Category Archives: Historic Photos

Rosenwald School-Edgefield County, South Carolina

I found this photo of a 6-teacher school in Edgefield County in Carter Woodson’s The Rural Negro, but the name of the school was not given, just the county. The Rosenwald Database is down until Summer 2023. According to the South Carolina Department of Archives and History, Edgefield County had two 6-teacher schools, the Edgefield School and the Johnston School. Please let me know if you are able to confirm which one it was.

Reference: Woodson, C. Godwin., Association for the Study of Negro Life and History, i. (1930). The Rural Negro. Washington, D.C.: The Association for the Study of Negro Life and History, inc.

Mansions of Atlanta’s Past

Atlanta does not have a good reputation for saving historic properties. I am fascinated to see how space evolves over time. If you’ve read my post about the Mansions of Peachtree Street, you can see how many grand homes Atlanta once had along Peachtree Street. The Atlanta of today is much like the Atlanta of yesterday, there is a significant difference in the housing for the wealthy and the poor.


James S Akers Home-679 Piedmont Avenue

This home was located between 5th and 6th Streets on Piedmont.


Calhoun Ladson Place-95 Peeples Street

This home was located between Lucile and Greenwich.


Evan Howell Place-Gordon Street

The former mayor’s home used to occupy the area that now is Howell Park.


William Ashford Home-13 Ponce de Leon Avenue

The home was at the intersection of Ponce and Peachtree directly across from the Georgian Terrace.


Edward Van Winkle Home-327 W. Peachtree St.

This home was located at West Peachtree Street and 3rd.


Robert Sheddon Home-20 E. Linden Avenue

This home was located on Linden between W. Peachtree and Peachtree Streets.


Alexander Bruce Home-327 N. Boulevard

This home was located on Boulevard between East Avenue and Ralph McGill Blvd.


Ralph Watson Home-531 N. Boulevard

This home was at the intersection of North Ave. and Boulevard.


Joseph Burke-1 Peachtree Place

This was at the intersection of Peachtree Place and Crescent Avenue.


J. Wylie Pope-137 Lee Street

This home was located on Lee Street and I-20.


Edgar Carter Home-141 Lee Street

The Carters and Popes were neighbors, so their home was also on Lee Street and I-20.


John T Moody home-10 E. 14th Street.

This home was located between Juniper and Peachtree Streets.


The James Stephens Home was located at 56 Park Street.

Willis Denny Home-30 Moreland Avenue

This home was located between Euclid Avenue and Austin Ave. I believe these lions are still in front of the apartment there.


Thomas Westmoreland Home-130 Washington St

This home would have been at Washington Street and I-20.


James Dozier-131 Ashby Street

Ashby Street is now Joseph E. Lowery Boulevard. This home was located between North Avenue and Neal Street.


Craig Cofield Home-248 Gordon Street

This home was located at the intersection of Ralph D Abernathy Blvd. and Gordon Place.


Park Woodward Home-139 W. Peachtree St.

This home was located near the intersection of W. Peachtree Street and Pine Street.


James Morris Home-17 Kimball Street

Crumley House-200 Oak Street

This home was located near the intersection of Oak and Culbertson Streets.


Thomas Peters Home-272 Forrest St.

The 1911 Sanborn does not cover this part of Atlanta, so I am uncertain where it was exactly.


Reference: Gravure Illustration Company. (1903). Art work of Atlanta, wGeorgia: published in nine parts. Chicago, Ill.: Gravure Illustration Co.

The Mansions of Peachtree Street-Atlanta, Georgia

I often dive into public domain sources to see what exists. If you are in Atlanta, you have likely heard about the “Mansions on Peachtree” and how only a couple of them are left. I thought I would pull together a post about the photos I find in the public domain.

The images below are arranged from downtown to Buckhead. The Governor’s Mansion is shown first, but the rest of the homes are listed as you move north up Peachtree.

As I find more images, I will update this post.

If you’d like to see other homes that are no longer extant in Atlanta, please visit Mansions of Atlanta’s Past.


