Georgia Natural Wonder #280 - Whittier Mill Park - Fulton County (Part 9)

[Top Row Dawg]

Georgia Natural Wonder #280 - Whittier Mill Park

I found this place trough Internet search and felt it would fit in with my search for Natural Wonders of Georgia. We have included Mills in our previous post numerous times. High Falls - High Shoals - Factory Shoals - Cedar Shoals - Hurricane Shoals - Watson Mill - Hard Labor Creek - Ruff Mill - Sope Creek - Roswell Mill - Poole's Mill - Porterdale Shoals - Hamburg State Park - Scull Shoals - Sweetwater Creek - Brown's Mill - Banning Mills. 

 
Whittier Mill Park 

We haven't featured our artist enough on these Scrolling Nuggets, but Whittier Mill is calling baby, for the earliest Steve Miller.  That's Boz Scaggs singing.


Whole back side of this album rocked.

Wikipedia

Whittier Mill Village, originally Chattahoochee, a recognized neighborhood of Atlanta on the Upper Westside of Atlanta. It is roughly contiguous with the Whittier Mills Historic District, both locally- and NRHP-listed. The mill and the adjacent village were founded in 1895. The area is a good example of a Southern mill and village. Only remnants of the mill remain. However, the housing areas mostly have survived.

In 2001, the historic district included 98 contributing buildings, one contributing structure, and one contributing site, as well as 16 non-contributing buildings. (See below in post)

City of Atlanta



Significance

Following the Civil War and the national economic depression of 1873 to 1879, prosperity began a slow return to the South in general and the Atlanta area in particular. Of great importance in this prosperity was the International Cotton Exposition in 1881 in Atlanta, the first grand exposition held in the South. As historian Alice Galenson has noted, "The surge of interest in industrial endeavor in the South was manifested in the Atlanta Cotton Exposition of 1881, often credited with having inaugurated the cotton mill boom." For the next four decades, the three southern states of Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina experienced a tremendous growth in the construction of cotton mills, drawing on both local and New England capital and the exploitation of a large supply of cheap labor in the form of poor, mountain and/or rural whites. Whittier Mill and its surrounding village was established in 1895 and is a prime example of this early development of the southern mill and attached village. Its subsequent history illustrates the rise and decline of the textile industry in the South as well as the shift in industry and business from the older, industrial centers of the North and Northeast to the "Sunbelt". Although only a few remnants of the actual mill itself remain, the housing built for "operatives" stands largely intact, providing a good idea of life in a typical mill village of turn-of-the-century Atlanta. 

Whittier Mill

Served by the Southern Railroad (several trains a day) and an electric streetcar line running every thirty minutes, the mill and its village nestled in a small valley near the Chattahoochee River. Construction began in May 1895 and was completed in less than a year at a total cost of $180,000. Less than a quarter mile away was the Chattahoochee Brick Company, and a March 6, 1895 letter from that firm's vice president G. W. Parrott outlined and confirmed the financial arrangement between his corporation and Whittier Cotton Mills. The brick company sold thirty acres along the river and their manager's existing brick cottage and would construct a 40,000 square foot cotton mill, warehouse, and a storehouse of "the very finest hard brick" as well as thirty frame cottages for the operatives. The mill owners would apply half of the equipment from their existing mills in Massachusetts and half would be new. Chattahoochee Brick received $2,500 in cash and $50,000 in stock. 



The mill company was named after the Whittier family of Massachusetts, which had started the business in Lowell. The actual owners, however, were Paul Butler, son of Civil War general Benjamin Butler, and several other prominent capitalists. Nevertheless, the Whittier family provided the major officers, including president Helen Whittier and treasurer Nelson Whittier. According to newspaper reports, it was Helen Whittier who selected the site for the southern branch of the ten mill system and who officially threw the switch to open the factory in 1896. Miss Whittier had come to Atlanta prior to the 1895 Cotton States and International Exposition and was obviously attracted to the area for the firm's southern expansion. Her nephew Walter R. B. Whittier was installed as the manager, a job he would retain until 1936. 


