F 
 
 024 
 
Qass '^ y '1 ^'1 
 
 Book_^ ^j 
 
HAND BOOK 
 
 OP THE 
 
 City of Atlanta 
 
 ^ Vm) rr\ a 5> H . T^ I cUrX^y~r> , C err>-vXaaj2A^. 
 
 A Comprehensive Review of the City's Commercial, Industrial 
 and Residential Conditions. 
 
 An Honest Tale Speeds Best Being Plainly Told. 
 
 Richard hi. 
 
 v^^'off;geof the ">'• \ v^ 
 
 12403 FEB19I898 
 
 ^fR OF CCv^:^ 
 I ssuEDTroMTbY-nnrTiiE 
 
 ATLANTA CITY COUNCIL 
 
 AND THE 
 
 ATLANTA CHAHBER OF COMMERCE. 
 
4885 
 
 
 COFYRKiHT, 
 
 1898 
 
 
 BY 
 
 
 T. 11. 
 
 MARTIN AND V. 
 
 V. BUI. LOCK. 
 
PJ^EFAOE. 
 
 ^'^HIS little volurqe was prepared to supply a derqand 
 for iriforTT|ation about Atla-qta, aqd In th^e collectlorj 
 of th^is iriforrqation rio pair^s h^ave been spared to mal^e 
 it accurate, The figures giveq represe-qt actual co-q- 
 ■ditions aqd -qot estin-^ates. Atlanta can afford to tell 
 "the urivarriished truth and a faithful effort has been 
 made to do that in the followlr\g pages. 
 

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Atlanta: 
 
 TI)c 3tor>5 of its UpbQilding. 
 
 ^HE Atlanta of to-day is a growth 
 of thirty-two years. Twice has 
 the upbuilding of a city on this site 
 demonstrated its natural advantages. 
 Within a few years before the war At- 
 lanta had become a bustling town of 
 11,000 inhabitants, and during the three 
 years which intervened before its de- 
 struction the place was the seat of varied 
 and important industries, whose princi- 
 pal object was to sustain the military 
 operations of the Confederacy. It was 
 also a depot for the distribution of sup- 
 plies to the surrounding country and a forwarding station for the com- 
 missary department of the army. 
 
 After its baptism of fire in November, 1864, when the inhabitants had 
 been dispersed by the exigencies of war, and of more than 1,000 houses 
 only 300 remained, the city took a new start, and its great growth dates 
 from that time. It is, therefore, a city of the new regime, erected on the 
 ruins of the old. 
 
 The coat of arms of Atlanta fittingly typifies this remarkable history. 
 No city on the continent has survived such destruction. No city has twice 
 attained prominence with such rapidity. Atlanta's foundation reaches 
 back to the forties, and far-seeing men recognized it then as a place of 
 promise, destined to be an important railroad center and a seat of commerce. 
 This conception of the new city had been accepted as a true one when it 
 was destroyed by fire, and since its new birth in reconstruction days the 
 old spirit arose and lighted the new path of Atlanta to a greater destiny. 
 
 The capitol of the State was brought here from Milledgeville when the 
 new city was hardly out of the ashes of war, and this gave a great impetus 
 to its growth, which was further insured in 1877, when the people of Georgia 
 voted to make Atlanta their capital. Its rapidly developing business and 
 manufactures were brought to the attention of the whole country by the 
 Cotton Exposition of 1881, which was a point of departure for the tre- 
 mendous development of the Southeastern States during the decade be- 
 tween 1880 and 1890. This development found a splendid illustration in 
 the great Cotton States and International Exposition of 1895. 
 
 The rapidity of the growth of Atlanta is illustrated by the fact that, 
 since it was blotted from the map, the city has spread over twelve square 
 
Atlanta: The Story of its Upbuilding. 
 
 miles of ground. Starting with no business in 1865, it received in 189T 
 one-third of the freight delivered in Georgia, and its postoffice receipts- 
 were one-third of those of the State. Thirty-two years ago there was- 
 hardly a dollar to turn a trade ; within the year just closed the bank clear- 
 ings aggregated $72,000,000, and the total commerce of the city, exclusive- 
 of insurance, real estate and miscellaneous transactions, amounted to ^56,. 
 000,000. At the beginning of this period there were only a few stragglers 
 remaining in the wake of fire and sword. To-day there is a great city of 
 100,000 people, the business headquarters of 120,000, with a floating popu- 
 lation of many thousands more. From bare ground, covered with ashes 
 and ruins in 1865, the real property of the city has been built up to a value 
 of $60,500,000, consisting largely of solid masses of brick and mortar, stone- 
 and steel, which go to make up a magnificent array of handsome business 
 edifices. 
 
 The question, wherefore Atlanta? naturally arises, for communities are- 
 not effects without causes. Atlanta is the result of a combination of ad- 
 vantages, on a commanding geographical location, turned to the best ac- 
 count by a spirit of transcendent energy, which surmounts all obstacles 
 and builds even on disaster the fabric of success. The growth of this un- 
 conquerable spirit has been promoted by a unity of purpose which has- 
 prevented the domination of factions. Whatever local interests may clash, 
 the good of Atlanta is always a rallying cry. The Atlanta spirit, which 
 has accomplished so much in the upbuilding of the city itself, is happily 
 contagious, and has much to do with making Georgia the Empire State of 
 the South, The spirit of new life has spread from this to other Southern 
 States which are the most active in the development of their resources, and. 
 the spirit of the Southeast is the spirit of Atlanta. 
 
 For this moral and material eminence Atlanta is fortunately situated on 
 a ridge which divides the water-shed of the Atlantic from that of the gulf, 
 and at a point where the natural barrier of the Apalachian chain is broken 
 by great gaps in the mountains. This is the natural point of intersection 
 for railway lines from the West with lines from the East. 
 
 This geographical vantage ground is accompanied by a topographical 
 eminence, from which the great climatic advantages of Atlanta are de- 
 rived. More than 1,000 feet above sea level at its lowest point, and from 
 eleven to twelve hundred at other places, Atlanta enjoys a cool, bracing 
 atmosphere, with breezes that blow over the foot-hills of the Blue Ridge. 
 The exhilarating air is a kind of natural tonic, so different from that of 
 the coast and gulf regions that an inhabitant of the low countries, coming 
 to Atlanta during the heated term, feels a stimulus as if he had been drink- 
 ing great draughts of aerial champagne. The rolling surface of the country, 
 which slopes in almost every direction from the city, affords easy drainage 
 and keeps the surrounding region free from malaria. 
 
 Atlanta's public buildings typify the solid character of her institutions. 
 Most conspicuous among them is the State capitol, which was erected at a 
 
Atlanta: The Story of its- Upbuilding. 
 
 PEACHTREE ST. — VIEW FROM ELLIS ST. 
 
 cost of $1,000,000. This stately structure, the custom house, the county 
 court house, and other public edifices, make up an aggregate of seven ta 
 eight millions invested in public buildings. 
 
 Outside of public buildings, the architecture of Atlanta is of a pleasing 
 character, and has steadily improved during the past thirty years. Few 
 cities in any part of the United States can show more attractive residence 
 streets or architectural designs indicating more culture and good taste. 
 Peachtree street, the principal one for residences, has a number of elegant 
 homes which would be ornaments to any city. 
 
 Atlanta is a city of homes, and this is apparent not only in the appear- 
 ance of the houses, but in the statistics of the United States census, by 
 
 WASHINGTON ST. — VIEW FROM WOODWARD AVE. 
 
Atlanta : The Story of its Upbuilding. 
 
 which Athmta is accredited with a larger percentage of home owners than 
 any city of its size in the Southern States. 
 
 Architecture has had notable development in the business edifices of At- 
 lanta during the past eight years, and buildings which were notable in 1890 
 are insignificant in comparison with the great oflice structures which have 
 been erected since then. Xo city in the United States can surpass the group 
 of office buildings erected in Atlanta during the past decade. This fully 
 appears from the illustrations, which show the exteriors of many such edi- 
 fices, and the interiors are in keeping with the imposing character of the 
 architectural designs. 
 
 A? will more fully appear in the chapter devoted to municipal affairs, 
 the street improvements and public works are of a substantial character. 
 The business streets are paved with granite blocks, and much of the resi- 
 dence portion of the city is similarly improved, while other streets are 
 paved with asphalt and vitrified brick. Extending from the city limits 
 there are graded roads macadamized with granite or chert, which give an 
 ideal drive extending for some distance north and south of Atlanta, afford- 
 ing a smooth and solid roadway for twenty miles. 
 
 The water supply for domestic and manufacturing purposes and for sani- 
 tary use is hardly equalled in any city of Atlanta's size, and the rates per 
 thousand gallons for families or for manufacturing purposes are merely 
 nominal, and probabh' lower than any on record. 
 
 Conditions in Atlanta are highly favorable to manufacturing industries, 
 and this is attested by the great variety of articles made here. More than 
 150 establishments are in successful operation, employing about 8,000 oper- 
 atives at good wages, and pouring into the channels of trade an annual 
 pay-roll of 82.500,000. The value of the raw material consumed is more 
 than 86.1)00,000, and the product between fourteen and fifteen millions. 
 The factories of Atlanta take the cotton crop ot four average Georgia coun- 
 ties. 
 
 The manufactures of Atlanta in their variety have a guaranty of stability 
 not to be found in those of any city where industry is confined to one 
 family, as of iron or cotton, however important that may be, and the ex- 
 tent of this variety is to some degree indicated in the chapter on this sub- 
 ject. Among the articles made here are many specialties, for which there 
 is a demand in almost every State in the Union, and concerns making 
 them have enjoyed prosperity through a long series of years. 
 
 The trade of Atlanta covers more or less all of the States between the 
 Ohio and Potomac rivers, the gulf, the Atlantic ocean and the Mississippi 
 river, and in some lines extends to the far Southwestern States and into 
 Mexico, while in a few it covers the entire country. The tendency of the 
 iobbing trade of the Southeast is to concentrate in Atlanta, and little by 
 little the business of other centers gravitates to this city. 
 
 Atlanta's commanding geographical and topographical situation was, at 
 the outset, one of the causes which led to the development of a great rail- 
 
Atlanta : The Story of its Upbuilding. 
 
 PEACHTREE ST. — VIEW FROM FIFTH ST. 
 
 road center, at which powerful systems from the East, the West and the 
 Southwest regularly compete. As a distributing point Atlanta enjoys fa- 
 cilities hardl}^ equalled elsewhere in the Southeastern States, and as an 
 accessible place of rendezvous for all kinds of organizations and interests, 
 it is a favorite, and has come to be known as the Convention City. The 
 terminal facilities of the railroads centering in Atlanta are very extensive, 
 and will shortly be greatly enlarged by the completion of a belt railroad, 
 which is under construction and already partly completed. By this means 
 the transfer of through freight will be made without interference with local 
 business, whose immense proportions will be realized from the simple state- 
 ment that of 248,000 cars unloaded on side-tracks in this State and half 
 of Florida in 1897, 75,000 were unloaded in Atlanta. 
 
 Atlanta's financial institutions are of the most solid character, and among 
 
 CAPITOL AVENUE — VIEW FKOM WOODWARD AVENUE. 
 
lo Atlanta: The Story of its Upbuilding. 
 
 her banks are several whose phenomenal success is indicated by the very- 
 large surplus they have accumulated and the handsome dividends they 
 regularly declare. Atlanta is the financial center of Georgia, and much 
 business from the surrounding country is cleared through the banks of the 
 city. The clearings represent a larger business, in proportion, than those 
 of cities whose exchanges are swollen by cotton receipts, the margin upon 
 which is very small. Atlanta's exchanges, on the contrary, represent a 
 broad variety of business, on which a fair, conservative business profit is 
 made, and therefore represent a far greater degree of activity and prosper- 
 ity than clearings composed largely of cotton business. This city is stead- 
 ily developing the type of financial institutions known as trust companies, 
 and some of these have under way important operations involving millions 
 of dollars. 
 
 Atlanta is the third city in the United States in the amount of insur- 
 ance written and reported to agencies. It is the Southern headquarters for 
 a number of fire and life insurance companies, and agencies of old line and 
 every other type of insurance are numerous. The financial and social 
 standing of the insurance men of Atlanta is high, and they wield a great 
 influence in the Southern field. Besides the outside companies repre- 
 sented, there are several strong local concerns which have developed within 
 the past twenty years and are doing a very large and prosperous business. 
 The educational facilities of Atlanta are fully treated in a separate chap- 
 ter, in which it appears that this city is abreast of the times in this as in 
 other respects. Atlanta early established a system of public schools, and 
 before almost any city in the South, turned its attention to technical edu- 
 cation. The Technological School was established by the State of Georgia 
 upon inducements off"ered by the city of Atlanta, which bore half of 
 the cost of the original plant, and contributes regularly to the support of 
 the institution. There is ample opportunity here for technical instruction 
 of other kinds, and Atlanta has three medical colleges, whose attendance 
 averages 600, to say nothing of the students of the dental colleges. Techni- 
 cal instruction in business methods is not neglected, and two large and 
 flourishing business colleges have maintained themselves here for many 
 years. 
 
 With the system of public instruction in elementary and higher branches 
 and in the technique of various pursuits, Atlanta has facilities for a broader 
 and more liberal culture in the libraries and lecture courses open to the 
 public. 
 
 The religious and social atmosphere of Atlanta is wholesome and invig- 
 orating. It is a city of churches and the home of church-going people, 
 and the community is honeycombed with fraternal organizations. 
 
 The social intercourse of the people, as well as the facility for doing 
 business, is greatly aided by an ideal system of rapid transit, not only from 
 the residence and suburban sections to the center, but from one residence 
 
Atlanta : The Story of its Upbuilding 
 
 II 
 
 PEACHTREE ST. — VIEW FROM PINE ST. 
 
 portion to another. The neighborly spirit is enhanced by the nearness 
 thus artificially created. 
 
 With all these advantages, and many which appear more fully in subse- 
 quent chapters, Atlanta has a wholesome and inspiring public spirit which 
 never fails to respond when the interests of the city are at stake. This is 
 perhaps the most distinctive thing about Atlanta, much as there is to say 
 of her various advantages and magnificent institutions. These, after all, 
 are the creation of the people of Atlanta, and the result of that same spirit 
 working out its marvels in physical form. This is the spirit which has 
 made Atlanta a household word in every city, town and hamlet in the 
 United States, and has carried her fame to almost every community in the 
 old world. 
 
 SOUTH PRYOR ST. — VIEW FROM RICHARDSON ST. 
 
12 
 
 Atlanta : The Story of its Upbuilding. 
 
 With this admirable esprit de corps there is a broad and catholic spirit 
 born of the cosmopolitan character of the people. The population is 
 principally composed of the best elements of the Southern States, with an 
 admixture of enterprising and progressive people from the North and West, 
 all striving with generous rivalry for the upbuilding of the city. All 
 creeds and cults and political faiths are represented, and for each there is 
 not only toleration but welcome and sympathy, according to his individual 
 deserts. The people of Atlanta are hospitable, broad, liberal, big-hearted, 
 whole-hearted, fair and free. 
 
 THE GRADY MONUMENT. 
 
Atlanta of To-da^. 
 
 Popctlation, Area and (lovernment. 
 
 |HE census of 
 1880 gave At- 
 lanta a population 
 of39,000, andby the 
 city assessment of 
 the next year the 
 real estate was val- 
 ued at $14,721,883 
 and the personal 
 property at $7,474,- 
 258. By 1890 the 
 population had 
 grown to 65,000 and 
 real estate was val- 
 ued at $39,729,894. 
 In the same period 
 personal property 
 grew to $11,906,605. 
 The decade between 
 1880 and 1890 was 
 the one during 
 which Atlanta made 
 the most remarkable 
 advance, but during 
 the great depres- 
 sion through which 
 the whole country 
 has passed since 1890 
 the progress of this 
 city has been re- 
 markable. In spite 
 of a somewhat lower 
 scale of valuation for suburban real estate, the assessor's report for 1897 
 showed realty valued at $43,476,868, and personalty $11,092,444. This 
 
 A NORTH PRYOR STREET BLOCK, 
 
14 
 
 Atlanta of To-Day. 
 
 value was created in thirty-two years, for Atlanta came out of the civil 
 war naked and desolate. 
 
 By a census taken in December, 1896, the population of Atlanta, by 
 wards, was found to be as follows : 
 
 First Ward 14,847 
 
 Second Ward 13,756 
 
 Third Ward 11,015 
 
 Fourth Ward 14,997 
 
 Fifth AVard 11,661 
 
 Sixth Ward 14,245 
 
 Seventh Ward 2,729 
 
 Total 
 
 83,260 
 
 This census was taken 
 hastily and it is esti- 
 mated by experts that 
 it was short nearly 2,000, 
 and the population was 
 really 85,000. The three 
 percent, increase in the 
 number of names, shown 
 by city directory for 
 1898, applied to these 
 figures, would give for 
 the present a population 
 of 87,250 within the city 
 limits. This does not 
 represent entirely the 
 population of Atlanta, 
 for there are numerous 
 suburban settlements 
 occupied by people 
 whose daily business is 
 in Atlanta. The direc- 
 tory names indicate that 
 the population of the 
 city, including these sub- 
 urbs, is 121,000. The population in .January, 1895, was in the same man- 
 ner estimated at 108,000; in 1896, 114,000,\nd in 1897, 117,000. The 
 growth indicated by these figures is likewise reflected by the bank clear- 
 ings and the statistics of tonnage which appear in appropriate chapters. 
 
 Area and Expansion, 
 
 Atlanta is a city of magnificent distances, covering about twelve square 
 miles. With abundance of room and fresh air, the circular form of the 
 
 COUNTY COURT HOUSK, 
 
Atlanta of To-Day. 
 
 I? 
 
 -city makes it compact, and the residence portions are, as a rule, equidistant 
 from the business center. The corporate line is described by a radius 
 ■of a mile and three-quarters. In two places this circle is expanded to take 
 in suburban communities which had been formed with irregular bound- 
 aries before the circular corporation line reached them. These are Inman 
 Park and West End, which extend from half a mile to a mile beyond the 
 •circle which elsewhere forms the corporate limits. 
 
 Atlanta is situated on rolling ground, which gives every facility for 
 •drainage and contributes materially to the effectiveness of the elaborate 
 system of sewers which has been laid out on the plans of an eminent sani- 
 tary engineer, Rudolph Hering, of New York. This rolling country extends 
 in every direction, and suburban communities are rapidly extending. The 
 ■electric lines reach out for six or eight miles on all sides of the city, and 
 afford quick and cheap access for the outlying towns. As a result of this 
 elaborate system of rapid transit, there has been a remarkable expansion 
 of the city within the past ten years, and the pressure on the center has 
 "been greatly relieved. It is estimated that the suburban trains and street- 
 «car systems of Atlanta bring in and carry out 30,000 people a day. 
 
 STATE CAPITOL. 
 
i6 
 
 Atlanta of To-Day. 
 
 Cit^ (lovernment. 
 
 The city govern- 
 ment of Atlanta is 
 administered by a 
 Mayor and General 
 Council. The leg- 
 islative body is 
 composed of thir- 
 teen councilmen 
 from the different 
 wards, elected by 
 the whole city, and 
 six aldermen who 
 are elected in a like 
 manner. The 
 alder m en and 
 
 DIXON GARBAGE CREMATORY. 
 
 POLICE HEADQUARTERS. 
 
 councilmen vote 
 separately on mat- 
 ters involving the 
 expenditure of 
 money, and the 
 concurrence of 
 both bodies is nec- 
 essary to an ap- 
 propriation. The 
 mayor has the 
 usual veto power. 
 
 The city depart- 
 ments are managed 
 by commissioners- 
 or boards elected 
 by the city coun- 
 cil, and thus every 
 ieature of public 
 business is con- 
 trol 1 e d by the 
 chosen representa- 
 tives of the tax- 
 payers. These de- 
 partments work in 
 harmony and for 
 the public good. 
 
Atlanta of To-Dav. 
 
 17 
 
 Finance. 
 
 The tax rate is one and a quarter per cent, and the rate of tax assessment 
 is about sixty per cent, of the actual value of property. Under the State law 
 railroads pay tax like other property owners. 
 
 The bonded debt of Atlanta is as follows : 
 
 Waterworks bonds, old works, $427,000 
 
 " " new works, 746,000 
 
 Railroad subsidy bonds, Georgia Western 300,000 
 
 A. & C. Air Line 300,000 
 
 Floating debt bonds 100,000 
 
 Redemption bonds 974,000 
 
 Capitol bonds 55,500 
 
 West End bonds 50,000 
 
 $2,952,500 
 
 There is no floating debt. The city carries over a cash balance at 
 the end of each year. 
 
 Under the Constitu- 
 tion of Georgia the 
 bonded debt of munic 
 ipalities is limited to 
 seven per cent, of the 
 assessed valuation of 
 taxable property, real 
 and personal, and no 
 new bonds can be 
 issued without provid- 
 ing a sinking fund. As 
 this property in Atlanta 
 amounts to $54,569,312 
 and there is railroad 
 property in addition 
 amounting to $1,500,- 
 €00, within the city 
 limits, the public debt 
 of Atlanta is about a 
 million dollars less than 
 the amount authorized 
 by the organic law of 
 the State. 
 
 The charter of At- 
 lanta provides for a 
 perpetual sinking fund 
 of $175,000, which is 
 
 MARKHAM HOUSE BLOCK. 
 
Atlanta of To-Day, 
 
 carried over from year to year as a treasury balance. It gives the city a- 
 fund with which to meet unusual drafts upon its treasury in the early part 
 of the year, and avoids the necessity of borrowing money to anticipate- 
 the revenues. 
 
 There is a water bond sinking fund of $6,000 set aside from the revenues- 
 of each year, and this has accumulated $36,000 towards the extinguishment 
 of S182,000 of waterworks bonds due in 1922. For the extinguishment of 
 $50,000 of redemption bonds due in 1924, the sum of $1,667 is set aside- 
 from each year's revenue, and this fund amounts to $6,678. 
 
 In addition it is proposed to begin this year a sinking fund for the re- 
 mainder of the bonds issued to build the new waterworks. Of these bonds 
 to the amount of $64,000 mature in 1902 and $500,000 in 1922. For these- 
 an annual sinking fund of $37,000 will be required and has been provided for.. 
 
 Atlanta pays one-tenth of the property tax of the State of Georgia, con- 
 tributing over $250,000 to the revenue of the State from the ad valorem tax,. 
 to say nothing of specific taxes, which very largely increase that sum. The- 
 tax returns do not include public property amounting to $7,500,000. That 
 owned by the city of Atlanta amounts to $5,636,500, the State capitol cost 
 $1,000,000, and other property owned by the Federal Government and the- 
 county of Fulton is easily worth $500,000. 
 
 In addition to this is the property of 112 churches and several untax- 
 able libraries, schools and charity organizations, which swell the list of ex- 
 empted property to something like $9,000,000. 
 
 The revenues and expenditures of Atlanta for 1897 are given below : 
 
 REVENUE. 
 
 The ordinary revenue of Atlanta 
 $1,184,227 29, derived from the follow 
 
 General tax S 
 
 Business licenses 
 
 Dray and hack licenses 
 
 Wholesale liquor licenses 
 
 Retail liquor licenbe.s 
 
 Insurance commitslon returns 
 
 Water rents 
 
 Recorder's court 
 
 State school fund 
 
 Marshal's sales 
 
 Miscellaneous receipts 
 
 for 1897 -was 
 
 ing sources: 
 
 744,014 92 
 
 82,875 5() 
 
 5,657 05 
 
 800 no 
 
 S0,90o 29 
 8,590 87 
 92,484 :^2 
 16,476 70 
 32,856 91 
 18.504 80 
 34,374 52 
 
 Total $ 1,118,-201 94 
 
 FOB STEEET IMPROVEMENTS. 
 
 Asphalt, granite block and rubble 
 
 assessments 13 
 
 Sidewalk and curbing assessment .. 10 
 
 Sewer assessments 37 
 
 Sewer connection charges 1 
 
 Removing and replacing pavements 3 
 
 S 66 
 
 1,118: 
 
 ,149 86 
 ,614 42 
 ,839 63 
 479 35 
 ,942 09 
 
 025 35 
 ,201 94 
 
 Total ordinary revenue $ 1,184,227 29 
 
 Brought over from previous year ] 
 on account of sinking funds, i 
 payment on purchase of coun- |- 290.808 58 
 ty courthouse aud unfinished | 
 workand outstanding warrants J 
 
 Total receipts, 1897 8 1,475,035 87 
 
 EXPENDITURES. 
 
 Mayor's ofiice 
 
 City council 
 
 City hall 
 
 Police department 
 
 Tax collection expenses. 
 
 Fire department 
 
 Cemeteries 
 
 Sewers 
 
 Streets 
 
 Engineering 
 
 Public works 
 
 Water works- 
 Operation 
 
 New mains 
 
 Street liijhts 
 
 Law department 
 
 Parks 
 
 Relief (including Grady Hospital). 
 
 Public schools 
 
 City comptroller's office , 
 
 Bridges 
 
 Sanitary department 
 
 Contingent expenses 
 
 Total ordinary expenditures. 
 
 Interest on bonds, , 
 
 Other items, finance 
 
 3,607 or 
 
 9,000 00' 
 
 7,867 64 
 
 135,287 38- 
 
 33,040 56. 
 
