What Transit In Atlanta Should Look Like

This map was produced by Citizens for Progressive Transit in 2006 and illustrates what transit in Atlanta should look like. Click HERE for the hi-res version.

Ironically, the routes extending to the edges of the map in all directions, listed here as Commuter Rail, were operated multiple times daily by the major railroads 50+ years ago. I live near Conyers on the east side of Atlanta and the restored ninteenth century rail depot is still adorned with a sign showing mileage to Atlanta and Augusta. Once upon a time you could have boarded a train here and arrived at Atlanta's Union or Terminal stations in 45 minutes. From there you could have connected to trains bound for anywhere in the country. It all sounds whimsically futuristic, doesn't it?

Conyers depot: from here to anywhere in the U.S. Hard to imagine.

Virginia Avenue over the BeltLine, facing south

This was the view facing south from the Virginia Avenue bridge over the Norfolk Southern railroad on November 26, 1995. The old Sears building, aka City Hall East, dominates the horizon.

17 years later, the railroad is long gone and the Atlanta BeltLine construction is underway. As with most of my BeltLine photos, I plan to take a third photo after construction is complete. For a view from the other side of the bridge, click HERE.

This aerial photo from 1949 shows the extent of the industrial infrastructure that once existed along the railroad at Virginia Avenue and Monroe Drive. (Monroe runs north to south on the left side of this photo). The white arrow shows the location and the orientation of the above photos.

Google map of this location:


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The Beltline at Virginia Avenue 1995 / 2012

These two photos were taken from the Virginia Avenue bridge over the Norfolk Southern "Decatur Belt" which is now being redeveloped as the Atlanta BeltLine. The top photo was taken on a gorgeous autumn afternoon, November 26, 1995. The second one was taken on a slightly dreary winter morning in February 2012. The railroad crossing seen here is (or was) at Monroe Drive. Piedmont Park is just beyond that and the skyline of midtown is in the distance. I'll come back to get a third photo once the BeltLine is complete.

I've been told many times that animated gifs annoy people, so at the risk of annoying you, here are the same two photos superimposed and animated.

This is a combination of two photos of "unidentified" locations from the Atlanta History Center that were taken in February 1971 just a few yards from where I took the above photos. (Note to the AHC: for a small fee I'd be happy to identify the locations of your photos!) This is looking down Kanuga St. towards Monroe from Virginia Ave. The railroad ran parallel to Kanuga and is to the left of the road in this shot. As you can see, the midtown skyline consisted of a single skyscraper in 1971.

Google map of this location:



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Airline Street 1997 / 2012

More shots from the southern end of the Decatur Belt rail line. This is the view facing north on Airline St. at the Norfolk Southern railroad crossing. Photo taken November 1997.

Nearly 15 years later the railroad and metal company are gone and Atlanta's now ubiquitous condos have crept into the shot. February 2012.

Facing west from the same spot on Airline Street.
November 1997 / February 2012.

And, still from the same spot, the view facing SW toward Cabbagetown.

Related posts:

Decatur Street and the Decatur Belt

The Beltline at Edgewood



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Decatur Street and the Decatur Belt

Driving east down Decatur Street / DeKalb Avenue near Airline and Krog Streets, November 1997:

The same view in February 2012:

This was the southern end of the old Norfolk Southern Railroad Decatur Belt. In these first two photos the tracks dead end into an embankment on the right. For more than a century, they connected to what is now the CSX mainline at Cabbagetown. This connection was severed in the mid 1980s when the old Hulsey rail yard was replaced with a modern piggyback facility, requiring the realignment and regrading of the CSX mainline. I was (and still am) amazed the old railroad signals are still in place nearly three decades since the last train crossed here.

The view driving west: (I'm a safe driver. No, really.)

Top: November 1997   Bottom: February 2012

Here's a Google Maps view of the former railroad junction which was buried when the CSX tracks were realigned in the 1980s.

The bird's eye view from 1892. Part of the Fulton Bag and Cotton mill in Cabbagetown can be seen at bottom right.

The bird's eye view roughly 120 years later, courtesy of Bing maps:

Decatur Belt Map

I'll be posting more now & then photos from along the former Norfolk Southern Decatur Belt rail line in the coming weeks and thought it would be handy to have a map as a reference for readers. This stretch of former railroad is considered the prime segment in the ambitious Atlanta BeltLine project and major changes are already underway. It will be interesting to see what happens in the coming decades, which means I'll probably be returning and taking these now & then photos until I'm too old and senile to get around.

This map comes from the Georgia DOT via Fresh Loaf. Larger version HERE.

The Beltline at Edgewood pt 2

Here are a few more photos taken from the Edgewood Avenue bridge over what will eventually become the BeltLine trail. These are facing north towards Irwin Avenue. The view facing south can be seen in this earlier post.

This section of the Norfolk Southern "Decatur Belt" had been abandoned only a few months before this first photo was taken in November 1995. Kudzu had just begun to creep over the rails. In the photo at right, taken February 2012, the rails have been pulled up, the homeless camp cleared out, and the trees have doubled (or quadrupled) in size.