Hedgerows home.

A special feature in the Atlanta Journal in July 1896 (six months after the mill had been operating) was subtitled "Quite a community itself/The Operatives Colonized in Comfortable Cottages -- Built by Capitalists of New England." In a typical Victorian prose, the writer stated: "One of the most picturesque places in the vicinity of Atlanta is Whittier Mills. . . . The houses of the operatives are built around the brow of the hill in a semi-circular shape. . . [that] resembles a half-moon. . . . The greatest number of these houses face the mill and are built of the best material with terraced yards and plenty of green grass, some of the more thrifty of the occupants already having roses planted and growing. Altogether they present an appearance of thrift and care not usually seen among people of this class." Guarding over the workers was manager Walter "Boss" Whittier in a large, brick house named "Hedgerows" on a nearby hill, and superintendent W. H. Salmon, also living on the property. The homes of these two men were heated with steam from the plant. 



Other than jobs, which started in 1896 at one dollar a day, the mill owners, over the years, provided a settlement house, store, a school building with space for church services, and a golf course. In the east half of the mill store were dry goods, groceries were located in the west half and the Chattahoochee post office occupied the northwest corner. Directly across Parrott Avenue from the company store what was and is known as the "ark" which housed the barber shop, a shoe shop, a pharmacy, and the men's showers. 



Housing was rented from the mill and paid for by the room. Most units were duplexes and were built with locks on both sides of the doors to each room so the interiors could be easily reconfigured when families needed more space. At $.50 per room, $1.50 per week, or $6.00 per four week month, the price included all maintenance and utilities. The mill kept the houses painted and the grass cut, provided water and electricity, and made all plumbing and electrical repairs. The original houses had wells for water, but when there was a mill expansion in 1926, the new houses had running water. The 1926 housing is distinguished by less steeply pitched roofs than the original dwellings and was designed by the Boston architectural firm of Parsons and Wait. Paul and Sid Whittier (sons of W. R. B. Whittier) oversaw the construction, which was of "Common Southern Pine," fireplaces and chimneys of Chattahoochee brick, and sited on pier foundations. The streets were unpaved, but rear alleys helped provide good drainage and the lots were smaller for easier upkeep. To this day, the 1926 construction is still called "New Village" by long time area residents. 



That some "outside" help was needed, however, is reflected in W. R. B. Whittier's 1910 request that the Atlanta Sheltering Arms Association of Day Nurseries set up a settlement in the village. In addition to the nursery, there were kindergarten classes, night school for adults, clubs for boys and girls, and mothers' meetings with a social worker. A physician held free clinics twice weekly, and a brass band was organized for the young men, who performed in a bandstand located north of Parrott Avenue. The settlement house was in a large, three story building at the southeast corner of Parrott and Whittier Avenues (based on the 1911 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map), but was dismantled in 1926 with the waning of the settlement house movement in the United States during that decade. Sections of the settlement house were used to construct other houses in the expansion of the village that year. 



Despite the many amenities provided by the mill owners, life for the workers was not easy even if it was a step up from rural or mountain poverty. Sid Whittier, the last member of his family to run the business, showed why this was when he stated that even with the low pay, ". . . there were hundreds of people for every job and none of them had ever worked in a factory before." The 1900 census lists 635 people working at Whittier Cotton Mills including 211 weavers, 135 spinners, 60 spoolers, 48 dolphers, 29 carders, 23 speeders, and 20 drawers. Many of the dolphers, weavers, and spinners were children as young as seven or nine years. The failure of southern states like Georgia to pass compulsory school attendance laws made it possible to employ children and helped the southern mills to have profits of twenty to seventy-five percent while their counterparts in New England might be actually losing money. Another factor in such profits was long hours. During its first decades, Whittier Mills ran seven days a week with two shifts, midnight to noon and noon to midnight. Six day work weeks were standard. According to I. A. Newby in Plain Folk in the New South, mill villages were often plagued with alcoholism and violence partially as a result of the hard conditions. He recounts numerous incidents throughout the South and one from Whittier Mills in 1905 when two male youths who had been drinking assaulted two young girls on a public street. All were workers at the mill. This and other similar incidents undoubtedly brought about the establishment of the settlement house in 1910, but it is difficult to imagine how the workers could realistically be expected to take advantage of its programs when whole families worked such long hours. 

