Unseen Underground Walking Tour

28/09/2024

Tour Announcement!

Once again the Atlanta Downtown Neighborhood Association is hosting one of my walking tours, on Sunday, October 20, at 12:00 pm. Space is limited and tickets are available for purchase here:

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/adna-unseen-underground-walking-tour-tickets-998481092827?aff=oddtdtcreator

Please note that tours will meet at 170 Mitchell St SW

Do you think you know "Underground Atlanta"? Think again and join us for this "Unseen Underground" Tour!

28/09/2024

Lecture Announcement!

This Thursday, October 3, 5-7pm I will be presenting "Terminus and Tomorrow: History and Opportunity in Atlanta's Railroad Gulch." this is the first in a series of lectures hosted Goode Van Slyke Architecture, and in conjunction with the Atlanta Design Festival.

I will tell the history of how Atlanta was founded and built around the railroads, and how the viaducts over those tracks became Underground. The presentation will be filled with lots of maps and historic photos that aren't available on the tour or in my book. We will also review the many development projects that are currently transforming the gulch, with guest speakers from Underground and South Downtown. Tell your friends, and we hope to see you there!

Tickets are FREE but please RSVP for a space here:

Atlanta Design Festival is a platform to celebrate, convene, & connect creative industries. The festival invites the brightest creative leaders and organizations to host installations, exhibitions, design and architecture tours, film screenings, conference panels and more, to showcase Atlanta as a g...

01/12/2023

I think there are still some tickets for the walking tour coming up this Sunday!

Downtown is the place to be on December 3, 2023! Underground Atlanta will be hosting ADNA’s Downtown Festival and Walking Tours. RSVP for tours on Eventbrite or just come enjoy music and food trucks at Underground!

11/11/2023

Tour Announcement: December 3, 2023. 2:00pm

In conjunction with Streets Alive, Underground Atlanta is hosting a day of music, food trucks, and walking tours. Tickets are required for this tour, available through Eventbrite and the link below. Proceeds support the Atlanta Downtown Neighborhood Association.

The tour covers about two miles of walking with plenty of stairs.

See you there!

Downtown is the place to be on December 3, 2023! Underground Atlanta will be hosting ADNA’s Downtown Festival and Walking Tours. RSVP for tours on Eventbrite or just come enjoy music and food trucks at Underground!

26/10/2023

Unfortunately the tour planned for November has been postponed to early December. More details will follow.

20/10/2023

If anyone is still listening out there, I am happy to announce I will be offering a tour on November 12!! Stay tuned for details, and tell your friends.

22/10/2022

From the offices of Centennial Yards high above Marietta St. They have an impressive view overlooking the Gulch, with the concept model of the Centennial Yards infill development in the foreground.

03/04/2022

We had a good tour yesterday with a group of architecture students in town for an AIAS convention. Even though most were not from Atlanta, they seemed to enjoy exploring the mingling of urban infrastructure and history.

(I am still not offering tours to the general public, but group tours can be arranged.)

01/04/2022

Finally a bold new vision for Underground.

What do you think of our new branding?
We have decided to bring all of the things you love about the Underground...Aboveground.
We will soon start raising all underground level businesses to street level using a series of hydraulic pumps and levers to raise the buildings.

19/12/2021

I am happy to announce two events coming up in the new year. Mark your calendars!

Dunwoody Preservation Trust
Sat. January 22, 9:30 am
Lecture with Q&A

CMAA
Tues. February 22, 8:00 am
Panel discussion about the Past, Present and Future of the Gulch

These are both currently planned as in-person events. I will share more information as these events are publicized.

12/12/2021

Don't forget, "Atlanta Underground: History from Below" makes a perfect gift! For anyone interested in history, photography, or great stories of Atlanta. They are available at any reputable local Atlanta bookseller, including the museum stores at Oakland Cemetery and the Atlanta History Center. OR you can buy signed copies directly from the author! Just message me here in Facebook for details.

11/12/2021

I was recently treated to a tour of the MARTA Five Points Station, including all the back-of-house nooks and crannies. Like most things, when you stop and look at it long enough, you can start to see its beauty. The station is scheduled for a complete renovation inside and out over the next few years.
I did learn one revelation: behind an anonymously marked door, there is a giant chamber that extends south under Broad Street. This was not part of the original viaduct system that created Underground. Rather, the MARTA tracks south to Garnett were dug, not tunneled, and they built a chamber above them instead of filling it all back in with dirt. Now it is mostly just a storage space. I don' think I can share any photos of that.

