Timeline of Atlanta
The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Atlanta, Georgia, United States.
19th century
- 1821 – The Treaty of Indian Springs was signed, in which the Creek Indians ceded land that is now Metro Atlanta.
- 1839 – Settlement of "Terminus" established.
- 1843 – Town of Marthasville incorporated.
- 1845
- * Georgia Railroad begins operating.
- * Marthasville renamed "Atlanta."
- 1846 – Macon & Western RR connects Atlanta with port of Savannah.
- 1847 – Town of Atlanta incorporated.
- 1848 - Moses Formwalt becomes mayor.
- 1849 - Benjamin Bomar becomes mayor.
- 1850
- * Population: 2,572
- * Atlanta Cemetery founded.
- 1851 - Western and Atlantic Railroad connects Atlanta to The Midwest.
- 1852 - Atlanta & West Point Railroad built.
- 1853 - Atlanta becomes seat of Fulton County.
- 1855
- * Atlanta Medical College established.
- * Gas lighting installed in city.
- 1860
- * Population: 9,554.
- * William Ezzard becomes mayor.
- 1861
- * Jared Whitaker becomes mayor.
- * Thomas Lowe becomes mayor.
- 1864
- * James Calhoun becomes mayor.
- * May–September: Union forces wage Atlanta campaign.
- * September 2: Union forces take city.
- * November 15: Burning of Atlanta by Union forces.
- * Nov. 26: Col. Luther J. Glenn is appointed commander of the Atlanta Post.
- * Dec. 5: Cap. Thomas L. Dodd is appointed the Provost-Marshal.
- * Dec 7: Gen. W. P. Howard sends his report to Governor Brown on the destruction of Atlanta.
- 1865
- * Civil War ends; slaves freed.
- * Atlanta University, first Atlanta black college, founded.
- 1867 - Young Men's Library Association founded.
- 1868
- * Atlanta becomes Georgia state capital.
- * Constitution newspaper begins publication.
- 1869 - Clark College founded.
- 1870 - Population: 21,789.
- 1871
- * Horse-drawn streetcar begins operating.
- * Public school system organized.
- 1877 - Washington Seminary established.
- 1878 - Southern Medical College established.
- 1879
- * Augusta Institute moves from Augusta to Atlanta and is renamed Atlanta Baptist Seminary.
- * Atlanta Building and Loan Association established.
- 1880
- * Abyssinian Library established.
- * Population: 37,409; Atlanta surpasses Savannah as Georgia's largest city.
- 1881
- * Atlanta Baptist Female Seminary and Morris Brown Colored College founded.
- * International Cotton Exposition held.
- 1882 - Atlanta Fire Rescue Department established.
- 1883
- * Atlanta Journal newspaper begins publication.
- * Capital City Club established.
- 1885 - Georgia Institute of Technology founded.
- 1886
- * Ebenezer Baptist Church founded.
- * Atlanta goes "dry".
- * Coca-Cola beverage introduced.
- 1887
- * Piedmont Exposition held.
- * Piedmont Driving Club and Inman Park founded.
- * Coca-Cola invents the coupon.
- 1888 - Atlanta Camera Club organized.
- 1889
- * First electric streetcars enable further expansion of city.
- * Georgia State Capitol building opens.
- * Grant Park and Atlanta Zoo established.
- * Fulton Bag and Cotton Mills is incorporated.
- 1890 - Population: 65,533.
- 1891 - Atlanta Consolidated Street Railway in business.
- 1892 - Grady Memorial Hospital opens.
- 1895
- * Cotton States and International Exposition held.
- * September: Booker T. Washington gives "Atlanta Compromise" Speech.
- * Atlanta Woman's Club founded.
- 1896 - Atlanta Conference of the Study of Negro Problems begins.
- 1899 - Federal penitentiary established.
- 1900 - Population: 89,872; metro 419,375.
1900s-1940s
- 1901 - Atlanta Theological Seminary established.
- 1902 - Carnegie Library opens.
- 1904 - Atlanta Art Association formed.
- 1905
- * Atlanta School of Medicine and Associated Charities of Atlanta founded.
- * Atlanta Mutual Insurance Association in business.
- 1906 - September 22: Atlanta Race Riot kills 27.
- 1907 - Atlanta Conservatory of Music founded.
- 1908 - Atlanta Neighborhood Union organized.
- 1909 - Architectural Arts League of Atlanta organized.
- 1910
- * Population: 154,839; metro 522,442.
- * Restaurants segregated; other Jim Crow laws follow.
- 1911 - Atlanta Debutante Club founded.
- 1913
- * Georgia Tech starts "evening college", now Georgia State.
- * Augusta Institute established founded in 1867 is renamed Morehouse College.
- 1914
- * Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta established.
- * 1914–1915 Fulton Bag and Cotton Mills strike.
- 1915
- * Emory College relocated to Atlanta.
- * November: film The Birth of a Nation premieres.
- * Ku Klux Klan refounded in Atlanta.
