American Lives

State Farm Arena, Centennial Olympic Park Drive NW.

Atlanta's State Farm Arena opened in 1999 as Philips Arena.

It was constructed to be the home of the National Basketball Association (NBA) team, the Atlanta Hawks, and replaced on the site an arena from 1972 which was called The Omni Coliseum and which had structural issues.

Operating as a multi-purpose arena, it can seat just under 20,000 and is owned by the Atlanta Fulton County Recreation Authority. CNN Center and world headquarters have been located just across the street in the original Omni International Complex from 1976 onwards.

See more here: Postcards of Atlanta: The Omni.

600 Peachtree, Bank of America Plaza, 600 Peachtree St NE.

Bank of America Plaza, completed in 1992, was constructed to be the headquarters for Citizens and Southern National Bank (C&S) but, in the age of multiple bank mergers and takeovers, it became NationsBank and, currently, Bank of America, one of the largest US commercial banks.

Appearing as a dramatic-looking post-Modern sentinel in the middle of the Atlanta skyline, it can be seen for miles around and is the tallest building in the south-east US.

Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, 1000 Peachtree St NE.

The Midtown Atlanta headquarters of the Atlanta Federal Reserve at the current address was completed in 2001, replacing an earlier 1918 headquarters which was in the middle of Downtown Atlanta, about two miles (three kilometers) south.

The current site includes the 746,000-square-foot building (69,306 square meters), made of White Cherokee marble from a quarry in Georgia, and a footprint of eight acres (3.2 hectares) which includes three acres (1.21 hectares) of public green space and plazas.

This building replaced structures from an earlier Atlanta when this intersection was known as a prime shopping and commercial district, as Atlanta moved northwards along Peachtree Street in the early twentieth century.

The 2001 construction was built as Midtown development and gentrification began gathering pace into the current age.

The Federal Reserve also houses the Atlanta Monetary Museum, which focuses on the history of money.

Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, 1000 Peachtree St NE.

Several architectural elements from the Atlanta Fed's previous buildings were moved to prominent spots at the bank's new location in 2001.

Five marble columns from the Atlanta Fed's original 1918 building stand on the front plaza at the corner of Peachtree and Tenth streets. Atop one of these columns rests the cast bronze eagle (3,300 pounds / 1,497 kilos and sixteen feet wide / 4.9 meters) which was commissioned for the bank building when it was erected in 1964.

Savi Provisions, 988 Peachtree St NE, Midtown.

Dating from 1923 and part of the Atlanta History Center Midtown campus, Commercial Row is a prime example of the commercial flavor of the 'Peachtree Corridor' between Fifth to Fourteenth streets prior to massive redevelopment of the area in the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s.

It sits on its original footprint and retains its high structural integrity, one of the very few remnants from the earlier age. It has housed grocers, restaurants, and retail shops, and was declared a City of Atlanta Historic Building Site in 2008.

Elbow Room Sports Pub & Pizzeria, 248 Pharr Road NE.

On east-west-running Pharr Road, a block from Peachtree Street, this building at one time housed a veterinary clinic but, since the 1990s, has been home to various sports bars and restaurants.

It's representative of a time just previous when 'Buckhead Village' was home to a large quantity of bars and nightclubs. Upscale Buckhead has moved away from this base of business operation as it was attracting crime, and various other issues also arose.

Elbow Room has been in the building since the early 2000s.

Forsyth-Walton Building, 52 Walton St.

Built in 1900 and for the entire span of its lifetime it has housed mainly retail businesses. It is located in the central Downtown area of the historic Fairlie-Poplar District, and as late as 2015 it was threatened with demolition for redevelopment. A public outcry halted that process.

It was placed on the Atlanta Preservation Centers list of 'Most Endangered Places', although it has no other historical protection listed as of yet. The Art Deco facade was added around 1936. Take a look at the hooped 'covers' over the two entrances.

300 Ponce De Leon Ave NE, Kodak Building and Atlanta Eagle.

The Kodak building was erected in the early 1900s as a private residence. Star Photo moved into the building in 1951 as Ponce was transformed into a busy commercial corridor, and the building was plastered in signage, including the Kodak sign.

Located to the right in the photo is the former Atlanta Eagle LGBTQ nightclub. The Atlanta Eagle Building began as a typical Ponce De Leon Ave mansion, built in the late nineteenth century. In 1949 a one-story commercial addition was added onto the front facade. The original L-shaped residence is of the Tudor-revival style, while the twentieth century renovations and addition are typical of mid-century modern design.

The Kodak building served as campaign HQ for former Atlanta mayor, Shirley Franklin, who was in office from 2002 to 2010. Both buildings are being moved into protection with historic status by the City of Atlanta.

1180 Peachtree, overlooking Hotel Midtown 14th St NE.

From the southern edge of Piedmont Park on 10th Street can be seen be seen the winged spires of 1180 Peachtree Street (2006) overlooking the hotel at Colony Square (1974), currently doing business as The Starling.

Colony Square was the first mixed-use development in the south-east US, an early precursor to the building boom which has transformed the Midtown district.

1401 Peachtree St NE, Ansley Park.

On this site stood the home of Eugene Mitchell, father of 'Gone With the Wind' author, Margaret Mitchell. It served as her grand childhood home. It would have been from these front steps that, as a six year-old child, she would have witnessed the 1906 Atlanta Race Massacre.

Following Margaret's untimely death in 1949, Stephens Mitchell, Margaret's brother, demolished the home in 1952, according to the wishes stated in Margaret's will that the house not become a shrine.

The current building was completed in 1955, undergoing complete renovation in 2020, with the results being seen here. It is located on the eastern side of Peachtree Street, near the connection with the northern end of West Peachtree Street, an area which is known as Pershing Point.