This field was the site of several warehouses of the abandoned South East Atlantic Cotton Compress complex. The warehouses were destroyed in a spectacular fire on July 3, 1991, reportedly started by fireworks. I could see the fire from Doraville! The remaining buildings are now part of the Studioplex lofts and much of the site is now a parking lot. The building at far left is not part of the complex and is still abandoned. Top photo: November 1995. Bottom: February 2012.

Despite the dramatic changes all around it, this view is nearly unchanged in 17 years. Left: November 1995. Right: February 2012.

Here's a 1972 aerial view of the massive triangular warehouse complex that burned down in 1991. The Edgewood Avenue bridge is at the bottom of the photo.

In the 1892 Birdseye View of Atlanta, this was the site of a railroad maintenance facility including a roundhouse, turntable, coaling tower and associated buildings. Inman Park is at far right and a trolley line is shown on Edgewood (at bottom).

Google map of this spot:

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North Highland Avenue at the BeltLine

Another excursion into the gentrified Twilight Zone that is now Atlanta! Of the many places I have revisited in the last month, few have changed as radically as the stretch of North Highland Avenue between Inman Park and the Old Fourth Ward. What had been an industrial ghost town during the early 2000s has been transformed into a bustling mini-city seemingly overnight. Upon my return, I felt like Charlton Heston in Planet Of The Apes, but instead of being surrounded by talking apes on horseback I found myself surrounded by hordes of well dressed 30 year-olds and very expensive cars. The smell of coffee and creole food wafted from the direction of what had previously looked like a post-apocalyptic metal yard. Joggers in fluorescent neoprene suits jogged over the bridge that had served as shelter for a homeless encampment. We're not in Kansas anymore, Toto.

Here's a fantastic aerial photo from around 2001, "borrowed" from the website of Surber, Barber, Choate & Hertlein Architects, the firm that redeveloped much of this stretch of North Highland. The massive building at center was the Mead Paper manufacturing plant. To the right of that, across the street, was the General Pipe and Foundry complex that occupied the site for nearly a century.

Instant city: looking east towards Inman Park. The last time I drove through here, probably in 2001, this was an industrial wasteland of giant metal sheds, abandoned scrap yards and sprawling manufacturing plants. I now find myself in a strange new world. I wholeheartedly support the concepts of new urbanism but can't help feeling these buildings look like college dormitories.

This was the entrance to the abandoned Grinnell piping and design company, located at 200 N. Highland, as seen in November 1995. One thing I love about many old industrial and commercial buildings is the amount of detail and ornamentation that went into the design. The idea of spending extra time and money on such details simply because they are aesthetically pleasing seems almost unthinkable today.

Thankfully, the front facade was saved when the property was redeveloped as loft apartments and it looks completely surreal standing below sliding glass doors and balconies.

Here is the view looking north from the N. Highland bridge over the Norfolk Southern railroad, which was still in use when I took the first photo in November 1995. In the second photo, taken in February 2012, the old steel complex has been replaced by the cleverly named Steel Lofts. The construction of the BeltLine is well underway.

On the other side of the bridge, this is the view facing south towards the Old Fourth Ward water tower. The photo at left was taken November 26, 1995 and shows the Mead paper manufacturing plant. The photo at right was taken February 2, 2012.

Here's the same 1995 photo superimposed over a wider angle of the current view. I always love this effect of the past superimposed on the present.

Another shot from the same spot on the N. Highland Avenue bridge in 1995 facing south towards Cabbagetown and the Fulton Bag and Cotton mill.

Today the view is blocked by these apartments.

The stunning transformation of this area is possibly best summed up by comparing these two business descriptions from former and current occupants of the N. Highland steel site:

Then: GRINNELL Products delivers a complete suite of grooved piping solutions for a full range of mechanical, HVAC, commercial, mining, institutional, and industrial applications. Available products offer contractors, engineers, and distributors faster, more cost-effective tools for joining pipe over traditional welding methods.

Now: BROWBAR is the ultimate luxurious destination in Atlanta for brow grooming, full body waxing, organic facials, lashes, tinting & makeup & toxic free manicures by Zoya Nails! Whether it's creating the perfect brow shape for your face, removing all of your unwanted hair or rejuvenating your face, our professional aestheticians can help you achieve all of your goals.

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As always, thanks for joining me on these timed-warped "Sunday drives". Much more to come...

The Beltline at Edgewood

This is the view from Edgewood Avenue facing south towards Cabbagetown. The left photo was taken November 2, 1997 and the photo at right was taken January 25, 2012.

 

This is the southern end of the old Southern Railway "Decatur Belt" which was abandoned around 1995 - 1996. It is now considered one of the prime sections of the ambitious Atlanta Beltline project which will include a network of trails, parks, and transit. Even before the Beltline idea was officially hatched, it seemed likely that the old rail line would be converted into bike trails or new roads. Either way, it was obvious that big changes were on the way so I followed the entire line from Cabbagetown to I-85 near Ansley Park on a beautiful November afternoon in 1997 and took a few dozen photos along the way. Many more to come...