- 1916
- * Streetcar strike.
- * Utopian Literary Club and Atlanta Junior League founded.
- 1917 - Great Atlanta fire.
- 1918 - 1918 influenza epidemic.
- 1919 - Commission on Interracial Cooperation active.
- 1920
- * Butler Street YMCA opens.
- * Population: 200,616; metro 622,283.
- 1921 - Atlanta Junior Chamber (JCI Atlanta) established.
- 1922 - WSB radio begins broadcasting.
- 1923 - Spring Street Viaduct opens, downtown rises above train tracks.
- 1926 - Atlanta Historical Society founded.
- 1927 - Atlanta Historical Bulletin begins publication.
- 1928 - Atlanta World newspaper begins publication.
- 1929
- * Atlanta University Center Consortium established.
- * City Hall built.
- * January 15: Martin Luther King Jr. is born.
- * WGST radio begins broadcasting.
- 1930 - Population: 270,366; metro 715,391.
- 1931 - WATL radio begins broadcasting.
- 1933 - headquartered in city.
- 1935 - Cascade Theatre opens.
- 1936
- * Atlanta Dogwood Festival begins.
- * William B. Hartsfield elected mayor.
- * Techwood Homes built, first public housing in US.
- 1937 - WAGA radio begins broadcasting.
- 1939
- * Plaza Theatre opens.
- * Gone with the Wind world premiere draws 300,000 to streets.
- 1940
- * Euclid Theatre opens.
- * Population: 302,288.
- 1941 - Central Atlanta Progress established.
- 1944
- * Atlanta campaign National Historic Site established.
- * Southern Regional Council and Associated Klans of Georgia headquartered in city.
- 1945 - Mary Mac's Tea Room in business.
- 1946
- * U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention founded.
- * December 7: Winecoff Hotel fire.
- 1947 - Regional Metropolitan Planning Commission established.
- 1948 - WSB-TV begins broadcasting.
- 1949
- * WAGA-TV and WERD (AM) radio begin broadcasting.
- * Atlanta Negro Voters League founded.
- * Last streetcar line converted to trolleybus.
1950s-1990s
- 1950
- * Population: 331,314; metro 997,666.
- * Transit strike, Atlanta Transit Co. takes over transit from Georgia Railway and Power.
- 1952
- * Georgia Board of Regents, votes to allow women into Georgia Tech.
- * Buckhead annexed.
- 1953 - Links chapter established.
- 1956
- * 1956 Sugar Bowl first black player to play in a college bowl game in deep south causes riots.
- * Alexander Memorial Coliseum opens.
- 1957 - Southern Christian Leadership Conference headquartered in city.
- 1958
- * October 12: Hebrew Benevolent Congregation Temple bombing.
- * Atlanta Masjid of Al-Islam established.
- 1959 - Trolleybuses, buses, public library desegregated.
- * Lenox Square mall opens.
- * Metro population hits 1 million.
- 1960
- * Population: 487,455; metro 1,312,474.
- * March 15: An Appeal for Human Rights is released.
- * Sit-ins at Rich's lunch counters during the Civil Rights Movement.
- * Atlanta Inquirer newspaper begins publication.
- 1961
- * Ivan Allen Jr. becomes mayor.
- * Public schools begin token desegregation.
- * Rich's desegregates restaurant.
- * John Portman opens Merchandise Mart, kicking off transformation of downtown.
- * One Park Tower built.
- 1962
- * Peyton Road barricades built in Cascade Heights.
- * 106 Atlanta art patrons die in Paris air crash.
- 1963
- * Atlanta Marathon begins.
- * Trolleybuses converted en masse to buses.
- 1964
- * U.S. Supreme Court decides Heart of Atlanta Motel, Inc. v. United States.
- * Atlanta Press Club and Atlanta Track Club established.
- 1965 – Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium constructed.
- 1966
- * State of Georgia Building constructed.
- * Both the relocated Atlanta Braves of Major League Baseball and the expansion Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League begin play at Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium.
- 1967
- * Atlanta Chiefs soccer team begins play.
- * Sister city relationship established with Salzburg, Austria.
- 1968
- * King Center for Nonviolent Social Change founded.
- * Peach Bowl annual football game begins.
- * Atlanta Hawks basketball team relocates to Atlanta.
- * Equitable Building constructed.
- 1969
- * Coronet Theater and Perimeter freeway open.
- * Afro-American Police League chapter established.
- 1970
- * Peachtree Road Race begins.
- * Population: 496,973; metro 1,763,626
- 1971
- * Atlanta Gay Pride Festival established.
- * International flights begin at Hartsfield Airport.
- 1972
- * Sister city relationships established with Montego Bay, Jamaica; and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
- * The Atlanta Flames are established as an expansion team of the National Hockey League.
- * The Omni Coliseum opens as the new home of the NBA's Hawks and NHL's Flames.
- 1973
- * Maynard Jackson becomes first black mayor of Atlanta.
- * GSU Sports Arena open.
