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Different views of the Fairlie--Poplar
Historic District
NPS Photos, photographs by Jody Cook
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The Fairlie--Poplar Historic District is Atlanta's historic central
business district and includes the largest concentrated collection
of commercial and office buildings in Atlanta from the late 19th and
early 20th centuries. Individually, these buildings represent some
of the city's finest late Victorian and early 20th-century commercial
buildings, and range from storefront commercial buildings to skyscrapers.
Local interpretations of prevailing national architectural styles,
including Chicago, Renaissance Revival, Neoclassical, Commercial,
Art Deco, Georgian Revival, and Victorian Eclectic styles, are found
here. The buildings of the district also represent the shift in building
technology from loadbearing masonry and timber walls to steel and
concrete framing.
Known at the time as "Atlanta's new modern fireproof business
district," the area developed during the years when Atlanta emerged
as the commercial center of Georgia and the Southeast. It constituted
a major northward expansion of Atlanta's 19th-century business district,
which was largely concentrated in an east-west band along the railroad
tracks cutting across the city. The new business district contained
a wide variety of wholesale and retail operations, which marketed
a broad spectrum of consumer goods and services. Public agencies
and many of Atlanta's business offices were also located here. Building
materials included brick,
stone, cast iron, wood, pressed metal, terra cotta, and plate glass.
The buildings in this district range in height from two to 16 stories,
the taller constructed with steel or concrete frames, while the smaller
buildings were built with loadbearing masonry and timber structural
systems. Individual buildings listed in the
![[photo] [photo]](buildings/industrial_FivePoints.jpg)
Historic postcard depicting the
view down Peachtree St. from the Candler Building.
The Fairlie--Poplar Historic District begins at the triangular
corner of the English-American Building--in
the center of the postcard--and includes the right half of the
image
Courtesy of Jody Cook |
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National Register of Historic
Places that lie within the Fairlie--Poplar Historic
District include the English-American Building
, and the U.S. Post Office and Courthouse.
The Fairlie--Poplar Historic District is roughly bounded by
Marietta, Peachtree, Luckie and Cone sts. Many of the businesses
in the district are open to the public during normal businesses
hours. For more information visit Fairlie Poplar. Walking tours are available at 2:00 pm on Sundays from March-November. Visit The Atlanta Preservation Center for more information.
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