Midtown & Downtown Atlanta 1980 vs 2006

[jfsatlbldr]

Just recently scanned these 1980 shots from the roof of the BellSouth Tower. The 2006 shots are from the roof of One Georgia Center not quite as high up as from BellSouth but close enough for an interesting comparison.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v338/jfsatlbldr/Skyline%20Views/Image1a.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v338/jfsatlbldr/Skyline%20Views/04-11-06008a.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v338/jfsatlbldr/Skyline%20Views/Image7a.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v338/jfsatlbldr/Skyline%20Views/04-11-06012.jpg

[B'ham Bound]

Wow... simply amazing. So much has changed in Midtown I'm finding it difficult to even orient myself.

[sabino86]

Great shots! :cheers:

Got any more? ;)

[Chris Creech]

Wow what a diff around 14th and Peachtree. You forget that when Colony Square was built - it was really sort of out in the boonies.

[gskreet33]

It is strange to think that the Peachtree Summit building (the triangular bldg near the Civic Center Marta station) was to be one of several much taller buildings. Glad that didn't happen....it looks very 80's now.

[Pillsbury Doughboy]

Man, what a difference.

[SteveD]

Wow... simply amazing. So much has changed in Midtown I'm finding it difficult to even orient myself.


Yeah, I was struggling a bit with the Midtown comparison too. Both sets document astounding development. In Midtown, the easiest way to get oriented is probably the Biltmore development of two perpendicular buildings with a primarily brick facade. It's center left in the older photo, and at the "F" in the diagonal "Photo by JFS" in the recent photo...

[ThrashATL]

What will really be amazing are the 2007 vs. 2017 pics...

[bATLbecks]

I still can't believe how much surface parking there is....even today.

[Fiorenza]

Yeah, enjoy the cheap parking while you can.

[sabino86]

Just recently scanned these 1980 shots from the roof of the BellSouth Tower. The 2006 shots are from the roof of One Georgia Center not quite as high up as from BellSouth but close enough for an interesting comparison.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v338/jfsatlbldr/Skyline%20Views/Image7a.jpg

Nice to see shots of Georgia-Pacifc being built. Also neat to see pictures of the Connector being widened (sorry Andrea) ;)

[Andrea]

Also neat to see pictures of the Connector being widened (sorry Andrea) ;)

:haha: Yeah, that leaped out at me, too.

I guess we need to keep those commuters moving from suburb to suburb, so why not build them a giant freeway through the middle of the city, even if they don't plan on stopping here. We wouldn't want them to have to endure massive freeway connections in their own neighborhoods.

[john3eblover]

once again, you are the man joe!

[B'ham Bound]

Yeah, I was struggling a bit with the Midtown comparison too. Both sets document astounding development. In Midtown, the easiest way to get oriented is probably the Biltmore development of two perpendicular buildings with a primarily brick facade. It's center left in the older photo, and at the "F" in the diagonal "Photo by JFS" in the recent photo...

That's exactly what I ended up doing. Unfortunately, it took me two days to do it. I blame lack of sleep and midterms.

[SteveD]

Day - Yumm! that's the top of the cylindrical C&S bank building in the foreground of the older downtown pic, isn't it!?

[LSyd]

badical. thanks for the old shots. any more?

-

[mayhem]

Thanks for the pics, Joe.

Anyone have any insight to plans / zoning for the lots west of Bellsouth?

[trainiac]

Day - Yumm! that's the top of the cylindrical C&S bank building in the foreground of the older downtown pic, isn't it!?

Heck yeah, what a beauty http://jolomo.net/atlanta/pics/c-and-s.jpg A good story to tell Georgia Tech freshman back then was that the building would rotate once on New Years :) The guy who paid for it, Mills B. Lane, was an eccentric bank owner who did all sorts of great things for the city of Atlanta. Anybody working on a biography of him? :shrug:

[Terminus]

Thanks for the pics, Joe.

Anyone have any insight to plans / zoning for the lots west of Bellsouth?

They're zoned SPI 16, SA 1 - typical Midtown core zoning. I believe they are for sale.

[sabino86]

Heck yeah, what a beauty http://jolomo.net/atlanta/pics/c-and-s.jpg A good story to tell Georgia Tech freshman back then was that the building would rotate once on New Years :) The guy who paid for it, Mills B. Lane, was an eccentric bank owner who did all sorts of great things for the city of Atlanta. Anybody working on a biography of him? :shrug:

Shoulda kept it (and it was possible too...) :(

[Chris Creech]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v338/jfsatlbldr/Skyline%20Views/Image7a.jpg


Kinda dating myself, but I remember this. See how Georgia Pacific is under construction? They had the last steel girder primed white and it sat out on the sidewalk in front, and they asked people to come down and sign it.

