Atlanta is the capital of and largest city in the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the county seat of Fulton County, although a portion of the city (the 1909 annex) is located in DeKalb County. According to the latest census estimates (as of December, 2004), the city has a population of 425,000 and the Atlanta metropolitan area totaled 4,708,297, making it the ninth-largest metropolitan area in the United States and the 41st-largest city proper. Atlanta is arguably a poster-child for cities worldwide experiencing rapid urban sprawl, population growth, and commercial development. As a result, Atlanta is a common case study for college students who study Urban Geography around the globe.
The Atlanta area was originally inhabited by Cherokee and Creek Indians, and was named Standing Peachtree. In 1823, the area was opened to white settlement. It remained mostly woods until 1836, when the area was chosen as the southern "Terminus" of a railroad from Chattanooga. A local settlement called "Thrasherville" (near present-day Philips arena, home of the Atlanta Thrashers) was renamed "Terminus," and in 1843 the town was officially named "Marthasville," after the daughter of the governor of Georgia. The business community, however, was concerned that such a name wouldn't sell, and a new name, "Atlanta," was chosen in 1845 as much more marketable. Hence, from the start "Atlanta" began as a transportation hub and marketing center. The town was incorporated as the "city" of Atlanta in 1847, and by 1860 the population was 9,554.
Atlanta was largely destroyed by Union forces during the Civil War, but was chosen as the state capital in 1868, having been established as the site of command for Union soldiers and the Reconstruction administration. In the 1880's, a revival was led by newspaperman Henry Grady, who advocated Atlanta as the "capital of the New South." By 1890 Atlanta had 65,000 residents and was one of the 50 largest cities in America, a distinction Atlanta has held for over 110 years. In 1892, Atlanta's first skyscraper, the 8-story Equitable Building, began Atlanta's rise to the skies. The city expanded rapidly from 1900 (89,000) to 1930 (302,000) before growth slowed during the Depression. In the 1960's Atlanta was a center for the American Civil Rights Movement. In 1970, the city's population topped out at 497,000 before "white flight" to the suburbs dropped the city to 394,000 in 1990. However, in 1996 Atlanta served as the host city for the Centennial 1996 Summer Olympics, and the city has rallied to 425,000 by 2004, fueled in part by a new desire for shorter commutes and intown living.
One of the city's nicknames, "The Phoenix City", relates to its rise after the Civil War. The phoenix appears in many of Atlanta's symbols, including its seal and flag. In the 1940s and 1950s, former Atlanta mayor William B. Hartsfield called Atlanta "The City Too Busy to Hate". In addition, it has also been called the "New York of the South" in response to one of Georgia's own nicknames, "The Empire State of the South." Atlanta may also be known as ATL, a colloquialism for the city (also the IATA airport code for the airport).
Atlanta is circled by Interstate 285, called the "Perimeter" by locals, which has come to delineate the interior of the city from the surrounding suburbs. This has given rise to the terms ITP (inside the Perimeter) and OTP (outside the Perimeter) to describe area neighborhoods, residents, and businesses. In this respect, the Perimeter plays a social and geographical role similar to that of the Capital Beltway around Washington, DC.
Atlanta has such a great economic impact on the state and the surrounding region that cities and towns up to 100 miles away are considered 'exurbs', defined by the fact that people depend on their livelihoods by commuting to work in the city, rapidly growing what is called Metro Atlanta. Atlanta is one of the most prosperous cities in the United States and is often referred to as the unofficial "capital of the South." The city is also an especially important cultural and economic center for African-Americans; Atlanta has not had a non-black mayor for over 30 years, and in recent decades nearly all Fire Chiefs, Police Chiefs, and other government officials have been African-American.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 343.0 km2 (132.4 mi2). 341.2 km2 (131.8 mi2) of it is land and 1.8 km2 (0.7 mi2) of it is water. The total area is 0.51% water.
At about 1000 feet or 300 meters above mean sea level, Atlanta sits atop a ridge south of the Chattahoochee River. Amongst the 25 largest MSAs, Atlanta is the third-highest in elevation, slightly lower than Phoenix and 1 mile (1,600 m) high Denver.
According to folklore, its central avenue, Peachtree Street, runs through the center of the city on the Eastern Continental Divide. In actuality, the divide line enters Atlanta from the southwest, proceeding to downtown. From downtown, the divide line runs eastward along DeKalb Avenue and the CSX rail lines through Decatur. Rainwater that falls on the south and east side runs eventually into the Atlantic Ocean while rainwater on the north and west side of the divide runs into the Gulf of Mexico.