- 1974
- * Sevananda Natural Foods Market in business.
- * Sister city relationships established with Lagos, Nigeria; Taipei, Taiwan; and Toulouse, France.
- * Feminist Bookstore Charis Books & More opens in Little 5 Points.
- 1975 - Centennial Tower built.
- 1976
- * Atlanta Botanical Garden established.
- * Atlanta Film Festival begins.
- * Georgia World Congress Center opens.
- * National Conference of Black Mayors headquartered in city.
- 1977
- * Atlanta Soto Zen Center founded.
- * Sister city relationship established with Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom.
- 1979
- * Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority begins operating.
- * Atlanta murders of 1979–1981 begin.
- 1980
- * Population: 425,022; metro 2,233,324.
- * All-news television network CNN begins broadcasting; Turner empire takes off.
- * Al-Farooq Masjid and Martin Luther King Jr., National Historic Site established.
- * Flames hockey team sold and relocated to Calgary, Alberta.
- 1981
- * Atlanta Gay Men's Chorus founded.
- * Sister city relationship established with Daegu, South Korea.
- 1982
- * Andrew Young becomes mayor.
- * Carter Center headquartered in Atlanta.
- 1983
- * Atlanta–Fulton Public Library System established.
- * Sister city relationship established with Brussels, Belgium.
- 1984 - Sweet Auburn Heritage Festival begins.
- 1986
- * Jimmy Carter Library and Museum dedicated.
- * Midtown Assistance Center established.
- 1987
- * John Lewis becomes U.S. representative for Georgia's 5th congressional district.
- * Sister city relationship established with Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago.
- 1988
- * Democratic Convention.
- * Sister city relationship established with Tbilisi, Georgia.
- 1990 - Population: 394,017; metro 2,959,950.
- 1991
- * Atlanta Bicycle Coalition organized.
- * Land bank established.
- * Drepung Loseling Institute opens.
- 1992
- * 6 September: Georgia Dome opens.
- * SunTrust Plaza and Bank of America Plaza built.
- 1994 - Sister city relationships established with Bucharest, Romania; and Ancient Olympia, Greece.
- 1995
- * October 28: Atlanta Braves baseball team wins 1995 World Series.
- * Atlanta Downtown Improvement District established.
- * Sister city relationship established with Cotonou, Benin.
- 1996
- * Centennial Olympic Park opens.
- * 18 May: Centennial Olympic Stadium opens.
- * 19 July–4 August: 1996 Summer Olympics held.
- * July 27: Centennial Olympic Park bombing.
- * 16–25 August: 1996 Summer Paralympics held.
- * 24 October: Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium closed.
- * Sister city relationship established with Salcedo, Dominican Republic.
- 1997
- * Centennial Olympic Stadium reconstructed as Turner Field.
- * 2 August: Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium demolished and parking space built for Turner Field.
- 1998
- * City website online.
- * Sister city relationship established with Nuremberg, Germany.
- 1999
- * Philips Arena opens.
- * Atlanta Thrashers ice hockey team begins play.
- 2000
- * Freedom Park dedicated.
- * Sister city relationship established with Ra'anana, Israel.
- * Population: 416,474; metro 4,112,198.
21st century
2000s
- 2001 - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution newspaper in publication.
- 2002 - Shirley Franklin becomes mayor.
- 2003 - Fermi Project established.
- 2004 - Atlanta Rollergirls established.
- 2005
- * Airport becomes world's busiest.
- * Sister city relationship established with Fukuoka, Japan.
- 2008
- * Delta becomes world's largest airline.
- * March 14–15: 2008 Atlanta tornado outbreak.
2010s
- 2010 - Population: 420,003; metro 5,268,860.
- 2011
- * Thrashers hockey team are sold and relocated to Winnipeg, Manitoba, becoming the new Winnipeg Jets.
- * Atlanta Public Schools cheating scandal investigative report issued.
- * Atlanta first US city to demolish all public housing projects.
- 2012 - Part of BeltLine path opens.
- 2014 - National Center for Civil and Human Rights opens.
- 2015 - Population: 463,875.
- 2016
- * Murder Kroger closes.
- * Turner Field hosts its last baseball game, with the Braves moving to a new ballpark, SunTrust Park, in Cobb County.
- 2017
- * Georgia Dome closes.
- * Atlanta United FC begins play in Major League Soccer.
- * Interstate 85 bridge collapse occurs.
- * Turner Field reconstructed as Georgia State Stadium.
- * Mercedes-Benz Stadium opens.
- 2018 - Hackers successfully breach the city's servers, encrypting files with ransomware and disrupting services.
2020s
- 2021
- * The Atlanta spa shootings occur.
- * The Atlanta Braves baseball team win the 2021 World Series.
Published in 19th century
;1860s-1870s;1880s-1890s
*
Published in 20th century
;1900s-1940s- ;
- *
- Robert D. Bullard et al., eds. Sprawl City: Race, Politics, and Planning in Atlanta. Washington, DC: Island Press.