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Peters Street Depot

One of the inspirations for driving around Atlanta and photographing 19th century industrial buildings was found at the Brookhaven library way back in 1987, a fantastic book with the unglamorous title "Atlanta Historic Resources Workbook". Published by the Atlanta Urban Design Commission in September 1981, the book painstakingly details the history and significance of hundreds of structures and historic districts around town, everything from the Fox Theatre and the Flatiron Building to houses and old bottling plants. I managed to find a well worn ex-library copy on Alibris a few years ago. It's a fascinating time capsule and profiles many historic structures that have since been demolished.

One of the more obscure entries in the book was this nondescript freight depot in the Castleberry Hill area.

The old depot is the white brick building on the left of this photo I took from a parking lot off of Spring Street on January 10, 1990. A fire destroyed the structure in 1992.

Something I never anticipated when to returning to sites I had photographed two decades earlier is the astonishing proliferation of chain link fences. There are now fences on bridges, fences underneath bridges, fences blocking access to bridges, fences around parking lots, fences around vacant lots, fences along the railroad, fences around buildings, fences across driveways, fences across roads. Fences, fences everywhere! One such fence kept me from recreating the same perspective of the above photo, but this is pretty close. January 5, 2012.

A much better view of the old depot can be found on this 1989 postcard of the former Atlanta & West Point engine 290. Locomotive #290 was built in 1926 for the Atlanta & West Point and operated with the New Georgia Railroad during the late 1980s and early '90s. It also appeared in the movie Fried Green Tomatoes (...not to mention Decompositions) Anyway, #290 is now on display at the Southeastern Railway Museum in Duluth, GA.

Date of top photo: September 12, 1989

Bottom photo: January 5, 2012

An interesting comparison of bird's eye views from 1892, 1919, and 2010. What is striking about the first view is how self contained this area appeared to be in 1892. Before the advent of the automobile, houses, businesses, and industries were, by necessity, within walking distance of each other. The railroad depot was the focal point of the neighborhood. In the modern view, those relationships are completely lost.

Before The Georgia Dome part 2: Sharky's Machine

Today's post follows a very cool unplanned detour. The previous entry about the industrial area that once occupied the site of the World Congress Center and the Georgia Dome prompted reader dingo5150 to write that the intro to the 1980 Burt Reynolds movie Sharky's Machine was filmed there. A quick search on Youtube and there it was. It begins with a spectacular aerial scene - one long shot that begins high above the Westin Peachtree Plaza at sunset and slowly works its way down to Burt Reynolds walking along the railroad tracks west of town. It's like a real-life version of a Google Earth zoom. Here are some screenshots...

High above Peachtree Street in 1980, facing northwest. The area to the left of the frame is now the site of Centennial Park, The Georgia Aquarium and the World Of Coke.

Heading west at sunset. The Omni International (now the CNN Center) is at center, the World Congress Center is at right, and the Tabernacle is at the bottom of the shot.



The intersection of Techwood and Marietta Street is at bottom left.



This is the former industrial area that is now the site of the Georgia Dome and the expanded World Congress Center. The Magnolia Street tunnel that crossed beneath the elevated rail yard is in the foreground.



Here's a shot of Burt walking along the tracks with the World Congress Center immediately behind him.

And finally... a link to the video. Beware, you might just have "Street Life" stuck in your head for the next 2 days.

Before the Georgia Dome & the World Congress Center expansion (part 1)

January 10, 1990 I spent a marathon afternoon photographing old industrial areas of Atlanta, from Atlantic Steel, Howell Junction, Cabbagetown, Fourth Ward and Castleberry Hill all the way down to East Point and Hapeville. The most eerie and desolate area I visited that day was between the World Congress Center and Northside Drive in Vine City. The former industrial and impoverished residential area was being cleared to make way for the Georgia Dome and its accompanying endless sea of parking spaces. It was a surreal landscape. Street signs, power lines and trees were still in place but every single home had been demolished and cleared. Dominating the area was a massive 19th century railroad embankment that once carried trains travelling between Birmingham and downtown Atlanta. Within a few months it was gone too. In the early 2000s the World Congress Center undertook a major expansion that filled in the entire seen here.



The photo above shows the view facing north on Haynes at the intersection with Thurmond. I had heard tales of carjackings around here and had noticed several sketchy characters in the vacant buildings and under the bridges keeping a close eye on me, so I took these photos while the car was moving. My paranoia was compounded by the black car blocking the road just beyond the bridge in this picture. I managed to take only two photos before moving on.

Here's a Sanborn insurance map from 1911 that shows this intersection and the railroad bridges. Notice the cluster of buildings on the corner of Thurmond. They were all crammed into the space between the telephone pole and bridge on the left side of the above photo!



Since this area is now under the roof of the World Congress Center, a contemporary photo is impossible (unless someone out there can give me a security clearance and a GPS!) I'll admit I had to look at a couple of aerial photos to refresh my memory and figure out the exact location. I saved those aerial photos and placed an arrow on them to mark the spot. The first view is from 1988 and the World Congress Center is the huge building to the right. Northside Drive is on the left side of the photos.



This is the exact same view in 2007. The Georgia Dome is at the bottom of the frame.