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An integrated map of the area coming soon! These digital captures will help counteract the discouraged preservation efforts in the area, as noted in a March 5, 2024, letter from the Georgia Department of Community Affairs:
In order to meet National Register integrity requirements for a historic district, the proposed area must possess a significant concentration, linkage, or continuity of sites, buildings, structures, or objects united historically or aesthetically by plan or physical development. In the proposed Mechanicsville Historic District, a sufficient concentration of contiguous historic resources with integrity is not extant due to extensive demolition, non-historic infill, and substantial alteration of many historic resources.
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Agisoft Metashape mapping path and point cloud of the Mechanicsville captures, featuring 2,522 images.
Excerpt from the Historic Resources Survey Report
Landmark Consulting
By examining the list of resources surveyed within the boundaries, multiple periods of development were revealed spanning Mechanicsville’s hundred and fifty year history, including the development of the railroad as its western boundary at the end of the nineteenth century to
twentieth century urban renewal projects. The highest concentration of resources date from 1910 to 1929 which coincides with Atlanta’s drastic population increase at the turn of the century. Atlanta’s population grew from 20,000 in 1865 to 90,000 in 1900, making it the largest city in Georgia and the third largest city in the Southeast. This drastic increase in population ultimately led to an increased demand for housing. It is important to note that it is possible some of these resources are older than recorded due to the loss of building records during the Great Atlanta Fire of 1917. Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps from 1889, 1911, and 1932 were referenced in order to best determine resources build dates.
Located south of Atlanta’s Central Business District (CBD), Mechanicsville is bounded by the I-20 to the north, the I-75/85 to the east, and the Norfolk Southern Railroad to the west and south. The combination of the expressways and railroad have caused the isolation of Mechanicsville from the surrounding city. The railroad has divided Mechanicsville from the Pittsburgh neighborhood to the west since its construction at the end of the nineteenth century. Beginning in the 1940s, and finalized in the 1960s, expressway construction cut off Mechanicsville from Atlanta’s CBD to the north, Summerhill to the east, and Peoplestown to the southeast.
Mechanicsville developed in tandem with the City of Atlanta since its founding in 1847. As the city grew and expanded so did Mechanicsville, and by 1892 the southernmost street of both the city and the neighborhood was Doane Street. During this period Mechanicsville was settled by a
diverse group of residents. The neighborhood consisted of wealthy White residents, working class White residents, and Black freedpersons. By the 1920s, wealthy White residents began relocating to the early northeast Atlanta suburbs and racial zoning began to be established within
the city. By the mid-twentieth century, Mechanicsville’s demographics shifted to a predominantly Black population.
Beginning in 1938, the neighborhood began to be considered one of the city’s worst slums ushering slum clearance programs. By the 1950s, slum clearance was rebranded as urban renewal and ushered decades worth of demolitions within the neighborhood. Throughout the second half of the twentieth century, Mechanicsville suffered losses due to expressway construction, the construction of Turner Field and its parking lots, and the Olympification of Atlanta.
twentieth century urban renewal projects. The highest concentration of resources date from 1910 to 1929 which coincides with Atlanta’s drastic population increase at the turn of the century. Atlanta’s population grew from 20,000 in 1865 to 90,000 in 1900, making it the largest city in Georgia and the third largest city in the Southeast. This drastic increase in population ultimately led to an increased demand for housing. It is important to note that it is possible some of these resources are older than recorded due to the loss of building records during the Great Atlanta Fire of 1917. Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps from 1889, 1911, and 1932 were referenced in order to best determine resources build dates.
Located south of Atlanta’s Central Business District (CBD), Mechanicsville is bounded by the I-20 to the north, the I-75/85 to the east, and the Norfolk Southern Railroad to the west and south. The combination of the expressways and railroad have caused the isolation of Mechanicsville from the surrounding city. The railroad has divided Mechanicsville from the Pittsburgh neighborhood to the west since its construction at the end of the nineteenth century. Beginning in the 1940s, and finalized in the 1960s, expressway construction cut off Mechanicsville from Atlanta’s CBD to the north, Summerhill to the east, and Peoplestown to the southeast.
Mechanicsville developed in tandem with the City of Atlanta since its founding in 1847. As the city grew and expanded so did Mechanicsville, and by 1892 the southernmost street of both the city and the neighborhood was Doane Street. During this period Mechanicsville was settled by a
diverse group of residents. The neighborhood consisted of wealthy White residents, working class White residents, and Black freedpersons. By the 1920s, wealthy White residents began relocating to the early northeast Atlanta suburbs and racial zoning began to be established within
the city. By the mid-twentieth century, Mechanicsville’s demographics shifted to a predominantly Black population.
Beginning in 1938, the neighborhood began to be considered one of the city’s worst slums ushering slum clearance programs. By the 1950s, slum clearance was rebranded as urban renewal and ushered decades worth of demolitions within the neighborhood. Throughout the second half of the twentieth century, Mechanicsville suffered losses due to expressway construction, the construction of Turner Field and its parking lots, and the Olympification of Atlanta.
