United States of America
Atlanta, capital city of Georgia, located in the northern part of the state.
The seat of Fulton County, Atlanta also occupies portions of De Kalb County. Atlanta
is located on the Piedmont Plateau, a rolling upland region on the eastern slope
of the Appalachian Mountains. The city’s high mean elevation—323 m (1,059 ft) above
sea level—distinguishes Atlanta from most other southern cities and gives it a more
temperate climate than urban areas located further south. The city itself is relatively
small in land area at 340.8 sq km (131.6 sq mi), but the metropolitan region is
one of the largest in the southeastern United States, encompassing 15,867 sq km
(6,126 sq mi), occupying 20 counties, and containing a number of smaller established
municipalities such as Decatur, Marietta, Douglasville, and Roswell.
The population of the city of Atlanta declined from 425,022 in 1980 to 394,017 in
1990, as residents moved to suburban portions of the metropolitan region. During
the 1990s, however, the city increased in population. In 2000 Atlanta had 416,474
Urban renewal and interstate highway construction projects in the 1960s wiped out
areas of black, low-income housing in the inner city. Subsequently, blacks moved
into areas of the city previously inhabited mainly by whites, while thousands of
whites departed Atlanta for the suburbs. As a result, in 1970 Atlanta had a black
majority for the first time in its history. According to the 2000 census, blacks
represent 61.4 percent of the city’s population; whites, 33.2 percent; Asians, 1.9
percent; Native Americans, 0.2 percent; and those of mixed heritage or not reporting
race, 3.2 percent. Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders numbered 173 at
the time of the census. Hispanics, who may be of any race, constitute 4.5 percent
of the population.
The population of the Atlanta metropolitan area increased at a rapid rate in recent
decades. In 1980 it had a population of 2,233,000; in 2000 it had 4,112,200 inhabitants.
In the metropolitan area, whites were the largest group. However, in recent years
the area has experienced an influx of new cultural and ethnic groups.
The Atlanta region’s recent growth in population has been matched by rapid economic
growth. The undisputed business capital of the Southeast, Atlanta houses the headquarters
of some of the largest and best-known companies in the United States, including
Coca-Cola, United Parcel Service, Georgia-Pacific Corporation, Turner Broadcasting
System, and Delta Air Lines, Inc. In addition, more than four-fifths of the nation’s
largest businesses maintain branch offices in the metropolitan area. The city is
also gaining a reputation as an international business center.
Other important components of Atlanta’s economic mix are government agencies and
activities, transportation facilities and industries, and the convention trade.
Municipal, county, state, and federal agencies, including the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, employ a large number of Atlanta area residents. Atlanta’s
William B. Hartsfield International Airport, one of the largest and busiest air
terminals in the United States, has established the city as a leader in air transport
and commerce. The city is also served by three interstate highways, as well as freight
and passenger railroads. The hospitality and convention industries also contribute
to Atlanta’s economy, with three large trade facilities within the downtown area:
the World Congress Center, the Merchandise Mart, and the Apparel Mart. The two largest
newspapers in the city are the Atlanta Constitution
and the Atlanta Journal.
The Urban Landscape
Atlanta is sometimes described as a “horizontal city.” With few natural barriers
to contain or restrict its growth, the city has developed in a sprawling, dispersed
fashion. The city’s low population density levels contrast sharply with those of
older, more densely packed northern cities such as New York, Boston, or Chicago.
The tallest and most closely grouped buildings are found in downtown Atlanta around
an intersection called Five Points, and in the area immediately north. This is the
business and historic heart of the city. Further north of this area are Midtown
and Buckhead, the location of many of the city’s cultural institutions, Piedmont
Park (Atlanta’s largest public park), and a number of older, traditionally white
residential communities. To the immediate east of downtown is the Auburn Avenue
community, the historic center of the city’s black business, religious, and entertainment
life. Also in the east are Inman Park (Atlanta’s first planned suburb), and Georgia’s
Stone Mountain Park, featuring the largest granite outcropping in the world and
a massive relief carving of Confederate leaders from the American Civil War (1861-1865);
the park also contains historic houses, a museum, recreational facilities, and a
Points of Interest
Notable structures and sites of interest in downtown Atlanta include the State Capitol
(1889); Underground Atlanta, a subterranean marketplace with shops, bars, and cafes;
City Hall (1930); and the Peachtree Center business complex. The Georgia Dome, the
home of the Atlanta Falcons football team, and the Philips Arena, where the Atlanta
Hawks basketball team and the Atlanta Thrashers hockey team began play in 1999,
are also located downtown.
Points of interest in southern Atlanta include the Atlanta Zoo; the Cyclorama (a
109-m/358-ft mural depicting the Civil War Battle of Atlanta); The Wren’s Nest (former
home of 19th and early-20th century writer Joel Chandler Harris); and Turner Field,
home of the Atlanta Braves baseball team, which opened in 1997. Northern Atlanta
is the site of Ansley Park residential community, the governor’s mansion, and the
Atlanta Botanical Gardens.
