"It has been said that, at it’s best, preservation engages the past in a conversation with the present over a mutual concern for the future."
Winnwood Apartments
Built in 1931, the Winnwood Apartments is a brick Georgian Revival style apartment building located in Midtown. Built by Atlanta builder/contractor H.W. Nicholes and Sons, a prominent father/son firm that achieved a reputation for high quality work. The historic rehabilitation project was completed in 2023. All exterior work was performed to the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties. As part of the project, over 250 historic windows were saved, repaired, and reused.
Peters House / Ivy Hall
Ivy Hall, the home of Edward Peters, was designed by prominent Atlanta architect Gottfried Norrman. Constructed in 1883, the Peters House may be the first house in Georgia to fully embody the new Queen Anne style. The house occupies a full city block which contributes to the historic significance of the site. The setting dates from the 19th century and is possibly Atlanta’s oldest surviving landscape design; the original carriage house made this Atlanta’s most complete representation of 19th century domestic architecture.
Ormewood Bridge
Connecting the historic Grant Park and Ormewood Park neighborhoods, the massive concrete bridge dates to 1898-1899, likely to the original construction of the former Atlanta & West Point Rail Road (future site of the Beltline). Massive pilasters flank the arched openings.
St Mark AME
The preservation of this architectural monument is both a testament to the area’s history, but also a visual example of saving this community’s identity. This building has struggled with the challenges of disrepair and the complexity of “Black and White Flight,” also the pressures of being a Black neighborhood that is now threatened with sustaining its culture. Today, the four stone walls made of granite from Stone Mountain symbolize the resiliency of the Beloved Community — and a group of leaders who are working to restore St. Mark into its traditional role — as a sustainable cultural center for the neighborhood.
Atlanta Constitution Building
The Constitution Building, also referred to as the Georgia Power Atlanta Division Building, is further known as the “Heart of Atlanta” because of its location at downtown Atlanta’s historic railroad junction. This masonry building is a rare example of Art Moderne in Atlanta. It was constructed for the Atlanta Constitution newspaper which occupied the building until 1953.
Trio Laundry Building
The Trio Laundry Dry Cleaning Building, built in 1910, is a contributing structure in both the local Martin Luther King Jr. Landmark District and the National Registers’ Martin Luther King Jr. Historic District. In June 2014, AHA applied for a demolition permit which was issued by the city in August 2014. Thanks to the efforts of local preservationist, including the APC, demolition was averted. The Atlanta Preservation Center is advocating for the adaptive reuse of the building to contribute to the community.
Gaines Hall
Built-in 1869 by architect William Parkins, Gaines Hall initially opened as North Hall – and stood as Atlanta University’s initial original building. Later becoming a dormitory for Morris Brown, funding for the three-story brick structure came from the Freedmen’s Bureau and American Missionary Association. It holds ties to historic figures such as WEB DuBois, a professor at Atlanta University, and Hosea Williams, an alumnus.
This building is part of Atlanta’s identity and must be preserved.
Atlanta Public School Buildings
Atlanta Public Schools steward a dynamic catalog of school buildings and focus on both building new schools and rehabilitating historic schools for public education. These schools are vital to the history of our various communities, and the city of Atlanta. These schools define the character of their neighborhoods, and several were designed by the top architects of their time. The Atlanta Preservation Center is working with APS to create a process that will grow the presence of these buildings and their preservation.
National Book Bindery
The Building started its life as a book binding factory, designed by A. Ten Eyck Brown and his associate Alfredo Barili Jr. This would be the same association that would design the US Post Office (now the Martin Luther King Jr. Federal Building) and the Fulton County Courthouse. A. Ten Eyck Brown would go on to be one of the most prolific architects in Atlanta in the 20th century, designing primarily public structures like the Sweet Auburn Curb Market and many other civic buildings.
229 Auburn Avenue
229 Auburn Avenue is a contributing building in the Sweet Auburn National Historic Landmark District (designated 1976) in Atlanta, Georgia on the southeast corner of Auburn Avenue and Jesse Hill, Jr. Drive (Butler Street NE). Though commonly referred to as the Atlanta Life Insurance Branch Office building, due to the length of ownership by the Atlanta Life Insurance Company, there were other tenants who also greatly contributed to the significance of the structure.
The 1911 Sanborn Fire Insurance map denotes 185 Auburn Avenue as a bank with the same configuration as recorded on the 1899 map. According to City Directory information, the Atlanta State Savings Bank had its offices in this building from 1910 to 1913. In 1913, this bank became the first chartered African American banking institution in the state of Georgia.
The Atlanta Preservation Center is working with the Butler Street CDC and this significant building is in the process of being stabilized and preserved.
Atlanta Beltline Rail Resources
The Atlanta Beltline Project takes its name from the original Beltline railway, a ring of railroads that encircles the city which were established piecemeal in the late 19th century into the mid-20th century. It was built as part of Atlanta’s identity as a “New South” city, meant to support and attract industry and commerce to the city, and it was controlled by several competing railways that held different portions of the line. It reached its peak use shortly after the end of the construction work, as in the late 1960s freight began traveling more frequently by truck than by train. The remaining railway bridges represent the most significant remaining historic resources from the original Beltline, as they are the most intact, and visible, and establish a cultural identity for the surrounding neighborhoods. The Atlanta Preservation Center is vigorously advocating for these remaining bridges to be landmarked and preserved.
