Stories Worth Sharing:
Neighborhood Dreams

Introduction: As the Olympics come and go, The City of Atlanta intends to keep the momentum of community building very much alive. The following neighborhood stories represent just a sample of the new urban directives underway that will continue to respect Atlanta’s urban history and to guide Atlanta’s urban future.

Atlanta University Center: Friendship Baptist Church organized in 1862, during slavery times was instrumental in assisting thousands of black freedmen who migrated into Atlanta after the civil war. Friendship was also the first home for both Spelman and Morehouse Colleges, part of Atlanta University Center.

Butler/Auburn: Auburn Avenue, the historic main street of black Atlanta, traces its roots to the 19th century, where after the Civil War, freed Blacks established Shermantown. Bordered on the South by Wheat Street, the neighborhood soon became an area of high commerce. By 1956, Auburn Avenue (the old Wheat St.) had become the richest street in the world for Negroes, according to Fortune Magazine.

Old Fourth Ward: The neighborhood was once one of Atlanta’s premier African-American residential areas. A number of prominent leaders settled in the area, including Joseph S. Flipper and William A. Fountain, two A.M.E. Bishops. Martin Luther King Jr. was born at 501 Auburn Avenue in 1929 and he graduated in 1940 from the David T. Howard Grammar School.

Mechanicsville Close to railroads and containing available undeveloped land, the community grew. It was called Mechanicsville, undoubtedly because so many residents worked for the railroads. By 1870’s the community was large enough to support two churches and a small retail block. Mechanicsville was but one of many black communities founded in Atlanta after the Civil War.

Peoplestown Like many of Atlanta’s early neighborhoods, Peoplestown was established in the late 19th century because of its proximity to the railroad industry. Named after the locally famous Peoples family, it was developed as a fashionable single-family residential district with convenient access to employment opportunities.

Summerhill One of Atlanta’s oldest neighborhoods, Summerhill had its beginnings after the Civil War when Republican lawyer William Jennings sub-divided property at Richardson and Martin Streets to create Atlanta’s first real estate development for African Americans.

Vine City Vine City developed west of downtown between MLK Boulevard and Simpson Street. Vine City’s population surged after the Great Fire of 1917 destroyed many of Atlanta’s Black neighborhoods in the Old Forth Ward on the east side of town.

...Dreams and Crossroads...