The Beltline

B. and I hit the proposed NE quad of the Atlanta Beltline property; the "Emerald Necklace" transportation project that would create an inner city trolley/hiking/living/working/playing loop through the neighborhoods of Atlanta. We hiked from Moreland Avenue near the MLK MARTA Station in a generally N/NW direction, stopping near the intersection of Piedmont and Monroe.

The area all around the tracks was overgrown with kudzu, but the vines over the tracks themselves had been tamped down by previous foot traffic. We talked about the "hobo culture", romanticizing the predicament of men living out here and relieving our own anxiety; more so than we could have thinking about "the homeless". After all, we were walking through their backyard.

The first thing that struck me about the walk was how quickly it went; it took us more than thirty minutes to take the 2 MARTA trains to get to the beginning of our trail, but once on the trail, the walk connecting Inman Park, Freedom Parkway, Ponce/North Ave, Piedmont Park, and Ansley Mall was a breeze.

The second thing was how green it was (or would be in the spring). At a few points on our trip, it was hard to believe we were in the middle of the city.

This project has to happen.

Start at Moreland...These "downspouts" gotta go..."Train depot"

Graffiti near Fritti....Spraypaint cans...Freedom Pkwy graffiti

Beltline Recreation - Bike ramp...Grilling deck...Off-roading

North Ave & Ponce - The old Sears building...Detail...Ford Factory

Bridge over Ponce-Railing..."A.B.C"...Next to Ponce de Leon Park

South to VA Ave Bridge...Piedmont Park...South to Park Bridge

Clear "Ditch"...Clear "Creek"/North Woods...Old drain under tracks

Just before P'mont Rd...Piedmont Rd Bridge...End of the trail

History:

American Bridge Company - In 1870, the American Bridge Company was first formed in Chicago, Illinois. In 1906, it installed this bridge over Ponce de Leon in Atlanta, GA. In 1929, AB erected the Chrysler Building. At 1,046', it was then the tallest building in the world.

Atlanta Crackers/Ponce de Leon Park - The original Ponce de Leon Ball Park first welcomed the Atlanta Crackers on May 23, 1907...On Sept. 9, 1923, the wooden stadium burned to the ground, destroying the team's uniforms, trophies and records. But a wealthy concessionaire named R. J. Spiller came to the team's rescue. Using $250,000 of his own money, Spiller rebuilt the park on a nearby piece of Ponce de Leon property across from a Sears & Roebuck warehouse building...Spiller Field's grandstands could seat 9,000 people...The fence was 365 feet down the left field line; 321 to right; and a mammoth 462 feet from home plate to center field, where a giant magnolia tree stood.

Today, all that is left of Spiller Field (later called Ponce de Leon Ball Park) is the giant magnolia, a silent sentinel standing in tribute to the heroic past. (from UGA library site)

Sears & Roebuck, 675 Ponce -The original 1925 Sears building in [Atlanta] was expanded in 1929 and several more times between 1946 and 1971. These postwar additions gave the building more than two million square feet of space...Sears abandoned the hulking distribution center in [the 1980's]. (from Midtown Community Work site)

Ford Factory, 699 Ponce (listed as 495 Ponce when built as a Ford plant)

Clear Creek - Begins under Grady High School at 10th and Monroe. Used to run through Piedmont Park in an open ditch. It was buried under the current play fields next to Park Tavern and now emerges in the North Woods of Piedmont Park, where it combines with the discharge of the Clear Creek CSO treatment facility. I don't know what happens to Clear Creek when the CSO tunneling work is completed.