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![[photo] [photo]](buildings/cas1.jpg)
Castleberry Hill Historic District
National Register photograph by Yen Tang |
The Castleberry Hill Historic District is a densely developed commercial
district adjacent to one of Atlanta's main rail lines. It consists
of one- to three-story brick buildings historically used for retail,
wholesale, and light industry. Growing alongside the Central of Georgia
/ Southern Railroad tracks from the 1890s to the 1930s, the district
covers approximately 40 acres and includes more than 100 buildings.
It is the only remaining collection of railroad service and distribution
buildings that document the roots of Atlanta's beginnings as a railroad
town. The district began as a residential area occupied by a mix of
working and middle-class people. It grew as a trade and commercial
strip, a support center for railroad and railroad-related businesses
and a shopping area for the adjacent residential areas. By 1878 one
of the city's first mule-drawn trolley lines was routed through the
district. In the 1880s a new freight depot and several spur lines
were built along the main tracks, rapidly increasing the pace of commercialization
and industrialization.
Peters Street, running the length of the district, is lined with
retail buildings designed in modest late Victorian and early 20th-century
Commercial styles. They are predominantly one- and two-story buildings
with flat roofs and high parapets. All originally had street level
storefronts set between brick piers, but many of these first floors
have been altered. The buildings are detailed with corbelled cornices,
segmented and rounded arch windows, cast stone sills, and decorated
spandrel panels and stepped parapets. Situated along Nelson and
Walker streets are almost solid rows of two- and three-story warehouses.
The majority were built in the 1920s, and are early 20th-century
Commercial style buildings with flat facades and modest amounts
of detailing. Industrial sash windows and track loading doors are
found in most of the buildings.
Castleberry Hill Historic District is roughly bounded by Nelson
St., Southern & Central of Georgia Railroad, McDaniel, Peters and
Walker sts. The shops within the district are open during normal
business hours. For special tours, check with the Castleberry
Hill Neighborhood Association.
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