 105.944 88 
 
 11,941 38 
 
 43 40i 96 
 
 80,418 39' 
 
 6,967 43- 
 
 3,000 00 
 
 74,845 66- 
 
 35,000 00 
 
 64,347 70 
 
 19 097 93- 
 
 8,868 38 
 
 46,460 43- 
 
 141,999 11 
 
 5,453 ;»■ 
 
 10,790 00 
 
 115,676 74 
 
 7,840 49' 
 
 Total disbursements 
 Carried over to 1898. , 
 
 970.8.^7 0» 
 173,142 50 
 72,135 00' 
 
 I 1,216,134 58 
 258,901 2» 
 
 $ 1,475,035 8T 
 
Atlanta of To- Day. 
 
 19 
 
 The Police Department. 
 
 Atlanta has [a remarkably efficient Police Department. The men are 
 selected with a view to physical fitness, as well as intelligence and moral 
 worth, and are regularly drilled by an officer of the State military 
 organization. The detective service is well manned and efficient. 
 
 The Police Department is controlled by a Board of Police Commis- 
 sioners, consisting of six members, who are elected by the Mayor and 
 General Council, with the Mayor as an ex officio member, making seven in 
 all. The force is disciplined by rules and regulations adopted by the 
 Board and approved by the General Council. 
 
 The police force is divided into three reliefs of eight hours each, as\ 
 follows : 
 
 First or Morning Watch : One captain, two patrol sergeants, forty patrol- 
 men. 
 
 Second or Day Watch : One captain, one patrol sergeant, eighteen patrol- 
 men, one mounted sergeant, twelve mounted men. 
 
 Third or Evening Watch : One captain, two patrol sergeants, forty-four 
 patrolmen, six bicycle men. 
 
 The following officers 
 are required to do duty 
 twelve hours : 
 
 One captain of detect- 
 ives, one detective ser- 
 geant, seven detectives, 
 two desk sergeants, six 
 wagon men, two call 
 men on horses, one call 
 man on bicycle, two 
 turn keys, two Oakland 
 cemetery guards, one 
 officer Grant park, one 
 officer Piedmont park, 
 one court bailiff, one 
 custodian. 
 
 The central station 
 was completed in March, 
 1893, since which time 
 it has been occupied, 
 and has every modern 
 prison convenience. 
 There are forty-three 
 celly, which accommo- 
 date about one hundred 
 and fifty prisoners. _ te,„,,_j, court. 
 
20 
 
 Atlanta of To-Day. 
 
 ' n. fit """ 
 
 The armory is 
 equipped with one 
 hundred and twen- 
 ty-five 44-c a 1 i b r e 
 Winchester rifles, 
 and with these al- 
 most any riot that 
 may occur can be 
 soon quelled. There 
 are t w e n t y-f our 
 horses and six pa- 
 trol wagons, four 
 single and two 
 double. 
 
 The police signal 
 system was c o m- 
 pleted in the early 
 part of 1891, and 
 has given general 
 satisfaction. It en- 
 ables the officers on 
 their beats to get 
 the patrol wagon 
 much more quickly 
 than by private tel- 
 ephone, which al- 
 lows them to give more attention to their beats. The patrolmen are 
 required to report through signal boxes to the central station once each hour, 
 so that any information deemed necessary for the welfare of their beats or 
 the city at large may be communicated to and from them. This system 
 has added much to the efficiency of the department. 
 
 The amount appropriated to the Police Department for the year 1896 was 
 $140,730.00. Expenses incurred for the year, $140,088.36. The amount of 
 fines imposed by the Recorder during 1897 was $53,786.38. There was col- 
 lected, $15,876.18; worked out on streets, $34,715.70. 
 
 GRAND OPERA HOUSE. 
 
 The Fire Department. 
 
 The Atlanta Fire Department, in equipment, is hardly surpassed by that 
 of any city of the same size, and in efficiency has no superior. The 
 fire record for 1897, with 401 fires, showed a loss of $95,212, only a little 
 over three per cent, of the value of property at risk, which, with con- 
 tents of buildings, was $2,970,665. 
 
 Of these fires 292 were in frame buildings, 57 in brick, one in a stone 
 building, one in a freight car, and two in corrugated iron structures. In a 
 
Atlanta of To-Day. 
 
 21 
 
 PIEDMONT DRIVING CLUB. 
 
 large majority of cases 
 the damage did not ex- 
 ceed $50, and in only 
 twenty-seven did it ex- 
 ceed $500. 
 
 For the twelve and 
 a half years from July 
 1st, 1885, to December 
 31st, 1897, there were 
 3,083 fires, with a total 
 loss of $1,390,591. 
 Casualties are very 
 rare, and during the 
 time only two lives 
 were lost, and injuries 
 few and unimportant. 
 Attached to the de- 
 partment is an electrical engineer, who attends all fires, cuts electric wires 
 and takes such other precautions as may be necessary to protect the 
 firemen. 
 
 The department is under the absolute control of the chief and has the 
 efficiency and discipline of a military organization. Its freedom from 
 political domination has made it a merit system. The accounts are 
 audited by a board of firemasters, composed ol the mayor, the chief of the 
 department, and five members elected by the city council. 
 
 The officers of the fire department are the chief, twelve foremen and the 
 superintendent of the fire-alarm system. There are in all one hundred 
 
 and five men em- 
 ployed in the de- 
 partment and the 
 equipment includes 
 three hook and lad- 
 der trucks, two 
 chemical engines, 
 one extension lad- 
 der truck, eight 
 hose wagons, and 
 three engines. The 
 buildings occupied 
 at the eight stations 
 are valued at $146,- 
 000. Stations are 
 all constructed of 
 brick. 
 
 CAPITAL CITY CLUB, 
 
22 
 
 Atlanta of To-Day. 
 
 The Sanitary Department. 
 
 Atlanta has a well organized sanitary department, supervised by a 
 board of health, composed of four leading physicians, two citizens and 
 the mayor, under whose direction a force of 240 men and 185 horses and 
 mules is constantly employed. The workof the department includes, besides 
 the usual scavenger service, street cleaning, garbage removal, etc., the close 
 inspection of fruit, vegetables, meats and milk, and strict supervision of all 
 plumbing construction. In case of epidemic the board of health has ample 
 power to use such measures as may be necessary for the isolation or quar- 
 antine of contagious or infectious diseases. The efficiency of the board has 
 been tested recently by the yellow fever, when, with hundreds of people 
 passing through Atlanta from the low countries along the gulf coast, not a 
 single case developed in any resident of the city. The system, while not 
 unnecessarily drastic, is efficient and satisfactory. 
 
 The organization of the sanitary department is as follows : One chief 
 sanitary inspector, 6 district sanitary inspectors, 1 milk and market inspec- 
 tor, 1 plumbing inspector, 2 sewer and hydrant inspectors, 1 bookkeeper, 
 stenographer and registrar of vital statistics, 1 chemist, 1 superintendent of 
 farm, stables and grounds, 1 foreman of night sweepers, 1 foreman of 
 crematory, 1 foreman of shops, 1 foreman of stables, 2 road watchmen, 1 
 stable night-watchman, 1 fireman of crematory, 1 woodworkman, 3 black- 
 smiths, 2 drivers of street sprinklers, 6 drivers of sweeping machines, 6 
 helpers on sweeping machines, 6 drivers of two-horse wagons with sweeping 
 machines, 6 helpers on wagons with sweeping machines, 1 driver of infec- 
 tious wagon, 1 helper on infectious wagon, 1 driver of ambulance, 31 gar- 
 bage or gutter sweepers, 21 drivers of night-soil wagons, 21 helpers on night- 
 soil wagons, 29 garbage wagon drivers, 29 helpers on garbage wagons, 4 dri- 
 vers of dump wagons, 55 drivers of dump carts, 4 laborers at the crematory, 
 12 laborers on the dump and pits, 3 laborers in stables, 6 laborers with sewer 
 inspectors, and 1 laborer (stable man) in the city, making in all 270 men. 
 
 The department is serving about 17,500 premises, which cover the entire 
 city. Every house not exempted is assessed a sanitary tax of $3.00 an- 
 nually, the aggregate of which amounts to about S50,000. The exempted 
 houses are churches, school-houses, fire department houses and all houses 
 belonging to the city, State and United States governments. 
 
 Vital Statistics, 1897. 
 
 BIRTHS. 
 
 Total number 935 
 
 Total white... ......". m\ 
 
 Total colored ::!04 
 
 Total males 511 
 
 Total females |".. 424 
 
 DEATHS. 
 
 Total number deaths during 1897 1,826 
 
 Total n\nnber deaths during 1«9G 1,861 
 
 Total number deaths during 1S9.5 1,673 
 
 Total number deaths durius 1S94 I,o70 
 
 Totalnumber deaths during 1893 1,633 
 
 MORTALITY, WHITES AND COLORED. 
 
 o.^^**®^ *^??:'^^®' '^^1' PoPUl'^tion 51,000. Deaths per thousand. 18.67. Colored: deaths 874, population 
 34,000. Deaths per thousand, 2.5.70. Total deaths, 1,826 ; population 85,000; deaths per thousand, 21.48. 
 
Atlanta of To Day, 
 
 23 
 
 Street Improvements. 
 
 The system of street 
 improvements in At- 
 lanta is based upon a 
 division of the expense 
 between the city, the 
 .abutting property own- 
 ers and the street rail- 
 way companies, where 
 the latter occupy a por- 
 tion of the street. The 
 rule has been that assess- 
 ments could be levied 
 -where a petition repre- 
 senting the owners of 
 one-third of the abut- 
 ting property asked for 
 the improvements, but 
 :at the recent session of 
 the legislature an 
 .amendment to the char- 
 ter made the require- 
 ment a petition repre- 
 senting fifty per cent, of the abutting property. Before an ordinance re- 
 quiring such improvements can be passed they must be approved by the 
 Superintendent of Public Works and the City Engineer, and when the 
 work has been ordered each piece must be let to contract separately. 
 
 TELEPHONE EXCHANGE. 
 
 JEWISH ORPHANS HOME. 
 
24 Atlanta of To-Day, 
 
 Under the law no member of the city council can be a party to any con- 
 tract with the city. Where sewers are laid abutting property owners are 
 assessed seventy cents per foot on each side. This exceeds the cost of 
 lateral sewers of small dimensions on side streets, and helps to make up 
 the cost of trunk sewers. 
 
 The system of sewers was laid out in 1890 upon a plan prepared by the 
 eminent sanitary engineer, Mr. Rudolph Hering, of New York, after a 
 thorough survey of the city, with due regard to the rainfall and amount of 
 storm water and sewage to be carried off. The system in use here is one of 
 combined sewers, carrying both storm water and sewage. The water con- 
 nections for residences and buildings are kept up to the sanitary standard 
 approved by the Board of Health and set forth in the plumbing ordinance, 
 which was adopted ten years ago. This ordinance requires the standard 
 traps and open air vents, with approved flush tanks for closets and 1,000- 
 gallon flush tanks imbedded in the streets at suitable distances to clear the 
 sewers. 
 
 The City Engineer gives the following statement concerning street im- 
 provements : 
 
 "There are in the city a total of 61.81-100 miles of paved streets, the 
 cost of which amounts to $,1869,080.52. Of these 1.58-100 miles are vitri- 
 fied brick, 1.35-100 miles of asphalt, 5.30-100 miles of macadam, 3.50-100 
 miles of rubble, and 50.08-100 miles of granite blocks. 
 
 " Ihere are 65.86-100 miles of sewers, varying in size from eight inches 
 to ten feet in diameter, laid at a total cost of $710,554.56. There are 196.28 
 miles of curbing and sidewalks, most of which are paved with brick, at 
 a cost of $626,232.23. All of this work has been done since 1880 and paid 
 for by special assessments and from the general tax without the issuance of 
 any bonds for this purpose. 
 
 ''Street improvements are made on the petition of not less than one- 
 third (now one-half) of the property frontage, and the expense is met by 
 assessing two-thirds of the co^t against the property and one-third is paid 
 from the general tax. In streets occupied by a street railway company 
 eleven feet in width is paid for by the street railway company occupying 
 the street and the balance is apportioned as above described. 
 
 Sewers are laid by an appropriation from the general tax, but an assess- 
 ment of seventy cents per lineal foot is collected from the abutting property 
 The entire cost of curbing and sidewalks is paid by abutting property." 
 
 Building Inspection and Statistics. 
 
 Buildings in Atlanta are under the inspection of an experienced builder, 
 and before permits can be issued the character of the building, with the 
 cost and location, must be registered with the Inspector, who has an office 
 in the city hall. The usual rules prevail as to fire limits, and at the recent 
 session of the legislature the city was given power to control the location of 
 livery stables. A careful record is kept of all buildings, and permits and 
 
Atlanta of To-Day. 
 
 25 
 
 structures are classified as to character and location. This gives a very 
 accurate measure of the extent and value of improvements, and also indi- 
 cates what portions of the city are progressing most rapidly. The Inspec- 
 tor's reports for 1896 and 1897 are herewith appended, showing, by months 
 and wards, the buildings constructed during that period. The record for 
 1895, which was Exposition year, has been surpassed both in 1896 and 1897. 
 The following figures indicate very accurately the character and extent of 
 the buildings : 
 
 Building of 1896 by Months. 
 
 The total number of permits was 782. 
 as follows : 
 
 No. 
 
 January 41 
 
 February 66 
 
 March 
 
 April 
 
 Mav . 
 
 54 
 
 !05 
 
 75 
 
 June 
 
 63 
 
 July 
 
 85 
 
 August 
 
 63 
 
 September 
 
 61 
 
 October 
 
 November 
 
 December 
 
 72 
 
 61 
 
 33 
 
 Total 782 
 
 Issued 
 
 Cost. 
 $ 48,621 
 179,434 
 55,227 
 156,723 
 96,278 
 181,125 
 391,938 
 103,035 
 47,651 
 60,595 
 69,044 
 14,815 
 
 81,404,486 
 
 Buildings of 1896 Classified, 
 
 The buildings erected are classified as follows: 
 
 Cost. 
 
 28 Brick stores 
 
 26 Frame stores 
 
 19 Brick dwellings. 
 
 341 Frame dwellings 
 
 25 Public and business buildings. 
 280 Additions and alterations 
 
 63 Miscellaneous buildings 
 
 172,525 
 
 11038 
 
 91,600 
 
 .380,891 
 
 596,984 
 
 127 104 
 
 24,344 
 
 Total 11,404.486 
 
 Building of 1897 by Months. 
 
 The total number of permits was 1,313. Issued 
 as follows: 
 
 No. Cost. 
 
 January 44 $ 51,910 
 
 February 51 127,102 
 
 March 62 238,160 
 
 April 104 144,500 
 
 May 93 287,007 
 
 June 130 64,087 
 
 July ll.-i 179,265 
 
 August 165 147,691 
 
 September 161 88,364 
 
 October 141 393,009 
 
 November 145 46,036 
 
 December 102 36,173 
 
 Total 1,313 «1,803,304 
 
 Buildings of 1897 Classified. 
 
 The buildings erected are classified as follows. 
 
 Cost. 
 
 22 Brick stores 9 80,425 
 
 14 Frame stores 5,925 
 
 5 Brick dwellings 28,600 
 
 383 Frame dwellings 376,332 
 
 72 Public and business buildings. 1,114,500 
 
 727 Additions and alterations 183,563 
 
 136 Miscellaneous buildings... 14,409 
 
 Total 81,803,304 
 
 HOME FOR THE FRIENDLESS. 
 
26 
 
 Atlanta of To-Day. 
 
 Atlanta's Imports. 
 
 THERE has been an astonishing increase in imports at the Atlanta 
 custom house during the past two years, as may be seen from the 
 following table computed by the Surveyor of Customs, at the port of 
 Atlanta. The imports for 1896 were eight times those of the preceding 
 year : 
 
 SHOWING THE PRINCIPAL DUTIABLE ARTICLES. 
 
 ARTICLES. 
 
 Quantities. 
 
 Values. 
 
 1892 
 
 1893 
 
 1894 
 
 1895 
 
 1896 
 
 1892 
 
 1893 
 
 1894 
 
 1895 
 
 1896 
 
 Free of Duly. 
 Total free of duty 
 
 
 
 
 
 « 406 
 199 
 
 « 193 
 
 $ 300 
 
 $ 573 
 
 S21,24* 
 
 Dutiable. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Jewelry and precious stones . . 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1,629 
 6,885 
 3,121 
 2,604 
 2,579 
 
 ""776 
 6,084 
 3,230 
 4,733 
 
 8 
 
 1,395 
 
 847 
 2,421 
 
 70 
 
 2,554 
 
 186 
 
 6,027 
 
 13 086- 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1,437 
 
 882- 
 439^ 
 
 Tobacco and mfg. of leaf. Pounds .... 
 
 6,204 
 610 
 
 12,943 
 733 
 
 2,335 
 180 
 
 4,9-21 
 46 
 
 2,970 
 140 
 
 All other dutiable articles 
 
 44,919 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Total dutiable 
 
 $17,017 
 17,423 
 9,596 
 
 114,817 
 15,010 
 12,081 
 
 « 4,671 
 4,971 
 3,238 
 
 8 9,837 
 10,410 
 
 4,685 
 
 844, 90* 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 81,996 
 23,64ft 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ERSKINE MEMORIAL FOUNTAIN. 
 
MARIETTA STREET. 
 
 Commerce. 
 
 ATLANTA'S commerce has the distinguishing features of an inland 
 city, with a remarkably uniform state of business, changing less at 
 different seasons than that of the great cotton ports like New Orleans and 
 Savannah, where the volume of exchanges and shipments is immense at 
 certain seasons of the year and very low in proportion at other times. 
 Atlanta is at a point where there is a remarkable confluence of Eastern 
 and Western business. A vast volume of traffic pouring down between the 
 different ranges of the Apalachian chain converges at Atlanta and is met 
 by a vastly greater volume of business from the West. This will be illus- 
 trated by the tonnage figures below, from which it will be seen that the 
 freight from the East for the past five years, amounting to 402,000,000 tons, 
 was met by Western business of 969,000,000 tons. The miscellaneous 
 business from the East is somewhat greater than that from the West, which 
 amounts to 317,000,000 tons. The vast bulk of Western business consists 
 of breadstuffs, packing-house products, agricultural implements, hardware, 
 iron and steel, railroad iron, structural iron, etc. 
 
 It will be seen that the volume of business from the West is about two 
 and a half times that from the East, but it should be stated that the Eastern 
 traffic is made up of a high class of manufactured articles which pay the 
 railroads the highest rates of freight, while the Western traffic consists 
 
28 
 
 Commerce. 
 
 largely of carloads of corn, meat, iron and machinery, on which the charges 
 are very low. 
 
 The gradual amalgamation of railroad lines from the Ohio and Missis- 
 sippi rivers to the Southeast has a tendency to stimulate the competition 
 of Atlantic ports with the gulf ports for Western products, and the volume 
 of Western business passing through Atlanta is steadily increasing, with 
 conditions calculated to accelerate the increase in the near future. Atlanta 
 is the gateway between the ports of Charleston, Port Royal, Savannah and 
 Brunswick, and the great Western lines of the continent. The granary of 
 the West is from two to three hundred miles nearer the South Atlantic 
 ports than it is to New York by the great trunk lines. With the solidifi- 
 cation of the Southern lines, and rates of freight over them hardening by 
 competition with the gulf ports, the tendency should be to increase business 
 through Atlanta to Atlantic ports at the expense of the ports in the North- 
 east. For this reason the volume ot Western business through Atlanta 
 must steadily increase. These facts will more fully appear from an inspec- 
 tion of the following statistics of tonnage of freight into Atlanta from the 
 West and freight into Atlanta from the East : 
 
 Freight from the West. 
 
 RECORD OF THE SOUTHEASTERN FREIGHT ASSOCIATION. 
 
 Classified statement of tonnage from points on and beyond the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers and 
 from and via Lexington, Ky., and from Nashville, Tenn., Johnsonville, Tenn., and Florence, 
 Sheffield and Riverton, Ala., to Atlanta, Ga., during periods named — 
 
 
 
 
 
 22 
 
 s-g 
 
 |""i 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 <i/ 3 
 
 Ooj 
 
 S^ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 a 
 
 l« 
 
 
 0) 
 
 
 
 =e 
 
 
 a 
 
 " 5 
 
 hTPh 
 
 J r-3 
 
 TS 
 
 
 
 
 
 u 
 O 
 
 o 
 iS 
 
 3 
 
 2 
 
 Ph 
 
 
 *^ 
 
 ■JM 
 
 s 
 
 
 During the Year 
 Ended. 
 
 3 
 o 
 Pi 
 
 O 
 
 w 
 
 03 
 
 K 
 
 r a 
 2| 
 
 o a> 
 •one 
 
 racli Material C 
 0. L. , stone C. 
 ement C. L., 
 lizers C. h. 
 
 03 
 
 .a 
 
 O 
 ID 
 
 o 
 
 Q> 
 
 a 
 
 c3 
 
 3 
 
 o 
 
 
 
 '3 
 
 •a 
 
 3 - 
 S to 
 
 tJDU 
 
 
 R. T 
 Iron 
 L., r 
 
 Ferti 
 
 "3 
 
 H 
 
 
 Dh 
 
 o 
 
 S 
 
 < 
 
 CO 
 
 tf 
 
 i 
 
 
 March 31, 1893 ... 
 
 30,946,700 
 
 52,198,600 
 
 5.'>,493,900 
 
 4,597,000 
 
 8,689,400 
 
 23,211,600 
 
 74,080,500 
 
 249,217,700 
 
 March 31, 1894 ... 
 
 25,892,500 
 
 55,043,600 
 
 48,960,900 
 
 7,065,800 
 
 8,760,900 
 
 13,764,000 
 
 71,938,700 
 
 231 ,426,400 
 
 March 31, 1895 ... 
 
 26,793,600 
 
 49,992,400 
 
 43,478,100 
 
 3,479,900 
 
 8,345,000 
 
 12,434,900 
 
 69,390,400 
 
 213,920,300- 
 
 March 31, 1896 ... 
 
 28,677,200 
 
 46,700,900 
 
 59,532,600 
 
 6,889,200 
 
 14,341,400 
 
 16,719,300 
 
 102,061,200 
 
 274,921,800 
 
 Total 
 
 112,310,000 
 
 203,935,500 
 
 207,465, 500 
 
 22,031,900 
 
 40,136,700 
 
 66,129,800 
 
 317,470.800 
 
 969,486,200 
 
 
 Freight from the East. 
 
 RECORD OF THE SOUTHEASTERN FREIGHT ASSOCIATION. 
 
 Statement of Tonnage from the Eastern Seaboard and Interior Points in New England, New- 
 York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware and West Virginia, to Atlanta, Ga., during 
 periods named — 
 
 During the year 
 
 ended .March 31, 1893 
 
 March 31, 1894 
 
 83,710,945 
 79,548,512 
 
 <i <i 
 
 " March 31, 1895 
 
 78,763,415 
 
 " " 
 
 March 31, 1896 
 
 98,707,647 
 
 " " 
 
 " March 31, 1897 
 
 61,749,793 
 
 Total 
 
 402,480,123; 
 
Commerce. 
 
 29 
 
 Wholesale Trade. 
 
 Atlanta's wholesale trade is the growth of thirty years, and more partic- 
 ularl}' of the last two decades. Within ten years the jobbing trade of the 
 Southeastern States has been centered in this city, and smaller jobbing 
 centers have from time to time contributed capital, and have contributed 
 men as well, who are among the active factors in pushing Atlanta's trade. 
 The business of this city reaches from the Atlantic coast to the Mississippi 
 river, and in some lines to Texas and Mexico. On the north Atlanta meets 
 Baltimore half way and divides the distance with Cincinnati. In several 
 specialties the trade of Atlanta extends throughout the United States. This 
 is particularly true of cotton and paper bags, furniture and proprietary 
 medicines. 
 
 Time was when groceries were shipped from New Orleans to Atlanta, but 
 such a thing is almost unheard of now, and this market receives from that 
 city nothing but articles produced in the State of Louisiana. 
 
 The domination of New York over the interior trade is a thing of the 
 past. Fifteen or twenty years ago the merchants of Atlanta and vicinity 
 bought comparatively few goods of the jobbing merchants here, but by de- 
 grees it became apparent that there was no sense in paying freight on goods 
 for eight hundred miles, while the same articles could be had at the same 
 prices in this city. The same principle which is applied to all interior job- 
 bing centers all over the United States has operated in Atlanta's favor, and 
 
 SOUTH PRYOR STREET, 
 
30 Commerce. 
 
 the growth of the wholesale trade here has kept pace with its increase in 
 the commercial centers of the Western and Middle States. 
 
 Atlanta jobbers are patriotic as well as enterprising, and make it a rule- 
 to encourage home industry. Cotton goods which, twenty years ago, were 
 bought of commission houses in New York are purchased direct from 
 Southern factories, and the products of mills making jeans, hosiery, over- 
 alls, clothing, shoes and many other staples are taken by jobbing houses 
 and distributed from Atlanta. The anomalous condition which fifteen or 
 twenty years ago caused cotton goods and other staples to be shipped from 
 Georgia, the Carolinas and Alabama to New York for distribution has been 
 largely overcome by the upbuilding of Atlanta as a jobbing center. The- 
 same has been going on in other parts of the South, and has inured largely 
 to the benefit of Southern mills, which thereby avoid the expense of 
 transportation on their goods to a distant market. This disposition of the 
 jobbers has acted as a stimulus to home industries, and each year the pro- 
 portion of the goods bought at the South grows larger. This tendency of 
 the wholesale dealers to develop local manufacturing industries is directly 
 evidenced by the fact that several wholesale dry goods and notion houses 
 have established, in connection with their mercantile business, factories for- 
 the manufacture of pants, overalls, clothing and many other articles. In 
 the meantime several such factories have been established in different parts 
 of the State. 
 