21/11/2021

Yesterday I led an intrepid group of middle-schoolers from Arbor Montessori through the Gulch. It is great to see kids that age really showing an interest in the history of their city. They had clearly "done their homework" ahead of time, and were surprisingly engaged. They all earned their urban explorers badges that day!

17/10/2021

Some people have reached out to me about tours that were mentioned on Lois Reitzes radio show on WABE last week. The reference was to tours that the new owners of Underground Atlanta are offering on the first Saturday of every month. Here is a link to get tickets. https://www.rebelity.com/Events/v2/2768/underground-tours -main

Tickets

11/09/2021

Here is a great aerial view of Atlanta circa 1962. Coincidentally, it roughly aligns with the classic birds-eye drawings from decades before. You can see the Hunter St bridge (now MLK) under construction, as well as early grading for the expressway near the state capitol. The Merchandise Mart (1961), the first building of the Peachtree Center complex, is complete, but the First National Bank tower, opened in 1966, has not yet begun construction. More notes are in the photo captions.

30/07/2021

CIM has released a new master plan by Foster +Partners for the redevelopment of the gulch. The new plan is envisioned as an extension of the tight street grid of the Fairlie Poplar district. It is meant to be very pedestrian oriented, including some walkable alleys.

Foster + Partners has revealed the revised master plan for Centennial Yards, a sprawling development zone on the southern fringes of downtown Atlanta

21/07/2021

Here is a great collection of images from Burt's Place, the night club in the Omni owned by Burt Reynolds, along with Smokey and the Bandit memorabilia. Just one of the many odd or slightly surreal venues that occupied the Gulch and Underground in the 70's. Who could resist dancing on Burt's illuminated face? If you look closely, the floor actually says "Burt's Joint".

18/07/2021

My book is in good company on the Welcome To Atlanta table at the Edgewood Barnes and Noble.

05/07/2021

I have been reading "Hidden History of Old Atlanta" by Mark Pifer. It is a detailed history of Atlanta prior to the Civil War, including prehistoric geology and Native American settlements in the area. He includes some good explanatory maps, like this one that clarifies the locations of Murrell's Row, Slabtown and Snake Nation. The stories he includes about these locations are colorful and amusing.

07/06/2021

Today I led a tour for my colleagues at Goode Van Slyke Architecture, and one of our great clients, Columbia Residential. It feels good to be out there again. Sorry, still no public tours planned at this time.

One thing I discovered is that the big "occuli" (circular openings in the roof) in front of the GWCC have been filled in. These were a dramatic feature in the cover photo on my book, as well as more than a few movie shoots. This place is always changing. I guess I'm glad I got that photo when I did!

24/04/2021

If you missed the lecture I gave last week for the Georgia Archives, here is a link to the video so you can watch it over and over. Enjoy!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-EoL5364uiE

Presented by architect, author, and photographer Jeff Morrison.Beneath the streets of Atlanta lies a mysterious realm of seemingly abandoned industrial space...

23/04/2021

This is not in the Gulch, but it is part of Atlanta's historic railroad infrastructure. It's great to see the Pratt-Pullman yards being brought back to life, in a way that creatively celebrates the actual rails that tie it all together.

The Pullman Yards facilities were last used as the maintenance shops for the New Georgia Railroad, which ran steam powered tourist trains in the early nineties, from Underground to Stone Mountain.

A project brewing at Pratt Pullman District will soon combine three things common across intown Atlanta: deep railroad history, ailing buildings being repurposed, and boozing outdoors.

15/04/2021

In my book I recount the many relocations of the Spencer statue, as an example of how easily we move monuments around in Atlanta. The past is mutable, continually reconfigured to fit how we see ourselves and our future. He is on the move again.

Norfolk Southern is asking the city of Atlanta's approval to move a bronze replica of Samuel Spencer, the first president of what became the Norfolk Southern Corporation

06/04/2021

For the virtual lecture this Friday, the link to the live event is:
https://tinyurl.com/ybbq5hzs
The link for the live event will also be posted on the Georgia Archives’ page on Friday morning, April 9. https://www.facebook.com/Georgia-Archives-273195772785138/

03/04/2021

It is less than a week away!!
Firday, April 9, 12:00-1:00pm
On-line lecture hosted by the Georgia Archives Lunch Series

Atlanta from Below: Exploring the History of Underground and the Railroad Gulch

This lecture will cover the full history of this vital area at the heart of Atlanta, from the earliest settlement to plans for future development. The presentation is packed with historic photos and maps.

Access via the GA Archives website (Note that the event will be hosted on Microsoft Teams):
https://www.georgiaarchives.org/visit/programs