Then they put it in place with all these signatures and messages from various Atlanta people (including me).

In fact, I lived in Peacthree North Apartments, which pretty much had this exact view.

I ALWAYS told that story about the old C&S buidling rotating. It was actually an interesting building the system. There was a solid concret core, and the floors actually hung from the top down. The big round banking lobby was sort of a neat retro 50/60s design as well.

[Andrea]

Kinda dating myself, but I remember this. See how Georgia Pacific is under construction? They had the last steel girder primed white and it sat out on the sidewalk in front, and they asked people to come down and sign it.

Then they put it in place with all these signatures and messages from various Atlanta people (including me).

Chris, I signed off, too! I was working in the Equitable Building and got to hear every single blow of the pile driver at Georgia Pacific.

One of the things that strikes me about the 2006 shot of downtown is the way it shows the phenomenal boom downtown experienced during the 1980s. So many of downtown's signature structures -- Georgia Pacific, 191 Peachtree, the Marriott Marquis, the two Marquis office towers, 55 Park Place, SunTrust Plaza, the Federal Center, BOA (although it's technically just across the line) -- went up in that decade. The photo could almost have been taken in 1991 and it wouldn't look much different.

[jcathens]

I watched the original National Lampoon's Vacation last night, I never realized it showed a postcard shot of the Atlanta skyline back then.

[Andrea]

I watched the original National Lampoon's Vacation last night, I never realized it showed a postcard shot of the Atlanta skyline back then.

Yeah, the downtown skyline has been basically unchanged in the last 15 years. There was a huge boom in the 1960-70s era, and probably an even bigger explosion in the 1980s. Around 1990, new development pretty much ceased until recently. As much as I love what has happened in Midtown in the last couple of decades, most of its growth as a business center has come at the expense of downtown.

[MarketsWork]

Kinda dating myself, but I remember this. See how Georgia Pacific is under construction? They had the last steel girder primed white and it sat out on the sidewalk in front, and they asked people to come down and sign it.

I might as well date myself, too, because working on the G-P building was my last summer construction job during college. That was just for three months in an earlier phase of construction, but I've always held a sentimental spot for that building and for the nearby Equitable Building. In those two projects, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill gave us two quality towers that I believe are both beautiful and timeless. And sandwiched between them are two historic gems, Candler and Rhodes-Haverty. It is this blend of old and new that will make a reborn Downtown such a special place.

[LizellaJacket]

Heres another really good angle:
1968
http://www.space.gatech.edu/images/aerial-1_1968-MariettaSt-b1.jpg
2006
http://www.space.gatech.edu/images/northyards_03a1a.jpg

[kardon]

:previous: :previous: :previous: WOW!! Great pics.

[Andrea]

Those are fantastic, GTTX!! Thanks so much.

Does anyone know what these structures are near the North Yards? They appear to be several side-by-side bridges that go nowhere. Abandoned rail bridges, perhaps?

http://andreabennett.com/public/various/cityview.jpg

[SteveD]

:previous: well, Andrea, while I don't know specifically, I'd say that you are exactly right. If you look at the older photo, you can discern that there were prior rail spurs in those areas which apparently have since been abandoned, and the area has subsequently been either landscaped or grown over.

I just LOVE comparison photos like that. It's so fun to go back and forth, and see what still remains from the prior time.

[gttx]

Those are fantastic, GTTX!! Thanks so much.


Don't thank me - thank LizellaJacket! :cheers:

[MarketsWork]

Does anyone know what these structures are near the North Yards? They appear to be several side-by-side bridges that go nowhere. Abandoned rail bridges, perhaps?

Andrea, just as the "North Yards" name implies, that area was one of Southern's Atlanta railyards. Those bridges provided access across North Avenue between SRR's yard and the main line. Looking at the old photo, you can see how they facilitated dispersal into/merging out of the yard. The bridges are massive, and you still have to drive under them on North Avenue.

[Andrea]

Don't thank me - thank LizellaJacket! :cheers:

Oops, sorry for the misattribution! :koko:

Steve and MarketsWork, thanks for the clarification on the bridges. I knew that was part of the old Southern Railway yards, but I don't think I've seen an aerial shot since the tracks were removed.

[Chris Creech]

Seems like those old abandoned bridges could be repurposed.

Maybe you could actually build over that part of North Avenue, or put in a park for any development on either side.

[jfsatlbldr]

Great comparison photos, thanks!