 

These workers or operatives primarily produced cotton yarn, ranging in size from "twos," used for window cord, to "forties," the finest of cotton filaments. "Softbacks" for gloves and mittens, braiders' yarn, druggists' twine, and wrappings for hose were also manufactured. Mississippi delta cotton was used for thread and California cotton was used for yarn. Yarn-wrapped water hose used for firehoses was the mills' specialty. The use of cotton fiber to make flexible firehoses had been developed by Paul Butler and Nelson Whittier prior to 1895 and the business had a virtual monopoly on the production due to patents on the circular loom and twister machinery these two men had developed. It was this part of the Whittier Mills production which was moved to Georgia with the opening of the new southern branch. 



Nevertheless, the mills' wares changed with the times. In 1914 experiments with "mineral wool" or asbestos were recorded and in the late 1920s blue denim was sold to the United States penitentiary in Atlanta. During World War II, the mills made cloth for sandbags for the federal government. At other times, Whittier Mills produced corduroy cloth, garden hosing, and even synthetic cloth. In September 1926 the trade journal Cotton reported that the Silver Lake Company had applied for a charter to produce cordage at Whittier Mills in what was now called the suburb of Chattahoochee. It was this expansion of the mill by 65,000 square feet which brought about the already mentioned addition to the mill housing. 



The 1930s proved a particularly difficult time for Whittier Mills and its workers. The Whittiers had had a virtual monopoly on firehose yarn production in the South until the depression when Callaway Mills hired a key worker, who stated Sid Whittier, ". . . took a complete set of yarn samples and the 'know-how'" with him. Bibb Manufacturing later hired knowledgeable personnel from Callaway, and three southern mills began to compete for the lucrative firehose business. Again according to Sid Whittier, ". . . the last to pirate his way in had a cost advantage because he comes in with more modern machinery." To earn extra money during the Depression, millworkers cut pieces for Ideal American Jigsaw puzzles in the evenings. 



The loss of the monopoly and the depression ended the mills' expansion. Permanent lay-offs and short-term strikes occurred at Whittier Mills, which had begun to lose money on its Georgia operation. In 1934, the year of the General Textile Strike throughout the country in which so many southern millworkers participated, "Boss" Whittier left the operation. J. J. Scott of Scottdale Mills near Decatur became general manager. Scott divided his time between his own mills and their competition at Whittier Mills in the town of Chattahoochee. Scott put the mill back into the black and in 1936 placed Hanford Sams in the manager's position of both his mills. Sams eventually became vice president of the Whittier Mills board of directors under president Scott, who had taken over that position from Sid Whittier in 1936. 



During the 1940s, the new management and wartime contracts brought renewed economic stability to the mill and the village. The employees' newsletter, Whittier Mills & Silver Lake News, reported on the prowess of the company baseball team with detailed accounts of winning seasons, playing against Clarkdale Thread Mill and Celanese (of Rome), and in 1948, the construction of new bleachers for the fans. That year the Osborne family were the big stars: the father, "Tiny," was once a major league player for Chicago and Brooklyn in the National League; "Jeter," one of his seven children, played in the Southern League for the New Orleans Pelicans; and another son, "Bottles" played for Rochester (AAA ball) and Birmingham in the Southern Association. In 1949, the trolley from Atlanta, filled with free riders for the occasion, made its last run to Chattahoochee. 



Major changes occurred, however, in the 1950s. In 1952 the City of Atlanta annexed Chattahoochee, an unincorporated township since its foundation. It was also in this decade that J. P. Stevens sold Whittier Mills to Scottdale Industries. Shortly after the mills' sale in 1954, the new owners began selling the mill houses to the tenants starting at $2,000. Butler Way was extended to occupy the old baseball grounds and several of the houses were moved there to create more equitably sized lots. 


