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Box 13, Folder 3, Document 40
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“Covers Dixie Like the Dew”
Since 1883
Jack Tarver, President
> EDITORIALS
OUR UNDERGROUND CITY
° Jack Spalding, Editor
20
"SEPTEMBER 21, 1966) -
Will Ghost Streets of Atlanta Live Again? ‘
By REESE CLEGHORN
ATLANTA'S name was changed in 1844 from Terminus to
Marthasville. But you may still take a train to Terminus.
In fact, you may walk to it.
The center of Terminus exists under the
Central Avenue Viaduct in Atlanta. It is a stone
marker a couple of feet high, with the chiseled
notation “W & A R.R., O 0.” This is the Zero
Mile Post, and it was put into the ground in -%
1842 as the first of a series of mile posts mark- \‘:
ing the route of a new railroad between Atlanta
and Chattanooga.
But this was not Atlanta. It was Terminus,
because this was the end of the line, and the
So was nothing much then except the end of the new railroad
Ine.
He * Eg
IT WOULD BE difficult to find anything that means as.
much in Atlanta’s history as this marker. It designated the ter- .
mination that gave us the city’s first name. And on it are the
initials that gave us the word ‘“‘Atlanta,” derived from the
name of the state-owned Western & Atlantic Railroad.
In December of 1842 crowds came to see the first locomo-
tive move over the tracks, and that may have been the real
beginning of Atlanta, because the city grew first as a trans-
portation center.
In the dim light under the viaduct, and near the tracks, with-
in a fenced enclosure, you may see the Zero Mile Post where
it all started.
cd Ed ae
THIS IS ONE PART of Underground Atlanta. There is much
more, because this is a city that was built in layers. Now our
new Civic Design Commission has begun a serious inquiry into
possibilities of bringing to life the old city underneath.
So far this is just an idea. The commission wants to deter-
mine the feasibility for use of Underground Atlanta as an en-
tertainment area. This may depend upon the willingness of the
property owners and the interest of the public.
Under Alabama Street is an older Alabama Street, an older
city. At least two and perhaps four blocks of it, with original
street-level store fronts, livery stables and saloons, might be re-
claimed, along with some of the side streets.
* * ae
THIS AREA, like a number of other segments of the older
city under other streets and viaducts, can be easily reached
and, in fact, is still in use. On many of these dead streets
trucks roll daily, delivering to underground entrances of build-
ings that rise over the older structures. Many of the old stores
are now storage places. On some parts of the underground
streets, light shines through; other parts are dark.
When the first Broad Street overpass was constructed in
1852, part of the older Atlanta was submerged. When the Spring
Street overpass was finished in 1922, Underground Atlanta grew
again. This building-over process is still being regularly re-
peated.
Walk along the older Alabama Street and at No. 38 you
may see a gilded inscription indicating the Lowry Bank, which
was founded in 1861.
At No. 44 on this old Alabama Street, in the 1870s, the At-
Janta Chamber of Commerce was busy, no doubt with an early
Forward Atlanta program. At No. 69 people were more relaxed:
This was Paul Hentschel’s Saloon.
ae ae ae
ACROSS FROM Mr. Lowry’s private bank, ornamental
posts stand alongside the stone arch marking the entrance te
one of the meat packers of Packinghouse Row.
(Gisell Sieburth wrote about these and other buildings
whose history she had traced, in the Journal-Constitution Maga-
zine last December.)
Can the dark rooms behind ornate old Victorian-style posts
be turned into new restaurants, with some old-style furnish-
ings? Can there be restoration of painted glass now removed,
and refurbishing of cast-iron fronts? Will Paul Hentschel’s Sa-
loon swing again?
That is what is on the minds of some of those now con-
templating this germ of an idea. They think there may be a
chance to convert several underground blocks into a popular
center of restaurants, galleries, night spots and shops, all in '
the style of the old Atlanta.
a a
THERE IS ROOM for an impressive entranceway at one
point on the present Alabama Street, where stairs and planted
landings might lead the visitors into the old city. Could there
be a horse-and-buggy shuttle service waiting below, to take
people on the original cobblestone streets, under gas lights, to
their destinations?
A committee of the Civic Design Commission wants to
find out. Paul Muldawer, an architect who is a member of the
committee, believes all this may be feasible—if there is public
response to the idea. He hopes to hear.
“Every city needs something people will point to as truly
unique,” he said, “and for Atlanta this could he it.”
