The aerial photographs below depict a block of land just Southeast of a highway interchange that forms the intersection of interstates 85 and 20. The image on the top was taken in 1949, two years after the interchange was planned for construction, and the image on the bottom depicts the landscape that remains following decades of expressway construction and redevelopment of surrounding land. While this area once belonged to a compact residential community with a thriving economy, significant changes in land use have reduced the area to being nearly undeveloped. Despite the area’s current state, the residential neighborhood that once existed in this block had undergone over half a century of rich and complex history, with both notable changes and consistencies throughout its lifetime.
Continue readingthe histories of our streets
Georgia State University students map Atlanta's past
Author: Andrew Parks
Within the Peachtree Center District in downtown Atlanta, many working Atlantans throughout the area visit a small, partially underground food court known as the Hub at Peachtree Center, which offers a variety of restaurant and retail services as well as other amenities. This frequently visited food court is located between Peachtree Street and Peachtree Center Avenue, easily accessible from the nearby MARTA station. The Hub is surrounded by several office buildings with pedestrian walkways that connect directly to the food court, providing businesses with convenient access to the numerous available services offered.
The Hub was designed by architect John C. Portman, who also designed many of the adjacent office buildings and hotels along with most of the high rises in the Peachtree Center District, contributing greatly to the transformation in Atlanta’s skyline in the 1960s. Due to challenges in its aging infrastructure, the mall underwent several renovations over the last three decades, with the goal of reinstituting the outdated food court to a central gathering location for the millions of annual visitors staying in surrounding hotels.
This site is particularly interesting to me because I often walk here to eat lunch before my next class, and it has become a regular location in my daily schedule. Also, a scene from one of my favorite movies, Baby Driver, was filmed here in 2017, in addition to various parts of the GSU campus as well as other areas in downtown.
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