Timeline of Atlanta

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

Published in 20th century

• ;
• *

• Robert D. Bullard et al., eds. Sprawl City: Race, Politics, and Planning in Atlanta. Washington, DC: Island Press.

Published in 21st century