Atlanta has a penchant for frequent street renamings, even in the central business district, usually to honor the recently deceased.
Many recent Atlanta street renamings commemorate prominent African Americans in Atlanta's history. These renamings can be identified by the use of the person's full name (e.g., Rev. Dr. Joseph E. Lowery Boulevard) rather than the more traditional last name only (e.g., Cain Street).
- Current name
- Former name(s)
- 10th St.
- Bleckley Ave. (alternative name, 1890s, Piedmont to Peachtree); Madison (between Cresent and West Peachtree)
- 11th St.
- Harrison Ave. (alternative name, 1890s, Piedmont to Peachtree); Davis (between Cresent and West Peachtree)
- 12th St.
- Downe St. (alternative name, 1890s, Piedmont to Peachtree); Stewart (between Cresent and West Peachtree)
- 13th St.
- Center St. (alternative name, 1890s, Piedmont to Peachtree); Cleveland Street (between Cresent and West Peachtree)
- 14th St.
- Wilson Ave. (alternative name, 1890s)
- Andrew Young International Boulevard
- Atlanta Student Movement Boulevard
- Fair Street (Pertains to the 14 blocks of Fair Street between Northside Drive and James P. Brawley Drive (formerly Chestnut Street).
- Auburn Avenue (as of April 17, 1893)
- Wheat Street (for Augustus W. Wheat)[1]
- Barnett Avenue (Virginia Highland/Poncey-Highland)
- Kearsarge Avenue[3]
- Benjamin E. Mays Drive
- Sewell Road[4]
- Briarcliff Road (Atkins Park/Virginia Highland)
- Williams Mill Road[5] (for Frederick A. Williams)[1]
- Stillwood Avenue[6]
- Bolton Road
- River Road
- Boulevard
- Rolling Mill Street (north of the railroad) from late 1860s to about 1880, for the Confederate Rolling Mill, which the Federal army had already destroyed in 1864[7]
- See also Monroe Drive below
- Cameron M. Alexander Blvd. (English Avenue neighborhood)
- Kennedy Street (until 2010)[8]
- Capitol Avenue (as of 1885)
- McDonough Boulevard (for the town it eventually reaches)
- Centennial Olympic Park Drive (from North Avenue south to around Mitchell Street)
- Techwood Drive (from North Avenue into Georgia Tech campus)
- Orme Street (from around North Avenue south to Cain St. (now Andrew Young Intl. Blvd.)
- Walker Street (from around Mitchell Street south to Peters Street)
- Central Park Place
- Bedford Place
- Charles Allen Drive
- N. Jackson Street
- Courtland Street (as of September 20, 1886)
- North Collins Street (for pioneer James Collins[1] — renamed because of South Collins Street's reputation as a red light district)
- Crescent Avenue
- Macon St., Old Peachtree Rd.
- Donald Lee Hollowell Parkway
- Bankhead Highway (renamed when a dance called the "Bankhead Bounce" kept people from taking the street seriously)
- Bankhead Avenue (Changed to honor Governor Bankhead of Alabama)[9]
- Bellwood Avenue
- Felton Drive (for Rebecca Felton)
- Summit Avenue
- Hamilton E. Holmes Drive
- Hightower Road
- Hank Aaron Drive (from Fulton Street south to McDonough Boulevard/University Avenue)
- Capitol Avenue
- Hosea L. Williams Drive
- Boulevard Drive
- Ivan Allen Jr. Boulevard (from West Peachtree Street west to Marietta Street)
- James P. Brawley Drive
- Chestnut Street
- Jesse Hill Jr. Drive
- Butler Street[4]
- John Portman Boulevard At Historic Harris Street (as per Atlanta City Council vote May 16, 2011)[10]
- Harris Street - (for Fulton County's first elected legislator)[10]
- John Wesley Dobbs Avenue (for John Wesley Dobbs, African American civic and political leader, "mayor of Auburn Ave."
- Houston Street (pronounced HOW-stun)[4] (for pioneer Oswald Houston)[1]
- Joseph E. Boone Boulevard (as of March 24, 2008", for the civil rights activist)[11][4]
- Simpson Street/Road (for Leonard C. Simpson)[1]
- Rev. Dr. Joseph E. Lowery Boulevard
- Ashby Street (for Civil War General Turner Ashby)
- Maiden Lane (Virginia Highland)
- Grove Street[12]
- Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive
- Hunter Street, Gordon Road
- Memorial Drive
- Fair Street (for the South Central Agricultural Society fair, which moved to facilities on Fair St. in 1850)[13]
- Metropolitan Parkway
- Stewart Avenue (renamed because of redlight district reputation)
- Monroe Drive (to honor the Monroe Landscaping Company which did extensive plantings in the area)[14]
- N. Boulevard
- Moreland Avenue, after Major Asbury Fletcher Moreland (1828-1909), father-in-law of architect Willis F. Denny.[15] Moreland's house still stands at 326 Moreland Ave.[16] The Moreland Park community also named after him is now part of Inman Park.
