Welcome to the other side...

...of Grant Park, that is! If you live in Atlanta, especially the neighborhood of Grant Park, you probably know much about its history. You probably know about Grant Park's namesake L.P. Grant himself. You have probably heard a little about the history of the neighborhood... about Grant buying land here in the very early, pre-civil war days of Atlanta. According to our neighborhood group:

The Grant Park neighborhood was named for Lemuel P. (L.P.) Grant, a civil engineer for the Georgia Railroad who has been called the "Father of Atlanta." As an agent for the Western Railroad Company and the Georgia Air Line Railroad, Grant helped to bring the railroad to Atlanta. During the Civil War, in his capacity as chief engineer for the Department of the Militia, C.S.A., he planned and supervised the construction of defensive lines around the city. After the war, he continued to serve the city as a member of the committee that named streets, member of the city council, Board member of the Bank of the State of Georgia and served on the committee to draft the new city charter in 1873.

Grant lived in a huge 1858 Italianate mansion in the center of his vast land holdings now called Grant Park. Between 1853 and 1883 the city acquired all of the land where Oakland Cemetery and the Park itself now stand, by gift or trade from Col. L.P. Grant. The remaining parts of Col. Grant's property were subdivided between 1885 and 1905 as the building boom began on all four sides of the city’s new park properly named the L.P. Grant park. During the years 1889-1898, Mr. G.V. Gress gave the city of Atlanta the original zoo and the Cyclorama, which were placed in the L.P. Grant Park.

Grant Park, as a neighborhood, began to be populated in the 1890's by middle and some upper middle class families. Craftsmen built many of the architecturally distinctive homes you see today. Most of the lots were shallow and narrow with unpaved alleys in the back of the houses, from the days when the city sewerage wagons had to have access to the outhouses.

The neighborhood reached its zenith around 1905. Shortly after the turn of the century, the neighborhood's battle with the automobile began when some of the wealthier residents, who could afford to buy cars, were drawn to such faraway places as Druid Hills, Morningside and Buckhead. Grant Park remained middle and upper middle class into the 1950's. In the 1960's, the automobile was responsible for cutting the neighborhood in half by means of a six-lane highway. Grant Park was severely disrupted and declined in the wake of I-20's construction.

A restoration trend began in Grant Park in the early 1970's and the neighborhood began to blossom in the late 80s and into the 1990s. Demolition of older homes has largely been halted and new construction seeks to conform to the character of the old neighborhood. During the 1980's, the entire area, both north and south of I-20, was placed on the national register of historic places. In 2000, the neighborhood became Atlanta's largest Historic District, bringing additional zoning protections.

Grant Park today is a mixture of the old and new residents with people of all levels of education, age and racial backgrounds living in the same neighborhood. The park is today visited by more than a million visitors yearly.

When we first moved to Atlanta we knew very little about the neighborhood ourselves. We lived in another part of the city, and mostly were aware only of its beautiful park and old houses. When we started looking for a home to buy, however, Grant Park wasn't really on our radar at all. Until, one day I was looking at a listing online for another house and happened to see this one recommended at the bottom of the page...

Nestled w/i Atlanta's largest historic district, this pre-Civil-War era, double-gabled Gothic Revival farmhouse is a restorationist's dream. Wide-plank hrt-pine flrs, 11+ ft clgs w/ dental crown mldg on main, 5 frplcs w/ orig mantels, orig. staircase, huge eat-in kit w/ new appls, ginormous lndry rm, tanklss wtr htr, totally move-in ready yet could still use some finishing touches.