McClendon Hospital
McLendon Hospital, which Dr. Frederick Earl McLendon opened in the mid-1940s, was one of two places in Atlanta where Black people could get quality medical care with dignity and respect. Located in Hunter Hills.
Built in 1931, the Winnwood Apartments is a brick Georgian Revival style apartment building located in Midtown. Built by Atlanta builder/contractor H.W. Nicholes and Sons, a prominent father/son firm that achieved a reputation for high quality work.
The historic rehabilitation project was completed in 2023. All exterior work was performed to the Secretary of the Interior's Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties. As part of the project, over 250 historic windows were saved, repaired, and reused.
Ivy Hall, the home of Edward Peters, was designed by prominent Atlanta architect Gottfried Norrman. Constructed in 1883, the Peters House may be the first house in Georgia to fully embody the new Queen Anne style. The house occupies a full city block which contributes to the historic significance of the site. The setting dates from the 19th century and is possibly Atlanta’s oldest surviving landscape design; the original carriage house made this Atlanta’s most complete representation of 19th century domestic architecture.
Connecting the historic Grant Park and Ormewood Park neighborhoods, the massive concrete bridge dates to 1898-1899, likely to the original construction of the former Atlanta & West Point Rail Road (future site of the Beltline). Massive pilasters flank the arched openings.
Maybe the largest factor contributing to the birth and prosperity of Atlanta in the 19th century would be rail service.
The Constitution Building, also referred to as the Georgia Power Atlanta Division Building, is further known as the "Heart of Atlanta" because of its location at downtown Atlanta's historic railroad junction. This masonry building is a rare example of Art Moderne in Atlanta. It was constructed for the Atlanta Constitution newspaper which occupied the building until 1953.
The Trio Laundry Dry Cleaning Building, built in 1910, is a contributing structure in both the local Martin Luther King Jr. Landmark District and the National Registers’ Martin Luther King Jr. Historic District. In June 2014, AHA applied for a demolition permit which was issued by the city in August 2014. Thanks to the efforts of local preservationist, including the APC, demolition was averted. The Atlanta Preservation Center is advocating for the adaptive reuse of the building to contribute to the community.
McLendon Hospital, which Dr. Frederick Earl McLendon opened in the mid-1940s, was one of two places in Atlanta where Black people could get quality medical care with dignity and respect. Located in Hunter Hills.
The preservation of this architectural monument is both a testament to the area’s history, but also a visual example of saving this community's identity. This building has struggled with the challenges of disrepair and the complexity of "Black and White Flight," also the pressures of being a Black neighborhood that is now threatened with sustaining its culture. Today, the four stone walls made of granite from Stone Mountain symbolize the resiliency of the Beloved Community — and a group of leaders who are working to restore St. Mark into its traditional role — as a sustainable cultural center for the neighborhood.
The Building started its life as a book binding factory, designed by A. Ten Eyck Brown and his associate Alfredo Barili Jr. This would be the same team that would designed the US Post Office (now the Martin Luther King Jr. Federal Building) and the Fulton County Courthouse. A. Ten Eyck Brown would go on to be one of the most prolific architects in Atlanta in the 20th century, designing primarly public structures like the Sweet Auburn Curb Market and many other civic buildings.
While the focus of APS is on building and rehabilitating schools for educational purposes, school buildings are important to the history of their community and Atlanta. Schools are often the center of activity in communities and play a prominent role in the daily life and history of a community. Many were designed by the top architects of their time.
Built in 1869 by architect William Parkins, Gaines Hall initially opened as North Hall – and stood as Atlanta University's initial original building.
Located at the corner of Jesse Hill Jr. Drive and Auburn Avenue, in the heart of the Sweet Auburn District, once known as the richest stretch of Black real estate in America, the three-story building is boarded up and has been that way for decades. The Atlanta Life Insurance Company, founded by Alonzo Herndon, was located here.
Places in Jeopardy
Preservation Progress
For Journal of Society of Architectural Historians
Lessons Learned in Urban Architectural Preservation: a case history regarding the Garrick Building, 64 West Randolph Street, Chicago.
- Do not underestimate potential interest and assistance to the cause.
- If controlling parties do not know or will not state intent, plan for pleas and obtaining of knowledgeable statements for use on short notice.
- Obtain local government, planning, architectural and historical bodies’ endorsement of worthy buildings if possible.
- Do not rely on seemingly short time available for preservation activity; action will be more sound if based on longer period of time.
- Prepare documents of data and reasons for preservation at earliest moment.
- Address pleas to highest authority of ownership and government as well as newspapers and Institutions.
- Do not forget the value of even a cause for future cases.
- Realize the sensitivity of all parties to public relations aspects of such campaigns.
- Do not underestimate influence of work of small, persevering groups.
- Speak positively in terms of real and long range values when faced with exaggerated reasons for necessity to destroy.
- Be accurate.
- Be aware of developing concepts of obligations of property ownership.
Richard Stanley Nickel
1928 – 1972