- County Line Road[16]
- Park Avenue West (as of April 20, 2001)[17]
- Foundry Street and Luckie Street (south of Baker Street - formerly Thurmond Street)
- Peachtree Center Avenue
- Ivy Street (for pioneer Hardy Ivy)
- Peachtree Street (south of railroad gulch)
- Whitehall Street (for the Whitehall Tavern, a tavern/inn established in the 1830s)[18]
- Peachtree Walk
- Centre Street (from 1895 map)
- Piedmont Road
- (Lindbergh/Buckhead area): Plaster's Bridge Road (or Plaster Bridge Road) for Benjamin Plaster who owned land between Piedmont and Peachtree around Lindbergh.[19] Renamed Piedmont around 1915-1920.
- (Midtown area): For the 1895 Cotton States Expo, Plaster's Bridge Road south of 10th street was rerouted to connect to an extension of Calhoun Street from downtown, all of which was renamed Piedmont Road.
- Ralph David Abernathy Boulevard
- Gordon Street (for Civil War general John Brown Gordon)
- Ralph McGill Boulevard (for the Atlanta Constitution publisher who won the Pulitzer Prize for his anti-segregation editorials in 1969)
- Forrest Avenue (for Civil War lieutenant general and first Grand Dragon of the Ku Klux Klan Nathan Bedford Forrest)
- Sidney Marcus Boulevard
- Marian Road
- Spring Street (south of Alabama — for Walton Spring)
- Madison Avenue
- Thompson Street (for Dr. Joseph Thompson)
- Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) Way (as of May 10, 2010)[20]
- Raymond Street
- Trinity Avenue
- Peters Street (for Richard Peters)[1]
- Washington Street
- South Collins Street
- West Peachtree Street
- Atwood Street (alternative name on 1895 map)
- William Holmes Borders Drive
- Yonge Street[4]
Contents |
List of street name changes up to 1903
On October 17, 1903 the Atlanta Constitution published the list shown below (and also transcribed online) that developer Forrest Adair had provided the Atlanta City Council of street name changes that had occurred since the founding of the city up until that time:
Other street origins
- Baker Street (for Thomas Baker)
- Cone Street (for Reuben Cone)
- Ellis Street (for James M. Ellis)
See also
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Garrett, Franklin M. (1954). Atlanta and Environs: A Chronicle of Its People and Events. Athens, GA: University of Georgia Press.
- ^ Sanborn Fire Map 1886
- ^ Sanborn's Map of Atlanta, Ga., 1917
- ^ a b c d e Moore, David Aaron (2010-02-26). "For Black History Month: What's in a street name?". Atlanta Journal-Constitution. http://www.ajc.com/news/for-black-history-month-332640.html. Retrieved 2010-02-26.
- ^ 1910 map on APNA website
- ^ 1913 map on APNA website
- ^ Franklin Garrett, Atlanta and Environs: A Chronicle of Its People and Events, 1820s-1870s, p.427
- ^ City of Atlanta online, ordinance no. 10-O-1420
- ^ "Marietta Street Artery". 2010-12-02. http://www.artery.org/08_history/320-mid-local.htm. Retrieved 2010-12-02.
- ^ a b Ernie Suggs, "Council finally agrees -- barely -- to honor Portman with a street", Atlanta Journal-Constitution, May 16, 2011
- ^ Ahead of the Curve: 911 upgrade pauses City Hall East sale | ajc.com
- ^ Sanborn's Map of Atlanta, Ga., 1917
- ^ South Central Agricultural Society fair Roadside Georgia
- ^ Morningside-Lenox Park Association "Neighborhood Walk" brochure
- ^ Atlanta and Environs: A Chronicle of Its People and Events, 1880s-1930s, by Franklin M. Garrett, p.490
- ^ a b Atlanta City Council resolution (2002) to expand the Inman Park historic district
- ^ 01-O-0135 An Ordinance to Rename Foundry Street and Luckie Street
- ^ "West End District". City of Atlanta. http://www.atlantaga.gov/government/urbandesign_westend.aspx. Retrieved June 29, 2011.
- ^ Franklin M. Garrett, Atlanta and Environs, p.143
- ^ 10-O-0135 An Ordinance to Rename Raymond Street