The latter is via the Chattahoochee River, part of the ACF River Basin, and from which Atlanta and many of its neighbors draw most of their water. Being at the far northwestern edge of the city, much of the river's natural habitat is still preserved, in part by the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area. Downstream however, excessive water use during droughts and pollution during floods has been a source of contention and legal battles with neighboring states Alabama and Florida.
The census of 2000 states there are 416,474 people, (423,019 as of 2003 estimates), 168,147 households, and 83,232 families residing in the city. The population density is 1,221/km2 (3,161/mi2). There are 186,925 housing units at an average density of 548/km2 (1,419/mi2). The racial makeup of the city is 61.39% Black, 33.22% White,1.93% Asian, 0.18% Native American, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 1.99% from other races, and 1.24% from two or more races. 4.49% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race. The city has one of the largest gay populations in the nation; according to Census 2000 both DeKalb and Fulton counties are among the ten most heavily gay counties in America. There are several predominantly and largely gay neighborhoods, mostly in the Midtown area of the city.
There are 168,147 households out of which 22.4% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 24.5% are married couples living together, 20.7% have a female householder with no husband present, and 50.5% are non-families. 38.5% of all households are made up of individuals and 8.3% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.30 and the average family size is 3.16.
In the city the population is spread out with 22.3% under the age of 18, 13.3% from 18 to 24, 35.2% from 25 to 44, 19.4% from 45 to 64, and 9.7% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 32 years. For every 100 females there are 98.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 97.6 males.
The median income for a household in the city is $51,482 and the median income for a family is $55,939. Males have a median income of $36,162 compared to $30,178 for females. The per capita income for the city is $29,772, and 24.4% of the population and 21.3% of families are below the poverty line. 38.8% of those under the age of 18 and 20.7% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.
Despite romantic associations, Atlanta has always been more a commercial city than an ante-bellum monument. It is the major center of regional commerce, and boasts an especially strong convention and trade show business. According to the ranking of world cities undertaken by the Globalization and World Cities Study Group & Network (GaWC) and based on the level of presence of global corporate service organisations, Atlanta is considered a "Gamma World City."
Several major national and international companies are headquartered in Atlanta or its nearby suburbs, including four Fortune 100 companies: The Coca-Cola Company (started in Atlanta), Home Depot (started in Atlanta), BellSouth, and United Parcel Service in adjacent Sandy Springs. Home Depot founder Bernie Marcus donated more than 200 million dollars to build the new Georgia Aquarium. Delta Air Lines is also headquartered in Atlanta and is a major employer. Newell Rubbermaid is one of the most recent companies to relocate its headquarters to the metro area (Sandy Springs).
Just west of Midtown, a former Atlantic Steel plant has been redeveloped as Atlantic Station, a mixed-use urban renewal project combining housing, retail, and office space, and promoted as part of the solution to Atlanta's serious traffic and air quality problems. The metro area has one of America's longest average daily commutes, and is one of the most car-dependent cities on the planet due both to suburban sprawl and underfunded mass transit systems. It also has a reputation as being one of the most dangerous for pedestrians, as far back as 1949 when Gone with the Wind author Margaret Mitchell was struck by a speeding car and killed.
The city is a major cable television programming source; CNN Center, headquarters of the Cable News Network, is in Atlanta where the network was founded by Ted Turner, and The Weather Channel broadcasts from just outside of town. In addition to CNN, Time Warner's other networks from Atlanta include Cartoon Network/Adult Swim and companion channel Boomerang, TNT, Turner South, CNN International, CNN en Espaol, CNN Headline News, CNN Airport Network, and TBS. Atlanta's WTBS channel 17 (originally WTCG) was Turner's start in television in the 1970s; after he bought the struggling UHF TV station, he turned it into a "Superstation" broadcasting both locally and nationally on the emerging cable providers. Atlanta's WSB was the first AM radio station in the South.
The region where Atlanta and its suburbs were built was originally Creek and Cherokee Native American territory. The Creek land in the eastern part of the metro area (including Decatur) was opened to white settlement in 1823. In 1835, leaders of the Cherokee nation ceded their land to the government in exchange for land out west under the Treaty of New Echota, an act that eventually led to the Trail of Tears. In 1836 the Georgia General Assembly voted to build the Western and Atlantic Railroad to provide a trade route to the Midwest, with the area around Atlanta--then called Terminus--serving as the terminal. The terminus was originally planned for Decatur, but its citizens did not want it. Besides Decatur, several other suburbs of Atlanta predate the city by several years, including Marietta and Lawrenceville, GA. Terminus grew as a railroad town; later it was renamed Marthasville after then-Governor Wilson Lumpkin's daughter Martha. Marthasville was renamed Atlanta in 1845 and was incorporated as such in 1847.
