Atlanta City Hall
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Since Atlanta was founded, there have been four official city halls of Atlanta.
Contents |
[edit] Antebellum
After half a decade of makeshift meeting places for city business (including hotels and grocery stores), in 1853 mayor of Atlanta John Mims purchased the four-acre (16,000 m²) "Peters's Reserve" from Richard Peters for $5,000. On this land (current site of the Georgia State Capitol) was built a two-story brick structure (with an additional two-story cupola) for the city hall as well as some court functions. Each floor was 70 by 100 foot providing nearly 15,000 square foot of space. It was opened on October 17, 1854 and served for three decades during which time it served as campgrounds for the occupying Union army during the war and was briefly the state capitol during 1868 when the capital first moved from Milledgeville, Georgia. It was demolished in 1885.
[edit] Gilded Age
The old chamber of commerce building was four stories tall and located on the northeast corner of Pryor and Hunter (now MLK Blvd). It was the city hall from 1882 to 1911.
[edit] Roaring Twenties
Next was in the old customs house and post office on the north side of Marietta Street between Forsyth and Fairlie. Purchased from the U.S. federal government by Atlanta mayor Robert Maddox for $70,000, this imposing structure served as city hall for nearly twenty years. It was so solidly built that the first company hired to raze it actually went out of business before completing the job.
[edit] Modern
The current city hall, architected by G. Lloyd Preacher, was completed in February of 1930. An annex was completed in 1989, and the building was designated a "landmark building exterior" on October 23 of that year.
This building at 68 Mitchell Street SW occupies the site of the house that General William Tecumseh Sherman took as the headquarters of his occupation after his Atlanta Campaign and before his March to the Sea (Sept.–Nov., 1864). The house was one of the few buildings in Atlanta that Sherman did not destroy. At the time, it belonged to Richard F. Lyon, an associate justice of the Georgia Supreme Court [1].
[edit] City Hall East
Some city hall services have been available at City Hall East, located on Ponce de Leon Avenue northeast of downtown. The building formerly belonged to Sears, and is in an area soon to be redeveloped, possibly becoming loft apartments. It is across the street from the historic DuPre Excelsior Mill, more recently known as the Masquerade nightclub.
The old Sears 2 million square foot building and surrounding 23.7 acres was purchased by the city in 1991 for $12 million with plans to place 2,000 police and fire employees there and later rent out space to county, state and Federal agencies. Only one floor was ever occupied by the Atlanta police in addition to a ground floor art gallery and the structure was sold for $22 million in 2006 to be developed into a large mixed use neighborhood.
 |
This section is a stub. You can help by expanding it. |