 Naturally the two largest items in Atlanta's wholesale trade are groceries 
 and dry goods. The sales of groceries amounted to $9,384,000, and those 
 of dry goods to $8,775,000 during the year 1897. Under the head of dry 
 goods shoes and hats are included. These goods are sold from the Atlantic 
 coast to the Mississippi river and from the gulf half way to Cincinnati. 
 Atlanta houses carry immense stocks of goods, and their system of stock- 
 keeping and supply is probably the best in the South. Hardly any city in 
 the South carries an assortment equal to that kept in Atlanta- 
 
 The hardware business of Atlanta employs more than $3,000,000 capital. 
 There are a number of houses which have for years done a prosperous busi- 
 ness, and the volume of trade in this line is steadily increasing. To-day 
 there is no market south of Louisville which does a hardware business 
 comparable with that of Atlanta. It has become necessary for firms in 
 this line to lease warehouses in other cities in order to accommodate their- 
 expanding business. 
 
 In the grocery business Atlanta controls an extensive territory. It has 
 not been many years since the Southeastern States were supplied in this 
 line by dealers of Baltimore and New Orleans. The upbuilding of Atlanta 
 has changed this. Extensive dealers in this city supply the needs of the- 
 territory. Many of the large wholesale houses of Atlanta maintain branch 
 establishments in other cities, thus supplementing the shipments made- 
 from the home establishments. 
 
 Atlanta has a number of strong drug houses and dealers in paints, oils, 
 etc. This business covers a wide territory, including several States, and 
 
Commerce. 
 
 31 
 
 ALABAMA STREET. 
 
 some of these firms keep stocks of goods in other cities in the South for 
 shipment on orders sent to Atlanta. The proprietary goods which enter 
 into every drug stock include several important compounds put up in At- 
 lanta, and the business in this line is very great, reaching to almost every 
 State in the Union. 
 
 Atlanta's wholesale trade is remarkable for the solid character and high 
 reputation of the firms controlling it. There have been very few failures 
 during the last thirty years, and many of the houses are from twent}^ to- 
 thirty years old. The volume of business is as follows : 
 
 THE WHOLESALE TRADE OF ATLANTA. 
 
 CapitaL Sales. 
 
 Groceries $1,564,000 8 9,384,000 
 
 Hardware 1,092,000 2,969,000 
 
 Liquor 175,000 633,000 
 
 Drugs 285,000 996,000 
 
 Dry Goods 3,506,000 8,775'000 
 
 Miscellaneous 1,179,000 3,534,000 
 
 $7,801,000 826,291,000 
 
 Retail Trade. 
 
 Atlanta's retail trade is one of the most interesting features of its business. 
 The principal retail streets are thronged with hurrying crowds almost every^ 
 day in the year, and present scenes of life and activity suggestive of the- 
 busiest thoroughfares in the great metropolitan cities. Enterprising con- 
 cerns have made stock-keeping a specialty, and in the character and variety 
 
32 Commerce, 
 
 of goods their efforts are not surpassed at any other interior city. Window- 
 dressing is a fine art here, and the scenes daily presented behind plate-glass 
 would do credit, not only to a metropolitan city, but to an artist's studio. 
 The advertisements of Atlanta's retailers are equally striking, and their 
 displays are often among the most interesting features in the daily papers. 
 The systems in operation in the leading retail establishments are the same 
 in vogue in the great metropolitan stores, and the delivery service is quick 
 and efficient. The dry goods trade has been enlivened by the efforts of an 
 unusually enterprising and talented set of merchants, and failures have 
 been rare. The retail clothing business in Atlanta is immense and the 
 stocks among the largest in the country. The displays of furniture, in 
 extent and variety and in the good taste exercised in the selection of pat- 
 terns, are not equaled elsewhere in the Southern States. The retail mar- 
 kets have advanced wonderfully within the past ten years, and Atlanta 
 has a set of caterers that cannot be surpassed at any inland city. Every 
 kind of fish and game may be had in season, and fresh vegetables from 
 the time they ripen in Florida until the last crop of the truckmen sur- 
 rounding Atlanta has been marketed. The supply of poultry is particularly 
 fine. East Tennessee pours down her wealth of turkeys and chickens, and 
 the whole of North Georgia contributes to Atlanta's market supply. South 
 Georgia furnishes an abundance of spring lambs, which are of such fine 
 quality that large shipments have been made to Cincinnati and the West. 
 In fresh meats Atlanta has the best of Western beef, stall-fed cattle from 
 Tennessee and hog products from the West. The retail business in the 
 leading lines is as follows: 
 
 Atlanta's retail trade. 
 
 Establishments. Capita!. Sales. 
 
 Dry Goods 60 11,333,060 $3,699,000 
 
 Groceries 420 734,000 2,lC6.00u 
 
 Clothing 36 478,000 1,404,000 
 
 Furniture ■ 52 213,000 630,000 
 
 Butchers 80 223,000 625,000 
 
 Drugs 48 185,000 522.000 
 
 Hardware 19 58,000 162,000 
 
 Jewelry 16 102,000 288,000 
 
 Miscellaneous 55 703,000 2,097,000 
 
 785 84,029,000 811,593,000 
 
 Horses and Mules, 
 
 Atlanta is the second largest market in the United States for mules and 
 horses. She is only surpassed by St. Louis, and not very much surpassed 
 there. The annual sale amounts to over sixty thousand animals, valued 
 at between four and five million dollars. This is partly retail and partly 
 wholesale trade. Two-thirds of the stock is reshipped from Atlanta as a 
 distributing point into Georgia, South Carolina, Florida and Alabama, 
 The remaining one-third is sold here, principally at auction, during the 
 winter months. The facilities for the handling of this business are unusual. 
 Immense stables have been erected especially for the accommodation of 
 
Commerce. 
 
 35 
 
 horse-drovers, and hundreds of animals are accommodated at one time. 
 The trade is indicated by the following table : 
 
 Atlanta's horse and mule trade. 
 
 Mules... 
 Horses . 
 
 Number. 
 ... 4fi,875 
 ... 15,625 
 
 Value. 
 J3,513,(;25 
 1,051,875 
 
 62,500 f4,.565,500 
 
 Coal, Coke and Wood. 
 
 Atlanta's trade in coal, coke and wood is very large. This city is at the 
 point where coal from Alabama comes in direct competition with coal 
 from Tennessee, and competing lines from the two States keep freights at 
 a low figure. Steam coal averages SI. 75 per ton delivered, with little 
 change at different seasons of the year. The standard price of domestic 
 coal is S3.25 to S3. 75 per ton at the beginning of the season in retail lots. 
 The supply is always abundant, and prices, even in the bitterest weather, 
 are never exorbitant. 
 
 The supply of wood is abundant and at reasonable prices, as Atlanta is- 
 close to the heavily-timbered regions of Middle and North Georgia. 
 
 The volume of business in fuel is indicated by the following : 
 
 ATLANTA S FUEL TRADE. 
 
 Soft Coal.... 
 Hard Coal. 
 
 Coke 
 
 Wood 
 
 .81,200,000 
 50,000 
 20,000 
 22,000 
 
 «1 ,292.000 
 
 WHITEHALL STREET. 
 
34 Commerce. 
 
 Manufacturers' Agents Located in Atlanta, 
 
 Atlanta is Southern headquarters for nearly all the great manufacturing 
 concerns of the North and East who maintain branch houses south of the 
 Ohio river. The principal makers of railroad and structural steel, engines 
 and boilers, iron and woodworking machinery, hydraulic machinery, ice 
 and refrigerating machinery, electrical apparatus, elevators, rubber and 
 leather belting, oil, explosives, packing-house products, spool cotton, musi- 
 cal instruments, and many other important articles, are represented by 
 regularly established branch houses, many of them carrying large stocks 
 and employing a very considerable number of salesmen and office men. 
 There are forty-three branch houses of this character in Atlanta, their an- 
 nual sales aggregating nearly $3,000,000. 
 
 Manufacturers have located their Southern branches in Atlanta because 
 the city offers many substantial advantages for handling Southern trade. 
 Its geographical position is first among these advantages. This advantage 
 is strongly supplemented by splendid transportation facilities. Modern 
 office and storage accommodations have also been important factors. 
 
 The Cotton Business. 
 
 The cotton business of Atlanta has been a considerable item for many 
 years, and now averages about 175,000 bales per annum. This represents 
 the number passing through the compresses and reshipped from Atlanta by 
 local firms. As Atlanta is some distance from the coast, its receipts cannot 
 be compared to those of New Orleans or Savannah, but the business done 
 here represents the crop of the territory surrounding the city 
 
 The Car Service of Atlanta. 
 
 The relation of Atlanta to the commerce of the surrounding country is 
 Indicated by the number of cars unloaded here by consignees on the side- 
 tracks of the various roads entering the city. The Southeastern Car Service 
 Association, which was organized in October, 1895, to secure the prompt 
 loading and unloading of cars, and for that purpose to enforce a reasonable 
 and uniform charge for the detention of cars when they are held over the 
 time prescribed by the Railroad Commission, has kept during the past two 
 years an accurate record of this business, and these statistics are a revela- 
 tion. The association keeps an account of all cars unloaded by con- 
 signees on practically all of the railroads of Georgia, covering 4,563 out of a 
 total of 5,374 miles of railroad in this State, besides 2,510 miles in Florida. 
 Their territory is one and a half times that of this State. In that territory 
 during 1896 there were 179,704 cars unloaded, and in 1897 the business in- 
 creased to 248,741 cars. During the same period Atlanta unloaded about 
 one-fourth as many. The records show that on the side-tracks of this city 
 there were unloaded 55,114 cars during 1896 and 71,884 during 1897. The 
 increase for the past year in the whole territory of this State and 2,510 
 miles of rail in Florida was 69,037 cars, and in Atlanta 16,770 cars. 
 
Commerce. 
 
 35 
 
 It 'r-^ fill r? 
 
 
 SOUTH I'RYOR STREET. 
 
 Thus it will be seen that during 1896 Atlanta unloaded oO per cent, of the 
 cars delivered in this State and half of Florida, while during 1897 she un- 
 loaded very near the same proportion. 
 
 This tallies closely with statistics of the postoffice, showing that th& 
 gross receipts for mail matter at Atlanta are about one-third of those for the- 
 State of Georgia. 
 
 The delivery of cars to consignees in Atlanta during 1897 was as follows: 
 
 Southern Railway 24,552 
 
 Central of Georgia Eailway , 11,054 
 
 Western & Atlantic Railway 21,839 
 
 Georgia Railroad 12,470 
 
 Atlanta & West Point Railway 1,969 
 
 Total 71,884 
 
 These figures do not include the deliveries of cars to Atlanta consignees 
 by the Seaboard Air Line. The number of these, as stated by an 
 official of the road, is 4,680 
 
 Making the grand total for Atlanta. 
 
 76,564 
 
 The improvement in the car service at Atlanta by the ^'more rapid hand- 
 ling of business is indicated by the fact that when the Southeastern Car 
 Service Association was organized in October 1895, the estimated detention 
 of cars was 6.76 days. The statistics for 1897 show that the actual deten- 
 tion was 2.09 days. From, this it is estimated that the railroads in this 
 
36 
 
 Commerce. 
 
 territory have saved 700,000 days' service of freight cars, which, at $1.50 
 per day per car, would be a saving of more than $1,000,000. The facilities 
 of the roads for handling business and the service afforded Atlanta shippers 
 and consignees have been vastly increased by the work of the Association. 
 
 THE MULE MARKET. 
 

 , - *. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 n 
 
 '" '■" ' ^'^^^^^ 
 
 J^ 1 1- 
 
 . -^.tmaii 
 
 THE FULTON BAG AND COTTON MILLS. 
 
 AVanofactoring. 
 
 ATLANTA holds a prominent place among the manufacturing cities 
 of the South, and is especially strong in the variety of her industries. 
 In this respect Atlanta's relation to the iron cities of the South has been 
 described as similar to that which Philadelphia bears to Pittsburg. Atlanta 
 has no such great iron plants as Birmingham, Chattanooga and other cities 
 in Alabama and Tennessee, but it has something better in its variety of 
 well-developed industries. In this respect its manufactures resemble largely 
 those of Massachusetts. Though that State has a manufactured product 
 of about $900,000,000, only a few items cut a very large figure. By far the 
 larger part of that immense total is made up of the great variety of smaller 
 industries scattered through the cities and towns of the State. It is the 
 same with Atlanta's industry. One hundred and fifty-six establishments 
 in a great variety of industries, with a capital of $9,343,300, and an out- 
 put of $14,183,000, employ 7,985 operatives, with an annual pay-roll of 
 $2,456,000. The gain of raw material by manipulation in Atlanta con- 
 siderably exceeds the average percentage gain by manipulating raw mate- 
 rial elsewhere. The total cost of raw material in the various manufactur- 
 ing establishments is $6,178,000, and this, after the process of manufacture, 
 is valued at $14,183,00(1. There is, therefore, a gain of Vl%\ per cent, on the 
 value of raw material by manipulation. In other words, the product is 
 worth two and three-tenths times as much after manufacture as it was in 
 the shape of raw material. The average wage is $307. This indicates that, 
 with all the stress of panic through which the country has passed in the 
 last seven years, the average wage in Atlanta has remained about the same 
 as the average for the State of Georgia, as indicated by the census of 1890. 
 It will be noticed that for the amount of capital employed the manufac- 
 turing establishments of Atlanta are especially effective in the amount of 
 
38 
 
 Manufacturing. 
 
 output and the number of men 
 employed. The total invest- 
 ment of $9,343,000 gives em- 
 ployment to 7,985 people. One 
 person is employed for every 
 $1,154 invested. In the Mid- 
 dle and Northern States the 
 cost of plant for each operative 
 employed is from tifty to one 
 hundred per cent, more than 
 this, while in some instances 
 the average enhancement in 
 the value of raw material by 
 manipulation is something less 
 than the average in this city. 
 The relation of wages to raw 
 material and profits is such as 
 to leave a comfortable margin 
 for other operating expenses 
 and for returns to capital. For 
 instance, of the manufactured 
 product valued at $14,1S3,000 
 the margin above the cost of 
 raw material is $8,005,000. 
 The cost of labor was less than 
 half this margin, being only 
 $2,456,000. It is a rule in man- 
 ufacturing establishments that 
 the margin is about equally 
 divided between capital and 
 labor. In this case capital has 
 rather a better show than 
 usual, receiving, instead of an 
 average of about fifty per cent., 
 about seventy per cent., en- 
 hancement in the value of 
 raw material by manipulation, 
 and therefore has a safer mar- 
 gin for operating expenses. 
 
 The manufacturers of Atlan- 
 ta enjoy exceptional facilities 
 for the distribution of their 
 products, and have an abun- 
 dant and cheap supply of fuel. 
 The ten lines of railroad radi- 
 
Manufactuking. 
 
 39 
 
 I'L\Nr OF THK SOUTHERN FE im 1.1/ E v I'D. 
 
 ating from Atlanta give quick access to all parts of the territory supplied 
 from this city, and many miles of siding, largely connected directly with 
 the factories, afford economical facilities for loading and shipping. 
 
 Atlanta is at a point where the coal fields of Alabama and Tennessee 
 come in direct competition, and for this reason steam coal is always at a 
 low price. The average price, which varies little at different seasons of 
 the year, is $1.75 per ton delivered at Atlanta. 
 
 The statistics of manufactures in Atlanta for the year 1897 were collected 
 Avith great care for this handbook. A careful census was taken of the 
 business in all lines. First, the names of the establishments were secured 
 from the mercantile agencies, and this list was checked against the list of 
 business licenses issued by the city of Atlanta. The list was further tested 
 by other means, which made it complete and reliable. To these concerns 
 blanks calling for the desired information were sent, and a number of 
 answers were received. This process was repeated several times, and in 
 the course of thirty days replies had been received from two-thirds of the 
 establishments. Information from the remaining third was secured through 
 a personal canvass by the Chairman of the Committee on Statistics and 
 
 ^'S^l 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 11 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 is 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 1^^ 
 
 Hj 
 
 ■■ 
 
 
 •■ ' *' - 
 
 
 i 
 
 LiE'lil 
 
 Hi 
 
 ■B 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 p 
 
 1 
 
 
 p^ 
 
 "Htt 
 
 n 
 
 1 
 
 TJ 
 
 m 
 
 K 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 m 
 
 g* 
 
 ^ 
 
 m 
 
 
 1 
 
 i 
 
 ■ 
 
 H 
 
 
 I 
 
 m 
 
 
 PLANT OF THE EXPOSmON COTTON MILLS. 
 
40 
 
 Manufacturing. 
 
 Publication and the Secretary of the Chamber of Commerce. In the few 
 cases where information was refused the Committee secured three estimates 
 on each item and took the mean as a conservative statement of the fact. 
 The facts so obtained were compiled from the original memoranda. The 
 result is not an estimate, but a census, and, excepting those made by the 
 United States census bureau, the only one ever made of the manufactures 
 of Atlanta. It is believed that this census is the most accurate that has 
 ever been taken, and faithfully reflects the conditions of industry in this 
 city during the year 1897. The results compiled in tabular form are as 
 follows : 
 
 ATLANTA'S MANUFACTURED OUTPUT FOR 1897. 
 
 
 
 '6 
 
 ^^ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 oj 
 
 o 
 
 
 
 
 og 
 
 <u 
 
 Ut 
 
 
 o i 
 
 -o 
 
 
 
 
 
 o 
 
 
 03 
 
 CHARACTER OF MANUFACTURES. 
 
 
 a 
 
 1 
 
 'S- 
 
 a 
 
 11 
 
 « 
 
 o 
 
 
 
 
 O 
 
 
 
 
 
 COTTON— 
 
 Sheetings, Drills, Bags, Hosiery, Yarns 
 
 Iron— 
 
 Mach'y, Agr'l Impl., Boilers, Gins, Castings 
 Lumber— 
 
 Sash, Doors, Blinds, Interior Finish 
 
 Sheet Metal— 
 
 Cornices, Tinware, Wirework 
 
 Clay— 
 
 Brick, Tile, Terra Gotta 
 
 Commercial Fertilizers 
 
 Wagons and Carriages 
 
 Proprietary Medicines 
 
 Furniture 
 
 Candy and Crackers 
 
 Tobacco , 
 
 Coffins 
 
 BoTTLiro and Carbonating 
 
 Paper and Paper Bags 
 
 Paints and Oils 
 
 Cotton-seed Oil and By-Products 
 Ice 
 
 Miscellaneous., 
 
 SI, 750,000 
 1,467,000 
 694,000 
 222,000 
 301,000 
 1,215,000 
 126 000 
 248,000 
 432,000 
 235,000 
 
 88,000 
 260,000 
 
 53,000 
 480,000 
 114,000 
 750,000 
 140,000 
 718,000 
 
 Tf>*nlR ].r,c,l $9,3.13,1,00 
 
 «1,086,000 
 
 560,000 
 
 433,000 
 
 118,000 
 
 105,000 
 
 1,536,000 
 
 133,000 
 
 208,000 
 
 385,000 
 
 280,000 
 
 27,000 
 
 57,000 
 
 32,000 
 
 360,0001 
 
 188,000 
 
 230,000 
 
 25 000 
 
 415.000 
 
 12,038,000 
 
 1,585,000 
 
 1,046,000 
 
 295,000 
 
 315,000 
 
 2,221,C00 
 
 325,000 
 
 457,000 
 
 1,164,000 
 
 525,000 
 
 99,000 
 
 255,000 
 
 109,000 
 
 785.000 
 
 283,000 
 
 820,000 
 
 150,000 
 
 1,711,000 
 
 ,178.000 114,183,000 7,985 82,456,000 
 
 2,385 
 801 
 532 
 
 98 
 675 
 300 
 147 
 134 
 908 
 336 
 
 84 
 105 
 
 54 
 390 
 
 99 
 310 
 132 
 495 
 
 J404,000 
 
 325,000 
 
 216,000 
 
 224,000 
 
 128,000 
 
 J- 0,000 
 
 55,000 
 
 84,000 
 
 248,000 
 
 104,000 
 
 19,000 
 
 75,000 
 
 24,(00 
 
 112,000 
 
 21,000 
 
 81,000 
 
 29,000 
 
 227,000 
 
 Cotton Manufactures. 
 
 Atlanta's cotton industry began in 1883, when the Atlanta Cotton 
 Mill was established by public subscription with a capital stock of $300,- 
 000. That mill has passed through various vicissitudes, but is now in a 
 highly prosperous condition. It manufactures sheeting and drilling, and 
 has 18,000 spindles and 550 looms. It has been followed by others equally 
 prosperous. The Exposition Mills, located in the building where the cot- 
 
Manufacturing. 
 
 41 
 
 I'LAM' OF THE VAN WINKLE GIN & MACHINE CU. 
 
 ton exposition of 1881 was held, and in costly structures since built, has 
 from the first been a financial success. Its products are sold in China, and 
 the mill is run on full time the year round. The products are sheeting, 
 shirting and drills, and the mills have 36,000 spindles and 1,160 looms. 
 
 The Fulton Bag and Cotton Mill, another large establishment, does a 
 business of high class, working up raw cotton into cloth, and from the cloth 
 manufacturing bags and flour sacks which are sold in almost every State of 
 the union. This mill was organized in 1889, and manufactures not only 
 light sheetings for flour sacks, but bagging. It has 26,560 spindles and 
 1,000 looms. The establishment is the largest of its kind in the United 
 States and has enjoyed phenomenal prosperity for a number of years. 
 
 The Whittier Cotton Mill, located a few miles from Atlanta on the Chatta- 
 hoochee river, was built by New England capital and is in successful opera- 
 
 PLANT OK THE SOUTHER^ FLIRNITURE CO. 
 
42 
 
 Manufacturing. 
 
 tion. This establishment manufactures cotton yarn, twine, cordage and 
 -carpet warps Nos. 20 to 40. It has 10,000 spindles and 100 braiders. 
 
 The total strength of the cotton manufacturing industry in Atlanta is 
 indicated by the fact that these mills, with 90,500 spindles and 2,710 looms, 
 ■consume 40,000 bales of cotton per annum. Twenty cities like Atlanta 
 would consume the remainder of Georgia's cotton crop. Besides giving a 
 market for the cotton produced in several counties, this industry furnishes 
 •employment to 2,385 hands, and brings into Atlanta every year over $2,- 
 €00,000 for the manufactured product. 
 
 Commercial Fertilizers, 
 
 Atlanta has nine establishments for the manufacture of commercial 
 fertilizers, and among these were the pioneers of the business in this 
 "State. Of about 1,500,000 tons of commercial fertilizers manufactured 
 and sold in the United States, Georgia consumes one-fourth. The 
 register of the State Agricultural Department for 1897 shows that 410,- 
 €00 tons were consumed in the past year by the farmers of Georgia. It 
 is estimated that 70 per cent, of this, or about $5,600,000 worth of 
 the product, was produced in this State. The nine factories in Atlanta 
 produced $2,221,000 worth of fertilizers, or considerably more than one- 
 third of the product of this State. The total capital employed in this in- 
 <lustry in Atlanta and suburbs is $1,215,000. The raw material is valued 
 tit $1,536,000 per annum. Three hundred hands are employed at a pay- 
 roll of about $800,000. 
 
 Furniture. 
 
 Atlanta is a great cen- 
 ter for the manufacture 
 of furniture. The thir- 
 teen factories here, with 
 a capital stock of $432,- 
 000, consume raw mate- 
 rial valued at $385,000, 
 and their product for 
 the past year was val- 
 ued at $1,164,000. The 
 thirteen establishments 
 employ 90S people, with 
 an annual pay-roll of 
 $248,000. Much of the 
 furniture manufactured 
 in Atlanta is of high 
 class, and is sold largely 
 in the Eastern markets. 
 At the annual furniture 
 pi.ANToK THE AT1.ANIAPAPKRCO. cxhibitiou at Graud 
 
Manufacturing. 
 
 43 
 
 PLANT OF THE GATE CITY OIL CO. 
 
 Hapids the Atlanta factories are well represented, and many thousands of 
 •dollars' worth of goods are sold there for shipment direct from Atlanta to 
 all parts of the country. This city has exceptional facilities for obtaining 
 the hard-woods used in the manufacture of furniture, particularly oak, 
 which is and always will be a popular material. The mountains of North 
 Oeorgia are filled with many kinds of hard-wood, and the valleys of the 
 streams in that portion of the State and adjacent parts of Alabama abound 
 with white oak of fine quality, which is valuable not only for furniture, 
 but for agricultural implements and wagons. 
 
 Cotton- Seed Oil and By- Products. 
 
 The cotton-seed oil industry is one of the notable ones in Atlanta. There 
 are four establishments with an investment of $750,000, using raw material 
 valued at 1230,000, which under manipulation attains a value of $820,000. 
 These establishments employ 310 hands at an annual pay-roll of $81,000. 
 
 Paj^er and Paper Bags. 
 
 This industry is one of the most remarkable successes in Atlanta. The 
 paper bags made here are sold in every State in the Union, and the patent- 
 ed process used in making them, which is an Atlanta invention, is said to 
 be superior to any in the United States. Five establishments in this in- 
 dustry have an investment of $480,000, use raw material to the amount 
 of $360,000, and have an annual product of $785,000. They employ 390 
 operatives with an annual pay-roll of $112,000. 
 
 Agricultural Implements. 
 
