Georgia Natural Wonder #275 - Winn Park - Fulton County (Part 4)

[Top Row Dawg]

Georgia Natural Wonder #275 - Winn Park

Reaching for Natural Wonders in Atlanta, I found this really cool park with Rock landscaping. And it gave me a chance to travel there on a Sunday recently when it was trying to rain. Atlanta's oldest car neighborhood, they made the streets extra wide being wary of room needed. Almost all the images are from my visit. 

 

Not hard to figure a scrolling nugget for this post. I could have used a Hot Chocolate as I was walking around this misty day. 



Less than two blocks from the hustle and bustle of Peachtree Street, Winn Park is a quiet sanctuary for strolling amongst the huge old oaks and babbling brook. 

 

I thought this park was designed by William Monroe, but it turned out to be designed by Julia Orme Martin the principal of Julia O. Martin Landscape Design. She was a landscape designer who helped restore and preserve Ansley Park in Atlanta, Georgia. She was a member of the Ansley Park Garden Club and served on the Board of the Ansley Park Beautification Foundation. A longtime member of the Board of Managers of the A. G. Rhodes Homes, she was also a sustaining member of the Junior League of Atlanta and a member of the Atlanta Town Committee of the National Society of the Colonial Dames in the state of Georgia. 

 
Martin and the old Governor's mansion in Ansley Park. 

Julia Martin designed gardens in the Southeast for two decades, beginning in the early 1970s. Like most women landscape designers of this period, Martin primarily worked in the arena of residential landscape design. Her most notable projects include the A. G. Rhodes Home on Boulevard Avenue (Atlanta, Georgia); the Henry B. Tompkins property on West Wesley Road (Atlanta, Georgia); and the Columbus Museum, once the home of W. C. Bradley (Columbus, Georgia). She is also known for her landscape designs for her primary home located on Westminster Drive in Ansley Park (Atlanta, Georgia) as well as the gardens she designed for Oldfield, her vacation home in Sargentville, Maine. Martin died on January 6, 1999 in Atlanta, Georgia.

Located in a natural ravine in the Ansley Park neighborhood (Atlanta's oldest auto-oriented suburb), Winn Park is a great place to visit to unwind and enjoy nature.

 
The buildings of Midtown tower over Ansley Park neighborhood. Stone work extends to sidewalk. 

A Hidden Urban Oasis

Found in Atlanta's Ansley Park neighborhood, Winn Park feels like a secret you've stumbled upon. 


You would not even know there was a park here at first. 

This 10-acre green space sits below street level, creating a natural sanctuary that somehow manages to muffle the sounds of city life just beyond its borders. 

 

Even on days when others are enjoying the park alongside you, there's a certain peacefulness that hangs in the air.

  
You enter the ravine from either side down stone steps. 

Perhaps it's the magnificent mature trees that do the trick .......

  
Their sprawling canopies create a shaded haven that makes even the hottest Georgia afternoons bearable. 

 
There is the main waterfall at the top of the park. 



It's the kind of place where you can actually hear yourself think again.


Nature's Touches

As you wander the winding paths through the park, you'll come across some small ponds that reflects the surrounding greenery. 

 

The gentle sounds from the charming waterfall provide a soundtrack to your visit.

   

Nature's own white noise machine cutting through any remaining city sounds.

 
First of many benches. Peering back at the skyscrapers overlooking the park. 

Don't miss the stone bridge that arches over part of the water feature. 

  
It's not just functional, middle image was from atop bridge, it's one of those spots where you'll instinctively reach for your camera. 

 
The second pond has rocky landscaped shoreline. 

These paths see a steady stream of neighbors walking dogs or getting in their daily steps, especially during weekday afternoons.

  
I found 20 different flowers in here. Daffodils, first flower of Spring leads us off. 

The park's undulating terrain adds dimension to your explorations, offering different viewpoints as you move through the space. 

 

If you can time your visit for sunset, you're in for a treat - the light filtering through the tree canopy creates a golden glow that transforms the ordinary into something rather magical.

  
Flowers on bark of tree. 

A Community Treasure

Within the park, you can find strategically placed benches that invite you to sit and stay awhile. 

  

They're perfect spots to read a book, have a conversation, or simply watch the world go by at a slower pace.

  

It's no wonder that photographers have discovered this location. 



Most photographers have figured out a better way to take panoramic images.



The natural beauty makes it a sought-after backdrop for engagement photos, family portraits, and wedding photography. 

  

The varied landscapes within this compact park offer countless framing opportunities for capturing special moments.

   
Dogwood trees were blooming.

