south atlanta 

We are the neighborhood named south atlanta.

Photo above courtesy of The New York Public Library Digital Collections

Photo above and below are courtesy of Geneologytrails.com

South Atlanta was originally known as Brownsville. 
​In the early part of the 20th Century Jonesboro Road was a major north south corridor linking communities to the south with downtown Atlanta. The streetcar line was introduced in 1901 and ran along nearby Pryor Road to the west, as well as along Lakewood Avenue and Jonesboro Road. Like most streetcar lines, the trolleys serving Southside Atlanta were abandoned for other forms of transportation by the 1950s.
Between the period of 1894-1915, the South Atlanta neighborhood also grew in prominence, as did the neighboring communities with the development of Lakewood Park and the introduction of the Southeastern Fair Association. The Lakewood area to the south of the South Atlanta neighborhood became recognized as the center for agricultural fairs. The first fair was held in 1916 and continued annually until 1975.
Historic South Atlanta has a rich history of higher education, performing arts and community development.
Having served as the home to Clark University and Gammon Theological Seminary for more than sixty years, South Atlanta was influenced by some of the most important African American families, university and seminary professors and concert artists of its time.

Gammon Theological Seminary had its beginning as Gammon School of Theology, first as a department of religion and philosophy at Clark University for the 1869-1870 academic year. In February 1872, Clark Theological Seminary was opened with 26 students.

Gammon Theological Seminary was founded in 1883 by the Methodist Episcopal Church. Gammon is The United Methodist component of a consortium of six historical African American theological schools, The Interdenominational Theological Center.

​Clark University (founded in 1869), moved to a site in South Atlanta in 1883, establishing Gammon Seminary Theological Seminary the same year. In 1941 Clark departed to its present location near Downtown Atlanta when it joined the Atlanta University system. It served as a cultural, religious and community anchor in South Atlanta. Its importance was magnified by the fact that at the time, black artists and performers has little opportunity to perform in the South except on black college campuses, and black audiences had little access to "white" cultural activities. Brownsville became an “elite” black community during segregation.

South atlanta civic league

Join Us At Community Grounds On The First Monday Of Every Month At 6:30 PM

President: josh noblitt
vice-president: kimberlee payton jones
secretary: katie delp
Assistant secretary: james baptiste
treasurer: michelle witherspoon
parliametarian: chris mccord
www.southatlantacivic.com

We are RE-IMAGINING 
​our neighborhood!
join us.

It's time to dream about South Atlanta
Every 10 years or so, it is important for the community to dream together about what the next 10 years might look like.  The South Atlanta Civic League, Focused Community Strategies, and the City of the Atlanta want to invite you into this exciting process!
For more information, check out our South Atlanta Masterplan website.