Eastern Atlanta features the Martin Luther King, Jr., National Historic Site (including
King’s birthplace; Ebenezer Baptist Church, where King preached; and the King Center,
where his tomb is located). The Herndon Home (the residence of Atlanta’s first black
millionaire, a former slave named Alonzo Franklin Herndon) and Six Flags Over Georgia
amusement park are located in western Atlanta.
Educational and Cultural Institutions
Among the region’s private institutions of higher learning are Emory University
(1836); Agnes Scott College (1889); the Cecil B. Day Campus of Mercer University,
originally established as Atlanta Baptist College in 1969; Oglethorpe University
(1835); and the Atlanta University Center, the largest consortium of black colleges
and universities in the nation, comprised of Spelman College (1881), Morris Brown
College (1881), Morehouse College (1867), Clark Atlanta University (combined in
1988), the Interdenominational Theological Center (1958), and the Morehouse School
of Medicine (1981). Publicly supported colleges include Georgia Institute of Technology
(1885) and Georgia State University (1913).
Prominent cultural and historical institutions in the city include the High Museum
of Art (1983), designed by the noted postmodern American architect Richard Meier;
the Atlanta Symphony; the Atlanta History Center, which maintains a history museum,
historic houses and gardens, and extensive library and archives; Nexus Contemporary
Art Center; the Robert W. Woodruff Arts Center; the Apex Museum; the Michael C.
Carlos Museum at Emory University; the Clark Atlanta University Art Gallery; Fernbank
Science Center; and the Carter Presidential Center, a library-museum dedicated to
the presidency of Jimmy Carter, the 39th president of the United States.
Atlanta’s founding was based on two events that occurred in the 1830s—the forcible
removal of the Creek and Cherokee peoples and the extension of railroad lines into
the state’s interior. In 1837 surveyors for the Western and Atlantic Railroad selected
a locale 11 km (7 mi) southeast of the Chattahoochee River as a southern terminus
for their line. A small settlement, aptly named Terminus, arose at this location.
While work was progressing on the Western and Atlantic, Terminus grew, changing
its name to Marthasville in 1843 and to Atlanta (in honor of the railroad) in 1845.
Atlanta was incorporated as a city in 1847.
Two more railroads soon established connections with Atlanta. The extensive rail
facilities made Atlanta the center of a growing regional transportation network
and hastened the city’s development as a commercial center. By the American Civil
War (1861-1865) Atlanta’s population had grown to over 9,000. As a vital Confederate
production center and supply depot during the war, Atlanta became a prime objective
of Union General William T. Sherman in his efforts to subdue the Confederacy. Sherman
captured Atlanta on September 2, 1864, and subsequently burned much of the city.
Despite the destruction, Atlanta recovered and grew quickly after the war. Between
1865 and 1867, almost 20,000 people migrated to the city. Atlanta became the temporary
capital of Georgia in 1868 and the permanent state capital in 1877. By the end of
the 19th century, Atlanta had become the largest city in the state.
Atlanta experienced strong racial tensions in the early 20th century. In 1906 the
city suffered a serious race riot, and in the 1920s Atlanta served as headquarters
for the Ku Klux Klan, a white terrorist society whose activities are directed against
blacks and other minorities. On the other hand, Atlanta was also home to organizations
founded to combat racial violence, such as the Association of Southern Women for
the Prevention of Lynching and the Commission on Interracial Cooperation. As a result
of the rigid racial segregation which characterized Atlanta and the rest of the
South during this period, an extremely rich and vibrant black business, cultural,
and entertainment center arose along Auburn Avenue to the east of downtown.
By the end of World War II (1939-1945), Atlanta’s laws promoting racial segregation
were beginning to erode. In comparison to other southern cities, Atlanta became
progressive on racial matters. A movement for increased black political and civil
rights led to a successful voter registration drive in 1946 and the peaceful desegregation
of four of the city’s public high schools in 1961. In 1973 Atlanta became the first
major city in the South to elect a black mayor, Maynard Jackson. In 2001 Atlanta
elected its first woman mayor, Shirley Franklin.
Atlanta’s physical landscape also underwent a dramatic transformation during the
mid-20th century. In 1952 the city annexed 238 sq km (92 sq mi), which added more
than 100,000 people. The skyline of Atlanta changed as numerous high-rise buildings
were built in the downtown and midtown areas. New interstate highways and Hartsfield
International Airport drew more people and businesses to the metropolitan area.
In 1996 Atlanta hosted the Summer Olympic Games. The games were generally considered
a success by most Atlantans, although many athletes and international visitors complained
about transportation and lodging problems. In addition, the games were marred when
a pipe bomb exploded in Centennial Olympic Park, which had become a popular gathering
place for tourists during the games. The bomb killed one person and injured more
than 100 others. The Games provided many benefits to Atlanta, including the buildings
and facilities that were constructed or improved for the event. A reconfigured Olympic
Stadium became Turner Field, the home of the Atlanta Braves baseball team. The 8-hectare
(21-acre) Centennial Olympic Park in the city’s downtown area represented the largest
urban park built in the United States in the last 25 years. The Olympic Village,
which housed athletes, became student housing at Georgia State University. Preparations
for the games resulted in $2 billion in publicly financed transportation projects,
including $700 million in improvements to Hartsfield Atlanta International Airport.