The legend of the dogwood tree tells that the dogwood was once a massive tree chosen for the cross of Jesus Christ's crucifixion. Pitying the tree’s distress over this use, Jesus decreed it would henceforth be small and twisted so it could never be used for a cross again. The four-petaled flower forms the shape of a cross. The vertical petals are longer while the horizontal petals are shorter.  Each petal has an indentation at the tip, stained with rust and red, representing the rusty nail prints from the crucifixion and the blood-stained flowers, forever acting as a reminder of his crucifixion. The center of the flower resembles a crown of thorns. This American legend often appears around Easter, as dogwoods typically bloom during the spring season. The story is regarded as a powerful, faith-based narrative rather than a literal botanical history, as dogwood trees are not native to Israel.

Ways to Enjoy Your Visit

The expansive grassy areas practically beg for a picnic blanket and a basket of snacks. 

  

It's nice to enjoy a sandwich while surrounded by so much greenery, especially when you're technically still in the heart of the city.

  
Little memorial in the park and patriotism among the neighbors. 

Early mornings often bring yoga enthusiasts who unroll their mats in quiet corners of the park. 

 

The tranquil environment creates a wonderful setting for mindful movement. 

  
Even the dandelions are picturesque. 

Meanwhile, four-legged visitors and their humans make regular appearances - though do keep your dogs leashed as per park rules.

  
Daisy's, Red Bud and Forsythia. 

YELP

This is a decent 10-acre nature park that is in 3 sections that runs in a zig-zag formation. It is smack dab in the middle of the historic Ansley Park neighborhood. There is tons of free street parking available for the park's visitors.

  

The park is situated in a low-lying ravine. You either have to take stairs or walk down a semi step hill. One section of the park has a small stream that runs along it and is located between houses. It has a few picnic tables, some green space and trail that goes through it. The main section of the park has lots of green space and it's a decent option to spend a few hours.

  

Make a day out of it and couple this shady quiet park with a visit to the high museum. Old growth trees coupled with a slow paced neighborhood make this a great option to spend a few relaxing hours.

  

Nestled amongst the winding streets between Peachtree and Piedmont, Winn Park features an intimate charm that the far-larger Piedmont Park lacks.

  

You'll find the park itself can insulate you from the harried hurry of city life, and even deliver some measure of the peace that stressed executives move to the country for.

  
Thrift, stone steps, and a Tulip Tree.

Patricia W said Atlanta is my home town. My family and I have been coming to Winn Park for just under sixty years. I absolutely love it and find peace here. Sitting on "our" bench, basking in the sun, we look up and see the skyscrapers peeping above the graceful oak trees. Then we take our labs to play fetch in the ponds. I recharge by the waterfall, my favorite spot. This is our Central Park.

   
Azaleas, decorative landscaping neighborhood, and Pansies with an encore of the Tulip Tree. 

One word of caution: after a good rain, parts of Winn Park can get quite muddy, and some paths become slippery. Consider your footwear accordingly if you're visiting after wet weather. Despite this small drawback, this green space offers a little glimpse of nature just minutes from the Woodruff Arts Center.

Fulton County (Part 4)

Wow, 84 images little neighborhood park. We continue with our National Register of Historic Properties in Fulton County. 181 to go. Going to sneak in 41 today's post. 

College Park Historic District

The College Park Historic District represents the intact historic core of the community of College Park including its historic commercial and residential development, transportation corridor, planning and landscape features, and community landmark buildings. 

  

  

It became "College Park" due to the presence of Cox College and the influence of Dr. Charles Cox on the city's growth, street naming, and landscaping. 

 
Cox College then, Woodward Academy today. 

Georgia Military Academy (now Woodward Academy) was also a very important part of the city's educational heritage.



 
College Park has a beautiful residential neighborhood also. 

College Street School

The College Street School is significant in architecture because it is a good example of early 20th-century public school design featuring central hallway plans and large windows for light and air.

 
The College Street School meets National Register Criterion A because it served as the city's only white elementary school for nearly twenty years. 

  

Collier Heights Historic District

  

Collier-Perry-Bentley House

The Collier Perry Bentley House, c1823/1868. Built by George Washington Collier, Atlanta's first postmaster. Collier and his brothers owned hundreds of acres along Peachtree Road. 

  

In the late 1940s, everyone expected this home to be demolished in the name of progress. Noted architect R. Kennan Perry preserved and restored this house in the early 1950s, in one of Atlanta's first modern historic preservation efforts!

F. J. Cooledge and Sons, Company-Hastings' Seed Company

The F.J. Cooledge and Sons Company-Hastings' Seed Company Building fronts Marietta Street and abuts the Western and Atlantic railroad tracks in an industrial section northwest of Atlanta. 

