ATLANTA 



460 



ATLANTA 



THE HEART OF ATLANTA 



TLANTA, GA., the capital, the 

 largest city of the state and the county seat of 

 Fulton County, is situated in the northwestern 

 part of the state, about seven miles from the 

 Cluittahoochee River. Macon is about 100 

 miles southeast and Augusta is 171 miles east. 

 It is popularly called the Gate City of the 

 South, on account of its excellent transporta- 

 tion facilities, being served by the following 

 railways: Western & Atlantic; Central of 

 Georgia; Georgia; Louisville & Nashville; 

 Nashville, Chattanooga & Saint Louis; South- 

 ern; the Atlanta & West Point; Atlanta, Bir- 

 mingham & Atlantic railways, and the Seaboard 

 Air Line. Electric lines run from the city in 

 all directions. The city has grown rapidly, 

 from a population of 2,572 in 1850 to 154,839 in 

 1910; the Census Bureau estimated that the 

 number had increased to 184,873 in 1915. The 

 city limits originally described nearly a circle, 

 with the Union Depot as the center, but the 

 boundary has been broken by the annexation 

 of several suburbs. 



Atlanta has a delightful and healthful loca- 

 tion near the Blue Ridge Mountains, 1,050 feet 

 above sea level, this ridge being the divide 

 n the watershed of the Gulf of Mexico 

 and that of the Atlantic Ocean. The elevation 

 gives the climate an invigorating effect. His- 

 torically and commercially, the city is one of 

 the most conspicuous in the South; it also 

 enjoys high rank as an educational center. 



Parks and Streets. About 850 acres are 

 assigned to parks and recreation grounds, the 

 most prominent being Grant, Piedmont and 

 La kc wood parks. Druid Hills, Brookwood and 

 Ausley Park are among the most desirable 

 residence districts. The streets are made at- 

 re by grassy lawns and trees; among the 

 finest avenues are Peachtree Street and Capitol 

 Avenue. There are golf courses, country clubs 

 and good country roads. The United States 

 army post, Fort McPhcrson, is a point of 

 intrrot in the vicinity. A monument in mem- 

 ory of Lieutenant Brumby, who was the first 

 t<> raise the United States flag at Manila, is 

 one of the city's ornaments. 



Educational and Public Institutions.* At- 

 lanta is the seat of the Georgia School of 

 Technology, which is a branch of the State 

 University at Athens; it also is the home of 

 Atlanta University, Clark University, Atlanta 

 Baptist College, Atlanta College of Physicians 

 and Surgeons, Atlanta School of Medicine. 

 Agnes Scott College and Cox College. In addi- 

 tion to these an excellent public school system, 

 a Carnegie Library and the state library, with 

 over 80,000 volumes, serve the educational 

 interests. There are also about forty news- 

 papers. Six institutions are devoted to the 

 education of negroes, who form about one- 

 third of the population. The city has a num- 

 ber of high class sanatoriums. The most 

 notable structure is the capitol, which was 

 completed in 1889 at a cost of $1,000,000. The 

 $1,000,000 Federal building, the Union Station, 

 erected at a cost of $900,000, the chamber of 

 commerce, the city hall, the auditorium, with 

 a seating capacity of nearly 8,000, and the 

 Hurt building are among the noteworthy build- 

 ings. Atlanta is the location of one of the 

 Federal Reserve banks. A Federal prison is 

 also located here. 



Commerce and Enterprise. Atlanta has an 

 extensive export trade in cotton, tobacco, grain, 

 horses and mules. Its tobacco trade is the 

 largest south of Richmond, Va., and it ranks 

 second in the United States as a mule market. 

 The industrial products include cotton goods, 

 furniture, shoes, steel products, flour, lumber, 

 cottonseed oil, patent medicines and bever- 

 ages. There are several large cotton and fer- 

 tilizer factories. A dam across the Chatta- 

 hoochee River furnishes abundant power for 

 the manufactories, which are rapidly increasing. 



History. The first settlement at Atlanta, in 

 1837, was called Terminus. It was incorporated 

 as a town in 1843, under the name of Marthas- 

 ville; the present name was adopted in 1845, 

 and the city charter was granted two years 

 later. It was an important strategic point in 

 the War of Secession as early as 1861, when it 

 was the depot for Confederate military sup- 

 plies. This made it an objective point in 