As a lover of old houses I was very intrigued and asked our realtor to take us to see it. Needless to say, we ended up buying this old house. We moved in 4 years ago with our two children and have since had another child. We've also added and lost pets, including dogs, cats, chickens, bees, and ducks, and generally live the life of a growing family. Four years later and we have added many of our own fingerprints to its long history as well. This house, however, "could still use some finishing touches." Some things have been improved and many still need updating. I will share these things as a part of this blog too. I will share what life is like in an old house, with very little extra money (or real skills) for renovation. The main focus will be a bit different from that though. It will not only be about living in an old house, but also living in an historic house. It is an historic house that hardly any one knows about as well. It doesn't appear in the history of Grant Park. It's not listed on any of the historic landmark lists for the neighborhood, or the city itself... even though it is one of the oldest houses in the city (especially for one still lived in).

When we bought this house the realtor selling it told us this used to all be an old pecan orchard, and that the old tree in the front yard was a left over remnant of that. It was a romantic story, but it was also slightly inaccurate (including the part about it being a pecan tree). The city records date the house only back to 1870, but that seems to be a flaw in record keeping (something about a fire) and also not entirely accurate. The realtor did seem to be right in his assumption that the architecture of the house lent itself to the prewar period. One of the first treasures we found in this old house was a letter from an historian in the kitchen drawer. The woman who owned the house in the 1980's and did a major remodel involving tearing down walls was curious enough to bring in this historian to have a look. His assessment that the house was likely built in the 1850's and that it had many similarities to Grant's house (built in 1858) was our first clue that we had something very special here. We were completely surprised however, that no one seemed to know or care about this treasure. Some people who have lived in the neighborhood a long time themselves seem to generally acknowledge this to be the oldest house here, yet most people (even people we have met who were versed in Atlanta history themselves) were completely surprised how old this house is. Why is this? 

Partly, this is the legacy of a city that was burned during the Civil War and had to rebuild entirely. It is not a city that seems inclined to embrace its history (understandably) but seems inclined to tearing down and reimagining itself constantly. Much of the city's beautiful buildings and the history that went went them were torn down, left to fall down to make way for something new (often freeways). Another reason, truthfully, the house has seen better days. The paint is peeling, the roof (was) sagging, most of the historic windows were replaced with some not very attractive models from the 70's or 80's. It is also an unassuming house. It's not a mansion, like the Grant house was. There is another house around the corner from us that was in the same family for a long time (thus it's history is better known), and dates back to 1868. It is a much grander looking house from the outside, well taken care of and with a large amount of landscaped property. Most people drive or walk by our house and don't notice it. It is largely obscured by the old (not pecan) tree in the front, and it can be easy to miss. I also think most people fall for the misguided belief that antebellum houses were grand estate homes like in the movies. 

Gone with the Wind

There are houses that look like this, of course, and if you travel outside Atlanta to some of the historic towns you can visit them still. However, most of the homes of this period don't look like the Hollywood depictions you normally see. Even Margaret Mitchell was supposedly disappointed with the representation of Tara in the film. Her model was something closer to the Phillip Fitzgerald House, a home owned by Mitchell's family members and where she spent time as a child.

Phillip Fitzgerald House (1870's addition)

Fitzgerald House (original 1830's portion)

These types of houses were common to earlier Plantation life, and are known as the Plantation Plain style. While our house, as well as many others were embellished and added onto as times changed, the original front of the house is clearly in the Plantation Plain style. It is not Tara, nor would we want it to be. If you step inside much of it's history has been lost, but much is still here. The beautiful stair case with the original banister made to attach together without the need for nails. The lovely wide plank wood flooring that is rare in the city. Beautiful high ceilings below and charming (we tell our selves) low ceilings up above. If you are brave enough to

So, that's a little info to get us started on our journey. We had very little information to go on, but unlike owners in the past who may have also been searching for our homes history, we have the benefit of the Internet. As I have searched for our house's history I have also discovered more about the area itself. Despite all that is known about L.P. Grant very little is ever talked about in regards to the 'other side' of Grant's Park. He did not own most of the land here, but quite a number of interesting people did. Grant was only one of the many early pioneers of Atlanta, invested in growing this new city. I hope to share some of this history too and hopefully some of you will find it as interesting as I did!