  

The building was constructed in 1913 by the Mackle & Crawford Construction Company for F.J. Cooledge and Sons, as an industrial building which has housed glass, paint, and seed companies.

  

It is significant in architecture as a good and intact example of a utilitarian industrial design used for manufacturing facilities in the early 20th century.

Cox-Carlton Hotel

  
Hotel Indigo now.

  

 

Crescent Apartments

 
German Consulate during Olympics. Burned down twice.

 

  
This is where Margaret Mitchell typed away on a Remington Typewriter for five years to write Gone With the Wind.

William H. Crogman School

The William H. Crogman School is a two-story Romanesque Revival-style urban public school located in the African-American neighborhood of Pittsburgh in southwest Atlanta. Designed by Atlanta architect A. Ten Eyck Brown and built in 1922, the long rectangular school is clad in brick and supported by a reinforced-concrete frame. 

 

It is significant in the area of architecture as an excellent example of urban public school built in the Romanesque Revival style. Lofts now. 

   

The Crogman school is also significant for its association with education and black ethnic heritage because it represents the first generation of modern public schools in Atlanta that were built to serve the city's African-American students.

Cyclorama of the Battle of Atlanta

 
Building still at Zoo. Painting and Texas Locomotive have moved to new building Atlanta History Center in Buckhead.

 
Action at Degress Battery and Troup Hurt House (GNW #265).

H. B. Davis Building-Hotel Roxy

  

  

Degive's Grand Opera House

    
Also know as Lowes Grand Theater where they premiered Gone With the Wind  in 1939. Burned down, Georgia Pacific Building there now.

Dixie Coca-Cola Bottling Company Plant

 
  

East Point Industrial District

The East Point Industrial District is located in downtown East Point in the area to the east side of the railroad tracks, west of Martin Street, south of Norman Berry Drive, and north of Taylor Street. The district is comprised of five late 19th-and early 20th-century industrial complexes. These complexes include the White Hickory Wagon Works, Blount Carriage and Buggy Works, Couch Brothers Cotton Mills, the Atlanta Utility Works, and the Oak Knitting Mill Buildings.

   

These buildings with their relatively simple unadorned exteriors and heavy timber-framed interiors are good examples of late 19th century industrial architecture found in small towns and cities in Georgia and the southeast at the turn of the century.

  

Rutherford and Martha Ellis House



Empire Manufacturing Company Building

 

 

  

English-American Building (Flatiorn Building)

   

English Avenue School

 

  

Thomas and Rae Epting Lustron House

The Thomas and Rae Epting Lustron House is located at 1692 Brewer Blvd., Atlanta, Fulton Co., Georgia. 

 

The Epting Lustron House is significant in architecture and engineering as a good example of post-World War II prefabricated housing and an excellent and intact example of the "Lustron" type of prefabricated house. This innovative and unusual type of prefabrication employed porcelain-enamel baked on steel panels. 

 

Erected on a steel frame, easy to maintain, and supposedly well-priced, the Lustron house was touted as the technologically advanced prefab answer to the housing shortage after WWII.

Fairburn Commercial Historic District

 

 

  
Two Depots and you have to drive under the train tracks to get to the main drag. 

Fairlie-Poplar Historic District

 

Atlanta's oldest skyscrapers are located in the district.  

  
I use to walk this section of Atlanta as part of my walking tours of Atlanta. 

There also smaller Victorian, turn-of-the-century, and early twentieth century commercial and office buildings, and early twentieth century loft-type structures. 

  

Styles represented by these buildings include Victorian Eclectic, Chicago, Renaissance Revival, Neoclassical, Commercial, Georgian Revival, and Art Deco. 

  

The Fairlie-Poplar Historic District is significant as the largest and most concentrated intact part of Atlanta's late nineteenth and early twentieth century central business district.

Farlinger

The Farlinger, built in 1898, is a four-story Victorian Eclectic apartment/hotel building with commercial space on the first floor. Its triangular plan conforms to its wedge-shaped lot, located at the intersection of Peachtree Street and Ivy Street in downtown Atlanta, Fulton County, Georgia.

 

In terms of architecture, the building is significant as one of Atlanta's finest High Victorian Eclectic buildings. Its distinctive wedge-shaped plan, dramatic site and handsome detailing have made it a landmark in downtown Atlanta for more than eighty years.

  

The Farlinger is significant for its association with Alexander W. Farlinger. Farlinger was at one time president of the National Retail Grocers' Association. 

 

His elegant grocery store, located on the ground floor, was advertised as "the model grocery store of the United States".

