Peachtree Street

Peachtree Street
South Downtown, Atlanta
Major; junctions	SR 154 in South Downtown, Atlanta; US 29 / US 78 / US 278 / SR 8 on the Downtown–Midtown Atlanta neighborhood line; US 19 / SR 9 in Midtown Atlanta; US 19 / SR 9 / SR 141 in Buckhead, Atlanta; SR 237 in Buckhead, Atlanta; SR 141 in Chamblee;
North end	SR 141 in Doraville

Peachtree Street is one of several major streets running through the city of

historic and noteworthy architecture is located along the street, and it is often used for annual parades, (such as the Atlanta St. Patrick's Day Parade and Atlanta Christmas Parade), as well as one-time parades celebrating events such as the 100th anniversary of Coca-Cola in 1986 and the Atlanta Braves' 1995 and 2021

World Series victories.

History

Peachtree Street in 1907, carrying streetcar, horse, and automobile traffic.

Atlanta grew on a site occupied by the

sap.^[1]

A trail known as the Peachtree Trail stretched from northeast Georgia to Standing Pitch Tree along the Chattahoochee River.^[2] The original Peachtree Road began in 1812 at Fort Daniel located at Hog Mountain in present-day Gwinnett County and ran along the course of the trail to the Chattahoochee. Some portions of the present road trace this route.

After the

Tight Squeeze developed at Peachtree at what is now 10th Street in Midtown Atlanta. It was infamous for vagrancy, desperation, and robberies of merchants transiting the settlement.^[3]^[4]

In 1867, the name of Whitehall Street, the original road to White Hall Tavern in today's

West End neighborhood, was changed to Peachtree Street from Marietta Street south to the railroad crossing (now "gulch") just north of Alabama Street.^[5] Later in the 1980s,^[6]

the portion of Whitehall Street from Five Points south to Forsyth Street and Memorial Drive, a major shopping district from the Civil War through mid-20th century, was renamed Peachtree Street SE.

In 2007,

Peachtree Corridor Partnership task force.^[7]^[8]

Nomenclature

The Peachtree name is common throughout the Atlanta area. In fact, it is often joked by natives that half of the streets in Atlanta are named Peachtree, and the other half have five names to make up for it.^{[citation needed]} While “Peachtree” alone almost always refers to this street or its continuations, there are 71 streets in Atlanta with a variant of “Peachtree” in their name.^[9] Some include:

Peachtree Creek Road
Peachtree Lane
Peachtree Avenue
Peachtree Circle
Peachtree Place
Peachtree Drive
Peachtree Plaza
Peachtree Way
Peachtree Memorial Drive
New Peachtree Road
Peachtree Walk
Peachtree Park Drive
Peachtree Parkway
Peachtree Valley Road
Peachtree Battle Avenue (commemorating the Battle of Peachtree Creek)
Peachtree Dunwoody Road (running between Peachtree Street and Dunwoody, Georgia)
Old Peachtree Road (traces part of the route of the original Peachtree Trail for which the road is named; in Gwinnett County.)

Peachtree is also seen in place names:

high-rises
in downtown, with Peachtree Center Avenue running a block east of Peachtree Street.
Peachtree City is a planned-suburb golf community located south of the city, in Fayette County.
Peachtree Corners is also a planned suburb located north of the city, in Gwinnett County.

West Peachtree Street

West Peachtree Street is not a western branch of Peachtree Street, but a major parallel (and unlike Peachtree, almost perfectly straight) due north–south street running one block west of Peachtree Street through downtown, and mostly two or three blocks west (due to the curves in Peachtree Street) through Midtown. West Peachtree divides the northeast and northwest

street addressing

purposes.

Where the current Peachtree Street turns to Peachtree Road and briefly heads northwest, it actually crosses West Peachtree, leaving it on the "east" side. It is at this point that the

I-85. The studios of WSB-TV are located on this section of “West” Peachtree Street ^{[citation needed]}, which terminates at I-85. The MARTA Red/Gold lines run directly under West Peachtree Street. The Civic Center MARTA Station is located under West Peachtree street where the road crosses the Downtown Connector

(I-75/85) The station is notable as it is among a very small number of subway stations in the world that are simultaneously above a highway and below street level.

The intersection of the two Peachtree streets in downtown form Hardy Ivy Park, while in midtown, the intersection forms Pershing Point Park.

Route numbers

From the Buford–Spring Connector north to Roswell Road, Peachtree Street and Peachtree Road carry

one-way streets

: West Peachtree Street northbound and Spring Street southbound.