By mid-1971, Whittier Mills has closed for good following a decade of increasing competition from cheap imports. Company officials cited the problem as 
". . . the accelerating flood of imports from low wage countries into our textile market. Added to this problem is the shortage of textile workers in this area." Although it was reported at the time that low unemployment figures for Atlanta meant the workers would probably find new jobs quickly, newspaper reports later that year stated that still unemployed workers from Whittier Mills would be eligible for extended benefits from the federal government because job loss was deemed the result of unfair trade practices. 


For the next two decades, the mill buildings went unused. Several were burned by arsonists in 1986 and the owners proposed to turn the site into a landfill in 1980. Over the protests of local residents, the remaining structures were demolished in 1988 by Victorian Artifacts, Inc., which valued the massive heart-of-pine timbers and the antique bricks. The original mill tower which housed offices and a water tank for fire protection still remains. Meanwhile, a small investment group began to renovate the area's housing for resale. A 1991 article in the Atlanta Journal/Constitution Homefinder section indicated that the renovation work had been successful with the old mill houses selling for up to $75,000. One of the "amenities" cited in the article was that residents were seeking historic status. 

Conclusions

Whittier Mill is a local reminder of a period of great importance to the history of Atlanta and the Southeast. As the "New South" emerged from the ruin and chaos of civil war and reconstruction, Atlanta became a regional symbol and center for economic rejuvenation. As the increasing railroads tied the Southeast to Atlanta, and both the region and the city to a national market economy, industries developed along the rail lines and near labor supplies. The mill villages provided a transitional area for rural and mountain people to adjust to communal and even urban life in some cases. Under the paternalistic, if hard and demanding, eye of the mill owners and managers, poor whites did indeed achieve a new lifestyle as the twentieth century dawned while enduring low wages, long hours and the utilization of child labor. The mills themselves also offered the change for interregional cooperation between southern and northern investors. 



Whittier Village was connected early on by streetcar lines and a commuter railroad to the larger metropolis. Churches and schools were built to encourage socialization, education, and worker stability. The placement of the settlement house in the community in 1910 shows the prevalence of the Progressive Movement's ideas in Atlanta as it helped introduce modern medical treatment and group activities to the "villagers." 



The large, community-oriented buildings of the mill and settlement house are unfortunately gone. The distinctive and typical mill tower (needed to contain a water tank for fire protection) remains to create a visual anchor for the industrial nature of the development, however. Most important, the housing of the workers or operatives remains and gives a true sense of time and place, especially if interpreted realistically. According to local residents, there has been very little new construction in the community since the 1920s, thus enhancing the value of Whittier Mill as an historic district. 

Whittier Mill Village

Our park located in a secluded pocket of northwest Atlanta in the 120-year old neighborhood of  Whittier Mill Village.  Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the official city park property was once the site of a cotton mill, and the surrounding homes were the residences for the mill workers. 

  
                 
Today, the park is a beautiful green space, offering something rarely found in any metropolitan area. 

Chattahoochee River Lands

In addition to its natural allure, the park includes recreational amenities such as bocce courts, uncovered picnic pavilion in what was the Carpenter Shop, playground, and lawn, making it an ideal spot for family gatherings and outdoor activities. These features enhance the park’s appeal, providing visitors with a range of leisure options while enjoying the picturesque surroundings and historical charm. Limited street parking available.

 

Spanning 22 acres, the park offers an extensive trail system that weaves through a wooded area along the riverbank of the Chattahoochee River. These unpaved trails provide hikers and nature enthusiasts with a tranquil and immersive experience. The trails also showcase remnants of the 19th century cotton mill, blending natural beauty with cultural heritage. 



Whittier Mill Park, located along the Chattahoochee River in northwest Atlanta, reflects the city’s industrial heritage and community preservation efforts. Established in the late 19th century, the site was home to the Whittier Cotton Mills, a New England–owned textile factory that opened in 1896. The mill brought industrial jobs and led to the creation of the surrounding Whittier Mill Village, a planned community with millworker housing, a school, and a park—rare in Southern mill towns of the era. 