 One of Atlanta's strongest industries is the manufacture of agricultural 
 implements. This is the growth of more than twenty years, and the sales 
 of the products extend through every State in the South and largely into 
 
44 
 
 Mam I'Aci'UKiNG. 
 
 Mexico. Tlie amount of money invested in this industry is about $300,- 
 000, the product about $500,000 and the number of hands about 325, with a 
 I)ay-roll of $100,000 per annum. 
 
 Twenty years ago the agricultural implements of the Southern States 
 were furnished largely by inanufacturers in the Middle and Western States, 
 but gradually Soutli('rn concerns, among which the Atlanta factories were 
 [)ioneers, began to take the field, and they are practically without competi- 
 tion from a distance; in the South(!rn tcu'ritory, and hav(! a very large busi- 
 ness in Mexico. 
 
 ■||||''. A'll.ANIA ColloN MILLS. 
 
^anl^ing and In<^arance. 
 
 THE banks of Atlanta are 
 among the most solid 
 and influential financial insti- 
 tutions of the Southern States. 
 They are managed by able and 
 experienced financiers, whose 
 ability is evidenced by the fact 
 that several of the Atlanta 
 banks have accumulated sur- 
 pluses so large as to attract the 
 attention of bankers through- 
 out the United States. 
 
 The character of Atlanta's 
 banking business is different 
 from that of other Southern 
 centers. Atlanta is the clear- 
 ing-house for most of the State 
 of Georgia, and checks are sent 
 here for collection from the 
 great cities of the Eastern, the 
 Middle and the Western 
 States. 
 
 The bank clearings, of which 
 statistics for five years appear 
 below, to some extent reflect 
 the business of Atlanta ; but it 
 should be borne in mind that 
 certain classes of business do 
 not appear in this statement. 
 For instance, in the wholesale 
 grocery trade about half of the 
 business is done by direct ship- 
 ment from the place of produc- 
 tion to the consumer, and much 
 of it does not pass through Atlanta. The wholesale grocers, as a rule, are 
 paid for these goods in New York exchange, which is frequently deposited 
 in New York, and, therefore, does not appear in the local clearings. A 
 careful estimate by a leading wholesale grocer, who served a term as Presi- 
 dent of the Chamber of Commerce, puts the amount of business done by 
 Atlanta houses which does not appear in the clearings at $10,000,000. 
 
 The clearings of Atlanta represent a great deal more business than the 
 same figures would at other cities where cotton enters largely into the 
 
 ATLANTA NATIONAL BANK. 
 
46 Bankimg and Insurance. 
 
 volume of exchanges. On cotton the margin is very close, and a vast 
 amount of business in dollars and cents will pass through the banks with- 
 out doing the community a great deal of good. Thus at some of the coast 
 cities comparatively few firms, without a large number of employees, will do 
 a cotton business amounting to many millions of dollars. In Atlanta the 
 cotton business, while respectable, is not an overshadowing item. Atlanta's 
 clearings are far more uniform than those of cotton markets, whose banking 
 business runs up during the cotton season and falls to a low ebb at other 
 times. The great commercial and manufacturing interests of this city con- 
 tinue with comparatively little decrease in the volume of their business 
 during the entire year. 
 
 The banks of Atlanta showed their strength and gave great relief to the 
 surrounding country in August, 1893, when, by request of the Chamber of 
 Commerce, reflecting the wishes of commercial and manufacturing interests, 
 they issued $90,000 of clearing-house certificates. Within the next sixty 
 days they issued $37,000 more, making a total of $127,000. The^e obliga- 
 tions were accepted by the merchants and the public and circulated through 
 the surrounding country until November 6th, 1893, when they were called 
 in by the clearing-house. At the time when these certificates were issued, 
 the cotton season was about to open and the dearth of currency made it 
 almost impossible to move the crop. Had the harvesting of cotton and the 
 resulting payments been long delayed, great disaster would have been 
 precipitated. The issuance of clearing-house certificates gave immediate 
 relief, restored confidence, and prevented the embarrassment which had 
 threatened the cotton movement. 
 
 The capital of the clearing-house banks amounts to $1,860,000, and the 
 surplus to $1,000,000. The chartered and private banks outside the clear- 
 ing-house increase the banking capital, including surplus, to $3,500,000. 
 The bank clearings and deposits of the associated banks of Atlanta for five 
 years appear below : 
 
 CLEARING HOUSE STATISTICS. 
 
 1893 $60,753,911 13 
 
 1894 56,589,228 04 
 
 1895 ........: 65,318,254 71 
 
 1896 69,026,033 17 
 
 1897 72,005,161 52 
 
 Smallest day, August 25th, 1893 62,070 75 
 
 Largest day, Januarv 8th, 1897 544,218 11 
 
 Smallest week ended August 26th, 1893 450,920 86 
 
 Largest week ended .January 9th, 1897 2,187,084 81 
 
 Smallest month, August, 1893 , 2,616,990 06 
 
 Largest month, December, 1897 8,425,536 78 
 
 DEPOSITS — WEEK ENDING NEAREST TO 
 
 December 1, 1893 3,977,930 98 
 
 December 1, l^9i 4,779,640 99 
 
 December 1, 1895 6,672,006 87 
 
 December 1, 1896 5,957,634 51 
 
 December 1, 1897 6,385,336 51 
 
Banking and Insurance. 
 
 47 
 
 OFFICE OF THE LOWRY BANKING CO. 
 
 The first meeting of banks for the purpose of organizing a clearing-house 
 occurred on the 15th of September, 1891, and articles of agreement for the 
 establishment of the clearing house were entered into on September 22, 
 1891. The first book records of the business began on April 7, 1892, and 
 the clearings the first six days of that record were $1,368,637.09. There are 
 no records of the clearings previous to that date. The banks officiated as 
 managers alternately for two weeks at a time until August, 1893, when the 
 present manager was elected, and rooms were provided for the clearing- 
 house. 
 
 The first President was Mr. Paul Romare, and the following gentlemen 
 have succeeded him in the order of their names : L. J. Hill, R. J. Lowry, 
 • T. B. Neal, J. W. English, W. L. Peel, Frank Hawkins. Mr. Darwin G. Jones 
 has been Manager from the time that the clearing-house issued certificates 
 on August 18, 1893. Captain R. J. Lowry was President during the panic 
 of that year, and the clearing-house certificates were issued during his ad- 
 ministration. 
 
 Insurance. 
 
 Atlanta is the third largest insurance center in the United States, only 
 ranked by New York and Chicago. This city is headquarters for the South- 
 ern or State agencies of sixteen of the largest fire and twenty of the most 
 important life insurance companies. The deposits of premiums in Atlanta 
 banks exceed $6,000,000. In life insurance, a careful canvass of the agen- 
 cies shows deposits of $3,241,000 for the year 1897. The reports to the Comp- 
 troller-General of the State for life and accident insurance written in Geor- 
 gia during the fiscal year ending October 1, 1897, with such changes as the 
 location of agencies and the difference in months would suggest, indicate 
 
48 
 
 Banking and Insurance. 
 
 that the amount of premiums deposited in Atlanta by life insurance agen- 
 cies was, approximately, $3,200,000 during 1897. 
 
 More than 200 men are employed by the insurance agencies in Atlanta. 
 In fire insurance there are 115 clerks, besides forty-six general or special 
 agents, who travel throughout the Southern States, making Atlanta their 
 headquarters. The number of local agents of fire insurance companies re- 
 porting to Atlanta agencies from points throughout the Southern States is 
 3,531. The life insurance agencies of Atlanta employ seventy-five clerks 
 and thirty traveling agents, and receive reports from 637 agents in this 
 State. 
 
 Atlanta is headquarters for the Southeastern Tariff Association, which 
 makes rates for the States of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, 
 Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Florida. 
 
 Insurance money has built many of the handsomest business structures 
 in Atlanta, and two of the principal office buildings bear the names of 
 prominent companies. Several million dollars of insurance funds have 
 been invested in Georgia and Atlanta bonds and in Atlanta real estate. 
 
 'interior ATLANTA NATIONAL 'BANK. 
 
Postal R^eceipts- 
 
 
 j^SSt^t^L~ ~ ~ 
 
 
 ^^^^^^^^HHhk, ^ j 
 
 4 
 
 ^^k 
 
 ii^^ 
 
 m^^^S^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^M 
 
 wT^^~""^^5 ... .—^1^ 
 
 j^HPPI^M 
 
 -fc^- -"^ 
 
 "■■**^^ ""— 5 '?"'" - 
 
 FEDERAL BUILDING — POST-OFFICE AND CUSTOM-HOUSE. 
 
 TIHE postal re- 
 ceipts of Atlan ■ 
 ta aflford an excel- 
 lent gauge for the 
 volume of business 
 done here. In the 
 same way the re- 
 ceipts of the States 
 east of the Missis- 
 sippi and south of 
 the Ohio and Poto- 
 mac rivers indicate 
 the volume of bus- 
 iness in the terri- 
 tor}'' of Atlanta's 
 trade. This terri- 
 tory contributes to 
 the revenue of the 
 Postoffice Depart- 
 ment, in round numbers, $8,338,000, indicating that these States do about 
 one-tenth of the postal business of the United States. 
 
 Atlanta's place in the business of this region appears by a comparison of 
 her postal receipts with those of other cities and those of Georgia and other 
 Southeastern States. The receipts at Atlanta for the fiscal year ending 
 June 30th, 1897, were $265,091.70, and those for the State of Georgia were 
 $1,085/573.63. Thus it will be seen that Atlanta does about one-fourth of 
 the postal business of Georgia. Compared with the largest cities of the 
 United States Atlanta ranks twenty-seventh, and compared with the princi- 
 pal Southern cities Atlanta ranks third in the volume of her postal receipts, 
 which are only exceeded by those at Louisville and New Orleans. A com 
 parison of business with that of other principal Georgia cities shows that 
 Atlanta's postal receipts about equal those of Savannah, Macon, Augusta, 
 Columbus and Rome combined, and lack only a few thousand dollars of 
 equaling the combined receipts of Nashville and Chattanooga. 
 
 A significant fact in connection with the business of the Atlanta postoffice 
 is that it has shown a steady increase for every year since 1870, with the 
 single exception of the fiscal year ending June 30th, 1894, when the general 
 depression which prevailed throughout the United States caused a slight 
 decrease. 
 
 The Exposition period had a marked effect on the postal receipts, and 
 for the fiscal year ending June 30th, 1896, which includes the active period 
 
so 
 
 Postal Receipts. 
 
 of the Exposition, the increase was 17 per cent. During the construction 
 period of the Exposition, which is covered by the fiscal year ending June 
 30th, 1895, the increase in postal receipts was 12 per cent. For the entire 
 period from 1870 to June 30th, 1897, the average annual increase in postal 
 receipts at Atlanta was 8.6. An estimate for the fiscal year ending June 
 80th, 1898, based upon the receipts up to date, indicates a business of 
 S295,151.88, which is an increase of 10.2 per cent, over the receipts for the 
 fiscal year ending June 30th, 1897. 
 
 The money order business at Atlanta shows in a striking way the tribute 
 of trade which the surrounding region pays to this city. The money orders 
 received in Atlanta average about four times the amount of the money 
 orders purchased here and sent away. For the fiscal year ending June 30th, 
 1897, the money orders purchased in Atlanta amounted to $252,273.25, and 
 those received and paid out here by the postoffice amounted to $1,026,855.69. 
 This business is so continuous and so considerable that the postoffice has 
 found it necessary to make a business connection with the Atlanta clearing- 
 house for the purpose of making daily settlements with the banks of the 
 
 city. 
 The following tables give the above figures in detail : 
 
 Comparative Receipts of the Atlanta Post- OtJiae for Fiscal Years 
 Ending June 30th, f rum 1870 to 1897. 
 
 
 Gross 
 Receipts. 
 
 Average 
 Annual 
 Percent. 
 
 a 
 'S 
 
 HO 
 
 Mo 
 
 a 
 to 
 o 
 
 0^ 
 
 MONEY ORDER BUSINESS. 
 
 
 
 II 
 
 o 
 a> 
 
 A vera ere 
 Annual 
 Per cent. 
 
 .SS o 
 
 Average 
 Annual 
 Percent. 
 
 YEARS. 
 
 t 
 
 % 
 
 a 
 
 9; 
 
 u 
 o 
 
 
 o 
 
 a 
 
 OS 
 
 2 
 
 o 
 
 0) 
 
 Q 
 
 t 
 o 
 
 c 
 
 09 
 
 a 
 
 o 
 
 Q 
 
 1870 
 
 835,128 73 
 42,343 66 
 59,409 09 
 99,736 96 
 159,262 61 
 181,564 40 
 194,801 00 
 207,527 94 
 201 ,649 92 
 225,810 81 
 265,277 03 
 265.091 79 
 
 
 
 33 
 34 
 2t 
 31 
 32 
 32 
 33 
 33 
 36 
 34 
 31 
 32 
 
 $ 64,. 321 61 
 
 
 
 $ 81,125 02 
 
 ""eib.'sse'go" 
 
 
 
 1875 
 
 4,0 
 8.2 
 K.8 
 10.8 
 14.0 
 7.3 
 6.5 
 
 
 "i:-;Vo' 
 
 
 "es.'o 
 
 
 1880 
 
 150,750 49 
 
 
 1885 
 
 
 
 
 !890 
 1891 
 
 
 
 239,629 00 
 242,156 82 
 269,058 32 
 240,944 60 
 239,638 81 
 219,785 98 
 284,493 05 
 252,273 25 
 
 126,164 08 
 
 5.9 
 
 1 
 
 11. 1 
 
 
 839,340 97 
 865,807 87 
 810,971 8i 
 790,984 .59 
 867,632 81 
 861,645 98 
 1.000,626 77 
 1,026,855 69 
 
 514,575 16 
 
 3.1 
 3.2 
 
 
 1892 
 
 
 6.5 
 
 1893 
 
 11.0 
 0.4 
 
 8.4 
 
 
 2.4 
 
 1894 
 
 3.5 
 
 "oVi 
 
 
 9.7 
 
 
 1895 
 
 12 
 17.0 
 
 0.7 
 
 1896 
 
 29.0 
 
 16.1 
 2.3 
 
 
 1897 
 
 11.4 
 
 
 
 
 
 .July 1 to Dec. 
 31, 1897. 
 
 141,151 88 
 154,000 00 
 
 
 Jan. 1 to June 
 30,1898, Esfed. 
 
 10.2 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1898 
 
 295,151 88 
 
 32 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Average annual increase of gros.s receipts for entire period, 8.6 per cent. 
 
Postal Receipts, 
 
 51 
 
 The Postal Receipts of Atlanta Compared with Those of Five Other 
 
 Cities of Georgia and Two of Tennessee, Shoivinf/ the Postal 
 
 Receipts for the Fiscal Year Ending June 30, 1897, 
 
 CITIES. 
 
 Gross 
 Receipts. 
 
 Receipts 
 
 ^ a D- 
 
 04 
 
 
 « 265,091 70 
 
 
 32 
 
 
 $ 108,848 75 
 55,173 02 
 54,632 91 
 27,581 11 
 16,240 81 
 
 37 
 
 
 
 4» 
 
 
 
 54 
 
 
 bi 
 
 Rome 
 
 
 58 
 
 
 
 Total 
 
 « 265,091 70 
 
 262,476 60 
 
 
 Nashville, Tean 
 
 $ 194,448 87 
 79,791 54 
 
 36 
 
 Chattanooga, Tenn 
 
 
 42 
 
 
 9 274,240 41 
 
 
 The gross receipts of Atlanta are 24.3 per cent, of the entire receipts of Georgia, larger than the above 
 five cities, and nearly as large as those of Nashville and Chattanooga combined. The average per cent. 
 of expenses to receipts in foregoing cities is 45.1. In Atlanta it is 32 per cent. 
 
 Comparative Receipts of South- 
 eastern States for 1897. 
 
 STATES. 
 
 Rani:. Gross Receipts. 
 
 Virginia 
 
 Kentucky , 
 
 Georgia 
 
 Tennessee , 
 
 Louisiana 
 
 North Carolina, 
 
 Alabama 
 
 West Virginia. 
 
 Mississippi 
 
 Florida 
 
 South Carolina 
 
 81,147,138 32 
 1,143,673 40 
 1,085,573 63 
 1,022,369 71 
 
 744.082 98 
 681,354 87 
 622,275 75 
 
 548.083 96 
 492,313 54 
 4:34,919 75 
 418,045 23 
 
 Comparative Receipts of South- 
 ern Cities for 1897. 
 
 One fkom Each State Having the Largest Re; 
 CEiPTSiN TH4.T State. 
 
 CITIES. 
 
 'Rank. 
 
 Louisville, Ky 
 
 New Orleans, La.. 
 
 Atlanta, lia 
 
 Richmond, Va 
 
 Nashville, Tenn 
 
 Charleston, S. C 
 
 Wheeling, West Va 
 Jacksonville, Fla..., 
 
 Mobile, Ala 
 
 Wilmington, N. U. 
 Vicksburg, Miss ... 
 
 Gross Receipts. 
 
Transportation PaciUties. 
 
 ATLANTA, occupying as it does a commanding position as the gate- 
 way of the Southeast, enjoys transportation facilities equaled at few 
 other centers in the South. Many years ago, when railroad building was 
 in its infancy, far-seeing men predicted that Atlanta would be a great cen- 
 ter, standing as it does at a point where railroads coming down the Atlantic 
 coast would intersect with others from the West, Southwest and Southeast. 
 These predictions have been fulfilled. The city has ten radiating lines, in- 
 cluding five divisions of the Southern Railway and five independent lines, 
 giving ample facilities for reaching any section of the United States. The 
 time from New York is twenty-four hours, and from Chicago twenty-eight. 
 Through sleepers come and go from each of these cities. A solid vestibuled 
 train runs between Atlanta and New York and Atlanta and New Orleans, 
 and there is a through sleeping-car service between Atlanta and Cincinnati, 
 Atlanta and Jacksonville, and Atlanta and other Southern cities. 
 
 The railroads are kept in fine physical condition and are in strong hands. 
 Within the past year most of those which were in the hands of receivers 
 have emerged from their difficulties, passing through the period of reor- 
 ganization, and are now operated by concerns free from debt. At present 
 only two per cent, of the railroads in Georgia are in the hands of receivers. 
 This is a record hardly equaled by any State since the great panic of 1893, 
 when a large proportion of the railroads in most of the States were in the 
 hands of receivers. 
 
 The people of Atlanta and surrounding towns enjoy a fine local service 
 with very low commutation rates on monthly and quarterly tickets. The 
 liberal policy of the roads running into Atlanta has built up a series of 
 flourishing suburban towns, which cluster about this city for a distance of 
 ten or twenty miles. Among these are such charming suburbs as College 
 Park, Decatur, Hapeville, Oakland, East Point, Edgewood, Kirkwood and 
 
Transportaion Facilities 53 
 
 Clarkston. These places are built up by people who do business in Atlanta 
 and return every evening to their suburban homes. They use railroad 
 tickets which amount to about the same as street-car fare, so that really the 
 population of Atlanta is perhaps thirty per cent, greater than the official 
 count. There are about 120,000 people who make their living here. These 
 commutation tickets extend a distance of thirty to forty miles on several 
 of the roads, and professional men who have offices in Atlanta and spend 
 their working hours here reside in such flourishing towns as Newnan, Ma- 
 rietta, Palmetto and Fairburn. 
 
 The terminal facilities of the railroads at Atlanta, so far as freight is con- 
 cerned, are first-class. The new depot and freight warehouse occupied by 
 the Seaboard Air-Line and the Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Rail- 
 ways is one of the finest structures of its kind in the United States. The 
 warehouse covers several acres and has a cement and concrete floor and a 
 metal roof, supported by steel pedestals and heavy steel girders. The 
 length is such that thirty-two drays can load at the same time on the street 
 side, while a large number of cars are discharging or taking freight at the 
 tracks on the railroad side. The metal walls next to the siding are port- 
 able and suspended on rollers, so that sections can be moved from one 
 place to another, and leave an opening at any point where a treight car 
 may be stopped. This affords unusual facilities for loadng or unloading 
 entire trains. 
 
 The Southern Railway at its Peters street depot has ample warehouse and 
 office room, and the Central and Atlanta and West Point freight depot on 
 Mitchell street is both spacious and convenient. The Georgia Railroad 
 freight depot is located on Loyd street, very near the heart of the city, and 
 is easily accessible from the business center. 
 
 A belt line partly encircles the city, extending from the Western and 
 Atlantic Railway on the northwest to the Southern Railway on the north- 
 east. Another connects the Western and Atlantic Railroad with the Sea- 
 board Air Line, and the Central of Georgia Railway has under construction 
 a belt line from East Point to the Western and Atlantic Railroad and the 
 Seaboard Air Line. 
 
 The union passenger depot is located in the heart of the city, within a 
 few minutes' walk of the principal hotels, banks and business houses, and 
 is easily accessible from any part of the city. The present station is not 
 a pretentious structure, but plans are under consideration for a union pas- 
 senger depot of a size and character in keeping Avith Atlanta's importance. 
 Atlanta is a natural railroad center for the Southeast, and as such is 
 headquarters for the Southeastern Freight Association and Southeastern 
 Passenger Association, of which most of the roads in the States of Georgia, 
 the Carolinas, Alabama and Florida are members. Among these are in- 
 cluded such great systems as the Southern Raihvay, the Louisville and 
 Nashville Railroad, the Plant System, the Florida Central and Peninsular 
 Railway, the Louisville and Nashville Railroad, the Central of Georgia 
 
54 
 
 Transportation Facilities. 
 
 the Georgia and Alabama, the Atlanta, Knoxville and Northern, and the 
 Georgia Southern and Florida. These associations meet monthh' for the 
 transaction of regular business, and important conferences for the settle- 
 ment of differences between the railroads of the Southeast are held here. 
 
 Another important auxiliary to the railroad service at Atlanta is the 
 Southeastern Car Service Association, which has headquarters in this city. 
 Through this organization an accurate account of the cars unloaded in the 
 territory of Georgia, Florida, Alabama and South Carolina is kept, and the 
 rules and regulations affecting car service, demurrage, etc., are here made 
 and promulgated. 
 
 The central position of Atlanta, and the fact that the district railroad 
 organizations are located here, gives this city quite an advantage in the 
 matter of rates and facilities. The Southern Railway, for example, occu- 
 pies elaborate offices in the Equitable building, and an assistant general 
 superintendent, an assistant general freight agent and an assistant general 
 passenger agent of the system make this city their headquarters. 
 
 Street RailwaA^S- 
 
 THE facilities for rapid transit in and about Atlanta are unusual for a 
 city of its size. There are three systems of electric lines, with ninety- 
 four miles of track, reaching to every part of the city and suburbs, and 
 extending in all directions for six or eight miles from the business center. 
 The schedules are convenient — from ten to twenty minutes apart. On 
 several of the longer lines the cars are heated by electricity. 
 
 The Consolidated Street Railway Company has sixty-six miles of track 
 and one hundred cars, and operates about fifty cars daily, employing 
 between four and five hundred men. The annual pay-roll amounts to 
 about $130,000. The capital stock of the company is $2,000,000, and the 
 bonded debt includes $2,250,000 of first mortgage consolidated bonds and 
 $106,000 of income bonds. The number of miles made by the cars per day 
 is about six thousand. 
 
 The Atlanta Railway Company has lines from the center of the city to 
 Fort McPherson, Grant Park, Decatur and Lake wood Park, in all about 
 twenty miles of track. The road is well equipped and in winter uses cars 
 heated by electricity, with glass fenders for the protection of motormen. 
 The schedules on the lines are ten or twenty minutes apart. 
 
 The Collins Park and Belt Street Railway Company is a continuous line 
 from the center of the city on Walton street, one block from the postoffice, 
 to the Chattahoochee river, a distance of eight miles. Cars run on this line 
 each way every half hour. 
 
 Atlanta has three well equipped transfer companies — the Atlanta Baggage 
 and Cab Company, the Atlanta Parcel, Baggage, Cab and Transfer Company 
 and the Haas Transfer Company. 
 
 The rate of fare for cabs is, by city ordinance, limited to twenty-five cents 
 from the union passenger depot to any part of the city. The charge for 
 trunks is also limited to 25 cents each. 
 
PUMPING STATION — ATLANTA WATERWORKS. 
 
 Water and Ltgf)t. 
 
 Tl)e gtlanta Watervorl^S. 
 
 ATLANTA'S water supply is drawn from the Chattahoochee river, a 
 stream whose sources are in the foothills of the Blue Ridge. It 
 flows through a sparsely settled country to Atlanta, and there is little to 
 contaminate it before reaching the pumping station, from which the city is 
 supplied. Like the water of streams flowing through a red clay region, that 
 of the Chattahoochee is discolored, but the particles of clay are easily pre- 
 cipitated, and this is done by means of a settling basin, from which clear 
 water is pumped into the city. In this way a supply of pure water, clear as 
 crystal, is furnished all the year round regardless of the weather, and the 
 small amount of discoloring matter, remaining after the !«ettling process, is 
 removed by mechanical filtration at the pumping station. 
 
 The waterworks plant is one of the finest in the country and has a pump- 
 ing capacity of ten million gallons per day. As a precautionary measure, 
 however, the pumping machinery and the princij)al mains are duplicated. 
 Thus, in case of accident, the duplicate plant may be put in operation, or, in 
 the event of extraordinary necessity, both plants may be put into operation 
 at the same time, thus making the total pumping capacity twenty million 
 gallons per day. The pumping station is located on the river eight miles 
 from Atlanta above Peachtree creek, which is the only source of contamina- 
 tion in the vicinity of Atlanta. 
 
