Compass Atlanta is excited to introduce you to the Atlanta Legacy Trail! What started as a partnership between Compass Real Estate and students at SCAD Atlanta has become a digital experience designed to take you on an exciting and informative journey through Atlanta’s storied past. Click on each property to learn about its unique history, details about its architecture, and stories of the people who breathed life into its walls. You can also find out when and how you can visit each property in person to learn more. On each virtual stop of the tour, you’ll find beautiful imagery supported by both written and audible narratives. If this leaves you wanting to learn more, each location lists hours of operation and directions for visiting in person.
If you go, be sure to share your experience on Instagram and tag @atlantalegacytrail / #atlantalegacytrail
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01. SCAD IVY HALL
Designed by Swedish architect Gottfried L. Norrman, SCAD Ivy Hall is one of Atlanta's finest examples of Queen Anne residential architecture. Originally commissioned by real-estate developer Edward Peters in 1883, Ivy Hall survived the Great Atlanta Fire of 1917 and remained in the Peters family until 1970. For the next 30 years, Ivy Hall was home to the beloved Atlanta restaurant, The Mansion, but sat empty from 2000 to 2005 when it was acquired by SCAD. After a full restoration, the property was renamed SCAD Ivy Hall and is now open to the public.
02.Rhodes Hall
Rhodes Hall is one of Atlanta’s few remaining historic mansions on Peachtree Street. The home was built in 1904 for furniture magnate Amos Giles Rhodes, and was constructed using granite from nearby Stone Mountain. Rhodes was the founder of the successful Atlanta-based Rhodes Furniture Company, and it is said that he was inspired to build his mansion after travelling through the German Rhineland. Although now surrounded by commercial buildings, the home was originally set on 114 acres of land stretching across Tanyard Creek and was lovingly called “Le Reve” by its original occupants.
03. The Trolley Barn
The Trolley Barn was completed in 1889 and originally housed the offices of the Atlanta and Edgewood Street Railway Company. This landmark is a memorial our city’s industrious past, and a time when electric streetcars rather than personal automobiles, transported Atlantans into the city from Inman Park, the area’s first planned residential suburb. The depot was not used long though, mainly due to the instant popularity of the automobile. After being used for numerous community centers and businesses over the years, the depot fell into disrepair and abandonment in the 1960s. Luckily the Inman Park Neighborhood Association stepped in and restored the building as part of their overall preservation efforts in the area.
04. THE WREN'S NEST
The Wren’s Nest is the former home of Joel Chandler Harris, one of the nations’ most iconic children’s book writers, and inspiration to authors such as Mark Twain and Rudyard Kipling. Harris lived in this beautiful home located in the West End neighborhood from 1881 until 1908. It is believed that the name for the home came family of wrens that once nested in the mailbox. The Wren’s Nest still presents a weekly storytelling hour on Saturdays, celebrating the long tradition of oral folklore in African American and Native American cultures.
05. MLK JR. Birth Home
Located in the residential section of Atlanta’s Sweet Auburn district is the birth home of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Born on January 15, 1929, Dr. King lived at 501 Auburn Avenue for the first 12 years of his life, with his extended family including his grandparents, parents and siblings. Just one block away from the home is the Historic Ebenezer Baptist Church where Dr. King served as pastor and delivered some of the most powerful sermons of his career. Dr. King’s childhood home is now a part of the Martin Luther King Jr. National Park, which is spread out over 38 acres and includes dozens of historic buildings.
06. 716 WEST
Formerly, the Mary Gay House, 716 West is currently the home to the Junior League of Dekalb County, an organization focused on helping female leaders grow within their communities. However, in a former life, the property was known as the Mary Gay House, home to the writer and poet Mary Ann Harris Gay. Known for both her poetry and a memoir of her life during the Civil War, Mary Ann Gay was inducted posthumously into the Georgia Women of Achievement Hall of Fame. Built in the 1820s, her former home is the oldest house in Dekalb County and was moved from its original site to its current location in 1979.
07. William Root House
The William Root House is the oldest surviving house in downtown Marietta. William Root was born and raised in Philadelphia and moved to the South in 1839. A year after marrying his wife Hannah, Root purchased a lot near the Marietta Square on which to build their home. The couple lived in the home from 1845 to 1886, while Root became one of the areas earliest merchants and the first pharmacist in Marietta. Over the years the house had fallen into disrepair, but in 1989 it was acquired by the Cobb Landmarks & Historical Society and restored to its 1845 appearance.
08. OMHS Log Cabin
The Old Milton High School opened its doors in 1921 and originally offered classes to students ranging from 1st grade through 11th grade. However, with the construction of an elementary school in the 1950s, the high school shifted focus to offer classes for students ranging from eighth grade through the 12th grade. The Log Cabin was built as a clubhouse by the Future Farmers of America Club, and it is now all that remains from the original school buildings, and over the years it has been used for proms, weddings and weekly square dances.
09. L.P. Grant Mansion
When The Fox Theatre was built in 1928, it was originally conceived as a home for Atlanta’s Shriners organization. The Shriners looked to the ancient temples of the Far East to inspire a mosque-style structure, with architectural gems like the Alhambra in Spain and Egypt’s Temple of Kharnak also heavily influencing the building’s ornate design. Ultimately, the design was so fantastical, it became more of a financial burden than the Shriners could bear. Shortly before its completion, the building was leased to William Fox, a movie mogul who had launched his empire by building theatres across the country. Completing the theatre was “Mighty Mo,” the 3,622-pipe Möller organ that remains the largest Möller theatre organ in the world even today.
10. The Fox Theatre
This Italianate mansion was built for Lemuel Pratt Grant, a city pioneer, railroad magnate and philanthropist who donated 100 acres to the city of Atlanta for the creation of Grant Park. The house was completed in 1856 and survived the Civil War, to later become the birthplace of golf legend Robert Tyre “Bobby” Jones in 1902. Overtime the house was the victim of neglect and fire and greatly deteriorated until 2001 when the Atlanta Preservation Center purchased it in order to save it from destruction. Once restored, the L.P. Grant Mansion became the headquarters of the APC. Currently efforts are underway to restore the interior of the property and its furnishings to their original appearances.
The Atlanta Legacy Trail began as a collaboration between SCAD Atlanta students and Compass Real Estate through a specialized course called SCADpro. Over a 10-week span, the SCADpro class developed and implemented this trail as part of an experiential marketing campaign.
