In this century, West End has endured many changes in its metamorphosis to an intown neighborhood while retaining its own distinctive character and vitality.

Near this junction around 1830, Charner Humphries established an inn/tavern which came to be known as Whitehall due to the then unusual fact that it had a coat of white paint when most other buildings were of washed or natural wood.

From a frontier outpost in the 1830s, the district evolved into an independent political entity closely linked by rail and roads to its neighbor Atlanta.

In April 1871, Richard Peters and George Adair bought out the charter of the Atlanta Street Railway Company (horse-drawn) and on September 1 of that year opened the first section connecting Five Points to the West End – a route that passed by both of their homes.

Notable residents in this early period included Atlanta mayor Dennis Hammond, Evan Howell, governor James Smith (1872–77), John Conley (son of Governor Benjamin Conley), Thomas Stokes (founding partner of Davison's Department Store), L. Z. Rosser (president of the Atlanta Board of Education), J. P. Allen (clothing store owner), T. D. Longino (medical doctor and alderman), J. N. McEachern (insurance executive), as well as several authors such as Frank L. Stanton, Madge Bigham and Joel Chandler Harris, known for his Uncle Remus Tales.

He attracted such figures as President Theodore Roosevelt and Andrew Carnegie to Atlanta, the former returning after Harris' death to lecture for the Uncle Remus Memorial Association.

In 1937, the Association pushed for extension of the National Housing Act title providing for home modernization loans, and in subsequent decades (1950s and 1960s) for economic accessibility and population stabilization, including segregation.

With the group's support, Gordon Street was widened, Interstate 20 was built across West End's northern fringe, and the old business district (along with large amounts of residential housing) was demolished in favor of a mall development.

Completed in 1973, the mall's accessibility was later augmented by part of the city's latest transportation system, a MARTA station, across the street.

In honor of his nationally recognized contributions to the civil rights movement, Gordon Street was renamed Ralph David Abernathy Boulevard, in 1991.

Former SNCC chairman and Black Panther Party member, H. Rap Brown, relocated to the West End in the late 1970s or early 1980s.

Today, the Muslim community maintains both a mosque and an Islamic center within walking distance of the park in the heart of the neighborhood.

[2][3] By the 2000s, much of it still looked abandoned and blighted but a growing wave of investment in intown southwest Atlanta began to rejuvenate the area.

[4] In October 2024, it was announced that the abandoned warehouse at 1200 White Street would be transformed into a pickleball club named Dill Dinkers.

Livable Center Initiative (LCI)[8] granted funds for West End to renovate and improve its streetscape to make it a more walkable community.

Along the BeltLine in West End is the Lee + White which is a large mixed-use development that has 23 acres of businesses, eateries, and a greenspace.