Atlanta City Hall

Atlanta City Hall
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Current Atlanta City Hall, listed on National Register
Location:	Atlanta, Georgia
Coordinates:	33°44′55.85″N 84°23′25.26″W / 33.7488472°N 84.39035°W / 33.7488472; -84.39035Coordinates: 33°44′55.85″N 84°23′25.26″W / 33.7488472°N 84.39035°W / 33.7488472; -84.39035
Built:	1930
Architect:	Preacher, Lloyd G.; National Construction Co.
Architectural style:	Late Gothic Revival
Governing body:	Local
NRHP Reference#:	83000227[1]
Added to NRHP:	July 13, 1983

Since Atlanta was founded, there have been four official city halls of Atlanta.

Antebellum

Atlanta's first official city hall

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 (30 m) providing nearly 15,000-square-foot (1,400 m²) 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.

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.

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.

Modern

The current city hall, designed by G. Lloyd Preacher, was completed in February 1930. An annex was completed in 1989, and the building was designated a "landmark building exterior" on October 23 of that year.^[2]

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 Supreme Court of Georgia.^[3] This building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

City Hall East (1990-2010)

Main article: Ponce City Market

Between 1990-2010 some city hall services had been available at City Hall East, located on Ponce de Leon Avenue in the Old Fourth Ward neighborhood, northeast of downtown. The building formerly belonged to Sears. The city of Atlanta sold the building in June 2011 to Jamestown, a developer, which agreed to pay $27 million for the property. It was renamed Ponce City Market.

Photo gallery

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  Atlanta City Hall seen behind The Catholic Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, which was built in 1873

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  Atlanta City Hall overlooking trees

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  Front facade of building

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  Front door detail

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  Gothic Revival top

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  Street level ornamentation

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  The home previously on the current City Hall site

References

Atlanta portal

1. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2006-03-15. http://nrhp.focus.nps.gov/natreg/docs/All_Data.html. 
2. ^ http://apps.atlantaga.gov/citydir/URBAN/atl_cit.htm
3. ^ Atlanta City Hall, City of Atlanta Online

• NYT 1991 article
• Atlanta, Georgia, a National Park Service Discover Our Shared Heritage Travel Itinerary