 The water is pumped from the river station to the settling basin, which 
 is located on the outskirts of the city, about two miles from the business 
 
56 
 
 Water and Light. 
 
 center. This receptacle is a reservoir covering twenty-two acres of ground, 
 with a capacity of thirty days' supply. The cit}'^ is on an elevation above 
 the pumping station at the river, and the lift is five hundred feet. Most 
 of this is covered between the river and the settling basin. By the pumps, 
 located at the settling basin and filters, the direct pressure for the service 
 pipes of the city and the fire pressure is applied. 
 
 The pumpage into the city for 1896 was 1,814,963,500 gallons, and in 
 1897 rose to 1,895,6J3,800 gallons. There has, therefore, been during the 
 past year an average daily consumption of 5, 193,49;j gallons. There are 
 7,176 supply connections and the per capita consumption of water is forty 
 gallons per day for the entire population. 
 
 The plant includes ninety-eight miles of mains, varying in diameter from 
 three inches to forty-eight inches, and reaching over the most important 
 streets of the city. The universal meter system is in use, and there are 
 7,176 meters. The meter system has greatly reduced the waste of water 
 and the economy so effected, together with the facilities given by the new 
 plant erected in 1893, has enabled the city to supply water at remarkably 
 low rates. For domestic use the charge is sixty cents for six thousand gal- 
 lons, or ten cents per thousand gallons. Considering the expensive charac- 
 ter of pumpage to overcome five hundred feet elevation, and the careful 
 filtration, this cost is lower than in most other cities, and this retail price 
 will be seen to be extremely reasonable. For manufacturers using water in 
 great volume the rates are still lower, and a large cotton factory has found 
 it practicable to use city water for bleaching purposes. All the water for 
 manufacturing purposes is supplied by the city at greatly reduced rates. 
 
 From a financial standpoint the Atlanta waterworks are a decided success. 
 Besides supplying water for public buildings, fire department, flushing 
 sewers and other purposes of public interest in a quantity estimated at a 
 fair valuation to be worth $90,000 per annum, the plant supplies to private 
 consumers water the receipts for which amounted to 192,484.32 in 1897. 
 
 The growth of the city, including both the increasing population and 
 the development of manufacturing interests, is indicated by the steady in- 
 crease in the consumption of water, which has been as follows for the past 
 twenty-two years : 
 
 Receipts for water rents, 1876 
 
 " 1,S77 
 
 ]878 . 
 
 " " " " 1879 . 
 
 " " " " 1880 
 
 " " '• '• 1881 . 
 
 " 1882, 
 
 " " '■' " 1883 
 
 " " •' " 1884 
 
 " " " " 1885 
 
 " " " 1886 , 
 
 " " " " 1887 . 
 
 5,700 15 
 10,217 55 
 17,638 81 
 21,258 76 
 24,637 47 
 27,333 68 
 27,414 98 
 31,010 26 
 35,763 95 
 39,283 33 
 .32,751 48 
 38,066 95 
 
 Receipts for water rents, 18S8 
 
 " 1889 
 
 " 1890 
 
 " " 1891 
 
 " " " " 1892 
 
 '• 1893 , 
 
 " 1894 
 
 " " " " 1895 . 
 
 " 1896 
 
 " " " 1897 . 
 
 38,286 35 
 56,369 50 
 63,438 97 
 74,431 90 
 79,695 61 
 81,822 71 
 65,452 61 
 73,562 83 
 86,339 39 
 92,484 32 
 
 Total 11,019,960 59 
 
 The total receipts from the waterworks for twenty-two years has been 
 $1,019,960.59. The statement of the president of the water board gives the 
 cash income from water rents for 1897 at $92,484.32, and the value of public 
 water service: at $91,550.00, making a total output of water in dollars of 
 
Water and Light. 
 
 57 
 
 INTERU.IR PUMPINt; STATION ATLANTA WATERWORKS. 
 
 t,034.32. This sum exceeds the total expense account and interest on 
 water bonds by more than $oo,000.00. This income will very largely in- 
 crease by the extension of mains to be made in 1898 and subsequent years, 
 and it is estimated that the margin of profit to the city will continue to in- 
 crease. The net cost of the plant to date, by estimate of the superintendent 
 as quoted in the report of the president of the water board, is $736, 437. 69. 
 This includes the total cost of a former plant, which has been abandoned, 
 and the magnificent new plant which was erected in 1893, allowing for the 
 net return which the city has derived from the property in the meantime. 
 In addition to the private service the public service includes 1,047 fire hy- 
 drants, seventy five flush tanks for sewers, automatic sprinklers in thirt}'- 
 one manufacturing establishments, water service in twenty-one public 
 schools and a number of drinking hydrant? scattered throughout the city, 
 besides concessions to the churches and the Young Men's Christian Associa- 
 tion, the county barracks, the police barrack-, the Grady Hospital, the 
 public park'^, the county jail and several orphan asylums and other charit- 
 able institutions, to say nothing of the cjurt-house, cemetery and street 
 sprinkling. 
 
 A great advantage of the waterworks system in Atlanta is the free con_ 
 nection with automatic sprinklers, in factories and business houses. By 
 this system the insurance rate has been reduced forty per cent, without cost 
 to the concerns using the sprinklers beyond the expense of putting in the 
 pipes and equipment. The city pressure is always on the pipes of these 
 automatic sprinklers, and the fusible valves insure a flood of water in case 
 of fire. The efficiency of this protection has been thoroughly demonstrated 
 
58 
 
 Water and Light. 
 
 by recent instances in this city, justifying the forty per cent, reduction by 
 the insurance companies. 
 
 Electric I5igl)t and Power. 
 
 THE electric light and power service in Atlanta is first-class. The 
 Georgia Electric Light Company, which furnishes all the electric light 
 and power facilities in the city, was organized in 1891, and Atlanta is in- 
 debted to the enterprise and energy of this company for a first-class modern 
 electric light and power system. 
 
 This company does all the street lighting and furnishes a 24-hour incan- 
 •descant light and motor service. It has installed at present in the street 
 lighting service 626 2,000-candle-power arc lights, burning all night 
 find every night, 507 75-candle-power incandescent lamps, burning all 
 night and every night. 
 
 The commercial lighting consists of 23,050 16-candle-power incandescent 
 lamps, supplied to 624 customers. 
 
 The motor service amounts to 1,500-horse power, in motors, supplied to 
 177 customers. There are 74 commercial arc lights, supplied to 32 cus- 
 tomers. 
 
 The kilo-watt output of the company for the year 1<'96 was in round 
 numbers 4,500,000 kilo-watts, and for 1897 was about 5,000,000 kilo-watts. 
 
 The company has spent on its property in round numbers 8900,000, and 
 ■supplies light and power to almost every line of industry in Atlanta. It 
 is furnishing light and power at the 
 following rates: Incandescent 
 lights, 12 cents per 1,000 watt hours, 
 •with discounts from 10 per cent, to 
 40 per cent., according to amount 
 ■of current used. Motive power, 7 
 <;ents per 1,000-watt hours, with dis 
 counts from 10 per cent, to 40 per 
 cent, on all motors up to 10 horse 
 power, and from 10 per cent, to 70 
 
 POWER STATION — GEORGIA ELECTRIC LIGHT CO. 
 
Water and Light. 
 
 59 
 
 DYNAMO ROOM — GFORGIA ELECTRIC LIGHT C( 
 
 per cent, on all above 10-horse power. Alternating arc lamps, 6 cents per 
 lamp hour, with discounts from 15 percent, to GO per cent. , according to 
 amount of current used. Commercial arc lights, from dark until 11:00 
 o'clock, S9.88 per month, 10 per cent, discount; commercial arc lamps 
 all night, $11.25 per month, 10 per cent, discount. Commercial series, 32 
 c.-p., $1.88 per month, 10 per cent, discount; commercial series, 65-c.-p. 
 $3.75 per month, 10 per cent, discount. City arc lamps, $7.08^, iiet, per 
 lamp per month ; city arc series, $2.91f, net, per lamp per month. 
 
 No mone}^ has been spared in bringing the service up to date. The 
 plant is modern and complete and is managed by the best practices pre- 
 vailing in the business. The sj'stem is one that any citizen of Atlanta can 
 be proud of and can point out to strangers with satisfaction. The develop- 
 ment of this company has played an important part in the growth of the 
 city. It employs between 75 and 100 men, most of this skilled labor of the 
 highest type. Every director of the company is a resident of Atlanta, and 
 they are all men whose names are synonymous with the success and 
 growth of the city. 
 
 The magnificent central power station of the company is located on 
 Thurmond and Simpson streets, about a mile from the center of the city, 
 and is worth a visit. Here all the latest types of electrical apparatus may 
 
6o Water and Light. 
 
 be seen. The steam plant consists of six engines, aggregating 4,000-horse 
 power. There are installed thirty-three dynamos, including all the latest 
 types. The company is now installing its seventh engine of a maximum 
 of l,oOO-horse power. This engine will be directly connected to a 700 kilo- 
 watt G.-E. power generator. This unit will probably be the largest and finest 
 in the South. 
 
 Ivigl)t and Pael (las. 
 
 THE Atlanta Gas Works are the largest in the South, and the consump- 
 tion exceeds that of New Orleans. This is due to the low price and 
 the extensive use of gas for cooking purposes. Atlanta was the first city to 
 have dollar gas, and for years that has been the price. The quality for both 
 illuminating and cooking purposes is excellent and gives general satisfac- 
 tion. 
 
 There are one hundred miles of mains, and of the six thousand custom- 
 ers about four thousand are in the residence parts of the city. Three-fourths 
 of the households using gas use it in cooking. There are three thousand 
 gas ranges, besides hot-plates and gas-heating stoves. 
 
 The total consumption is 250,000,000 cubic feet per annum, and the works 
 employ two hundred men. Their growth has been interesting. 
 
 Work on the Atlanta Gas Light Company's plant was begun in the year 
 1855, the first holder being twenty feet in diameter by eighteen feet high. 
 The last holder erected is one hundred and twenty-five feet in diameter and 
 one hundred and forty feet high. The first illumination of the city by 
 gas was on Christmas eve in 1855, and a ball was given by the Atlanta Fire 
 Company, No. 1, at Concert Hall, which was lighted by gas. 
 
 The first main laid was a six-inch pipe on Marietta street to Peachtree, a 
 3-inch main running from this out Decatur street as far as Loyd street. A 
 main was also laid on Whitehall street as far as Mitchell. 
 
 The works continued in operation during the war until the bombard- 
 ment of Atlanta in July, 1864, when the holder was partly destroyed by 
 shells. Joseph Warner, who was superintendent at that time, was killed 
 by a shot from the Federal army. The works were started again about 
 December, 1865. 
 
 The earliest manufacture of gas was from rosin purchased in South 
 Georgia. During the war pine knots, rosin and pitch were used in making 
 gas. 
 
 The first office was in a frame building called Tomlinson and Barnes^ 
 store, at the corner of Wall and Whitehall streets, the site now occupied by 
 the Centennial building. It was four or five feet above the ground, and 
 entered by a flight of wooden steps. 
 
 At the reorganization of the company after the war J. M. Duncan was 
 elected president and J. H. Mecaslin secretary. In 1877 Mr. T. G. Healey 
 was elected president. On the death of Mr. Healey in 1897 J. H. Mecaslin 
 was elected president and W. L. Cosgrove secretary. These gentlemen are 
 
Water and Light. 
 
 6i 
 
 the present officers of the company. The Board of Directors is composed 
 of J. H. Mecaslin, R. J. Lowry, Edward C. Peters, Randal Morgan and 
 George S. Philler. 
 
 Among the earliest stockholders of the company were the City of At- 
 lanta, owning one-third, E. Holland, Wm. Helme, J. C. White, Wm. Kidd, 
 John and James Lynch, Simeon Frankford, Wm. Barnes, John S. Cook, 
 T. M. Clark, Wm. Herring and John Bale. 
 
 THE LARGKST GAS TANK IN THE SOUTH. 
 
ATLANTA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE. 
 
Cf)attiber of Commerce. 
 
 DURING the thirty years of their existence, the Chamber of Commerce 
 and its predecessor, the Board of Trade, have been active in protect- 
 ing and promoting the interests of Atlanta. Meetings in the public interest 
 have usually been called at the Chamber of Commerce, and it was there 
 that the first meeting to organize the Cotton States and International 
 Exposition was held. All important questions affecting business have 
 been discussed there, and a score or so of standing committees have been 
 constituted by the chamber to look after the interests of Atlanta. The 
 Chamber of Commerce is the open forum for the discussion of all matters 
 which affect the general welfare of the community, and in this way the 
 organization has exerted a powerful influence. Within the past season it 
 originated the movement for national quarantine which was unanimously 
 indorsed by the National Board of Trade. 
 
 It has participated regularly in the national conventions for the consid- 
 eration of commercial questions, and its representatives have had an 
 important part in all such councils. 
 
 The Atlanta Chamber of Commerce is the outgrowth of the Board of 
 Trade, which was organized when the city was just emerging from the ashes 
 of war. Sometime in the year 1866 a score of the leading men of the place 
 met in Mr. R. M. Clarke's office, on Whitehall street. Among the firms 
 represented were Glenn, Wright & Carr, Bell, Moore & Co., A. K. Seago, 
 W. R. Phillips & Co., Henderson, Chisolm & Co., R. M. McPherson, W. M. 
 & R. J. Lowry, W. .J. Garrett, A. C. & B. F. Wyly, Langston, Crane & 
 Hammock, Darwin G. Clark and James R. Wylie. Mr. R. M. Clarke was 
 elected president, Mr. J. S. Peterson secretary, and Mr. Perino Brown treas- 
 urer. 
 
 In a short time Mr. Clarke was succeeded as president by Mr.W. M. Lowry, 
 who remained at the head of the Board of Trade until 1871. At that time 
 daily meetings were held and the membership numbered forty or fifty. 
 
 In July, 1871, there was a reorganization and Major Benjamin E. Crane 
 was elected president and Mr. M. E. Cooper secretary. For several years 
 there were daily meetings at 11 o'clock a. m. for the quotation of prices of 
 staple articles of trade, and for the consideration of other business. In 
 1883 it was realized that a more elaborate organization, with more liberal 
 support and a more permanent home, was necessary, and, after mature 
 consideration as the result of a reorganization, the Chamber of Commerce 
 began its career. This was followed by the erection of the present Chamber 
 of Commerce building and the enlargement of the membership to 206. 
 The ground, 52ixl2o feet, was bought for $13,340, and the architects'" 
 
64 Chamber of Commerce. 
 
 estimate of the cost of the building was |;)6,r)()(). Tlie chamber issued $40,- 
 000 of bonds and the work of construction went on. The bonded debt has 
 since been reduced to $2G,0U0. 
 
 The first meeting of the Chamber of Commerce in the new building was 
 held on January IGth, 188"), an occasion saddened by the death of Major 
 Benjamin Crane, the president of the chamber. 
 
 Major Crane was succeeded as president by Captain R. J. Lowry, presi- 
 dent of the Lowry Banking Company, during whose term Mr. M. M. Welch 
 was secretary. Captain Lowry was succeeded by Mr. J. G. Oglesby, during 
 whose administration the chamber was especially active in promoting the 
 interests of the cit3\ He declined re-election at the'expiration of his term, 
 and in July 189^! ex-Governor R. B. Bullock was elected president of the 
 Cliamber. He remained in office during the two years including the great 
 panic of 1893 and declined re-election at the end of the second term. 
 
 Governor Bullock was succeeded by Mr. Stewart F. Woodson, who was 
 President of the chamber during the Cotton States and International Exposi- 
 tion. During that period the Chamber of Commerce was a host to the score or 
 more of visiting commercial bodies that came to Atlanta during the fair. 
 On the occasion of the reception of the Liberty bell, the Chamber of Com. 
 merce joined the city of Atlanta in preparations for the event. 
 
 In 189() Mr. Woodson declined re-election and Mr. T. B. Neal, president 
 of the Neal Loan and Banking Co., was made president of the Chamber of 
 Commerce. A few months ago it was determined to start a new movement 
 for the promotion of Atlanta's business interests, and preliminary steps 
 were taken to organize a merchants' and manufacturers' association. After 
 joint consideration of those in and outside the chamber, it was decided 
 best to make the move within the organization of the Chamber of Com- 
 merce, and to enlarge and popularize the organization by temporarily 
 reducing the initiation fee to a nominal amount. This was done until Jan- 
 uary 1st, 1898, and the list of members grew to 300. 
 
 Coincident with this change in the Chamber of Commerce, designed to 
 bring in new blood, came the inauguration of a series of dinner-discussions 
 for the consideration of important public questions. These dinners occur 
 bi-monthly and the discussions following have been notable events, attract- 
 ing the attention of business men in all parts of the country. It is 
 expected that these discussions will, within the coming year, set in motion 
 currents of thought and investigation that will go far to hasten the develop- 
 ment of the Southern States. 
 
Office 5^tlding5. 
 
 ATLANTA'S of- 
 fice buildings, 
 of which the most 
 notable have been 
 erected within the 
 past seven years, give 
 a physical expression 
 of her business 
 growth. Within that 
 period a great many 
 concerns, which had 
 headquarters at other 
 Southern cities, mov- 
 ed to Atlanta. The 
 Equitable Building 
 has a population of 
 1,000, and the daily 
 entrance and exit of 
 business men will 
 average several times 
 that number. The 
 Equitable, the Aus- 
 tell Building (just 
 completed), the Pru- 
 dential^ Building (in 
 process of erection), 
 and the English- 
 American Loan and 
 Trust C o m p a n y's 
 Building, will have a 
 population of 3,500 
 to 4,000 souls. These four buildings will accommodate as many people as 
 usually reside in a good-sized town. In addition to these buildings there 
 are others like the Lovvnes Building, Temple Court, the Grand, the Gould 
 Building, the Inman Building, the Kiser Building, the Fitten Building, 
 the Hirsch Building and the Norcross Building, which are headquarters 
 for a thousand or so of business men. 
 
 A decided improvement has been made in the character of office build- 
 ings, and instead of the old style brick and wooden structures, the more 
 prominent buildings are steel-framed, fire-proof edifices of the most ap- 
 proved modern types. The following descriptions of the four principal of- 
 
 THE El^lUITAHI.E BUIl.DINC, 
 
66 
 
 Office Buildings. 
 
 fice buildings will give some idea of the character of construction, interior 
 finish, and the money invested in these great edifices : 
 
 The Equitable Building has eight stories and a basement, making a total 
 height of 120 feet from the sidewalk. It fronts 160 feet on North Pryor 
 street and 185 on Edgewood avenue, and covers a lot containing 21,000 
 square feet. The materials used in its construction are incombustible. 
 The first story of the exterior is constructed with Georgia marble columns 
 three feet in diameter The chief materials in the upper stories are buff 
 brick and terra cotta. The interior is constructed principally of wrought 
 steel columns, rolled steel beams and hollow tile fire-proofing. All of the 
 interior construction depends upon the steel columns and beams which are 
 thoroughly protected from possible heat by inclosure in burnt fire clay, and 
 separated from the metal b}' air spaces. The building is finished largely 
 with natural oak and Georgia and Italian marble. It is equipped with 
 four fast passenger elevators, has its own electric light plant, and is a, 
 strictly up-to-date fire-proof office building, not excelled anywhere. It cost 
 above $600,000, contains 285 rooms, and was completed five years ago, since 
 which time the number of vacant rooms has not averaged one dozen. 
 There are about 160 tenants, by whom something like 800 people are em- 
 ployed. 
 
 The Prudential Building, now in process of erection, is a modern fire-proof 
 
 t e n-s tory office 
 building of i n d e- 
 pendent steel con- 
 struction. It has a 
 frontage of eighty- 
 five feet on Broad 
 street, one hundred 
 and seventy-eight on 
 AValton, eighty-eight 
 feet on Forsyth and 
 one hundred and 
 s e V e n t y-eight on 
 Custom House Place, 
 covering an entire 
 block. The first 
 three stories are of 
 Bedford limestone 
 and gray brick, and 
 above this are five 
 stories of plain wall 
 surface, which sup- 
 ports the enriched 
 pilasters and cor- 
 nices of the two 
 
 THE PRUDENTIAL BUILDING. 
 
Office Buildings. 
 
 ^1 
 
 THK AUSTELL BUILDING. 
 
 stories above. The three principal entrances are of limestone, beautifully 
 carved. These entrances are from Broad, Walton and Forsyth streets, and 
 a fourth from Custom House Place affords access for freight and employees. 
 The first story is arranged for banking purposes and stores, and an arcade 
 runs through the building lengthwise from Broad to Forsyth street, giving 
 a double frontage for the stores, which have plate glass show-windows ou 
 Walton street and on the arcade. From the second to the tenth story the 
 space is divided into ofl&ces, which are finished in hardwood and furnished 
 with marble lavatories, plate-glass windows and every convenience. 
 
 The Austell Building is located on the Forsyth street viaduct and 
 fronts on Forsyth street under the viaduct. It is nine stories high, of modern 
 steel and fireproof construction, and is almost altogether of home or local 
 production, having been designed by Atlanta architects, built by Atlanta 
 contractors, with material furnished generally by Georgia manufacturers 
 and producers, and with labor done by home mechanics. 
 
 It is equal to the best office buildings in its arrangements and con- 
 veniences, and has two hundred and six large, well-lighted and well-venti- 
 lated office rooms, besides stores on both the viaduct and the street below. 
 The building is heated throughout by steam, lighted with electricity from 
 its own plant, and has three elevators from basement to roof. The halls, 
 
68 
 
 Office Buildings. 
 
 corridors and stairways are finished in Georgia marble, with mosaic floors. 
 The fireproof floor-arches an 1 partitions, of which there are 3,400 tons, is 
 the first fireproofing made in the State. The building, in both exterior 
 appearance and interior finish and arrangements, would do credit to any 
 city. The cost of the structure wa^ a little more than $300 000. 
 
 The English-American Loan and Trust Company's Building is a 
 modern, fireproof, twelve-story structure, and occupies the whole of a tri- 
 angular block at the junction of Broad and Peachtree streets, with a front- 
 age of 148 feet on Peachtree, 136 feet on Broad street and 60^ feet on Pop- 
 lar street. The area of the site is 4,192 square feet, and the ten floors de- 
 voted to offices have 32,'230 square feet in rooms, besides the space taken 
 
 up by corridors, eleva- 
 tors, etc. In addition 
 to this, the ground-floor 
 has 3,707 feet of space 
 divided into stores, and 
 under it there is a base- 
 ment of the same size. 
 There are 130 offices, and 
 the population of the 
 building will be about 
 400 when it is fully oc- 
 cupied. The main en- 
 trances are on Peachtree 
 and Broad streets. The 
 elevators and stairways 
 ascend from the center 
 of the building, and 
 every office faces the 
 street and has ample 
 light and air. The build- 
 ing is of iron and steel 
 skeleton construction, 
 with lower walls of mas- 
 sive freestone blocks and 
 superstructure of gray 
 brick. The steel is of 
 the best open-hearth 
 make, which affords the 
 greatest degree of elastic- 
 ity and tensile strength. 
 The outside of the frame- 
 w o r k is covered with 
 best quality of selected 
 
 THE ENGLISH -AMERICAN LOAN AND TRUST CO.'s BUILDING. Indiana limCStOnC. 
 
(Atlanta's Dath^ Nev^paper^. 
 
 E 
 
 NTERPRIS- 
 
 ing nevvspi- 
 pers have much to 
 do with the growth 
 of any community, 
 and this is especial- 
 ly true of Atlanta. 
 For twenty years the 
 daily newspapers of 
 Atlanta have led the 
 van of the Southern 
 press and have had 
 much to do with the 
 development of the 
 surrounding coun- 
 try. There are three 
 daily newspapers in. 
 Atlanta, The Consti- 
 tution, which is tha- 
 morning paper, T/ie- 
 Journal, which is the- 
 most important eve- 
 ning newspaper in 
 the Southern States,. 
 and The Co in mere ud,. 
 which is a sprightly 
 afternoon d a i 1 y. 
 The Atlanta Consti- 
 tution has an inter- 
 esting history, and 
 has been the means 
 of bringing into prominence several men of national reputation. It was 
 on this paper that Henry W. Grady did his great work It is unnecessary 
 to speak of his career, for it is known to the whole country. In his 
 hands The Comtitution was especially powerful as a developer of the 
 resources of the Piedmont region, as well as a strong factor in 
 politics. Grady's genius has left its impress on the literary circles 
 
 THE CONSTITUTION BUILDING. 
 
70 
 
 Atlanta's Daily Newspapers. 
 
 of the city, and The Constitution under its present management is 
 one of the leading morning papers of the country. Other writers of 
 national reputation who have developed on this paper are Joel Chandler 
 Harris, whose stories are read in every English speaking country, and 
 Frank L. Stanton, whose verse is probably' more generally quoted and read 
 than that of any poet now writing for the American newspaper press. 
 
 The Evening Journal fills a unique field, somewhat broader than that 
 usually occupied by evening newspapers. It is an enterprising newspaper 
 of large circulation, and has been a powerful factor in the politics not only 
 of this State, but of the entire country. It had much to do with bringing 
 about the nomination of Grover Cleveland for presidet in 1892, and its 
 principal owner, Mr. Hoke Smith, was selected by Mr. Cleveland as the 
 man to represent Georgia in the cabinet. 
 
 The Commercial is a younger paper than either of the other .two, but 
 has already attracted attention by its pungent editorials and its indepen- 
 dent spirit. 
 
ndacational Pacilitie^^. 
 