 

After the mill closed in 1971, the site fell into disrepair and was nearly lost to development. Community members, with support from the City of Atlanta and the Trust for Public Land, rallied to preserve the historic landscape. In 2003, Whittier Mill Park officially opened, incorporating remnants of the original mill structures, including the imposing brick tower and foundations of the weaving room. 

  

Today, Whittier Mill Park serves as a public greenspace and a living testament to Atlanta’s industrial past, maintained through continued neighborhood stewardship and historic preservation.

Hiking Atlanta's Hidden Forests

Originally a mill town started by “carpet baggers” from Massachusetts, Whittier Mills is now a historic neighborhood with an adjacent park hidden in an industrial area of town. You can still see some of the mill buildings at the beginning of this hike, but the best part of the are the quiet trails along the Chattahoochee River. 

 

One of the newest up-and-coming parks in Atlanta, Whittier Mills provides easily-accessible hiking along the Chattahoochee as part of its web of trails, as well as an historic mill site.

A Picturesque Retreat: Whittier Mill Park

Whittier Mill Park, cradled by the calming embrace of the Chattahoochee River, is where history whispers through the trees and nature paints a stunning landscape. This hidden haven, with its picturesque mill and lush greenery, invites you to step away from the city’s hustle and immerse yourself in tranquility. 

 

Picture this: a leisurely stroll along winding trails, the sun filtering through a canopy of leaves, and the gentle rustling of the wind accompanying your every step. Whether you’re an art lover capturing the mill’s timeless beauty, a nature enthusiast reveling in the flora and fauna, or simply someone seeking a peaceful picnic spot, Whittier Mill Park offers a blissful escape that’s as soothing as it is inspiring.

Yelp

I love Whittier Mill Park! On the site of a former mill, this hidden gem includes a huge field great for kite flying, dog running, or whatever strikes your fancy. There are two structures on the grounds that are all that is left of the mill. These are great for photo shoots. 

  

One of my favorite parks in Atlanta. It's never crowded. I guess not too many people outside of the neighborhood are even aware of this park's existence. It's a great park with a huge open field with nice grass. There's also a nice sized playground and beautiful mill ruins to explore. My daughter and dog love it.

TRD Travels to Whittier Mill 

Well first of all, the majority of the Park was under construction. There was no place to park. I parked in grass along curb.



Signage.

  

I walked to the Carpenter Shop. 

 

 

 
Dedicated bricks and pavilion.

Then I walked past the playground horse shoe box.

 

I walked up the steps to the Hedgerows Trail. 

  

Walked along the Hedgerow Trail for three acres surrounding demolished home Walter "Boss" Whittier.

  

Saw a deer. 

 
Hello "Boss".

Walked along fence with railroad track beyond. Fence ended, and I circled back. Beautiful tree.

  

Hedgerow Trail. 

 

Natural Wonder part of Post.

 

Noticing trees and making way back down steps. 

  

Then I ventured to the tower. 

  

Kind of tricky getting beyond gate for images inside tower.

 

Worth saving, this Mill Tower. 

  

Tower image overload.

   

Following the trail sign to the Chattahoochee River but it proved too far, way past railroad track, and I settled for image of this tree.

  

Little brick patio & benches on way back to car.

  

Took my usual Squirrel image. Drove around Mill Village. 

  

Restored Mill homes.

  

Fulton County (Part 9)

Well, that was short and sweet. May not have been a Natural Wonder of Georgia, but it qualified as a Natural Wonder of Atlanta. Actual Deer in Atlanta. We conclude our listings for National Register of Historic Places listings in Fulton County, Georgia.

Virginia-Highland Historic District

In 2011, readers of Creative Loafing voted Virginia–Highland "Best Overall Neighborhood."  


It is named after the intersection of Virginia Avenue and North Highland Avenue, the heart of its trendy retail district at the center of the neighborhood.