In 1864, the city became the target of a major Union invasion (the subject of the 1939 film Gone with the Wind). The area now covered by Atlanta was the scene of several battles, including the Battle of Peachtree Creek, the Battle of Atlanta, and the Battle of Ezra Church. On September 1, 1864, Confederate General John Bell Hood evacuated Atlanta after a four-month siege mounted by Union General William Sherman and ordered all public buildings and possible union assets destroyed. The next day, mayor James Calhoun surrendered the city, and on September 7 Sherman ordered the civilian population to evacuate. He then ordered Atlanta burned to the ground on November 11 in preparation for his punitive march south. After a plea by Father Thomas O'Reilly of Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, Sherman did not burn the city's churches or hospitals. The remaining war resources were then destroyed in the aftermath and in Sherman's March to the Sea. The fall of Atlanta was a critical point in the Civil War, giving the North more confidence, and leading to the re-election of Abraham Lincoln and the eventual surrender of the Confederacy.
After the war, Atlanta was gradually rebuilt and soon became the industrial and commercial center of the South. From 1867 until 1888, US Army soldiers occupied McPherson Barracks (later renamed Fort McPherson) in southwest Atlanta to ensure Reconstruction era reforms. To help the newly freed slaves, the federal government set up a Freedmen's Bureau, which helped establish what is now Clark Atlanta University, one of several historically black colleges in Atlanta. In 1868, Atlanta became the fifth city to serve as the state capital. Henry W. Grady, the editor of the Atlanta Constitution, promoted the city to investors as a city of the "New South," by which he meant a diversification of the economy away from agriculture and a shift from the "Old South" attitudes of slavery and rebellion.
As Atlanta grew, ethnic and racial tensions mounted. A race riot in 1906 left at least twelve dead and over seventy injured. In 1913, Leo Frank, a Jewish supervisor at an Atlanta factory, was put on trial for raping and murdering a thirteen-year old white employee. After doubts about Frank's guilt led his death sentence to be commuted in 1915, riots broke out in Atlanta and Frank was lynched.
In the 1930s, the Great Depression hit Atlanta. With the city government nearing bankruptcy, the Coca-Cola Company had to help bail out the city's deficit. The federal government stepped in to help Atlantans by establishing Techwood Homes, the nation's first federal housing project in 1935. With the entry of the United States into World War II, soldiers from around the southeast went through Atlanta to train and later be discharged at Fort McPherson. War-related manufacturing such as the Bell Aircraft factory in the suburb of Marietta helped boost the city's population and economy. Shortly after the war in 1946, the Communicable Disease Center, later called the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was founded in Atlanta from the old Malaria Control in War Areas offices and staff.
In 1951, the city received the All-America City Award, due to its rapid growth and high standard of living in the southern U.S.
In the 1960s, Atlanta was a major organizing center of the civil rights movement, with Dr. Martin Luther King and students from Atlanta's historically black colleges and universities playing major roles in the movement's leadership. On October 19, 1960, a sit-in at the lunch counters of several Atlanta department stores led to the arrest of Dr. King and several students, drawing attention from the national media and from presidential candidate John F. Kennedy. Despite this incident, Atlanta's political and business leaders fostered Atlanta's image as "the city too busy to hate". In 1961, Mayor Ivan Allen Jr became one of the few Southern white mayors to support desegregation of Atlanta's public schools. While the city mostly avoided confrontation, small race riots did occur in 1965 and in 1968. In 1990, the International Olympic Committee selected Atlanta as the site for the 1996 Summer Olympics. Following the announcement, Atlanta undertook several major construction projects to improve the city's parks, sports facilities, and transportation. Former Mayor Bill Campbell allowed many "tent cities" to be built creating a carnival atmosphere around the games. Atlanta became the first American capital city to host the Olympics. The games themselves were a wonderful achievement in sports, but were marred by the Centennial Olympic Park bombing, which resulted in the death of two people and injured several others. The bombing was carried out by Eric Robert Rudolph.
Source:
Atlanta-USA.com
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