 H E facilities 
 for education 
 at Atlanta will com- 
 pare favorably with 
 those of any city of 
 the same size, and 
 in addition to an 
 excellent system of 
 grammar schools 
 and high schools^ 
 include several tech- 
 nical schools, nota- 
 bly the Georgia In- 
 stitute of Technol 
 ogy, which is abreast 
 of its class. With 
 these are several fine 
 libraries. The 
 Young Men's Libra- 
 ry, containing 15,- 
 000 volumes, unusually well selected, and the State Library, containing 
 60,000 volumes, accessible to the public, besides the libraries in various 
 schools and institutions, supplement the educational work of the schools. 
 Atlanta is surrounded by educational suburbs, which have numerous 
 institutions for higher education. Among these are the Southern Military 
 College and the Southern Female College, located at College Park, a subur- 
 ban town which was founded exclusively for the purpose of giving educa- 
 tional advantages to the people in and about Atlanta. Both of these are 
 flourishing schools, with high curriculums and strong faculties. The 
 Agnes Scott Institute at Decatur, another suburb of Atlanta, has for a. 
 number of years been in successful operation. It was founded by Mr. George 
 W. Scott, of this city, a brother of the late Thomas Scott, for a long time 
 president of the Pennsylvania railroad and formerly United States Senator 
 from Pennsylvania. 
 
 The Public Schools. 
 
 Nothing shows the growth of Atlanta more clearly than that of the pub- 
 lic school system. A comparative statement furnished by the superintend- 
 ent shows that in a decade, between December Lst, 1S87, and December 
 
 boys' high school. 
 
Educational ['""acilities 
 
 GIRLS men SCIIOOI. 
 
 1 st ISUy, thf system grew 
 as follows : 
 
 Two new high schools 
 iiave l)een built and the 
 number of teachers has 
 increased from U to 19. 
 Instead of 7 white gram- 
 mar schools, there are 18, 
 and the number of teach- 
 ers has increased from 
 62 to 153. Instead of 3 
 negro grammar schools, 
 with 23 teachers, there 
 are 5 with 40 teachers. 
 The total number of 
 schools has increased 
 from 12 to 25 and the 
 teachers from 91 to 212. 
 
 The seating capacity 
 in the high schools in 
 1887 was 397. In 1897 
 it is 781. In white gram- 
 mar schools it has grown 
 from 3,140 to 7,617, and 
 The total seating capacity 
 
 in negro grammar schools from 1,()14 to 2,002 
 has increased from 5,151 to 10,400. 
 
 The attendance has grown as follows : High schools from 250 to 646 ; 
 white grammar schools, from 3,000 to 7,008 ; negro grammar schools, from 
 1,000 to 2,999, and 
 total attendance iWjk^\x^^,^ 
 from 4,250 to 10,653. ^^f^^^ '"^ t^' 
 
 The average per 
 cent, of attendance 
 has improved, and 
 instead of being 93 
 76-100 per cent., is 
 97 12-100 per cent. 
 
 The total expen 
 ditures for 1887 were 
 $61,657.75. In 1896 
 they were $198,747.- 
 98. The amount 
 received from the 
 State school fund by 
 
 KDCKWOOI) AVENl'K CRAiMMAK SCHOOI. 
 
Educational Facilities. 
 
 73 
 
 THE SOUTHERN FEMALE COLLEGE. 
 
 Atlanta in 1897 was $31,20G. The remainder of the amount expended 
 was raised by local taxation and appropriated by the city council. 
 
 The efficiency of the teaching corps is maintained by normal exercises 
 held under the direction of the Superintendent every Saturday. These 
 exercises are allotted to different teachers for different weeks, so that there 
 is a separate class for every Saturday. The system is controlled by a board 
 of education elected by the general council of the city, and this has for 
 years been filled by men eminent in their respective pursuits. At present 
 the board is presided over by Hon. Hoke Smith, ex-Secretary of the Inte- 
 rior. 
 
 The Southern Fetnale College. 
 
 The Southern Female College is located at College Park, an ideal resi- 
 dence and educational suburb founded seven years ago. This institution 
 is the nucleus around which the community grew up, and is one of the 
 most successful female colleges in the South. It has a faculty of thirty 
 teachers, and there are three courses of study : a college of liberal arts, a 
 school of fine arts and a school of practical arts. The college of liberal 
 arts embraces ten schools, including eight languages and the various 
 branches of natural science, with courses in literature and belles-lettres. The 
 schools of fine arts and practical arts embrace the subjects which their 
 names indicate. In fine arts the institution is famous, especially for its 
 musical department, which includes instruction in vocal music and on the 
 piano, organ, harp, violin, violincello and double bass, guitar, cornet, clario- 
 net, flute, etc. With these come instruction in harmony, the theory and 
 history of music, with elocution, penmanship, drawing and painting. A 
 special feature of the musical department is a ladies' orchestra, consisting 
 
74 Educational Facilities. 
 
 of thirty-two pieces. They render in artistic style difficult selections from 
 the masters, and for twenty-five years have delighted critical audiences. 
 Their Southern tours and later renditions at the Atlanta Exposition and 
 elsewhere have attracted wide attention. 
 
 The school of practical arts includes seven branches, such as dressmak- 
 ing, cooking, bookkeeping, typewriting and stenography. 
 
 In connection with this school there is normal instruction for pupils who 
 desire to make teaching their profession. 
 
 The attendance is large, and at times has included two hundred students 
 from a distance, besides local pupils. The institution draws its patronage 
 from Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina, North Carolina, Florida, Missis- 
 sippi, Texas, Missouri, West Virginia, New York, Cuba and Mexico. 
 
 The location is a commanding eminence on a thirty-acre campus, which 
 has a frontage of one thousand feet on the Atlanta and West Point Rail- 
 road. The site of the college building is thirteen hundred feet above the 
 sea level, two hundred feet higher than the highest portions of Atlanta. 
 
 The college building is the largest in Georgia, and one of the largest in 
 the Southern States. It is a four-story structure of brick and stone, two 
 hundred and forty feet long, one hundred feet wide at the ends and one 
 hundred and forty feet wide at the center, with a dome rising above the 
 fourth floor. A passenger elevator gives quick and easy access to the upper 
 stories, and the entire building is equipped with water pipes and electric 
 lights. There are a spacious chapel, a commodious librar}^ of five thousand 
 volumes, a museum with eight thousand natural history specimens, and 
 well equipped chemical and physical laboratories. The musical equipment 
 includes a large pipe organ and forty-six pianos, and the art studios are 
 furnished with statuary, casts and models. This institution has its own 
 waterworks, and its electric light and steam-heating plants, and the clock 
 in the tower not only strikes the hours, but rings the changes for recita- 
 tions on electric bells in the recitation rooms. The college is connected by 
 telephone with Atlanta, and a convenient schedule gives opportunity for 
 attendance upon the lectures of the Atlanta Lyceum Association and other 
 events of educational value in the city. 
 
 The Agues Scott Institute. 
 
 The Agnes Scott Institute is located at Decatur, one of the most charm- 
 ing of Atlanta's suburbs. The building is in the center of a five-acre cam- 
 pus, in the midst of a grove of beautiful oaks. The structure is four stories 
 high, of brick and marble, and well built throughout. It has telephonic 
 connection with Atlanta, and is easily accessible by the Georgia Railroad 
 and two electric lines from the city. The main building is 190x54 feet, 
 and is heated by steam, furnished with electric lights, well ventilated and 
 furnished with hot and cold water and all modern conveniences. The dor- 
 mitory rooms are carpeted and finished in solid oak. The recitation rooms 
 
Educational Facilities. 
 
 75 
 
 THE AGNES SCOTT INSTITUTE. 
 
 and chapel occup}^ the first floor and the upper stories constitute the dor- 
 mitory. This institution was founded seven years ago by Colonel George W. 
 Scott, of Atlanta., who named it in honor of his mother, Mrs. Agnes Scott. 
 The buildings and grounds cost $120,000, and the institution is self-sus- 
 taining. It draws its patronage of 230 students from the States of Geor- 
 gia, Alabama, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Louisiana, Missis- 
 sippi, Pennsylvania, Arkansas, Illinois and Colorado, about one-fourth of 
 them coming from States other than Georgia. The faculty is composed of 
 seventeen teachers, and the curriculum compares favorably with that of 
 similar institutions. The work done is thorough, and the reputation of 
 the institution has steadily grown since its foundation. 
 
 The Washington Seminary. 
 
 This institution, which occupies a handsome building at the corner of 
 Walton and Fairlie streets, has in a comparatively few years attained an en- 
 viable position, and its reputation for educational work of a high character 
 is well established. In 1897 there were nineteen teachers and a total at- 
 tendance of 195 students from Georgia and adjacent States. Several of the 
 teachers are graduates of Vassar and Wellesley colleges, and others were ed- 
 ucated in foreign schools of reputation. The course is divided into primary, 
 intermediate and collegiate departments, with courses of study including 
 
76 
 
 Educational Facilities. 
 
 THE WASHINGTON SEMINARY. 
 
 schools of English, 
 English literature, 
 mathematics, ancient 
 languages, modern 
 languages, science, his- 
 tory, music, art and 
 reading, oratory and 
 physical culture. The 
 principal, Mrs. W. T. 
 Chandler, occupies the 
 chair of French, mental 
 and moral philosophy, 
 history and art. Under 
 her management the 
 school has built up an 
 enviable reputation. 
 Its attendance is com- 
 posed of the daugh- 
 ters of the best fami- 
 lies of Atlanta and 
 other communities. 
 
 The Southern Military College. 
 
 The Southern Military College is located at College Park, within a short 
 distance of the Southern Female College, and is intended to furnish for 
 boys educational facilities similar to those afforded by the latter institution. 
 The course includes the regular college curriculum, with a preparatory de- 
 partment and grammar school in addition. The departments are as fol- 
 lows : Collegiate, preparatory, grammar school, primary school, military 
 ■department, normal department, school of elocution and oratory, school of 
 
 music, and commercial 
 school. In the collegi- 
 ate department there 
 are classical, philo- 
 sophical, scientific and 
 literary courses. The 
 faculty includes ten well 
 equipped teachers, and 
 the total attendance is 
 129, principally from 
 Georgia, with a few from 
 Florida, Alabama, Mis- 
 sissippi, New Jersey and 
 New York, and two from 
 South America. 
 
 THE SOUTHERN Mil IIARV COLLEGE. 
 
Educational Facilities. 
 
 71 
 
 The Yomiff Men's Littrary. 
 
 This institution was founded about thirty years ago, and has from the 
 first filled a large sphere of usefulness. It was founded by private sub- 
 scription, and owns 
 property valued at 
 about $60,000, of 
 which apart is 
 money at interest, 
 the proceeds of 
 which are used in 
 the purchase of new 
 books. The libra- 
 ry building is on 
 Marietta street, not 
 far from the busi 
 ness center. This 
 in s t i t u ti o n has 
 about 15,000 vol- 
 umes, covering a 
 
 wide range of literature. The book circulation is very large, and the read- 
 ing rooms are frequented by members of reading clubs. A careful 
 count is kept of the books of each class in circulation, and the selections of 
 new books are made with a view to stimulate reading of the best class. A great 
 improvement is noticeable in this respect within the past five years. For- 
 
 THE YOUNG MENS LIBRARY. 
 
 'IHE S TAI K I.IIIRAKY — KKADING RCOM. 
 
78 Educational Facilities. 
 
 merly a very large proportion of the books read were novels. While stand- 
 ard works of fiction are still largely read, there is a much greater demand 
 for historical, biographical and scientific works. 
 
 Auxiliary to this institution is a club organized by its directors, known 
 as the Saturday Night Club, in which it is customary to debate questions 
 of timely interest, usually topics before Congress or those in which the 
 public mind is for the time especially interested. 
 
 This institution carries on through appropriate committees several lines 
 of important work, including university extension lectures, popular lec- 
 tures and historical collections. Several years ago, by the co-operation of 
 professors in the University of Georgia, a series of university extension 
 lectures was given in the rooms of the Library, and the experiment was 
 considered a success. It is expected that work on this line will be renewed 
 
 at no distant day. 
 
 The State Library. 
 
 The State Library, occupying one of the handsomest public halls in the 
 Capitol, is considered the best law library in the Southern States. It con- 
 tains 65,000 volumes, of which about half are law books, and about half 
 miscellaneous works and Government and State documents. The law 
 library includes the Supreme Court reports of every State in the 
 Union, with the Federal reports and the English and Irish reports, be- 
 sides all the standard text-books and digests, and the statutes of the differ- 
 ent States. 
 
 There are comparatively few books in the line of general literature, but 
 there are some historical works of great value, including the De Renne 
 collection of works on Georgia and the Southeastern States, written in colo- 
 nial times. The purchases of law books are under the supervision of 
 the Supreme Court, and the law library is kept supplied with the latest 
 editions of tha best books. 
 
 The Georgia School of Technology. 
 
 This school was founded in 1885 by a State appropriation of $()5,000, sup- 
 plemented by a gift of $50,01)0 from Atlanta. Last year the State added a 
 dormitory costing $15,000, and appropriated an additional sum for the elec- 
 trical apparatus. The school is well equipped with scientific apparatus and 
 has an especially strong department of electrical engineering. A movement 
 is on foot to add a textile department, and a bill for an appropriation to 
 that end recently passed the Georgia legislature. Adjacent to the academic 
 structure is a well-appointed and well-equipped machine shop, in which 
 wood-working and up-to-date machine work in iron, brass and other metals 
 is regularly diDne by students, who divide their time between academic 
 studies and work in the shop. The machine shop, in plant and equipment, 
 was modeled after the Lowell Institute of Technology, and is one of the 
 best of its kind. The standard in work and in teaching is high, and gradu- 
 
Educational Facilities. 
 
 79 
 
 THE GEORGIA SCHOOL OF TECHNOLOGY. 
 
 ates of this institution are at no disadvantage in competition with those 
 of the best technical schools of the country. A large majority of them are 
 filling important and remunerative positions in the line of their training 
 
 The school is supported by the State and is a branch of the University of 
 Georgia. It receives an annual appropriation of $22,500 from the State and 
 $2,500 from the city of Atlanta, and has an attendance of about 200. 
 
 The school has seventy graduates engaged in engineering pursuits in 
 this and other States. Most of them are superintendents of mills, machine 
 shops or manufacturing enterprises of some kind. Several occupy profes- 
 sorships in technical schools in other States. The graduates have ranked 
 high as specialists, and have taken their place easily and quickly in the 
 productive enterprises of the country. They are earning good salaries and 
 doing fine work for the concerns with which they are engaged. 
 
 The 3Iedical and Dental Colleges. 
 
 Atlanta has fine facilities for the study of medicine, surgery and dentistry. 
 There are three medical colleges whose aggregate attendance is something 
 over 600 students. They have able faculties, and their relations with the 
 Grady Hospital afford fine opportunities for clinical instruction. Each 
 college has ample facilities for the study of anatomy, and subjects are pro- 
 vided by the State law which authorizes the authorities of the Georgia pen- 
 itentiar}^ to turn over to the medical colleges all unclaimed bodies of de- 
 ceased convicts. These bodies are kept for sixty days in preserving fluid, 
 and at the end of that time, if still unclaimed, are subjects for dissection. 
 
 The Atlanta Medical College and the Southern Medical College are of 
 the regular or allopathic school, and the Georgia College of Electic Medi- 
 
8o 
 
 Educational Facilities. 
 
 THE SOUTHERN MEDICAL COLLEGE. 
 
 cine and Surgery is what its name indicates. Each of these institutions 
 has a substantial building, and their .'acuities are composed of the ablest 
 physicians in the city. 
 
 The dental departments send out every year several score of graduates. 
 The excellence of these colleges is evidenced by the fact that their at- 
 tendance comes from all parts of the Southern States. 
 
 The State Board of Medical Examiners has done much to elevate the 
 standard of the medical profession in this State. No one can practice med- 
 icine in Georgia without passing an examination by this board, which is 
 composed of eminent physicians appointed by the Governor. A State 
 Board of Dental Examiners has just been created by law- 
 
 InstitQtion^ for tl)e Edacation of tl)e Negro. 
 
 ATLANTA is making the most of the negro, and not only provides rudi- 
 mentary education for colored children in public schools, but has six 
 institutions of higher education elaborately equipped and liberally endowed. 
 These are the Atlanta University, Spelman Seminary, Clark University, 
 Gammon Theological Seminary, Mo]*ris Brown College and the Atlanta 
 Baptist College. The Chancellor of the University of Georgia has 
 repeatedly stated that in equipment and in faculty these institu- 
 tions are fully equal, if not superior, to the University of Georgia and 
 the other colleges for the education of white people. It is important to 
 know that in two of these institutions the practical side of education re- 
 ceives much attention. At Clark University and at Spelman Seminary 
 negro men are taught various trades and negro women are trained, not 
 only in all kinds of domestic economy, but as nurses for hospitals, etc. 
 
Educational Facilities. 
 
 8i 
 
 CLARK UNIVERSITY — WARREN HALL. 
 
 Clark University. 
 
 Early in the year 
 
 1869 a primary 
 
 school was opened 
 
 in" Clark Chapel," 
 
 on Fraser street, by 
 
 Rev. James W. Lee 
 
 and wife. The 
 
 chapel, an ordinary 
 
 wooden structure, 
 
 has long since dis- 
 appeared, and the 
 
 ground on which it 
 
 stood is occupied 
 
 by tenement 
 
 houses. The school 
 
 thus started, proving a success, was adopted by the Freedmen's Aid Society,, 
 
 and has been supported by that society up to date. In the course of its 
 
 development the institution changed sites several times. 
 
 A charter was secured in 1877, when the institution was named Clark 
 
 University, in honor of Bishop D. W. Clark, who visited this section of 
 
 country shortly af- 
 ter the war, and or- 
 ganized the South- 
 ern CO n ferences. 
 His library is now 
 a part of the libra- 
 ry of the school. 
 
 On the 10th of 
 February, 1880, 
 the corner-stone of 
 "Chrisman Hall" 
 was laid, and Bish- 
 op Matthew Simp- 
 son delivered the 
 address. This 
 building was large 
 ly the gift of Mrs. 
 Eliza Chrisman, of 
 Topeka, Kansas. 
 "Warren Hall," the 
 large dormitory for 
 girls, was named 
 for Bishop Henry 
 W. Warren w h o- 
 
 CLARK UNIVERSITY — CHRISMAN HALL. 
 
82 Educational Facilities. 
 
 raised a considerable part of the funds to erect it. The entire credit 
 must also be given to Bishoi) Warren for the establishment of the industrial 
 plant in connection with the university. Beginning in narrow quarters, 
 the industrial department soon found another friend in the person of Mr, 
 Stephen Ballard, of Brooklyn, New York, who erected its main building, 
 known as " Ballard Hall." The property of the school is valued at $400,000. 
 Instruction has been given to about seven hundred students. Of these, 
 twenty have been graduated from the college course, seventy-six from the 
 normal and preparatory and twenty from the industrial. The large majority 
 ofthe graduates are either teaching or preaching, while those from the indus- 
 trial department are following the trades for which they fitted themselves. 
 
 Tlie Atlanta University. 
 The Atlanta University was incorporated in 1867 and opened in 1869. 
 It is a Christian institution, unsectarian in its management, and wholly 
 controlled by an independent board of trustees. It owns four large brick 
 buildings, on sixty-five acres of land, one mile from the center of the city. 
 It has a library of ten thousand volumes, apparatus and other equipment, 
 the total value of the whole property being perhaps $250,000. The en- 
 dowment is only about $33,000, most of which is for the purpose of aiding 
 needy students. The attendance is about 300, all in the upper depart- 
 ments, as the lower departments were dropped in 1894. The number of 
 o-raduates is 317. These, with hundreds of past undergraduates, are 
 engaged in teaching, in preaching, in business, and in other useful work 
 in Georgia and surrounding States. 
 
 Speltnan Seminary. 
 
 Spelman Seminary, located within the city limits on a commanding em- 
 inence, removed from the noise and bustle of business, is one of the most 
 important of the institutions for the education of the negro at Atlanta. 
 Under the presidency of Miss Hariet E. Giles it has obtained a high degree 
 of efficiency. It has graduated a number of young women who are earn- 
 ing lucrative salaries as trained nurses, and good wages in industrial pur- 
 suits. The school for the training of nurses is one of the most important 
 in this section. It is under the direction of graduates of the Nurse's Train- 
 ing School of Illinois, and the Cook County Presbyterian Hospital of Chi- 
 cago. The industrial department includes training in the best domestic 
 work; cooking, housekeeping and sewing, and in printing and dressmaking. 
 Training on these practical lines is accompanied by instruction in En- 
 glish studies and by normal training for those who desire to become 
 teachers. There are the usual academic and college courses, with an es- 
 pecial training course for missionaries. The institution has 248 graduates 
 in the different departments. 
 
 Ganitnoii Theological Setninary. 
 Gammon Theological Seminary was founded in 1883. Rev. W. P. Thir- 
 kield, A.M., D.D., has been president from its opening till now. It has had 
 remarkable growth, and is one of the strongest and best endowed institutions 
 
Educational Facilities. 
 
 83 
 
 THE ATLANTA UNIVERSITY. 
 
 of its kind in the country. Its grounds and buildings are valued at $100,000 
 and the library building contains over 11,000 volumes, constituting the finest 
 theological library in the South. The endowment of the institution is 
 fully $600,000, and its work is entirely theological. It has over 100 gradu- 
 ates, holding prominent positions in the leading towns and cities of the South . 
 The total attendance for the year 1896-97 was 8G, representing seventeen 
 States and two foreign countries and 28 different colleges. 
 
 T7ie Atlanta Baptist College. 
 
 This institution was founded at Augusta, Georgia, in May, 1867, where 
 it continued until the fall of 1879, when it was removed to Atlanta, incor- 
 porated, and named the Atlanta Baptist Seminary. It continued to oper- 
 ate under this name until the spring of 1897, when, in consequence of 
 
 GAMMON THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY, 
 
84 
 
 Educational Facilities. 
 
 having dveloped into a college and graduating its first A. B. men, it was 
 re-named the Atlanta Baptist College- 
 
 The institution was established originally for the education of preachers 
 and such teachers as could be profitably classed with them ; but in order to 
 meet the growing demands of the colored people for educated men in other 
 walks of life, its scope has been broadened and it trains men for teaching 
 and for business as well as for the ministry. The courses taught are the En- 
 glish preparatory, the teachers' professional course conjointly with Spelman 
 Seminary, and the academic, collegiate and theological. 
 
 The average yearly attendance is j50. Located at the corner of West 
 Fair street at Chestnut, it owns fourteen acres of land, near the center of 
 which stands a well-constructed building 170 feet long, and four stories 
 high above the basement. The property is valued at $60,000, and the 
 college has $25,000 of endowment. 
 
 Morris Brown College. 
 
 Morris Brown College was founded in 1880 by ministers of the African 
 Methodist Episcopal Church and is the property of that denomination. In 
 1881 the first building was begun, and within a 3'ear was completed. Ten 
 years later another building was erected and the institution has attained a 
 high degree of usefulness, with an extensive patronage. The attendance 
 is 422 students, of whom IGTare male and 255 are female. 
 
 The courses of instruction include theology and law, in addition to the 
 usual academic studies. The cost of the building and grounds was about 
 $30,000, and for a period of eighteen years the institution has been main- 
 tained without an endowment. 
 
 The work is divided into theological, law, collegiate, scientific, academic, 
 normal, missionary, English, music and industrial departments. The 
 faculty is composed of fourteen professors and teachers. The institution if 
 controlled by a board of trustees elected by the three Georgia conferences of 
 the African Methodist Episcopal Church. 
 
 SPELMAN SEMINARY. 
 
 ATLANTA HAI'TIST UNIVERSITY. 
 

 M 
 
 BROOKWOOD — A SUBURBAN RESIDENCE. 
 
 Residential (Jd vantage*^. 
 
 THE advantages of residence in Atlanta include many things which 
 have attracted people from all parts of the United States, and these 
 suhjects are appropriately treated at length in other chapters. Among 
 them are the climatic advantages, the bracing air, the vinusual elevation, 
 the undulating character of the country affording easy drainage, the fine 
 sanitary system which supplements natural; advantages, police and fire 
 departments of unusual efficiency, a waterworks system hardly equalled 
 elsewhere in the South, superior educational facilities, strong fraternal, 
 religious and social organizations, fine public libraries, magnificent theaters^ 
 in which the best artists regularly appear, the Lyceum Bureau Courses and 
 other lectures, enterprising daily newspapers which stand first in the South- 
 ern States, rapid transit affording easy and quick access to the business cen- 
 ter, the churches and the theaters from all parts of the city, a community 
 of high-class merchants whose enterprise affords extraordinary facilities for 
 shopping, and markets unsurpassed in the South, at which the best of vege- 
 tables, meats, fish and game are regularly supplied at reasonable prices. 
 
 With all these advantages is the distinctive spirit of the people, an orderly^ 
 home-owning, hospitable people, inspired with an incomparable public 
 spirit, which balks at no enterprise and welcomes every honest man, rich 
 or poor, who comes to add his efforts to the energetic life of the community. 
 
 A Cosmopolitan City. 
 
 Atlanta is a cosmopolitan city, more so than any other in the Southern 
 States. Almost every State in the North and West and every country of 
 Europe is represented among the residents, and people from a distance find 
 congenial companionship, no matter whence they come. The colored 
 population composes about 40 per cent, of the whole, and consists almost 
 entirely of working people. A few are preachers, teachers and professional 
 men, with a sprinkling of lawyers and politicians. The negroes, as a rule 
 do the domestic service, but within the past few years the number of white 
 
2,6 
 
 Residential Advantages. 
 
