The top historical districts in Atlanta

Atlanta is well-known for its deep ties to history, and the city has made efforts to retain that history through preserving and maintaining an impressive selection of historic districts. The following are some of the best districts in the city to find historic homes and buildings.

West End

Named after the fashionable London theater district, the West End district of Atlanta began in late 1868. Houses here were primarily built between 1870 and 1930 in the architectural styles of Queen Anne, Stick Style, Neoclassical Revival, Craftsman bungalow, Folk Victorian and Colonial Revival. The Wren’s Nest is the most famous home in the West End, largely due to its owner, Joel Chandler Harris. The one-and-a-half-story Queen Anne-style cottage is a National Historic Landmark.

Inman Park

Thanks to the streetcar line that was built in the 1880s, Inman Park became the first suburb of Atlanta. Considering how sprawled out metro Atlanta has become, Inman Park is no longer thought of as a suburb but instead as one of the city’s charming neighborhoods. However you choose to think of it, Inman Park is famous for its gorgeous historic homes, which range from Victorian to Colonial Revival and Jacobean Revival in their style. The neighborhood is so dense with historic homes that is actually hosts a well-loved Tour of Homes each year as a part of the Inman Park Festival.

Cabbagetown

Cabbagetown got its beginnings in 1858 when the Atlanta Rolling Mill was first built to repair railroad tracks. The district built up around the mill, but it was by and large destroyed in the Battle of Atlanta during the Civil War. In 1881, the Fulton Bag & Cotton Mill was erected where the Rolling Mill once stood, and the neighborhood began to build up once again. The majority of the homes in the historic Cabbagetown district were built between 1886 and the late 1930s, and they are typically simple wooden houses that were built for mill employees. Despite — or perhaps because of — this simplicity, Cabbagetown still has significant charm.

Grant Park

The Grant Park district might just be the most well-known for its historical background if only because it contains Oakland Cemetery. The sprawling antebellum cemetery is the resting place for many of Atlanta’s founding citizens as well as some of its most famous residents. But the cemetery is not the only historical attraction in Grant Park — the neighborhood itself has the remains of antebellum mansions that were destroyed during the civil war and many houses that were built during Atlanta’s reconstruction period.