  
Adair Mansion, Briarcliff Hotel, John Howell Park.

  
The Colonnades, Orme Park Bridge, Summerfest.

  
In June 2011, Atlanta Magazine designated Virginia Highland "favorite neighborhood overall". 

  
In 2012, readers of Creative Loafing voted Virginia Highland  "Best Walkable Neighborhood". 

  
In 2020, Southern Living editors named Virginia–Highland number 4 on their “The South’s Best Neighborhoods”  list.

Anne Wallace Branch-Carnegie Library of Atlanta

The Anne Wallace Branch of the Atlanta Public Library is significant in architecture as a good intact example of the use of the Georgian Revival style for a public building. 


It retains most all of its original exterior features-red brick, centered entrance portico with columns, windows with keystones, entrance fanlight, etc

 
It is significant as having been built to be a Carnegie branch library using the Carnegie-sponsored plans created by the New York City firm of Whitfield and King, with local architect Harry L. Walker assigned to the project.



In 1886, steel magnate Andrew Carnegie, wealthy beyond all measure, vowed to utilize his money for benevolent causes. 

 

Between 1889 and 1916, Andrew Carnegie established 1,681 Libraries in the US. 

 

Carnegie paid for 30 libraries in Georgia, 24 public libraries including branches in Atlanta and Savannah, and 6 college libraries. Of these, 20 public libraries still survive. 

Washington Carver Homes

Located on Holcomb Ave in East Point, GA, this property was built in 1951 by the City of East Point Housing Authority. It was recently added to the Georgia Department of Community Affairs and the National Register of Historic Places for its mid-century segregation-era architecture.

   

Built exclusively for African Americans, the buildings are an important record of racial segregation during the mid-20th century. The buildings embody key architectural features and site planning practices characteristic of public housing developments across the nation including functional, utilitarian designs; repetitive building forms; an ordered “superblock” plan; substantial open spaces; and integral circulation networks. Developed across the country between 1930 and the early 1950s, the United States has a dwindling number of these low-rise, multi-unit public housing complexes. Washington Carver Homes is the only remaining example in East Point.

Washington Park Historic District

 
The park itself opened in 1919, it holds the distinction of being the first designated recreational space for African Americans in the city. 

 

  

Booker T. Washington High School


Designed by Atlanta-born architect Eugene C. Wachendorff, the building incorporates medieval and Byzantine elements, including the dramatic main entrance with five arches in two tiers.


Booker T. Washington Lifting the Veil of Ignorance.

  

West End Historic District

  
Wrens Nest - Joel Chandler Harris House, Hammonds House Museum, John Thrasher Home.

  
Evan Park Howell Estate estate, often called Woodlawn, George F. Bolles Home, the owner of a store specializing in books, stationary, and fancy goods on Marietta Street, Clarke Howell, Jr. Home. All these Black and White homes are demolished.

   West End places and West Belt Line.

Western Electric Company Building

  
Now known as the Telephone Factory Lofts, a mixed-use loft building along the Belt Line trail East Atlanta.

  
Train tracks are now the Belt Line. Rotary telephone door.

  

 

We are in the National Register of Historic Places on this post that started with a Mill, we bring back Steve Miller for second TRD Scrolling Nugget.



Westinghouse Electric Company Building

The building is representative of early-20th century fire-proof construction with its concrete frame clad in brick and concrete mushroom support columns. The building is also significant in the area of architecture for its design by Atlanta-based architect Emit C. Seiz. 

 

Lastly known for its association with the Westinghouse Electric Company and the expansion of the electrical industry in Atlanta in the early 20th century.

 

During its most recent rehabilitation, the building was converted to office space and lofts.

 

Westview Cemetery

 
Westview Cemetery is the largest civilian cemetery in the Southeastern United States, comprising more than 582 acres, 50 percent of which is undeveloped. 

  
Grave stones in cemetery - George King of King Hardware Stores - Atlanta mayor Isaac N. Ragsdale.

 

The cemetery includes the graves of more than 125,000 people. 