Peachtree meets Piedmont Road (SR 237) between Buckhead Village and Lenox Square. Besides the southwestern terminus of SR 13 (mentioned above) the only other major intersection in Atlanta is at North Avenue, which carries US 29, US 78, US 278, and SR 8.

There are no direct

freeways

, all of which it crosses.

Landmarks

Many of Atlanta's most prominent buildings and

SunTrust Plaza all line Peachtree. In Midtown, Bank of America Plaza, Atlanta's tallest building, is a block south of the "Fabulous" Fox Theatre, a grand movie palace

completed in 1929.

Author

Georgia-Pacific Building

now stands.

Office buildings

Savannah College of Art & Design

are located.

Although most have been

demolished, there are still several historic buildings left along Peachtree in Buckhead. Several of these are stores, in single-story brick buildings constructed well before the annexation

of Buckhead in 1952.

Northeast of the

city limit, the road goes through Brookhaven and passes Oglethorpe University. Upon entering Chamblee, the road splits into Peachtree Industrial Boulevard and Peachtree Road. Peachtree Road becomes a two-lane road that travels farther east towards Doraville, while Peachtree Industrial Boulevard continues more on a more northerly trajectory (as Georgia 141) towards Dunwoody and Peachtree Corners

.

Retail

The Buckhead shopping district features many high-end retailers, concentrated in the

Chicago

.

Geography

Atlantans are often convinced that the

Flint Rivers and therefore into the Gulf of Mexico, and the southeast side eventually into the Atlantic Ocean. In 1959, Whitehall Street SW, which meets Peachtree Street NE at Five Points, was renamed "Peachtree Street SW", and the Eastern Continental Divide follows this street, so a small portion of the story may be technically correct. Atlanta's primary water source is the Chattahoochee and much of the water is pumped over the watershed. To balance the river flows, treated sewage

is pumped back to the Chattahoochee.

In popular culture

In Margaret Mitchell's epic Civil War romance Gone With the Wind, Scarlett O'Hara lives on various points of Peachtree Street along the novel. Coincidentally, it is also where the author herself was struck by a speeding automobile in Midtown, causing her death.
Frank Sinatra co-wrote a song with Jimmy Saunders and Leni Mason called "Peachtree Street" in 1950. He recorded it as a duet with Rosemary Clooney.
Sir Elton John keeps a home on Peachtree Road in Buckhead, for which his 2004 album Peachtree Road was named.
John Mayer references Peachtree Street in his song "Neon."

Gallery

Peachtree and 10th at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta
View of Peachtree from Federal Reserve
Peachtree Street in downtown Atlanta
An example of shopping on Peachtree Street

References

^ Franklin M. Garrett, Atlanta and Environs, p. 8
^ "Buckhead - Atlanta, Georgia - History - Creek Indians".
^ Atlanta and Environs: A Chronicle of Its People and Events, 1820s-1870s, p.746, Franklin M. Garrett
^ Wicked Atlanta: The Sordid Side of Peach City History, p.19, Laurel-Ann Dooley
^ Franklin M. Garrett, Atlanta and Environs, p. 746
^ '"Atlanta Time Machine
^ Mahoney, Ryan (March 30, 2007). "Streetcar named Peachtree may not begin when desired". Atlanta Business Chronicle. Retrieved May 21, 2007.
^ [PAUL DONSKY, MARIA SAPORTA, "A new Peachtree for $1 billion",Atlanta Journal-Constitution, February 14, 2007]
^ Peachtree Street on Atlanta Sounds

External links

[1] Franklin M. Garrett, Atlanta and Environs, p. 8

[2] "Buckhead - Atlanta, Georgia - History - Creek Indians".

[3] Atlanta and Environs: A Chronicle of Its People and Events, 1820s-1870s, p.746, Franklin M. Garrett

[4] Wicked Atlanta: The Sordid Side of Peach City History, p.19, Laurel-Ann Dooley

[5] Franklin M. Garrett, Atlanta and Environs, p. 746

[6] '"Atlanta Time Machine

[ABC-TaskForce-7] Mahoney, Ryan (March 30, 2007). "Streetcar named Peachtree may not begin when desired". Atlanta Business Chronicle. Retrieved May 21, 2007.

[8] [PAUL DONSKY, MARIA SAPORTA, "A new Peachtree for $1 billion",Atlanta Journal-Constitution, February 14, 2007]

[9] Peachtree Street on Atlanta Sounds

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