Since 1883
Jack Tarver, President
> EDITORIALS
OUR UNDERGROUND CITY
° Jack Spalding, Editor
20
"SEPTEMBER 21, 1966) -
Will Ghost Streets of Atlanta Live Again? ‘
By REESE CLEGHORN
ATLANTA'S name was changed in 1844 from Terminus to
Marthasville. But you may still take a train to Terminus.
In fact, you may walk to it.
The center of Terminus exists under the
Central Avenue Viaduct in Atlanta. It is a stone
marker a couple of feet high, with the chiseled
notation “W & A R.R., O 0.” This is the Zero
Mile Post, and it was put into the ground in -%
1842 as the first of a series of mile posts mark- \‘:
ing the route of a new railroad between Atlanta
and Chattanooga.
But this was not Atlanta. It was Terminus,
because this was the end of the line, and the
So was nothing much then except the end of the new railroad
Ine.
He * Eg
IT WOULD BE difficult to find anything that means as.
much in Atlanta’s history as this marker. It designated the ter- .
mination that gave us the city’s first name. And on it are the
initials that gave us the word ‘“‘Atlanta,” derived from the
name of the state-owned Western & Atlantic Railroad.
In December of 1842 crowds came to see the first locomo-
tive move over the tracks, and that may have been the real
beginning of Atlanta, because the city grew first as a trans-
portation center.
In the dim light under the viaduct, and near the tracks, with-
in a fenced enclosure, you may see the Zero Mile Post where
it all started.
cd Ed ae
THIS IS ONE PART of Underground Atlanta. There is much
more, because this is a city that was built in layers. Now our
new Civic Design Commission has begun a serious inquiry into
possibilities of bringing to life the old city underneath.
So far this is just an idea. The commission wants to deter-
mine the feasibility for use of Underground Atlanta as an en-
tertainment area. This may depend upon the willingness of the
property owners and the interest of the public.
Under Alabama Street is an older Alabama Street, an older
city. At least two and perhaps four blocks of it, with original
street-level store fronts, livery stables and saloons, might be re-
claimed, along with some of the side streets.
* * ae
THIS AREA, like a number of other segments of the older
city under other streets and viaducts, can be easily reached
and, in fact, is still in use. On many of these dead streets
trucks roll daily, delivering to underground entrances of build-
ings that rise over the older structures. Many of the old stores
are now storage places. On some parts of the underground
streets, light shines through; other parts are dark.
When the first Broad Street overpass was constructed in
1852, part of the older Atlanta was submerged. When the Spring
Street overpass was finished in 1922, Underground Atlanta grew
again. This building-over process is still being regularly re-
peated.
Walk along the older Alabama Street and at No. 38 you
may see a gilded inscription indicating the Lowry Bank, which
was founded in 1861.
At No. 44 on this old Alabama Street, in the 1870s, the At-
Janta Chamber of Commerce was busy, no doubt with an early
Forward Atlanta program. At No. 69 people were more relaxed:
This was Paul Hentschel’s Saloon.
ae ae ae
ACROSS FROM Mr. Lowry’s private bank, ornamental
posts stand alongside the stone arch marking the entrance te
one of the meat packers of Packinghouse Row.
(Gisell Sieburth wrote about these and other buildings
whose history she had traced, in the Journal-Constitution Maga-
zine last December.)
Can the dark rooms behind ornate old Victorian-style posts
be turned into new restaurants, with some old-style furnish-
ings? Can there be restoration of painted glass now removed,
and refurbishing of cast-iron fronts? Will Paul Hentschel’s Sa-
loon swing again?
That is what is on the minds of some of those now con-
templating this germ of an idea. They think there may be a
chance to convert several underground blocks into a popular
center of restaurants, galleries, night spots and shops, all in '
the style of the old Atlanta.
a a
THERE IS ROOM for an impressive entranceway at one
point on the present Alabama Street, where stairs and planted
landings might lead the visitors into the old city. Could there
be a horse-and-buggy shuttle service waiting below, to take
people on the original cobblestone streets, under gas lights, to
their destinations?
A committee of the Civic Design Commission wants to
find out. Paul Muldawer, an architect who is a member of the
committee, believes all this may be feasible—if there is public
response to the idea. He hopes to hear.
“Every city needs something people will point to as truly
unique,” he said, “and for Atlanta this could he it.”
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