Fire Station No. 11

 

  

First Congregational Church

 

First Methodist Episcopal Church, South

  

First Presbyterian Church of Atlanta

  



Ford Motor Company Assembly Plant

  

Forscom Command Sergeant Major's Quarters

'This building is the oldest structure still remaining in use at Fort McPherson. It was originally built as a civilian employee's quarters and was first occupied by the Civilian Post Engineer.


Front and back. 

The quarters were occupied by CWO Ulie H. Jeffers, then chief field clerk. CWO Jeffers occupied the quarters until late 1949 which was a period of approximately 27 years and probably establishes a record for continuous occupancy of Army quarters by one individual.


There is another house with even more history at Fort McPherson, Quarters 10. In 1925, Gen. Douglas MacArthur was assigned to Fort McPherson as post commander. Since his wife refused to live in the quarters, they rented an apartment downtown near the Fox Theatre. The MacArthurs left after having spent 89 days at Fort McPherson, when he was reassigned to Baltimore. A sleeping porch was added to the back of the quarters in 1935 for President Franklin D. Roosevelt's visits while he was en route to Warm Springs, Georgia. 

 
Ft. McPherson all about Tyler Perry Studios now.

Fort Peace (The Castle)

 

   

   

Fox Theatre

   
I saw the Rolling Stones, Patti Smith and the Ramones on the "Miss You" Tour. Tickets said "Cock Roaches." All three in Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Saw Frank Zappa, Santana in here too. 

 
Stars twinkle in ceiling. Gilded gold every where, even men's urinals. 



Fox Theatre Historic District



Freeman Ford Building

Located just northeast from the heart of downtown Atlanta, the Freeman Ford Building is a three-story, Art Deco-style building which was originally built to house the C. E. Freeman Ford automobile dealership.

  

The interior was originally open with three automobile ramps connecting the levels and an entry ramp into the building. There are now large apartment lofts on each level and the ramps remain with wood platforms built over some of them. 

   

With its terra-cotta frieze with abstract floral and geometric patterns and vertical projections, the Freeman Ford Building has impressive Art Deco detailing.

Fulton County Courthouse

  

Garden Hills Historic District

The Garden Hills Historic District in Buckhead is characterized by curvilinear streets set into the natural topography. 

 

The result is a subdivision which follows the tenets of Frederick Law Olmsted. 

  

The roots of this planned community, a great distance from the downtown Atlanta business hub, came from the rapid spread of the use of private automobiles after World War One, allowing citizens to live further away.

  
They even had apartments in here. This shopping strip gone now, but they had Fantasy Land Record Store here and the theater that played the Rocky Horror Picture Show for years. 

Garrison Apartments

 

 

 

General Electric Company Repair Shop Warehouse

The General Electric Repair Shop and Warehouse comprises two, large masonry buildings constructed in 1922 in Atlanta's Mechanicsville neighborhood, roughly ten blocks west of Turner  Field.

 

It's significant in the area of architecture because the two buildings are excellent examples of large industrial buildings that were used by General Electric as its Southeast regional repair shop and warehouse. Concrete-framed warehouses with brick infill and metal factory windows were commonly built throughout the United States in the 1920s and 1930s because they could be built quickly, they were fireproof, and their open interior plans could serve a variety of uses. 



It's significant in the area of commerce because it represents Atlanta's rise as a center for regional corporate headquarters and because it represents the increasing use and availability of electricity and electrical appliances in the Southeastern United States in the first half of the 20th century.

  
Apartments now. 

Georgia Institute of Technology Historic District

  
College of Management - George Woodruff School of Mechanics - Lorraine. 

  
College of Management at night - Technology Square - Uncle Henie Way.

  
Knowles Dorm - Power Plant, Engineering Lab - Ariel view Tech and Atlanta.


Original Campus.


Grant Field before the Georgia vs. Georgia Tech game 1925.

  
East Stands 1917 - West Stands 1967 - Champagne Jam 1978.

Georgia State Capitol



 
Hall where my Father In Law, Salvador Richard Pipitone, got French Légion d'Honneur. Bombardier 30 missions over France and Germany. 

 
General John B. Gordan, 3rd highest ranking Confederate General at end of Civil War. Multiple times Governor and Senator for Georgia. 

 
Looking up and down rotunda. Bust and portraits all the men who signed the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. 

 
House and Senate State Capital. 



Jeremiah S. Gilbert House

  

   

Glenn Building

  

May Patterson Goodrum House

 
Front and back.



Designed by Philip T. Shutze and is considered one of his "finest works."

  

 

Grady Hospital

    

Todays GNW gals are all UGA winner's for Winn Park.

   
Elena Kulichenko (High Jump) Kim Arnold & Courtney Kupets (Gymnastics) Kara Lynn Joyce (Swimming)