West End (Atlanta)

The West End neighborhood of Atlanta is on the National Register of Historic Places and can be found southwest of Castleberry Hill, east of Westview, west of Adair Park Historic District , and just north of Oakland City. It would be difficult to find a neighborhood more closely linked to the city's, state's, region's, and nation's historical development than the West End district of Atlanta. Architectural styles within the district include Craftsman Bungalow, Queen Anne, Stick style, Folk Victorian, Colonial Revival, American Foursquare and Neoclassical Revival.

History

Early History

The backbone or framework for almost all urban development has been transportation and West End is no exception. Before there was a West End or an Atlanta, the area was a crossroads. Newnan Road connected the town of that name to Decatur and Lawrenceville. Crossing this road was the Sandtown Road going west to an Indian town of that name. Near this junction around 1830, Charner Humphries established an inn/tavern which came to be known as Whitehall due to the then unusual fact that it had a coat of white paint when most other buildings were of washed or natural wood. From a frontier outpost in the 1830s, the district evolved into an independent political entity closely linked by rail and roads to its neighbor Atlanta. In 1894, it was annexed by Atlanta as a distinct ward following two decades of planned suburbanization. In this century, West End has endured many changes in its metamorphosis to an "intown" neighborhood while retaining its own distinctive character and vitality. This has been accomplished both by adaptation and participation in change and by its citizens' recognition of the district's special history. By the 1880s many wealthy Atlantans built large estates here and when they came, the main street of Gordon Street became a bustling commercial district. From 1894 to 1930, West End grew rapidly in population and prosperity. An examination of building permits for Peeples, Gordon, Lee and Lawton Streets shows a large number of single family residences being built and increasing commercial buildings and churches going up along Gordon and at the long established business district at Gordon and Lee.National and local prosperity and the mobility created by the automobile in the 1920s helped West End to grow. Approximately fifty businesses were now clustered at Gordon and Lee with branches of Sears, Firestone, Piggly-Wiggly, and Goodyear. Churches and schools increased to serve the growing population. Schools began to dot West End, the largest being the 1923 Joseph E. Brown High School at Peeples and Beecher. West End became a desirable suburban community in the 1880s, and grew rapidly in population and prosperity, so that by 1930 there were more than 22,000 residents. Notable residents included Atlanta mayor Dennis Hammond, Evan Howell,governor James Smith (1872-77), John Conley (son of Governor Benjamin Conley), Thomas Stokes (founding partner of Davison's Department Store), L. Z. Rosser (president of the Atlanta Board of Education), J. P. Allen (clothing store owner), T. D. Longino (medical doctor and alderman), J. N. McEachern (insurance executive), as well as several authors such as Frank L. Stanton, Madge Bigham and Joel Chandler Harris, known for his Uncle Remus Tales. Both during his life and up to the present, Harris has perhaps been West End's most famous resident. He attracted such figures as President Theodore Roosevelt and Andrew Carnegie to Atlanta, the former returning after Harris' death to lecture for the Uncle Remus Memorial Association.

Transition

After 1930, West End was an aging but still vital Atlanta community. This vitality is most clearly evident in the West End Businessmen's Association (originally formed in 1927). In 1937, the Association pushed for extension of the National Housing Act title providing for home modernization loans, and in subsequent decades (1950s and 1960s) for economic accessibility and population stabilization, including segregation. With the group's support, Gordon Street was widened, Interstate 20 was built across West End's northern fringe, and the old business district (along with large amounts of residential housing) was demolished in favor of a mall development. Completed in 1973, the mall's accessibility was later augmented by part of the city's latest transportation system, a MARTA station, across the street. The West End Businessmen's Association obviously was successful in many areas, but it failed in stopping "white flight" and the movement of Afro-Americans into the community. By 1976, West End was eighty-six percent Afro-American.

Renewal

By the 2000s, much of it still looked blighted but a few bright spots were popping up due to a wave of investment in intown Atlanta beginning to rejuvenate the area. As West End was once described as one of Atlanta's most socially diverse and culturally rich communities, it is again returning to the tradition of its past, as it relates to the regenerating of community value and revitalization. Perfect example of revitalization in West End are Sky Lofts, which converted long vacant SEARS lot. Sky Lofts brought a lot of new residents, especially young professionals, looking for urban lifestyle. Historic houses are being rehabbed and renovated by new and old residents. West End as it's name suggest (named after London's theater) is also a mecca for artists. The most popular place of their meetings is the newly opened coffee shop "The Grounds" located in Sky Lofts. West End is also a pioneer neighborhood for the Beltline project in Atlanta. The first model mile of Beltline is going to be completed by the end of spring 2008. The model mile will consist of the biking and walking path, improvement of White Gordon Park, and one new park behind Brown Middle School. In addition Trees Atlanta is going to plant 200 trees native to West End which will be part of 22-mile linear arboretum that will follow the Beltline corridor.Livable Center Initiative (LCI) [http://www.atlantaregional.com/cps/rde/xchg/arc/hs.xsl/308_ENU_HTML.htm] granted funds for West End to renovate and improve its streetscape to make it more walkable community.West End is also included in the Peachtree Corridor plan [http://www.peachtreecorridor.com/corridor_segments/southside_mixed_use/] . With the Peachtree Corridor, the Beltline, and MARTA, West End will be one of the most transit-oriented neighborhood [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transit-oriented_development] in Atlanta.

Landmarks

The biggest tourist spot here is Joel Chandler Harris Home (Wren's Nest), West End Performing Arts Center and Hammonds House. It is served by the West End MARTA. The newest addition as well as one of the tallest buildings in the neighborhood is mixed-use development called Sky Lofts.

Trivia

• Settled in 1835, the original name of the West End was White Hall (after the White Hall Inn); it was renamed in 1867 after London's theatre district.

• White Hall Inn, a two-story building located on the corner of Lee Street and Ralph David Abernathy Blvd, was so named because it was painted white when most buildings of the time were unpainted.

• White Hall Inn was also the stagecoach shop, tavern, post office and home of the 503rd Militia district, as well as the election precinct.

• West End officially became a part of Atlanta on January 1, 1894.

• The West End District was the first locally designated historic district in the City of Atlanta.

• The layout of the original West End was a main street and adjacent grid pattern streets; three right turns and you were back where you started

• Outkast made their public debut at Club Fritz, in West End.

• Artists who lived in West End Ronnog Seaberg and Steve Seaberg invented Acrobatic Poetry. Acrobatic Poetry is a collaboration of literature and performed visual art. [http://www.markwolfe.com/seabergs/index.html]

In the successful play Madea Goes to Jail by Tyler Perry, Madea refers to the West End twice; first she says she lives in the West End, then says to the "country pimp" to try and cross Lee street or come to the 4200 block of Avon Avenue.

References

[http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/travel/atlanta/whd.htm NRHP site]

External links

* [http://www.atlantawestend.com West End Neighborhood Development, WEND,Inc.]
* [http://www.wrensnestonline.com/ Wren's Nest]
* [http://www.ourwestendnewsletter.org/ West End Newsletter "Our West End Newsletter"]
* [http://www.hammondshouse.org/ Hammonds House]
* [http://www.beecherbungalow.com/ Beecher Bungalow]
* [http://skyloftsatlanta.com/ Sky Lofts]
* [http://www.thegrounds-coffeehouse.com/ The Grounds Hip Coffee House]
* [http://www.flybytheatre.org/ Fly By Theater ]
* [http://pages.prodigy.net/mreily/ Joe Brown High School]