 RESIDENCE OF MR. WALKER P. INMAN. 
 
 servants has largely in" 
 creased, and it is not 
 difficult to get efficient 
 white help when this 
 is desired. 
 
 The negroes reside 
 principally in the first, 
 third and fourth wards, 
 where they are almost 
 entirely separate from 
 the white population. 
 There are separate 
 schools for colored peo 
 pie, and they have their 
 own churches and as- 
 sembly halls. There 
 is seldom any friction between the two races and persons from a dis- 
 tance who have been accustomed to regard the race problem as a 
 vexed question, continually causing trouble, are astonished to see 
 with what little jar and friction the two races live side by side in the 
 same community, separate and distinct in their social life, but more or less 
 thrown together in business. 
 
 While the presence of a large body of negroes renders the per capita 
 wealth of a community somewhat smaller than it would be in a city occu- 
 pied wholly by white people, it is a notable fact that beggars in Atlanta 
 :are very rare, more so than in cities of the same size in other States, where 
 there is more wealth and a population almost entirely white. While the 
 scale of wages is somewhat lower, there are comparatively few unemployed, 
 and as the expense of living is considerably less than in colder States, there 
 are few families with- 
 out an abundance of 
 the necessaries and a 
 moiety of the comforts 
 of life. 
 
 The people are thrif- 
 ty and have a habit of 
 living within their in- 
 comes. The bulk of 
 the white population 
 is composed of ele- 
 ments which have, 
 come from Georgia and 
 surrounding States 
 during the past thirty 
 years. Very few adult 
 citizens of Atlanta were residence of dr. a. w. calhoun. 
 
Resjdential Advantages. 
 
 87 
 
 RESIDENCE OF JUDGE HENRY B. TOMPKINS. 
 
 born here and the popu- 
 lation represents hirge- 
 ly the enterprising ele- 
 naents of other com- 
 munities which have 
 come to Atlanta for a 
 larger field for effort. 
 Blended with these 
 sturdy contributions of 
 the Southern States 
 are others from every 
 section of the country, 
 and in almost every 
 business or social gath- 
 ering ofany extent 
 half the States in the 
 Union are represented. 
 
 These diverse elements, composed of the best and most enterprising peo- 
 ple from all parts of this and other countries, give to Atlanta that life and 
 vigor which always results from the union of different strong individuals^ 
 classes or races. Instead of producing friction and continual jar, as some 
 might suppose, the very diversity of these elements gives the city that 
 vigorous and progressive spirit which makes it easily first of all Southern 
 communities in the race of progress. 
 
 Law and Order. 
 
 Atlanta is an orderly 
 city and scenes of mob 
 violence have never 
 occurred here. There 
 has never been a lynch- 
 ing or a forcible rescue 
 of prisoners, and the 
 bloody scenes which 
 have saddened the his- 
 tory of other communi- 
 ties are wholly absent 
 from the records of 
 Atlanta's life. The 
 public order is to some 
 extent due to the solu- 
 tion of the problem of 
 regulating the liquor 
 traffic. After several 
 hard-fought contests on 
 THE governor's MANSION. this subjcct the citizcus 
 
88 
 
 Residential Advantages. 
 
 RESIDENCE OF MR. S. M, INMAN. 
 
 have, by common con- 
 sent, settled upon a sys- 
 tem of control by high 
 license, with limited 
 hours of sale, and the 
 prohibition of all 
 screens in front of sa- 
 loons. The license in 
 Atlanta is fixed at $1,000 
 per year, and this brings 
 the sale of liquor into 
 the hands of responsi- 
 ble parties. They are 
 by law prohibited from 
 selling liquor after 10 
 o'clock p. M., and on 
 election days and legal 
 holidays. The presence 
 of a minor in a saloon 
 is prima facie evidcnceof the sale of liquor to him and this rule is eflective in 
 preventing the sale of liquor to minors. Drunkenness on the street is not 
 common, and though considerable liquor is sold here, it is under as effective 
 control as seems to be compatible with an amicable adjustment of this 
 difficult question. 
 
 Delight fill Clunote. 
 
 Among other residential advantages the substantial character of public 
 improvements and the well paved and well kept streets cut no small figure 
 and add much to the 
 health and comfort of 
 the people. Atlanta's 
 fine air and elevation, 
 and the excellent hotels, 
 fine hospitals, sanator- 
 iums and infirmaries 
 have gone far to make 
 this city a health resort 
 in the summer and 
 winter. The tempera- 
 ture at Atlanta in sum- 
 mer is almost always 
 lower than in the cities 
 of the Middle States. 
 For example, there are 
 few days during the 
 heated term when it is 
 not cooler in Atlanta residence of mr. tohn w. grant. 
 
Residential Advantages. 
 
 89 
 
 THE KIMliALL HOUSE. 
 
 than at Columbus, Ohio, and the summer temperature is far below that of 
 St. Louis and Cincinnati. The cool, bracing air, coming from the foothills 
 of the Blue Ridge, has an invigorating effect on the people, and goes far to 
 give them that bodily vigor and mental alertness so distinctive in Atlan" 
 tians. Winter tourists often stop at Atlanta on their way to Florida, and 
 frequently spend some time here in the spring on the return trip. The ex- 
 cellent service at the hotels and the fine facilities for medical treatment at 
 the sanatoriums and hospitals, not equalled this side of Baltimore, make 
 this a very comfortable stopping place for invalids. 
 
 Hotels and Boarding Houses. 
 
 Atlanta has two first-class hotels, the Kimball and the Hotel Aragon 
 For years the Kimball House has been the leading hostelry of the Southern 
 States, and under its present management the service is kept up to a high 
 standard of excellence. The original Kimball House was built about 
 thirty years ago, but was burned in the summer of 1SS3. The present 
 building, covering almost an entire block, was completed between the 
 burning of the old structure and August, 1894. It is seven stories high 
 above the basement and has 440 rooms. This hotel is the political head- 
 quarters for Georgia and is the rendezvous for all sorts of gatherings of a 
 
90 Residential Advantages. 
 
 public nature. Many important enterprises have been initiated at meetings 
 held in its parlors. President Cleveland was entertained there on his first 
 visit to Atlanta in 1887, and many distinguished guests have honored the 
 hotel with their presence. 
 
 The Hotel Aragon was completed in 1894. It is to Atlanta what the 
 Hotel Waldorf is to New York, and is a favorite with tourists. In 1895 
 President Cleveland and many distinguished guests of the city and the 
 Exposition were entertained there. The cuisine is equal to that of the best 
 hotels of this country and the service is kept up to a high standard. The 
 hotel has 360 rooms and is six stories high. 
 
 In addition to these there are six or eight smaller hotels, well kept and 
 at moderate rates, where visitors may be accommodated at prices within 
 the reach of almost any purse. They are located within two to five minutes' 
 walk of the union passenger depot, and are conveniently near the business 
 center. 
 
 Atlanta is well supplied with high-class boarding houses, located, as a 
 rule, within five minutes' walk of the business center. Here accommoda- 
 tions may be had according to the taste and purse of almost any one. 
 
 The Sweetwater Park Hotel, located at Lithia Springs, some twenty 
 miles from Atlanta, is one of the most famous summer resorts in the South- 
 ern States. It has become popular, not only with the people of Atlanta 
 and Georgia, but is growing in favor as a resort for both winter and sum 
 mer. Like the leading hotels of Atlanta, it is a stopping place, going and 
 coming, for tourists bound for Florida. The grounds are large and beauti- 
 fully improved, and the hotel is of the picturesque inn type. The illustra- 
 tion shows the beauty of the situation. One attraction of the place is 
 the lithia water of the famous Bowden Spring, the curative proper- 
 ties of which are known throughout the United States. The water is 
 shipped in all directions and is sold in bottles and casks. The hotel is, to 
 some extent, a sanitarium, and invalids go there to rest. The hotel is ele- 
 gant in all its appointments and the service is kept up to a high standard. 
 
 CttmatiC Conditions. 
 
 THE situation of Atlanta on the ridge which divides the watershed 
 of the Atlantic ocean from that of the Gulf of Mexico, by its ele- 
 vation, gives the climate a breezy and bracing freshness that has much to 
 do with the health and vigor of the people. The altitude at the union 
 passenger depot is 1,052 feet above sea level, and on many of the residence 
 streets it exceeds 1,100 fett. The surrounding country is rolling and 
 easily drains itself, leaving the air free from malaria. So pronounced is 
 the difference between the atmosphere here and at points of lower altitude 
 that it has given rise to the belief that Atlanta enjoys immunity from 
 epidemics to which the coast regions are subject. Though physicians differ 
 
Residential Advantages. 
 
 91 
 
 HOTEL ARAGOM. 
 
 on this question, it is a fact that for a number of years the city has left its 
 gates open to yellow fever refugees, and though thousands of them passed 
 through Atlanta, hundreds stopping here, not a single case of fever has 
 ever developed in a resident of this city. The altitude and topographical 
 position of Atlanta account for the fact that the summer temperature here 
 is lower than in most cities of the middle States. 
 
 The United States Weather office was opened in Atlanta October 1st, 
 1878, eight years after the first organization of the National Weather 
 Service. The importance of the Atlanta office has increased year by year 
 until now it ranks as the most important station in the South, and is 
 fully equipped with all the latest and most approved instruments for 
 obtaining the various atmospheric phenomena. Atlanta is the headquarters 
 of the Georgia Section of the National Climate and Crop Service and has 
 under its supervision nearly one hundred observers scattered over the 
 State. It is the Section Center of the river service of Georgia and issues 
 forecasts of approaching floods to towns along the river courses. These 
 warnings have proved of much benefit and have been the means of saving 
 thousands of dollars' worth of property to persons in the river sections of 
 Georgia. Atlanta is the distributing point for the daily forecasts, not 
 only for this State, but also for Alabama and South Carolina. Over one 
 hundred telegrams are sent daily from the local office to points in the 
 three States named above, besides nearly four hundred cards containing 
 the weather probabilities for the ensuing thirty-six hours, sent out each 
 morning. It is safe to say that through the various methods used Atlanta 
 
92 
 
 Residential Advantages. 
 
 sends the forecasts to thousands of people. Over two hundred charts 
 showing the existing weather conditions over the United States are 
 printed and issued daily. 
 
 The following tables, showing the average monthly temperature, and 
 the rainfall for a series of years, were compiled by the United States 
 Weather Bureau's Atlanta office: 
 
 Average MontJily Temperature at Atlanta. 
 
 
 Jan. 
 
 Feb. 
 
 March. 
 
 April 
 
 May. 
 
 June. 
 
 July 
 
 August 
 
 Sept. 
 
 Oct. 
 
 Nov. 
 
 Dec. 
 
 For the 
 Year. 
 
 1879... 
 
 44 
 
 44 
 
 58 
 
 60 
 
 70 
 
 75 
 
 SO 
 
 74 
 
 69 
 
 64 
 
 54 
 
 52 
 
 62 
 
 1880... 
 
 54 
 
 
 56 
 
 62 
 
 71 
 
 76 
 
 79 
 
 77 
 
 69 
 
 61 
 
 47 
 
 42 
 
 62 
 
 1881... 
 
 40 
 
 47 
 
 49 
 
 59 
 
 71 
 
 78 
 
 81 
 
 79 
 
 75 
 
 67 
 
 53 
 
 50 
 
 62 
 
 1882... 
 
 49 
 
 52 
 
 57 
 
 64 
 
 66 
 
 76 
 
 76 
 
 76 
 
 71 
 
 66 
 
 51 
 
 41 
 
 62 
 
 1883... 
 
 43 
 
 50 
 
 50 
 
 61 
 
 67 
 
 76 
 
 80 
 
 76 
 
 71 
 
 66 
 
 54 
 
 48 
 
 62 
 
 1884 . 
 
 36 
 
 52 
 
 54 
 
 58 
 
 71 
 
 71 
 
 78 
 
 75 
 
 75 
 
 68 
 
 51 
 
 45 
 
 61 
 
 1885... 
 
 40 
 
 39 
 
 47 
 
 61 
 
 67 
 
 76 
 
 79 
 
 77 
 
 70 
 
 57 
 
 50 
 
 43 
 
 59 
 
 1886... 
 
 36 
 
 42 
 
 51 
 
 60 
 
 69 
 
 72 
 
 77 
 
 77 
 
 73 
 
 63 
 
 51 
 
 40 
 
 59 
 
 1887... 
 
 40 
 
 53 
 
 51 
 
 ti3 
 
 72 
 
 76 
 
 78 
 
 76 
 
 72 
 
 59 
 
 52 
 
 42 
 
 61 
 
 1888... 
 
 45 
 
 49 
 
 51 
 
 64 
 
 69 
 
 75 
 
 79 
 
 78 
 
 67 
 
 :8 
 
 52 
 
 44 
 
 60 
 
 1889... 
 
 44 
 
 42 
 
 52 
 
 62 
 
 68 
 
 73 
 
 78 
 
 74 
 
 70 
 
 60 
 
 52 
 
 57 
 
 61 
 
 1890... 
 
 51 
 
 55 
 
 50 
 
 62 
 
 69 
 
 79 
 
 78 
 
 75 
 
 72 
 
 60 
 
 58 
 
 45 
 
 63 
 
 1891... 
 
 42 
 
 50 
 
 47 
 
 63 
 
 67 
 
 78 
 
 75 
 
 77 
 
 72 
 
 59 
 
 49 
 
 47 
 
 61 
 
 1892... 
 
 38 
 
 48 
 
 48 
 
 59 
 
 69 
 
 76 
 
 76 
 
 76 
 
 70 
 
 63 
 
 50 
 
 42 
 
 60 
 
 1893... 
 
 36 
 
 46 
 
 51 
 
 64 
 
 67 
 
 74 
 
 81 
 
 1 1 
 
 73 
 
 62 
 
 51 
 
 47 
 
 61 
 
 1894... 
 
 47 
 
 45 
 
 57 
 
 62 
 
 69 
 
 76 
 
 76 
 
 76 
 
 73 
 
 62 
 
 50 
 
 46 
 
 62 
 
 1895 . 
 
 40 
 
 34 
 
 51 
 
 60 
 
 67 
 
 77 
 
 77 
 
 77 
 
 76 
 
 60 
 
 52 
 
 44 
 
 60 
 
 1S96... 
 
 42 
 
 45 
 
 49 
 
 66 
 
 75 
 
 75 
 
 78 
 
 80 
 
 75 
 
 61 
 
 56 
 
 44 
 
 62 
 
 1897... 
 
 39 
 
 48 
 
 55 
 
 60 
 
 68 
 
 79 
 
 78 
 
 76 
 
 74 
 
 66 
 
 53 
 
 
 
 
 
 19 .vrs 
 
 42 
 
 47 
 
 52 
 
 62 
 
 69 
 
 76 
 
 78 
 
 70 
 
 72 
 
 62 
 
 52 
 
 45 
 
 
 
 Rainfall hy Months and Years. 
 
 
 Jan. 
 
 Feb. 
 
 Mar. 
 
 .\pril. 
 
 May. 
 
 June. 
 
 July. 
 
 August 
 
 Sept. 
 
 Oct. 
 
 Nov. 
 
 Dec. 
 
 Total for 
 Year. 
 
 1879 
 
 4.29 
 2.86 
 8.35 
 6.40 
 15.82 
 5.20 
 8.44 
 7.33 
 3.52 
 3.89 
 6.39 
 2.95 
 6.73 
 8.93 
 2.02 
 5.09 
 5.47 
 3.12 
 3.48 
 
 3.09 
 3.11 
 10.41 
 10.29 
 3.22 
 5.84 
 4.14 
 1.53 
 3.74 
 5.91 
 5.28 
 3.36 
 8.50 
 3.44 
 5.45 
 4.98 
 2.01 
 3.04 
 4.. 59 
 
 2 49 
 11.87 
 10.98 
 4.16 
 3.73 
 9.70 
 4.26 
 11.16 
 1.99 
 8.16 
 2.49 
 3.13 
 10.16 
 5.71 
 2.43 
 2.99 
 7.55 
 3.29 
 5.74 
 
 3.98 
 7.07 
 4.58 
 5.21 
 8.20 
 5.86 
 1.31 
 2.. 52 
 1.38 
 1.34 
 2., 54 
 2.04 
 1.58 
 4.75 
 2.48 
 3 06 
 5.20 
 0.58 
 5.06 
 
 4.16 
 4.52 
 1.27 
 3.02 
 2.00 
 1.33 
 6.12 
 6.21 
 1.76 
 6.86 
 3.16 
 6.32 
 2.17 
 1.37 
 4.46 
 1.49 
 3.99 
 1.95 
 0.34 
 
 3.20 
 3.57 
 2.46 
 3.22 
 2' 31 
 10 73 
 4 83 
 8:68 
 2.82 
 4.71 
 5.03 
 1.12 
 4.71 
 4.65 
 4.65 
 1.29 
 4.87 
 2.66 
 2.07 
 
 5.75 
 3,16 
 0.56 
 6.61 
 1.06 
 2.42 
 4.02 
 2.08 
 14.11 
 1 85 
 8.83 
 5.37 
 5.38 
 3.77 
 2.13 
 5.55 
 2.75 
 7.55 
 4.74 
 
 4.76 
 3.61 
 4.10 
 5.86 
 2.73 
 2.06 
 6.92 
 2.. 36 
 7.51 
 3.89 
 6.73 
 3.99 
 2 59 
 6.66 
 4.07 
 3.70 
 8.55 
 1.97 
 6.01 
 
 4.64 
 
 1.43 
 6.21 
 3.76 
 3.51 
 1.38 
 0.08 
 6.51 
 0.53 
 4.20 
 14.26 
 6.32 
 5.36 
 1.19 
 2.70 
 3 06 
 5.78 
 0.21 
 1.36 
 0.14 
 
 5.44 
 2.81 
 3.44 
 1.35 
 1.52 
 0.70 
 3.94 
 0.03 
 3.28 
 3 99 
 2.21 
 4.89 
 
 02 
 0.59 
 0.39 
 2.62 
 1.30 
 
 1 28 
 1.80 
 
 3.88 
 8.21 
 4.30 
 4.22 
 
 4 72 
 2.84 
 3.98 
 
 5 32 
 O.31) 
 4.70 
 5.17 
 0.18 
 3.26 
 4.41 
 1.11 
 92 
 i;04 
 5.90 
 2.29 
 
 7.86 
 5 70 
 7.53 
 4.37 
 4.84 
 6.09 
 2.64 
 S.03 
 5.79 
 5.42 
 0.60 
 3.89 
 3.68 
 3.89 
 3.18 
 3.45 
 2.98 
 1.42 
 
 i;0.33 
 
 1880 
 
 62.70 
 
 1881 
 
 61.74 
 
 1882 
 
 1883 
 
 1884 
 
 58.22 
 51.53 
 52.85 
 
 1885 
 
 1886 . ... 
 1887 
 
 57.11 
 50.78 
 ,50.40 
 
 1888 
 
 04.98 
 
 1889 
 
 .54.75 
 
 1890 
 
 42.60 
 
 1891 
 
 1892 
 
 1S93 
 
 1894 
 
 1895 
 
 1896 
 
 49.97 
 49.87 
 36.43 
 40.92 
 45.92 
 34.12 
 
 1897 
 
 
 Average .. 
 
 5 86 
 
 4.84 
 
 5.89 
 
 3.62 
 
 3.29 
 
 4.08 
 
 4.62 
 
 3.58 
 
 2.18 
 
 3.56 
 
 4.49 
 
 50.85 
 
 During the crop growing season Atlanta receives weekly reports from 
 three hundred farmers giving the progress of crops, etc., and from these 
 reports is compiled a bulletin, copies of which are sent throughout the 
 entire country. These bulletins have proved highly beneficial to the far- 
 mer, placing him on the same footing with buyers and speculators. 
 
 The records on file at the Weather Bureau office contain a complete 
 history of the weather for each day during the past nineteen years. 
 
 The temperature has fallen to zero only three times in nineteen years. 
 In January, 1884, it was one degree below, in January, 1S8G, two degrees 
 
Residential Advantages. 
 
 93 
 
 THE SWEETWATER PARK HOTEL. 
 
 Ibelow, and in February, 1895, zero. In that period it has fallen below 
 ten degrees only twelve times. The extremes of heat are also rare. The 
 temperature has reached 103 only once in nineteen years and passed 95 
 only seventeen days during that period. The days in each summer when 
 it passes 90 are comparatively few. 
 
 The record will show during the hot months a considerably lower tem- 
 perature than those of St. Louis and other cities in the middle States, and 
 sunstrokes are rare. 
 
 Pablic and Private Paries. 
 
 GRANT PARK is the gift of the late L. P. Grant, one of the first citi- 
 zens of Atlanta, who came here when the place was in its infancy, 
 and remained until his death in 1895. The original gift was one hundred 
 and twenty acres, to which the city has added very largely. It is within 
 two and a half miles of the union passenger depot, and accessible by three 
 street-car lines. The buildings have been judiciously improved without 
 harshly disturbing the face of nature. The beauty of the natural scenery 
 has been embellished by the construction of a lake, and walks and roads 
 wind throughout the grounds at convenient places. There are several 
 springs of mineral water, and in connection with the lake there is a swim- 
 ming pool. The lake furnishes boating for pleasure-parties in summer, 
 and the abundant shade gives a pleasant rendezvous for picnics. Crowning 
 the highest hill in the park is Fort Walker, a grim reminder of the battles 
 around Atlanta on the 21st and 22d of Jul}^, 1864. Pavilions and build- 
 ings of comfort and necessity have been placed at convenient places, and 
 the street-car lines reach the park from both sides, giving convenient access 
 from any part of the grounds. Some years ago Mr. G. Y. Gress, of the 
 
94 
 
 Residential Advantages. 
 
 SCENE IN GRANT PARK. 
 
 city, founded a men- 
 agerie, known as the 
 Gress Zoo, to which 
 various parties have 
 contributed birds and 
 animals from time to 
 time during the past 
 seven 3^ e a r s. The 
 city has also made 
 purchases, and the 
 zoo now contains the 
 following animals: 
 
 One elephant, one 
 elk, two African lions^ 
 three Mexican lions, 
 three large black 
 bears, five Chinese 
 pheasants, one Afri- 
 can jaguar, one black wolf, one gray wolf, one Kansas coyote, two dingoes, two 
 coons, one badger, two wildcats, eight deer, one Mexican hog, five monkeys, 
 twenty prairie dogs, four alligators, eight peafowls, one hundred and ten 
 pigeons, seven owls, two hawks, fifteen ring-doves, twelve gophers, two 
 pelicans, three buzzards, three eagles, sixty-nine rabbits, fifty-nine guinea- 
 pigs, one large ant-eater and two loons. 
 
 The park is in charge of a commission elected by the city council of At- 
 lanta, and the appropriation averages about $9,000 a year. 
 
 Among the attractions of this park is a large cyclorama of the Battle of 
 Atlanta, the field of which extended several miles to the east and north of 
 the park. 
 
 Piedmont Park is the property of a private corporation, and was im- 
 proved first by the Piedmont Exposition Company and more elaborately in 
 1894 and 1895 by the Cotton States and International Exposition Company, 
 which expended about $500,000 on the grounds and buildings. The grounds 
 were decidedly picturesque, and were embellished by the addition of a lake 
 covering thirteen acres. They were pronounced by gentlemen who had 
 seen all the great expositions of this country and the Paris Exposition in 
 1889 to be the most attractive and picturesque they had ever seen. The 
 arrangement is suggestive of an amphitheater with a grand plaza in the 
 center, surrounded by a sixty-foot walk, which was originally a half mile 
 track. Rising in grand terraces on the north, the hill is surrounded by 
 what was the United States Governinent building. Close beside it are the 
 Fine Arts building, the New York and Pennsylvania buildings, etc. On 
 other sides of the plaza are the various exposition buildings, fourteen in 
 number, with many smaller structures erected for various purposes. Around 
 the plaza and the walks, which cover a distance of five miles, shade trees 
 have been planted. The grounds cover one hundred and eighty-nine acres, 
 
Residential Advantages. 
 
 95 
 
 A DENIZEN OF THE ZOO — GRANT I'ARK. 
 
 with hills to the north and south and the lake in the center. Near the 
 plaza is an auditorium capable of seating three thousand people, and not 
 far off is the Agricultural building, which could be made to accommodate 
 ten thousand people. Here it has been proposed to hold conventions of 
 the Grand Army of the Republic and national political conventions if 
 they should ever be held in the Southern States. In what was the Manu- 
 factures and Liberal Arts building, covering several acres of space, one of 
 the finest bicycle tracks in the Southern States has been constructed, and 
 an immense seating capacity is provided. 
 
 The park is reached by three electric lines, and during the exposition it 
 was connected with all parts of the city by direct cars. The main street- 
 car terminus is among the finest in the country. On the opposite side the 
 Southern Railway has two tracks, upon which it operated a train service 
 
 LAKE ABANA — GRANT PARK 
 
96 
 
 Residential Advantages, 
 
 similar to that put on at the World's Fair by the Illinois Central Railroad. 
 
 During the Exposition the crowds on the grounds reached as many as 
 sixty thousand people, and on several days ranged from twenty thousand 
 to thirty thousand. The park is within two and a half miles of the city. 
 At present it is controlled by the Exposition Park Company, which leased 
 it for five years from 1896 for amusement purposes. The park is open to 
 the public, and there is no admission fee exceptf or entrance to the Coliseum. 
 
