History of Virginia-Highland

Virginia-Highland is one of Atlanta's most popular neighborhoods for shopping, dining, and nightlife. The neighborhood's name derives from the intersection of Virginia and Highland Avenues, and its history can be traced back to the 1800s when the first farmers settled in the area.

After the Atlanta Street Railway Company opened up the Virginia-Highland area to suburban development in 1890, developers began buying farms in the area and subdividing them for residential and limited commercial uses. Houses and streets were developed to relate directly to the trolley line and minimize the walk between homes and transit. Small commercial blocks were also developed within a few feet of the trolley stops to capitalize on both trolley riders and neighbors alike.

One of the earliest sections of Virginia-Highland developed in this manner was the Atkins Park District. Conceived in 1908 by Edwin Wiley Grove, Atkins Park was a planned residential community located in the northeastern quadrant of the intersection formed by Highland and Ponce de Leon Avenues. By 1910, Grove had drawn up plans for the suburb and the area was incorporated into the City of Atlanta in 1912. St. Charles, St. Augustine, and St. Louis Avenues were completed by 1918, giving the neighborhood the orderly, intimate scale still prevalent today.

The bungalow home, today often associated with Virginia-Highland, was one style of home constructed in Atkins Park and other neighborhoods during the 1910s and 1920s. The majority of the houses and streets we now think of as Virginia-Highland were constructed during this period. Most of the streets in these subdivisions were laid out in interlocking grids and were required to connect to existing streets in other subdivisions, resulting in the rich street pattern that exists today.

Businesses quickly followed the residential growth. Although there were a few small commercial establishments near the intersection of Virginia Avenue and North Highland Avenue in 1908, the bulk of the commercial development at this intersection began in 1925. At the same time, commercial development had also begun to change the other areas along North Highland Avenue, including the portion near Atkins Park. In 1922 a home on North Highland Avenue was raised by twenty feet and had two storefronts added. One of these storefronts would house Charlie's Restaurant, which would become Atkins Park restaurant in 1927. Today Atkins Park Restaurant is reported to have the oldest liquor license in the City of Atlanta.

With the close of the 1920s, Virginia-Highland entered a long period of stability that would last until after the 1960s. However, with the arrival of the 1960s, Virginia-Highland, like many other intown neighborhoods, entered a period of disinvestment and neglect. As middle class families moved farther out into the suburbs, they left disinvestment in their wake. Single-family homes were converted into apartments, and property values and incomes decreased.

After years of neglect, a few middle class families began moving back into the neighborhood during the 1970s and renovating homes. Between 1972 and 1975, property values in the area increased anywhere from 20 to 50 percent. Home ownership levels in the area also rose 20 percent. In June of 1975, six young couples, led by former Atlanta Councilperson Mary Davis, founded the Virginia-Highland Civic Association. The early mission of the Virginia-Highland Civic Association was to fight and ultimately defeat the proposed Interstate 485, which was intended to run in a north/south direction, bisecting several neighborhoods along the way. In Virginia-Highland it would have included a massive interchange at Virginia Avenue that would have decimated the area and encouraged strip development along the neighborhood's major street. The Virginia-Highland Civic Association joined forces with other affected neighborhoods to begin a long and costly battle that was eventually successful in stopping the freeway.

The Civic Association also worked to develop a resource network to aid people renovating homes in the area. It would take almost a decade, however, for the wave of residential revitalization to spill over into commercial areas. It finally happened in the early 1980s when two important commercial renovation projects in the area occurred simultaneously in two different parts of Virginia-Highland. In the southernmost portion of Virginia-Highland, Atkins Park restaurant was renovated. Meanwhile, Stuart Meddin bought the1925 commercial block located at the intersection of North Highland and Virginia Avenues and renovated it.

Gradually, other developers and real estate investors bought up other commercial properties in Virginia-Highland. Exterior renovation work was done on the buildings, as well as parking improvements behind them. After renovation work was done, the retail spaces in the buildings were leased "as is" to tenants at low rates in order to encourage new and unique businesses to locate in the neighborhood. By doing this, developers worked to ensure the creation of a truly distinct commercial district.

Today Virginia-Highland is one of Atlanta's most desirable neighborhoods. The neighborhood's historic structures, which include the Samuel M. Inman School, the 1904 Adair Mansion, Fire Station #19, as well as historic homes, give the community a distinct sense of place. Virginia-Highland's rich urban fabric and walkability create a pleasant environment that all can appreciate.

Compiled June, 1998 by City of Atlanta; Department of Planning, Development and Neighborhood Conservation; Bureau of Planning

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