Governor’s Mansion

This was the first official governor’s mansion after the capitol was moved from Milledgeville to Atlanta. Rufus Bullock was the first governor to reside here. It was located at the intersection of Peachtree St and Cain Street (now Andrew Young International Blvd.) and was used from 1870-1923.


Samuel Inman Place

Samuel Inman and his family lived at 53 Peachtree Street in 1900. This would be where Woodruff Park is between Auburn and Edgewood Avenues.


Benjamin F. Abbott Home

According to the 1898 Atlanta City directory, the BF Abbott place was located at 190 Peachtree Street. If you look to the right of the photo, you will see the columns of the Leyden Home. G. L. Norman was the architect.


From the “Official Guide to Atlanta:
including information on the Cotton States and International Exposition”

The Leyden home was located at 198 Peachtree Street, according to the 1900 Census. It was between Ellis St. and what is now Andrew Young International Blvd. The columns of this home are still in Atlanta. More info about the Leyden Columns can be found here.


J. R. Wylie, a grocer, lived at 266 Peachtree Street, which was near the Capitol City Club.


Dr. John R. Hopkins Place

This was the home of Dr. John R. Hopkins. According to the 1910 Census Records, he and his family lived at 275 Peachtree Street. This was located at Peachtree Street and E. Baker Street, where the Hyatt Regency is today.


W. C. Hale Place

This home was 3 houses south of the Porter Place below. It was located at 308 Peachtree Street. In the book where I found this photo, this home was described as modest in comparison to the other homes on Peachtree Street.


James Henry Porter Place

James Henry Porter was located at the intersection of Peachtree Street and Porter Place. The 1900 Census Address was 330 Peachtree Street.

Another view of the J. H. Porter Place

John W. Grant Home

John W. Grant-1900 Census address is 423 Peachtree Street. It was located on Peachtree Street between Pine and Currier Streets.


Walker P. Inman Place
Another view of the Walker P. Inman Home

Walker P. Inman’s home was at 478 Peachtree Street which was at the intersection of Howard Street. The Emory Midtown campus covers Howard Street now.


John K. Ottley Home

This home was located at 527 Peachtree Street. This house was next to North Avenue Presbyterian Church.


William Ellis Home

William Ellis Sr.’s home was located at 547 Peachtree Street which places it just south of Ponce de Leon Avenue.

There is a chance that this could have been William Ellis Jr.’s home which was on North Avenue. The book doesn’t provide me with enough details to narrow it down between father and son.


Dr. J. W. Roberts Home

Found in the 1908 Atlanta Phone Directory is this advertisement for the Dr. J. W. Roberts home, which was designed by architect R. H. Carpenter. This was at the intersection of 3rd Street and Peachtree.


George Winship Sr. Home

This home was located at 614 Peachtree Street. Today this house would have been located at the intersection of Peachtree Street and 3rd Street.


A. W. Calhoun Home

In 1900, this home was located at 672 Peachtree Street. This house was located at the intersection of 5th Street and Peachtree Street.


William G. Raoul Home

This home was located at 708 Peachtree Street, which places it at the intersection of Peachtree Street and 6th Street.


Thomas Egleston Home

The Egleston family resided at 759 Peachtree Street.


Judge Henry Tompkins Place

Judge Henry B Tompkins lived in this home at 760 Peachtree Street until his death in 1903. The 1911 Sanborn map does not show a 760 Peachtree, but I put this house between 8th Street and Peachtree Place based on the other house number. His son built a prominent home in Buckhead that still stands today.


Andrew West Home

According to the 1903 Atlanta Phone Directory, this home was located at 789 Peachtree Street. This home was located halfway between 7th and 8th Streets.

Another view of the Andrew West Home

Morton Emmons Home

This home was located at 794 Peachtree Street.


William H. Patterson Home

This home was a little trickier to trace, as the 1900 and 1910 census records listed them at two different addresses. The Atlanta directories were searched, and thankfully, the Patterson family had the same address for 1903 and 1904. This home was located at 874 Peachtree Street. This home was between 11th and 12th Streets on the west side of Peachtree.