 Lakewood Park is located four miles south of the city, and covers an 
 area of three hundred and sixty-three acres, fifty of which are covered by 
 water, making the largest lake in North Georgia. The lake is surrounded 
 on all sides by large hills covered with natural forest. As the dam that 
 crosses the stream between two large hills is covered with trees and does 
 not appear at all artificial, the lake appears to be the work of nature. Lake- 
 wood is the site of the former city waterworks, and the lake now used for 
 purposes of pleasure, such as bathing, swimming, rowing, sailing and shoot- 
 ing the chutes, was formerly known as the " reservoir." From it for twenty 
 years the temperance people of the city quenched their thirst. The clear 
 water of South river flowed into and was pumped out of it. There are 
 many springs around the lake, making ideal spots for picnic parties. 
 
 When the city advertised for bidders for a lease of the property, the 
 Lakewood Park Compan}^ was organized for the purpose of converting this 
 picturesque place into a pleasure resort, and since August, 1895, the place 
 has been kept open as a park, but only white persons are allowed upon the 
 grounds. 
 
 To the natural attractions of the place many improvements have been 
 added. An electric car line was built there, and since August, 1895, cars 
 have run every day from the postoffice direct to Lakewood. During the 
 summer, at times, a car run every ten minutes would not accommodate the 
 
 SCENE IN OAKLAND CKMETERY. 
 
Residential Advantages. 
 
 97 
 
 SCENE IX LAKEWOOD PARK. 
 
 visitors. The improvements at the park consist in part of a life-saving- 
 station, a large pavilion, a shooting gallery, ten-pin alleys, a club house, 
 tennis courts, a bath-house, a bathing beach, shooting the chutes, trap-shoot- 
 ing house and grounds, the long-distance rifle range of the Fifth regiment, 
 row and sail boats, steamer, swings, merry-go-rounds, etc. Lakewood 
 has been well patronized from the opening day, by ladies and children dur- 
 ing the day and the young people at night. The buildings and grounds 
 are brilliantly lighted with electricity made by the park plant, using South 
 river as a water-power. A fall of nearly fifty feet develops more than fifty- 
 horse power. 
 
 The park is opened during the summer season ever}^ night until mid- 
 night. The average number of fares over the street railway to Lakewood 
 during the summer season is two thousand per day. 
 
 Fort AcPl)erson. 
 
 FORT McPHERSON is one of the best equipped military posts in the 
 United States. It was constructed at great expense on a reservation 
 of forty acres, occupying a commanding eminence four miles from the 
 center of the cit}', and easily accessible by the trains of the Central and 
 Atlanta and West Point Railways and electric cars of the Atlanta Traction 
 Company. The post has barracks for the accommodation of one thousand 
 enlisted men and non-commissioned officers, with handsome residences for 
 the staff and company officers, besides the post headquarters. There is a 
 store-house and a well-equipped hospital. An elaborate system of water- 
 works and sewerage brings the sanitary conditions up to the standard lor 
 well-regulated communities. The water supply is alumdant and pure and 
 the rolling character of the ground is such as to make drainage perfect. The 
 parade ground is one of the finest in the United States, and the regimental 
 drills and dress parades are frequentl}' attended on pleasant afternoons by 
 the eliie of the city. 
 
98 
 
 Residential Advantages. 
 
 THE PARADE GROUND — FORT M PHERSON. 
 
 In addition to the facilities for access to the post by steam and electric 
 cars, the finest ten-mile drive in the Southern States reaches from the heart 
 of Atlanta to the Clayton county line, passing directly in front of the reser- 
 vation. Two miles of this were built first as a military road, by the Fed- 
 eral authorities, from the corporate limits of the city to the reservation. 
 Later the authorities of Fulton county constructed a chert road from the 
 city limits to the Clayton county line. Within a mile of the city limits 
 the thoroughfare thence to the heart of the city has been covered with 
 vitrified brick, and the continuation of this smooth pavement to the chert 
 road is contemplated, and will, no doubt, be completed within the next 
 few months. When this is done there will be a smooth road from the 
 Atlanta postoffice all the way to the Clayton county line, passing directly in 
 front of Fort McPherson. This will probably be the finest roadway of that 
 length reaching out of any Southern city. 
 
 The Federal government maintains at this post a regiment of ten compa- 
 nies, and, with the skeleton organization customary in the United States in 
 time of peace, there are six hundred enlisted men with a full complement 
 of officers. This number would be quickly increased to one thousand in case 
 of emergency requiring the full strength of the companies. 
 
 The regiments stationed at Fort McPherson have figured prominently on 
 almost all great occasions attended by civic and military pageants. This 
 was notably true during the Exposition of 1895, when the President of the 
 United States and the governors of various States visited Atlanta. 
 
 l^eligioQS, 3o(^ial and Fraternal Organi^ation<5. 
 
 THE religious, social and fraternal organizations of Atlanta are among 
 the most striking features in the life of the city, and are potent factors 
 in the upbuilding and orderly development of the community. The 
 churches are noted for their activity, and are constantly sending out off. 
 shoots in the mission stations scattered through the city and suburbs. The 
 charity organizations include three orphan asylums, and several mission 
 stations, besides the Atlanta Charitable Association, whose work is sup- 
 
Residential Advantages. 
 
 99 
 
 ported partly from pub- 
 lic and partly from pri- 
 vate funds. The Grady 
 Hospital is largely an 
 eleemosynary institu- 
 tion. 
 
 The social clubs of 
 Atlanta are among the 
 most famous in the 
 South, and the fraternal 
 orders are both numer- 
 ous and strong. 
 
 Churches. 
 
 Atlanta is a church- 
 going city. There are 
 112 churches, or about 
 an average of one to 
 every nine hundred peo- 
 ple. Of these 74 are for 
 white and 38 for colored 
 people, distributed 
 among the denamina- 
 tions as follows ; 
 
 W h i t e— Baptist, 19; 
 Christian, 2; Congrega- 
 tional, 4; Episcopal, 8; Hebrew, 1; Lutheran, 1; Presbyterian, 10; Roman 
 Catholic, 3 ; Seventh Day Adventists, 1 ; Unitarian, 1 ; Methodist, 23, 
 and Christian Scientist, 1. 
 
 Colored— Baptist, 21; Congregational,!; Episcopal, 1; Presbyterian, 1; 
 and Methodist, 14. 
 
 Besides the churches there is the Young Men's Christian Association, 
 which owns a handsome building at the corner of Pryor street and Auburn 
 avenue, with a railroad branch in another part of the city. 
 
 Among the churches are some very imposing edifices, several of which 
 appear among the illustrations. Auxiliary to church work are the Baptist 
 Orphans' Home, the Methodist Orphans' Asylum, the Hebrew Orphanage, 
 and two Catholic Convents. 
 
 The attendance at the churches is very large and the Sunday morning 
 congregations have been estimated at one-fourth of the population. The 
 mission societies and young people's organizations are very strong in 
 Atlanta. The Epworth League, the Society for Christian Endeavor, the 
 Baptist Young People's Unions, and other societies and guilds are very 
 largely represented here. 
 
 SECOND BAPTIST CHURCH. 
 
lOO 
 
 Residential Advantages. 
 
 Social Clubs, 
 
 Atlanta has a num- 
 ber of social clubs, chief 
 of which the Capital 
 City has national repu- 
 tation, having enter- 
 tained almost every 
 President of the United 
 States who has been in 
 office since the club was 
 organized. The club- 
 house is situated on one 
 of the most beautiful 
 parts of Peachtree, the 
 leading residence street 
 of Atlanta. The o r- 
 ganization has a mem- 
 bership including most 
 of the prominent busi- 
 ness and professional 
 men of the city, and its 
 entertainments are ele- 
 gant and elaborate. 
 During the Cotton 
 States and International 
 Exposition of 1895 the 
 receptions of this club 
 were notable events, at- 
 tended only b}^ the eliie 
 of the city, but honored by distinguished guests, including Presidents 
 Cleveland and McKinley, the Governors of a score of States, and the 
 Mayors and prominent men of many cities. Distinguished strangers 
 from all parts of the world have, from time to time, been entertained here. 
 The Fulton Club, a younger organization than the Capital City, has 
 already become quite popular, and has a very large membership, including 
 business and professional men of Atlanta and other parts of Georgia. 
 Receptions have been given to distinguished men, and of late the club has 
 become a favorite rendezvous for public men. 
 
 The Concordia Association is composed largely of Jewish citizens and 
 has a large and influential membership. Its entertainments are noted for 
 their elegance, and the club rooms are sumptuously furnished and well 
 appointed 
 
 Fraternal Societies. 
 
 Masonic and other fraternal orders are especially strong in Atlanta. 
 There are four Masonic lodges, of which the oldest, Atlanta Lodge No. 51), 
 celebrated its semi-centennial in October, 1897. It is said that the oldest 
 
 FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 
 
Residential Advantages. 
 
 lOI 
 
 Masonic lodge in Ameri- 
 ca is in Georgia, and 
 the fraternity is very 
 strong throughout the 
 State. In addition to 
 the lodges above men- 
 tioned are the Mt. 2ion 
 No. 16 and the Jason 
 Burr Council No. 13, 
 Eoyal Arch Masons. 
 
 The Knights T e m- 
 plar have two c o m - 
 manderies, the Couer de 
 Leon and the Atlanta 
 No. 9. 
 
 There are two lodges 
 of the Scottish Rite Ma- 
 sons, Hermes Lodge of 
 Perection No. 4, and 
 White Eagle and Rose 
 Croix. The Shriners 
 have two lodges. 
 
 The Knights of Py- 
 thias have six lodges; 
 
 SECOND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 
 
 CHURCH OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 
 
 the Royal Arcanum 
 tw^o, Independent 
 Order of Odd Fel- 
 lows six, Improved 
 Order of Red Men 
 six, Knights of the 
 Golden Rule one, 
 the Junior Order of 
 American Mechan- 
 ics four, American 
 Legion of Honor 
 one, National Union 
 two, Fraternal Mys- 
 tic Circle and Elks 
 one each, and the 
 Independent Order 
 of United Workmen 
 two. 
 
 The Improved Or- 
 der of the Free Sons 
 
I02 
 
 Residential Advantages. 
 
 of Israel and the Order 
 of Kesher Shel Barzel 
 have one lodge each, 
 and the B'nai B'rith and 
 Independent Order of 
 Good Templars have 
 four lodges. 
 
 The Ancient Order of 
 Hibernians has a lodge, 
 the Grand Army of the 
 Republic has a post, and 
 the Fulton County Vet- 
 rans' Association is one 
 of the most influential 
 organizations in the 
 State. 
 
 the Order of the Gold, 
 en Chain has two lodges. 
 There are other orders 
 as follows : Catholic 
 Knights of America, 
 Knights of Damon, 
 Knights of Honor, two lodges; Federation of Trade, Brotherhood of Loco- 
 motive Engineers, Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen, Brotherhood of 
 Brakemen, Order of Railway Conductors, Telegraphers' Union, United Asso 
 ciation of Journeymen Plumbers, Gas and Steam Fitters and Steam Fitters' 
 Helpers, Journeymen Tailors' Union, Journeymen Barbers' International 
 Union, Cigar Makers' Union, Electrical Workers' Union, Horse Shoers' Un- 
 ion, Tinners' Union, National Association of Stationary Engineers, Car 
 Inspectors' Protective Association-, Carpenters' and Joiners' Union, Brick- 
 layers' Association, Brotherhood of Painters and Decorators, International 
 Association of Machinists, Brewers' Union, Boiler Makers' Union, Mail 
 Carriers' Association and Journej^men Stone Cutters' Union. 
 
 PRIVATE SANITARIUM OF DRS. ELKIN & COOPER. 
 
 Hospitals and Infirmaries. 
 
 ATLANTA is well supplied with hospitals, infirmaries and sanatoriums. 
 The Grady Hospital, established in 1891-2, and maintained by the 
 city of Atlanta, the St. Joseph's Infirmary and the Sanatoriums of Doctors 
 Elkin and Cooper and Dr. J. B. S. Holmes afford every facility for taking 
 care of the sick. It is doubtful whether any city south of Baltimore, or 
 any institution nearer than the Johns Hopkins Hospital has facilities com- 
 parable with those of the above institutions. 
 
 The Grady Hospital was erected as a monument to the memory of Henry 
 W. Grady, and the money for the purpose was raised by popular subscrip- 
 
Residential Advantages. 
 
 103 
 
 THE GRADY HOSPITAL. 
 
 tion. When the building and equipment were completed in 1892, they 
 were turned over to the city of Atlanta upon condition that the hospital 
 should be maintained by the municipal governjnent. 
 
 The hospital was built on the pavilion plan and has one hundred beds 
 for charity patients and ten rooms for private or pay patients. These beds 
 are distributed as follows: White male ward, 22; white female ward, 22 ; 
 children's ward, 20; colored male ward, 16; colored female ward, 16, and 
 isolation ward, 4. 
 
 The number of patients since June 2, 1892, when the first was received, 
 is 0,265, and the daily average is 72. 
 
 The monthly expenses, including employes' salaries, subsistence, medi- 
 cal and surgical supplies, repairs of the building, fuel, gas, etc., amount to 
 $2,200 per month. The management is controlled by a board of trustees* 
 consisting of ten citizens chosen by the city council, and the medical and 
 surgical affairs are directed by a board of thirteen prominent physicians, 
 under whom is the superintendent. The House Staff consists of four phy- 
 sicians, whose term 
 of service is two 
 years. They are 
 appointed upon 
 competitive exami- 
 nation. In addition 
 there is one phar- 
 macist. The a t- 
 tendants include a 
 head nurse and 
 matron, four gradu- 
 ate nurses and six- 
 teen undergraduate 
 nurses. The ambu- 
 sT. jo-ei'h's infirmary. lance service ex- 
 
I04 
 
 Residential Advantages. 
 
 tends to all parts of the 
 city. 
 
 St. Joseph's Infirm- 
 ary was founded in 
 1880. It is a private 
 institution, can accom- 
 modate thirty patients, 
 and is visited by all 
 the prominent phy- 
 cians of the city. The 
 institution is under 
 the management of 
 the Sisters of Mercy. 
 
 The Private Sanator- 
 ium of Doctors Elkin 
 and Cooper, at 27 and 
 29 Luckie street, has a 
 capacity for thirty pa- 
 tients. The building 
 was erected in 1897 
 and designed to com- 
 bine the best features 
 of the best institutions 
 of its kind. The equip- 
 ment is modern and 
 the service is by train- 
 ed nurses. 
 
 Dr. J. B. S. Holmes' 
 Sanatorium, "The Hal- 
 cyon," at 17 West Cain 
 street, located in a 
 handsome building, 
 erected for the purpose 
 three years ago, upon 
 approved plans, with 
 costly modern equipment. It has the services of trained nurses and a 
 capacity for about thirty patients. 
 
 The National Surgical Institute, 70 to 74 South Pryor street, was estab- 
 lished in 1874 for the treatment of deformities and chronic diseases. It has 
 mechanical appliances for the Swedish movement, mechanical massage, 
 €tc , and has special appliances for treatment by electricity. 
 
 THE HALCYON — PRIVATE SANITARIUM. 
 
Tvo Great Expositions. 
 
 THE great landmarks of Atlanta's progress are the Cotton Exposition 
 of 1881 and the Cotton States and International Exposition of 1895. 
 Considering the size and resources of the city at the different periods, it is 
 difficult to say which was the greater achievement, although, of course, the 
 Exposition of 1895 many times exceeded in size its predecessor. The Cot- 
 ton Exposition of 1881 gave thefirst great impetus to the recent development 
 of the Southeastern States. It was organized by far-seeing men, and at that 
 early day, before the country had dreamed of any such magnificent spec- 
 tacle as the World's Columbian Exposition, it was a great achievement, 
 second only to the Centennial Exposition of 1876. The details at this date 
 would be irrelevant, as that Exposition would seem small to us now, but it 
 "was large for that day, and the attendance indicated a large interest. The 
 display of labor-saving machinery was very fine and did much to awaken 
 interest in improved methods. The display of resources of the Piedmon 
 region also attracted the attention of capitalists from abroad and gave a 
 great stimulus to the development of the Southeastern States, so much so 
 that this Exposition has generally been referred to as the beginning, not 
 only of Atlanta's great growth, but of the prodigious development which 
 took place in the Piedmont States during the decade between the censu sof 
 1880 and that of 1890. As the production of a city of 40,000 people, with 
 ■capacity and capital small in proportion to those now available to Atlanta, 
 it was a great work and made a great impression on the country. 
 
 The Exposition of 1895. 
 
 The Cotton States and International Exposition of 1895 attracted the 
 attention of the whole country, and visitors could hardly believe that a city 
 of 100,000 people had carried so great an undertaking to success. It is a 
 common remark that the Atlanta Exposition would have been creditable 
 
io6 
 
 Two Great Expositions. 
 
 to a city of half a 
 million people, and 
 for Atlanta it was 
 an amazing achieve- 
 ment 
 
 The first move- 
 ment for this Expo- 
 sition originated at 
 the close of 1894, 
 ' '~' ' when the entire 
 
 COTTON STA I ES AND INT. EXPOSITION — MAC 1 1 I M, k V HALT. COUntrV WaS In the 
 
 depths of depression following the great panic of 1893. So profound 
 was this depression that the first suggestion for an Exposition was 
 met with derision, and for some time it was diflficult for other cities 
 to take Atlanta seriously. Nothing daunted, the public-spirited citi- 
 zens proceeded with the organization and in a few months raised by 
 popular and public subscription a capital of $200,000. This was supple- 
 mented by the county authorities with excavation work to the amount of 
 ■$150,000, and with the proceeds of bonds and loans to the amount of 
 $225,000 a total capital of more than half a million dollars was 
 raised. The work of building the Exposition was accomplished in 
 less than a year. It began in October, 1894, soon after Congress 
 passed the appropriation bill, including $200,000 for a government 
 exhibit at Atlanta. The government apppropriation was not available 
 to the fair itself, but was expended in the government building and 
 exhibits. Atlanta, therefore, had to rely entirely upon herself for the 
 building of the fair and, indeed, went further and assisted the State in the 
 erection of a building for the Georgia exhibit. 
 
 It was the general verdict that the money expended on this Exposition 
 was made to go further and do more than any other fund ever expended for 
 such a purpose. In addition to the funds above referred to, the Exposition 
 received $126,000 from concessions, $380,000 in gate receipts and $79,000 
 from the sale of 
 space, with miscel- 
 la ne o u s receipts, 
 making a total of 
 $1,10'),000 expend- 
 ed by the Exposi- 
 tion company. The 
 expenditu res by 
 exhibitors and con- 
 cessionaires were 
 very great. Much 
 of the work in the cotton states and int. e.xposition — foresirv kl'itding. 
 
Two Great Expositions. 
 
 107 
 
 power plant was 
 paid for by exhibi- 
 tors of steam and 
 electrical machin- 
 ery, pumps, etc. 
 
 The appropria- 
 tions by States, for- 
 eign governments 
 and railroads o f 
 exhibits amounted 
 to $300,000, and it 
 
 COTTON STATES AND INT., EXPOSITION - FINE ARTS BUILDING. 
 
 is estimated that the total expenditures by the Exposition company, 
 exhibitors and concessionaries at this Exposition were between $2,000,000 
 and $2,500,000. All this started from a capital of 8200,000, which, by loans 
 and the labor contributed by the county of Fulton, was augmented to 
 $550,000. The financial results achieved with the resources at hand are 
 remarkable when compared with those of other Expositions. With a total 
 capital of $550,000 Atlanta produced an Exposition the cost of which 
 was $2,500,000. Chicago, with a capital of $10,000,000, produced a fair 
 that cost $27,000,000. Atlanta's capital was made to produce a fund five 
 times as great. In Chicago the capital subscribed by the city was more 
 than one-third of the total cost of the Exposition. 
 
 The Exposition was a remarkable success from almost every standpoint. 
 As an epitome of the industrial life of the Cotton States it was an impres- 
 sive and inspiring spectacle. Considered in a general sense as an exploita- 
 tion of the region tributary to Atlanta and an advertisement of the enter- 
 prise of the people of this* city, it has hardly a parallel. The attendance 
 from a distance was remarkable. Almost every State in the Union had 
 some representatives among the visitors to the Exposition, and the extent 
 
 to which the coun- 
 try was interested 
 appears from the 
 fact that the press 
 associationsof 
 twenty-five States, 
 numbering in all 
 3,500 people, vis- 
 ited the Exposition 
 grounds during the 
 months of Septem- 
 ber, October and 
 November. The 
 daily records of the 
 advertising depart- 
 
 COITON STATES AND IM. KXl'OSITION TRANSPORTATION B'LD'c. mCUt shOW 25,000 
 
io8 
 
 Two Great Expositions. 
 
 newspaper clippings from all parts of this country and many from Europe,, 
 and it is estimated that these do not exceed one-fifth of the total number 
 of publications concerning Atlanta and the Exposition. Within the year 
 during which the Exposition was under construction, the exploitation of 
 the enterprise extended all over Europe and South and Central America. 
 Exhibits came from 87 States and 13 foreign countries. The aggregate 
 covering more than 6,000 separate entries, many of which were collective 
 exhibits, represented very handsomely the trade and industry of the United 
 States and South America, with considerable representation from England, 
 France, Germany, Italy and Austria-Hungary. There were collective ex- 
 hibits from Mexico, Venezuela, and Chili, and State exhibits were made by 
 Georgia, Pennsylvania, New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Illinois, 
 North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Arkansas 
 and California, and besides these were exhibits b}^ cities and individuals 
 in most of the other States. A notable exhibit was that made by the 
 Georgia Association of Manufacturers, including the displays of seventy- 
 odd concerns, showing an astonishing variety of products. 
 
 The results of this Exposition have been all that could be desired. In- 
 stead of the depression that usually follows great expositions, Atlanta has 
 experienced a steady growth, indicated by the increase in bank clearings, 
 tonnage, postoffice receipts and imports. Since the close of the Exposition 
 there has been a remarkable influx of capital, especially in the construction 
 of magnificent business edifices. Four buildings, erected since the close of 
 the Exposition, represent an investment of nearly a million dollars. The 
 number of building permits issued by the city has steadily increased since 
 1895, and the improvements made during the past year aggregate $1,800,000. 
 
 CUTTUN STATES AM) INT. KXI'OSITION NKGKO BUILDING. 
 
Index. 
 
 Atlanta : The Story of its Upbuilding. 
 
 Atlanta of To-day ^3 
 
 I ^ 
 Population -^ 
 
 Area and Expansion ^^ 
 
 i6 
 
 17 
 
 City Government 
 
 Finance 
 
 Police Department ^9 
 
 oO 
 
 Fire Department 
 
 Sanitary Department . ^^ 
 
 Vital Statistics ^^ 
 
 Street Improvements • ■ • ^3 
 
 Building Inspection and Statistics 24 
 
 Atlanta's Imports 
 
 26 
 
 Commerce ' 
 
 Freight from the West 28 
 
 Freight from the East ^^ 
 
 Wholesale Trade 29 
 
 Retail Trade 3i 
 
 Horse and Mule Trade 32 
 
 Coal, Coke and Wood 33 
 
 Manufacturers' Agents 34 
 
 Cotton Business 34 
 
 Car Service 34 
 
 Manufacturing 37 
 
 Atlanta's Manufactured Output for 1897 4° 
 
 Cotton Manufactures 40 
 
 Commercial Fertilizers 42 
 
 Furniture ^2 
 
 Cotton-Seed Oil and By-Products 43 
 
 Paper and Paper Bags 43 
 
 Agricultural Implements 43 
 
Banking and Insuranck 45 
 
 Clearing House Statistics 4^ 
 
 Insurance 47 
 
 Postal Rfxeipts and Statistics ■ 49 
 
 Transportation Facilities 52 
 
 Street Railways 54 
 
 Water and Light 55 
 
 Waterworks 55 
 
 Electric Light and Power 58 
 
 Light and Fuel Gas 60 
 
 Atlanta Chamber ok Commerce 63 
 
 Office Buildings 65 
 
 Atlanta's Daily Newspapers 69 
 
 Educational Facilities 7j. 
 
 Public Schools 71 
 
 Southern Female College 73 
 
 Agnes Scott Institute 74 
 
 Washington Seminary 75 
 
 Southern Military College 76 
 
 Young Men's Library . . 77 
 
 State Library 78 
 
 Georgia School of Technology 78 
 
 Medical and Dental Colleges 79 
 
 Institutions for the Education of the Negro 80 
 
 Clark University 81 
 
 Atlanta University 82 
 
 Spelman Seminary 82 
 
 Gammon Theological Seminary 82 
 
 Atlanta Baptist College 83 
 
 Morris Brown College 84 
 
 Residential Advantages 85 
 
 A Cosmopolitan City 85 
 
 Law and Order 87 
 
 Hotels and Boarding-Houses 89 
 
 Climatic Conditions 90 
 
 Average Monthly Temperature in Atlanta 92 
 
 Rainfall by Months and Years 92 
 
Public and Private Parks 93 
 
 Fort McPherson 97 
 
 Religious, Social and Fraternal Organizations 98 
 
 Churches 99 
 
 Fraternal Societies 100 
 
 Hospitals and Infirmaries 102 
 
 The Cotton Exposition OF 188 1 105 
 
 The Cotton States and Industrial Exposition of 1895 105 
 
iiJP*A — ^ . ~^- 
 
 f LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
 014 498 740 8