Ellison and Thomas James. By the 1980s, they were condominiums.

By 2024, a developer, Perennial Properties, through a set of LLCs, owned 21 of the 36 units. Eight people owned the remaining 15 units. According to the Georgia Condominium Act, Perennial has done nothing illegal but this majority of the board means they can do what they please, including demolishing the property for new development.

While an article from 2024 says that wasn’t their plan, friend shared those demo rumors have resurfaced. Without local historic designation, there is nothing to prevent that from happening, and while single owners have expressed a desire over the years, you need a majority vote to go forward with designation.

This government issued military headstone is in the unkempt portion of Tom Lee Ellis died at age 30 in March of 1944. W...
05/25/2026

This government issued military headstone is in the unkempt portion of

Tom Lee Ellis died at age 30 in March of 1944. We suspect he served locally because Atlanta was the head of the procurement district for the states of Florida, Alabama, the Carolinas, Tennessee, and Mississippi for the Chemical Warfare Service, who as their name suggests manufactured and distributed chemical weapons for the war effort.

The development of chemical weapons was a nasty business and suspects the Corporal was the victim of a manufacturing incident.

His funeral, at Ebenezer Baptist Church was presided over by “Daddy” King.

Two years ago I posted this house I love in Chicamauga Heights and then asked me if I wanted to see inside 😍 I ran stra...
05/23/2026

Two years ago I posted this house I love in Chicamauga Heights and then asked me if I wanted to see inside 😍 I ran straight for the rounded corner room and it did not disappoint! The house is for sale so whoever buys this please invite me over 😂

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/211-Chicamauga-Ave-SW-Atlanta-GA-30314/35844246_zpid/

This micro neighborhood was developed over several decades, this house on Chicamauga Avenue was built in 1952 by Whatley Brothers Construction.

In 1964, the Shriners announced the building of a new Yaarab Temple and cornerstone laid with the same trowel that Georg...
05/20/2026

In 1964, the Shriners announced the building of a new Yaarab Temple and cornerstone laid with the same trowel that George Washington used to lay cornerstone of US Capitol in 1793 (and also the Smithsonian and Washington Monument stones).

In 1965, the iconic Ponce de Leon landmark you see today opened.

The Argonne Forest, in France, was the setting for the Meuse-Argonne Offensive (1918), the largest and deadliest campai...
05/18/2026

The Argonne Forest, in France, was the setting for the Meuse-Argonne Offensive (1918), the largest and deadliest campaign in American military history. In the early 1950s, Atlanta developed the Argonne Forest neighborhood, with street names to honor WWI battles.

This house on Marne Drive was one of my favorites because the property lines the creek. It was advertised in 1960 as “new” and “designed by one of Atlanta’s leading architects” - but it never says who 🤔

The first residents were Dr. and Mrs. Harrison Reeves. Dr. Reeve’s father, Charles Walton Reeves, was a prominent photographer and an Army aerial photographer in France during World War I.

The residents of Tye Street weren’t listed in the City Directory until 1906, but this house had a different family each ...
05/16/2026

The residents of Tye Street weren’t listed in the City Directory until 1906, but this house had a different family each year, as was very typical in Cabbagetown.

The influence and legacy of the Klu Klux Klan still lingers, not just in the South, but across America. Built in 1924, t...
05/11/2026

The influence and legacy of the Klu Klux Klan still lingers, not just in the South, but across America.

Built in 1924, the Cotton Exchange building at 3155 Roswell Road was deeded to the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, who used it as a sheet factory, where most robes and hoods were made until 1929. Each new initiate would be sold a gown, which ranged from $4 - $6.50 (and cost $0.50 to make).

Imperial Wizard, J.A. Colescott had his office here in 1940 and it was often called the Imperial Palace in the press. In 1943, they sold the building to be used for apartment housing, as employees working in WWII-related industries filled the metro area.

In 1880, a Black man named Moses Hill bought property far outside the Atlanta city limits and built this house on Chestn...
05/09/2026

In 1880, a Black man named Moses Hill bought property far outside the Atlanta city limits and built this house on Chestnut Street (today James P Brawley Drive). As the city grew and expanded into the English Avenue neighborhood, Hill was surrounded by majority white neighbors. In 1897, Mrs. Mattie Davis, the widow of the previous land owner, brought suit against Moses Hill, claiming that the land was hers. The judge and court sided with Hill, and dissolved Mattie’s claims.

Moses had fought with the 71st US Colored Infantry and became a carpenter after the war. He lived here until 1916, three years before he died at the home of his daughter. His funeral was at Friendship Baptist and he was buried at Southview.

The oldest Deckner family (Charles + Mattie) house is this c. 1867, Central Hall Cottage along Metropolitan Parkway. Ger...
05/07/2026

The oldest Deckner family (Charles + Mattie) house is this c. 1867, Central Hall Cottage along Metropolitan Parkway.

German-born Frederick Deckner moved to Atlanta in 1865, where he purchased land south of the city, in the future Capitol View. He was a master farmer and gardener and wrote articles on the subjects for the Atlanta Constitution.

He and his wife Marie had 7 children, and the Deckners built homes along the street in the following decades.

Address

Atlanta, GA

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Archive Atlanta posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Business

Send a message to Archive Atlanta:

Shortcuts

Share

Category