Washington–Rawson

To the northwest was Downtown Atlanta, to the west Mechanicsville, to the east Summerhill, and to the south Washington Heights, now called Peoplestown.

[1] The neighborhood was wealthy at the turn of the twentieth century: Encyclopædia Britannica of 1910 listed Washington Street as one of the finest residential areas of the city, along with Peachtree Street, Ponce de Leon Circle (now Ponce de Leon Avenue in Midtown) and Inman Park.

With the advent of the electric streetcar in the 1890s and then the automobile, wealthy Atlantans flocked to new, leafy neighborhoods like Ansley Park and Druid Hills and the southside soon became unfashionable.

[2] Some sources state the leveling of the neighborhood for the freeway (and future stadium) was part of Mayor Ivan Allen, Jr. "vision was to build an entertainment facility that would bring black and white Atlantans together", "cradled as it was between the commercial business community and the black neighborhood of Summerhill.

[4] The remaining eastern side of Washington–Rawson neighborhood was demolished in the early 1960s to make room for Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium and its parking lots.

Fine residences along Washington St. in a postcard from est. 1890–1910
Julius L. Brown residence on Washington St., 1881
1890 newspaper ads describing the mansions of Washington Street
Map of Washington–Rawson district in 1911. Virtually all of these urban blocks are now the site of either Turner Field, a parking lot, or freeway interchange.
Aerial view of the former Washington–Rawson district in 1966, with Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium and the Interstate 20/75 interchange having taken its place.