Atlanta
In 1836, the Georgia General Assembly voted to build the Western and Atlantic Railroad. Engineers drove a zero milepost into the ground on what is now Foundry Street in Five Points. Stephen Harriman Long, the railroad's chief engineer, predicted the spot would only support one tavern, a blacksmith shop, and a grocery store. By 1842, six buildings stood there with thirty residents living nearby. The town first bore the name Terminus before becoming Thrasherville after a local merchant built homes and a general store. John Edgar Thomson suggested renaming the settlement Atlanta as a feminine version of Atlantic. Residents approved the change and incorporated the city on the 29th of December 1847.
By 1860, Atlanta's population had grown to 9,554 people. Union forces under General William Tecumseh Sherman laid siege to the city for four months during the American Civil War. Confederate General John Bell Hood ordered the destruction of public assets on the 1st of September 1864, before retreating from Atlanta. Mayor James Calhoun surrendered the city to Union troops the following day. On the 11th of November 1864, Sherman ordered the burning of remaining military assets before his March to the Sea. Reconstruction efforts began immediately after the war ended in 1865. Henry W. Grady promoted Atlanta as a New South industrial center through his newspaper, the Atlanta Constitution. The state capital moved from Milledgeville to Atlanta in 1868 due to superior rail transportation networks.
In 1948, the mayor ordered the hiring of eight African-American police officers in exchange for voting support from the Black community. A controversy erupted over the 1956 Sugar Bowl when Pitt Panthers player Bobby Grier faced Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. Governor Marvin Griffin sent a telegram requesting Georgia Tech not engage in racially integrated events. Students protested by breaking windows and surrounding the governor's mansion until 3:30 a.m. On December 5, the Georgia Tech board voted 13, 1 to allow the game to proceed. Martin Luther King Jr., Ralph Abernathy, and students from historically black colleges led major organizing efforts during the 1960s. Public schools desegregated in 1973, nearly twenty years after the Supreme Court ruling. Maynard Jackson became Atlanta's first Black mayor in 1973 after African Americans exercised their newly enforced voting rights.
Atlanta won the bid to host the 1996 Summer Olympic Games on an unspecified date prior to the event. The city government undertook major construction projects without any governmentally funded portion of the $1.7 billion cost. Former Mayor Kasim Reed stated the games generated at least five billion dollars in direct economic impact. Over ten thousand contestants participated in 271 events representing 197 national Olympic committees. The Centennial Olympic Park bombing occurred despite extra security precautions during the spectacle. The Atlanta Housing Authority demolished nearly all public housing before residents received vouchers for private housing. CEO Renee Lewis Glover oversaw mixed-income development using HOPE VI program funding between 1994 and 2013. The Beltline project approved in 2005 converted a disused 22-mile freight railroad loop into a multi-use trail.
The 2020 United States census reported that Atlanta had a population of 498,715 people. Between 2000 and 2010, the city gained 22,763 white residents while losing 31,678 Black residents. African Americans made up 67% of the population in 1990 but dropped to 47% by 2020. Whites comprised 33% of the population in 2000 and grew to 39% over two decades. Young college-educated professionals drove much of this change with 9,722 new residents aged 25 to 34 moving within a three-mile radius of Downtown Atlanta from 2000 to 2009. The median household income reached $77,655 in 2022. Approximately 17.7% of the population lived below the poverty line during that same year. The Beltline project has been criticized for adverse effects on some Black communities despite stimulating retail development along its path.
Atlanta hosts the world's busiest airport by passenger traffic since 1998 except for 2020. Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport handled an estimated 93.7 million passengers in 2022. Delta Air Lines operates the largest airline hub at this facility and serves as metro Atlanta's biggest employer. Norfolk Southern moved their headquarters to Atlanta in 2021 while CSX maintains major classification yards there. The city claims the nation's third-largest concentration of Fortune 500 companies tied with Chicago. Over 75% of Fortune 1000 companies conduct business operations in the metro area. Media mogul Ted Turner founded CNN, TNT, TBS, and other networks in the city during the 1980s. Film production injected nine point five billion dollars into Georgia's economy in 2017 alone. Atlanta contains the fourth-largest concentration of IT jobs in the United States numbering over 85,000 positions.
The Fox Theatre hosted Lynyrd Skynyrd's famous live rendition of Free Bird recorded in 1976. Lead singer Ronnie Van Zant directed the band to play it pretty for Atlanta during that performance. Tyler Perry Studios stands as one of the largest film production studios in the United States. Marvel features such as Ant-Man and Captain America: Civil War utilized Atlanta facilities between 2015 and 2016. The city hosts four professional franchises including the Braves, Hawks, Falcons, and Atlanta United FC. The Braves won World Series titles in 1995 and 2021 after moving from Boston in 1966. Atlanta United FC won the MLS Cup 2018 defeating Portland Timbers two to zero. The Peachtree Road Race runs annually on Independence Day as the world's largest race. Over 35 million visitors come to Atlanta each year making it the seventh-most visited city in the United States.
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Common questions
When was Atlanta incorporated as a city?
Residents approved the name change and incorporated the city on the 29th of December 1847. The settlement first bore the name Terminus before becoming Thrasherville after a local merchant built homes and a general store.
What happened to Atlanta during the American Civil War in 1864?
Confederate General John Bell Hood ordered the destruction of public assets on the 1st of September 1864, before retreating from Atlanta. Union forces under General William Tecumseh Sherman laid siege to the city for four months and later ordered the burning of remaining military assets on the 11th of November 1864.
Who became Atlanta's first Black mayor and when did this occur?
Maynard Jackson became Atlanta's first Black mayor in 1973 after African Americans exercised their newly enforced voting rights. Public schools desegregated in 1973, nearly twenty years after the Supreme Court ruling.
How many people lived in Atlanta according to the 2020 United States census?
The 2020 United States census reported that Atlanta had a population of 498,715 people. Between 2000 and 2010, the city gained 22,763 white residents while losing 31,678 Black residents.
Which airport has been the world's busiest by passenger traffic since 1998 except for 2020?
Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport handled an estimated 93.7 million passengers in 2022 and has been the world's busiest by passenger traffic since 1998 except for 2020. Delta Air Lines operates the largest airline hub at this facility and serves as metro Atlanta's biggest employer.