Aquilla J. Orme Home

This home was located at 915 Peachtree Street. This home was located at 13th Street and Peachtree.


Fleming du Bignon Home

The du Bignon family had homes all across the state. From what I can determine, they lived at 925 Peachtree Street for only a short time.


A. W. Smith Home

The Alexander W. Smith family lived at 954 Peachtree Street. They happen to be the neighbors to the immediate north of the Wimbish family. While the Wimbish home still stands, the Smith family home was demolished years ago.


Jack Spalding Home

This home was located at 958 Peachtree Street which does not appear on the 1911 Sanborn map. Due to the growth along Peachtree Street, house numbers would sometimes change, especially as Peachtree grew north. Based on other homes, I place this house between 14th and 15th Streets.


Edward Brown Home

According to the 1903 Phone Directory, the Browns lived at 968 Peachtree Street. This home was located at the intersection of 14th Street and Peachtree.


Harriet Harwell Wilson High house (Image courtesy of the High Museum of Art)

Harriet High donated her house to the Atlanta Art Association to start a museum. The High Museum used the house until 1955, when it moved into a new location next to the house.

William A. Speer Home

This home was located at Marietta and Spring Street. It was moved piece by piece to be relocated at Peachtree Street and what is the Buford Spring Connector.


Dr. J. M. Crawford House

The Crawfords had different addresses in 1900 and 1910. The image was published in 1903. The 1903 Atlanta Phone Directory states the Crawfords listed at “Brookwood.” My assumption is that it must have been one of the first homes in the Brookwood area of Peachtree Street.

This home was built by B. R. Padgett and Sons as detailed by this advertisement in the 1908 Atlanta Phone Directory.


Clifford Anderson Home

The Anderson home was listed just as “Peachtree Road“ in the 1903 Atlanta Phone Directory.



This stereograph was created by the M.M. & W. H. Gardner firm. The information on the photo simply says a home on “peach tree.” It resembles the Porter Place, but I do not think they are the same home because of the difference in windows and other details in the home.

Reference: Martin, T. H. (Thomas H.)., Atlanta Chamber of Commerce., Atlanta (Ga.). City Council. (1898). Hand book of the city of Atlanta: A comprehensive review of the city’s commercial, industrial and residential conditions.

Gravure Illustration Company. (1903). Art work of Atlanta, wGeorgia: published in nine parts. Chicago, Ill.: Gravure Illustration Co.

Millis, M. Raoul. (1943). The family of Raoul: a memoir. [Asheville, N.C.]: Priv. print. [The Miller Printing Company].

Antioch Missionary Baptist Church-Augusta, Georgia

This is a photo of an early structure for the Antioch Missionary Baptist Church in Augusta, Georgia. Founded in 1878, the congregation is still active.

Reference photo: Johnson, R. J. (Roman John). (1909). History of Walker Baptist Association of Georgia. Augusta, Ga.: Chronicle Job Print.

Hamilton House-Atlanta, Georgia

Built in 1898, this home was built by Alexander D. Hamilton, Jr., a leading architect and builder. Hamilton or a descendant lived here until 1984. The home is now a bed and breakfast.

Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Jean Blackwell Hutson Research and Reference Division, The New York Public Library. (1908). Evolution of the Negro home; Residence of a Negro grocer. Retrieved from https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47df-333e-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99
Image from Richardson, Clement , ed. (1919) The National Cyclopedia of the Colored Race, Montgomery: National Publishing Company, Inc.

Tate Elementary School-Tate, Georgia

Originally Tate High School, the Tate Elementary School building was constructed from locally quarried Georgia marble. The school was built in the early 1930s after the wooden structure burned to the ground in 1927. The current building is still standing. The footprint of the campus has expanded, but it is essentially unchanged.

(Photo from a Georgia Educational Report)
High School that caught on fire and was replaced with with marble structure (photo from the Digital Library of Georgia)