  
Westview Abbey is a mausoleum and chapel, built in 1943 and houses 11,444 entombment's and space to hold cremated remains. 

  

   
Twenty-seven stained glass panels adorn the Spanish Gothic-style chapel and depict Jesus Christ's life from nativity through crucifixion and resurrection.

  
My Grandmother is buried here. Pop and Mom at Grandma Hazel's marker they had installed. TRD with Grandma Hazel. That car really dates that image.

Whitehall Street Retail Historic District

Peachtree Street becomes Whitehall Street after it crosses south of Marietta Street.

 
"Atlanta's original commercial and retail core." 

 
In the Antebellum era, the area was also the site of the city's slave market. Black man, with a gun, reading a book, and relaxing in public in front of former slave Auction Building. All things forbidden in slave society. 2nd image is 1871. 

 
In 1907, the M. Rich Building was completed. 

 
Pink Pig - Lighting of Christmas Tree. The memories of youth. 

During the early 1900s, many notable companies operated in this district, including Rich's, H. L. Green, Kress, and McCrory's.

  
Vintage images Whitehall Historic District. 

Whittier Mills Historic District

We featured the Mill Park in this post as a Atlanta Natural Wonder, the residential buildings in the historic district are what makes this a National Register of Historic Places listing in Fulton County. The Mill Worker homes are one-story wood-framed dwellings situated on small lots and share uniform setbacks. The dwellings were constructed as duplexes and triplexes.

   

Collectively the mill village retains a high level of historic integrity and most houses retain their original design, materials,and craftsmanship.

  

Winecoff Hotel

   

The Winecoff Hotel fire, of December 7, 1946, was the deadliest hotel fire in American history, killing 119 hotel occupants, including the hotel's original owners. 

  
All of the hotel's occupants above the fire's origin on the third floor were trapped, and the fire's survivors either were rescued from upper-story windows or jumped into nets held by firemen. 

 
Some misjudged the ten-foot-wide alley between the rear of the Winecoff and the Mortgage Guaranty Building and attempted to jump across.

 
A photograph of one survivor's fall won the 1947 Pulitzer Prize for Photography. 

 
The rear of the Winecoff Hotel in 1984 with the fire escape stairway added during reconstruction after the fire.



Winnwood Apartments

The Winnwood Apartments (1460 W Peachtree St NW) is a historic, 48-unit Georgian Revival building in Midtown Atlanta. 

  

Following a multi-million dollar restoration, the city partnered with developers to convert the property into permanent supportive housing for previously homeless Atlantans.

 

Originally built in 1931, the property features a deep U-shaped footprint, central courtyard, and historic restorations protected by Easements Atlanta.

George Jr. and Emily Winship House

The George and Emily Winship, Jr., House is a two-story Tudor Revival-style residence that stands atop a hill in the Peachtree Heights East subdivision. 

 

The exterior of the home features elaborately patterned brickwork, half-timbering, and multi-paned windows. The home is also ornamented with limestone details, including the archways of the front projecting portico. Meanwhile, the front door is made of mahogany and weighs about 400 pounds! The house is topped by a steeply pitched slate roof.

 

George Winship, Jr. was a prominent Atlanta businessman. 

   

He was the President of the Fulton Supply Company and Director of The Atlanta Gas Light Company and the Fulton National Bank of Atlanta. 

  

Stuart Witham House

The Stuart Witham House (also known as the Witham-Clark House) is a historic Neo-Georgian and Colonial Revival estate located at 2922 Andrews Drive NW in the Peachtree Heights area of Buckhead, Atlanta.

 

Designed in 1923 by prominent Atlanta architect Neel Reid. The Witham-Clark House, a Neo-Georgian style house built in 1926, represents one of the latter works of Neel Reid, the principal designer for the early twentieth century firm of Hentz, Reid and Adler. It was the work of this Atlanta firm that  gave impetus to the characterization of Atlanta's early twentieth century elite neighborhoods and made them among the most architecturally prominent of urban residential areas in America.

