Diverse and sprawling, Atlanta is the largest city in the southeastern United States. It’s played an important role in the nation’s history, and continues to be one of the most dynamic and vibrant cities in the country. Given these facts about Atlanta, you might assume there are some fascinating tidbits of information to uncover about the city. And you’d be right.
1. Atlanta isn’t the city’s first name, it’s one of many.
Since 1837, Atlanta has had several different names. It started out as Terminus, then was variously called Thrasherville and/or Deanville for a short period, then went on to be called Marthasville, named after the state governor’s daughter at the time. There are a few stories for how the city ultimately came to have its current name. One says it is the shortening of the name “Atlantica-Pacifica,” and another says it’s a variation of the governor’s daughter’s middle name, Atalanta.
2. Atlanta wasn’t Georgia’s original state capital.
The first capital of Georgia was the historic city of Savannah. Other cities that have held the same honor are Augustus, Louisville, and Milledgeville.
3. Leashing your pet giraffe to a street pole could get you in trouble.
You probably don’t have a pet giraffe, especially if you live in a midtown Atlanta apartment. But if you did, and you tied it to a street lamp or telephone pole, you could be cited with an infraction under one of those antiquated laws that lawmakers haven’t bothered to update.
4. Walking around with ice cream in your pocket is illegal, too.
Another bizarre Georgia law forbids you from walking around in public with an ice cream cone in your back pocket—but only on Sundays.
5. MODA is the only design museum in the Southeast.
The Museum of Design Atlanta (MODA), dedicated to the study and showcase of design, is the only museum of its kind in the southeastern United States. It’s located in Midtown Atlanta, on one of the more than 50 Atlanta area streets named Peachtree. MODA is a ten-minute drive from AMLI Parkside and AMLI Ponce Park Midtown Atlanta apartments.
6. Zoo Atlanta does serious monkey business.
Zoo Atlanta, located in Grant Park, has the largest populations of gorillas and orangutans in the country.
7. Atlanta may have helped make Woodstock.
About one month before the 1969 Woodstock Music & Art Fair, Dogwood City hosted the Atlanta International Pop Festival. An estimated 150,000 music lovers turned up to rock out to many of the same musicians who played at Woodstock a month later.
8. Atlanta’s city symbol is a phoenix.
On November 16, 1864, Union General William Tecumseh Sherman marched his troops in the direction of Savannah. They has spent the previous months destroying the city. When Sherman left, an estimated 400 buildings in the city remained standing. Atlanta’s symbol is, appropriately, the phoenix. Atlanta is, after all, one of the very few large American cities to ever be destroyed during war.
9. CNN’s global HQ is in Atlanta.
Located adjacent to Atlanta Centennial Park in downtown Atlanta, the CNN Center is the global news network’s world headquarters.
10. The Braves are the oldest continually operating pro sports franchise in the U.S.
The MLB team moved to Atlanta in 1966, but prior to that and a 13-year stint in Milwaukee, they were a Boston outfit. While they originated as the Boston Red Stockings in 1871, and would become the Boston Braves in 1912. The Braves franchise has never missed a season, only abstaining from play during organized league strikes.
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