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atlanta:forgotten

Forgotten Atlanta

A non-exhaustive list of lost and forgotten parts of Atlanta, and the remnants left behind.

Airports

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport/Candler Field

There are a number of remnants around Atlanta's airport and provide clues to its past.

1940s water tank

A water storage tank, located at the corner of McMillian Way and Toffie Terrace, dates to at least the 1940s and the days of Atlanta's temporary passenger terminal, and may be the oldest structure still standing at the airport.

1960s Terminal On-Ramps

The 1960s terminal once located at the north end of the airport was completely removed after the midfield terminal complex opened. But there are still a few clues to its once existence.

Exit 74 on I-85, with its sweeping northbound-only on ramps, once was the main access to the terminal from the highway. It's largely unchanged since its 1960s configuration

On the same road, between its underpass at Virginia Ave and the intersection at Loop Road, there is an abandoned now disconnected exit ramp that once served the entry/exit roads to the terminal. The left hand ramp was demolished when the gas station was built, but the right hand once still remains.

The S-curve of Woolman Pl just south of Loop Rd follows what was once the exit loop from the terminal, and still has the original concrete pavement. The Renaissance Hotel to the south very roughly marks where the terminal once stood.

Airport Blvd/I-85

Airport Blvd, which runs NE/SW alongside I-85, roughly follows the original alignment of I-85 (and before that US-29) before the entire freeway was shifted westward when the midfield terminal complex was built.

Morris Army Airfield

Morris Army Airfield is a former military airfield located on the grounds for Fort Gillem. It was closed along with the base.

Stone Mountain Airport

Stone Mountain Airport is an abandoned former private airport located just east of Stone Mountain Park. It's now used as an R/C plane base.

Roads and Freeways

Buford-Spring Connector

The Buford-Spring Connector, running north from Spring St to Buford Hwy, is the original alignment of I-85. It was bypassed in the 1980s when the larger viaduct was built alongside it.

Freedom Parkway/Stone Mountain Freeway

Both Freedom Parkway and the Stone Mountain Freeway are disconnected segments of a planned but never completed freeway from downtown Atlanta to Stone Mountain. The land near downtown Atlanta was cleared but construction was halted due to the Atlanta freeway revolts, and sat vacant until eventually Freedom Parkway was built as a short downscaled parkway from the Downtown Connector to Ponce De Leon Ave. Part of the land cleared included a future interchange with the also unbuilt Interstate 485, which is now the location of the Carter Center and Presidential Library/Museum. The borders of Freedom Park around the Carter Center show cross-shaped pattern, hinting at the proposed path for both 485 and the eastward highway towards Stone Mountain.

Interstate 420

Interstate 420 was a cancelled freeway that would've extended from the current end of Langford Parkway to I-20 near Flat Shoals Rd. The only remaining clue that it exists is a short stub of Langford Pkwy just east of I-75/85 where it ends at Lakewood Ave.

Interstate 485

Interstate 485 was planned as a second north-south freeway through Atlanta, cutting through what are now the neighborhoods of Morningside-Lenox Park, Virginia-Highland, and Grant Park, connecting the ends of current day SR 400, and I-675. It included proposed interchanges with two other unbuilt highways - SR 10/Freedom Parkway/Stone Mountain Freeway which is now the Carter Center, and one with I-420.

Westside Highway

Langhorn Street near I-20 turns into a short divided highway before ending abruptly at an on-ramp to Westview Dr. This was possibly the only portion built of a proposed but never realized highway up the west side of the city.

Rail

MARTA

Streetcars

There are a few remaining clues to Atlanta's once vast streetcar system.

Ashby Street Trolley Barn

A remaining trolley barn and substation located at new 975 Lowery Blvd still stands and is in use today as part of the King Plow Arts Center.

Inman Park Trolley Barn

The Trolley Barn, at 963 Edgewood Ave, is a former streetcar barn in Inman Park for a line that extended to Downtown. It's now preserved and used as an event space.

Interurban Tunnel

There is a remaining streetcar tunnel under a railroad line near Bolton Rd in NW Atlanta that once served the Atlanta-Marietta interurban.

Morgan Falls Dam

Morgan Falls Dam located in Roswell was built to provide hydroelectric power for Atlanta's streetcars and is still in use today.

Stewart Ave Substation

The Stewart Ave substation, is a former still standing electrical substation that served streetcars running on what is now Metropolitan Parkway.

Freight

Atlantic Steel

A short stub track, branching just south of Peachtree Station, on a bridge over I-75, and ending just north of Atlantic Station, is one of the last remnants of the old Atlantic Steel mill. It's still used occasionally today by Amtrak as a storage track.

atlanta/forgotten.txt · Last modified: by khorvath