  

Features a classic U-shaped floor plan, symmetrical recessed wings, and intricate Adamesque detailing around the central entranceway.

Wynne-Claughton Building

   

During the 1946 Winecoff Hotel fire, some people trapped in the nearby Winecoff Hotel attempted to jump across the 10-foot alley separating the two buildings, with many falling to their deaths as a result. 

   

   

Yonge Street School

Yonge Street School (later renamed Henry Rutherford Butler Elementary) was a historic Atlanta institution built in 1911. Located near Auburn Avenue, it was the first modern brick public school for Black students in the city. 



In 1911, teacher and activist Selena Sloan Butler organized the country's first Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) unit for Black parents at Yonge Street School.



Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., attended first grade at Yonge Street Elementary School with his six-year-old sister, Christine.

 
While the original school building no longer operates as an active Atlanta Public School, the site is recognized as a historic landmark, located just north of the Selena S. Butler Park.

Former Listings

Carnegie Library of Atlanta





  

Stones from exterior of Carnegie Library used in Carnegie Education Pavilion located in Downtown's Hardy Ivy Park. 

  

Fulton County Almshouse

  
The Fulton County Almshouses, opened in 1911 near Chastain Park in Atlanta, provided segregated institutional care for indigent and elderly residents. The former white almshouse was controversially demolished by The Galloway School in August 2024.


The site's surviving African American almshouse currently operates as the Chastain Arts Center.

Glenridge Hall

Glenridge Hall was a historic property in Sandy Springs, Georgia, United States. The house was built in 1929.

 
It was used as a filming location for such films as Driving Miss Daisy. Demolished to make way for Mercedes-Benz's U.S. headquarters.

Hillyer Trust Building

The historic Hillyer Trust Building is located at 140 Peachtree St NW in downtown Atlanta. Built in 1912, this landmark is known as a Neel Reid "baby skyscraper" and was once celebrated as the world's tallest, thinnest building. These images are so cool, I had no idea this was here. 

   
Originally designed with eight stories, the top floors were later removed, leaving the three-story structure that stands today. De-listed due to the removal of the top 5 floors of the building in 1978.

Western and Atlantic Railroad Zero Milepost


Originally located outside at ground level when erected in 1958.  


This marker had the post mount removed and was mounted on a wall when the parking garage and surrounding complex was built in the 1980s.



The Zero Mile Post has since been removed and taken to the Atlanta History Center.



After the original structure was demolished, a newly made marker and a replica mile post were erected under Central Avenue on May 14, 2019.


The replica Zero Milepost and interpretive signage created by Atlanta History Center, and historical marker re-erected by the Georgia Historical Society and Atlanta History Center on May 14, 2019, mark the historic terminus of the Western & Atlantic Railroad, marked by the Zero Milepost around 1850. This site is located beneath Central Avenue.

Judge William Wilson House

 
Looked good back in 1960's.

  
Not so much in 21st Century. Gone With The Wind now. 

Wow, so I am finished with all the Wikipedia listings for National Register of Historic Places listings in Fulton County, Georgia. Still have a few places we can consider as Natural Wonders of Georgia (Or at least Natural Wonders of Atlanta). We still have Historical Markers, Towns, and Notable People to cover for Fulton County. Getting close to half of all people in Georgia, live in the Atlanta area. 

My Georgia Natural Wonder gals today for Whittier Mill are beautiful and Witty. 

 
Nikki Glaser: Known for her bold, hilarious honesty about dating, sex, and relationships. She had a massive, widely-praised run on Netflix and continues to be one of the highest-grossing touring acts.

  
Iliza Shlesinger: A comedy powerhouse who masterfully explores the female experience with high energy, sharp critiques, and high-fashion stage outfits.

  
Whitney Cummings: A trailblazer who brings sharp, observational, and unapologetic psychological insights into dating and modern womanhood.

 
Natasha Leggero: Famous for her elevated, glamorous aesthetic blended with scathing, biting crowd work and sharp observational wit.

What a hobby, love of Georgia and AI research on sexy comedians. Atlanta's newest City Park is next.