Atlanta And Its Builders, Vol. 2 - A Comprehensive History Of The Gate City Of The South. Thomas H. Martin

      CHAPTER VI. FACTS ABOUT ATLANTA

      The Atlanta of today is a growth of thirty-five years. Twice has the upbuilding of a city on this site demonstrated its natural advantages. The rapidity of the growth of Atlanta is illustrated by the fact that, since it was blotted from the map, the city has spread over twelve square miles of ground. Starting with no business in 1865, it receives one-third of the freight delivered in Georgia, and its post-office receipts are also one-third of those of the State.

      The question, Wherefore Atlanta? naturally arises, for communities are not effects without causes. Atlanta is the result of a combination of advantages, on a commanding geographical location, turned to the best account by a spirit of transcendent energy, which surmounts all obstacles and builds even on disaster the fabric of success. The growth of this unconquerable spirit has been promoted by a unity of purpose which has prevented the domination of factions. Whatever local interests may clash, the good of Atlanta is always a rallying cry. The Atlanta spirit, which has accomplished so much in the upbuilding of the city itself, is happily contagious, and has much to do with making Georgia the Empire State of the South. The spirit of new life has spread from this to other Southern States which are the most active in the development of their resources, and the spirit of the Southeast is the spirit of Atlanta.

      For this moral and material eminence Atlanta is fortunately situated on a ridge which divides the water-shed of the Atlantic from that of the gulf, and at a point where the natural barrier of the Appalachian chain is broken by great gaps in the mountains. This is the natural point of intersection for railway lines from the West with lines from the East.

      This geographical vantage ground is accompanied by a topographical eminence, from which the great climatic advantages of Atlanta are derived. More than 1,000 feet above sea level at its lowest point, and from eleven to twelve hundred at other places, Atlanta enjoys a cool, bracing atmosphere, with breezes that blow over the foot-hills of the Blue Ridge. The exhilarating air is a kind of natural tonic, so different from that of the coast and gulf regions that an inhabitant of the low countries, coming to Atlanta during the heated term, feels a stimulus as if he had been drinking great draughts of aerial champagne. The rolling surface of the country, which slopes in almost every direction from the city, affords easy drainage and keeps the surrounding region free from malaria.

      Atlanta's public buildings typify the solid character of her institutions. Most conspicuous among them is the State capitol, which was erected at a cost of $1,000,000. This stately structure, the custom house, the county courthouse, and other public edifices, make up an aggregate of seven to eight millions invested in public buildings.

      Outside of public buildings, the architecture of Atlanta is of a pleasing character, and has steadily improved during the past thirty years. Few cities in any part of the United States can show more attractive residence streets or architectural designs indicating more culture and good taste. Peachtree street, the principal one for residences, has a number of elegant homes which would be ornaments to any city.

      Atlanta is a city of homes, and this is apparent not only in the appearance of the houses, but in the statistics of the United States census, by which Atlanta is accredited with a larger percentage of home-owners than any city of its size in the Southern States.

      Architecture has had a notable development in the business edifices of Atlanta during the past ten years, and buildings which were notable in 1890 are insignificant in comparison with the great office structures which have been erected since then. No city in the United States can surpass the group of office buildings erected in Atlanta during the past decade.

      As will more fully appear in the chapter devoted to municipal affairs, the street improvements and public works are of a substantial character. The business streets are paved with granite blocks, and much of the residence portion of the city is similarly improved, while other streets are paved with asphalt and vitrified brick. Extending from the city limits there are graded roads macadamized with granite or chert, which give an ideal drive for some distance north and south of Atlanta, affording a smooth and solid roadway for twenty miles.

      The water supply for domestic and manufacturing purposes and for sanitary use is hardly equaled in any city of Atlanta's size, and the rates per thousand gallons for families or for manufacturing purposes are merely nominal, and probably lower than any on record.

      Conditions in Atlanta are highly favorable to manufacturing industries, and this is attested by the great variety of articles made here. More than 150 establishments are in successful operation, employing about 8,000 operatives at good wages, and pouring into the channels of trade an annual pay-roll of $2,500,000. The value of the raw material consumed is more than $6,000,000, and the product between fourteen and fifteen millions. The factories of Atlanta take the cotton crop of four average Georgia counties.

      The manufactures of Atlanta in their variety have a guaranty of stability not to be found in those of any city where industry is confined to one family, as of iron or cotton, however important that may be, and the extent of this variety is to some degree indicated in the chapter on this subject. Among the articles made here are many specialties, for which there is a demand in almost every State in the Union, and concerns making them have enjoyed prosperity through a long series of years.

      The trade of Atlanta covers more or less all of the States between the Ohio and Potomac rivers, the gulf, the Atlantic ocean and the Mississippi river, and in some lines extends to the far Southwestern States and into Mexico, while in a few it covers the entire country. The tendency of the jobbing trade of the Southwest is to concentrate in Atlanta, and little by little the business of other centers gravitates to this city.

      Atlanta's commanding geographical and topographical situation was, at the outset, one of the causes which led to the development of a great railroad center, at which powerful systems from the East, the West and the Southwest regularly compete. As a distributing point Atlanta enjoys facilities hardly equaled elsewhere in the Southwestern States, and as an accessible place of rendezvous for all kinds of organizations and interests, it is a favorite, and has come to be known as the Convention City. The terminal facilities of the railroads centering in Atlanta are very extensive.

      Atlanta's financial institutions are of the most solid character, and among her banks are several whose phenomenal success is indicated by the very large surplus they have accumulated and the handsome dividends they regularly declare. Atlanta is the financial center of Georgia, and much business from the surrounding country is cleared through the banks of the city. The clearings represent a larger business, in proportion, than those of cities whose exchanges are swollen by cotton receipts, the margin upon which is very small. Atlanta's exchanges, on the contrary, represent a broad variety of business, on which a fair, conservative business profit is made, and therefore present a far greater degree of activity and prosperity than clearings composed largely of cotton business. This city is steadily developing the type of financial institutions known as trust companies, and some of these have under way important operations involving millions of dollars.

      Atlanta is the third city in the United States in the amount of insurance written and reported to agencies. It is the Southern headquarters for a number of fire and life insurance companies, and agencies of old line and every other type of insurance are numerous. The financial and social standing of the insurance men of Atlanta is high, and they wield a great influence in the Southern field. Besides the outside companies represented, there are several strong local concerns which have developed within the past twenty years and are doing a very large and prosperous business.

      The educational facilities of Atlanta are fully treated in a separate chapter, in which it appears that this city is abreast of the times in this as in other respects. Atlanta early established a system of public schools, and before almost