Ponce de Leon Springs (Atlanta)

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Coordinates: 33°46′20″N 84°22′0″W / 33.77222°N 84.36667°W / 33.77222; -84.36667
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Ponce de Leon Springs
Black and white engraving of several people, dressed in clothing from the late 1800s, at a natural spring
An engraving of the spring in 1879
Map
TypeMineral spring
LocationAtlanta, Georgia, United States
Coordinates33°46′20″N 84°22′0″W / 33.77222°N 84.36667°W / 33.77222; -84.36667

Ponce de Leon Springs was a mineral spring in Atlanta, Georgia, in the United States. The spring was a popular tourist destination from the mid-1800s through the early 1900s. Around the turn of the century, the land surrounding the spring was developed into an amusement park. By the 1920s, the amusement park was demolished, and the area was developed for industrial and, later, commercial properties.

Residents of Atlanta had known of the spring, which was located about 2 miles (3.2 km) northeast of

Sears, Roebuck and Co., who built their regional distribution and retail headquarters on the site. Today, the building is Ponce City Market, a mixed-use development, and some of the original land that was home to the spring has been developed into the Historic Fourth Ward Park
.

History

Early history

In the United States in the 1800s, numerous

cattle rancher from the area, built a house near the spring,[11] and by the 1830s, the spring was being used as a source of drinking water for some local residents.[12] The water originated from a source rock of gneiss and biotite,[14] with the water being chalybeate.[15] The water was considered medicinal and good for health because of its mineral quality.[16][8] As a result, in the 1860s,[7] Henry L. Wilson, a retired physician from Atlanta, named the spring the Ponce de Leon Springs as a reference to the legend of Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León and his search for the Fountain of Youth.[17]

Popularity as a trolley park

Harper's New Monthly Magazine,[6] and by 1881, the spring was receiving several thousand visitors annually.[4] The popularity of the spring during this time was part of a larger nationwide trend of trolley parks that had become popular in large cities throughout the United States.[5]

Purchase by the Atlanta Street Railway

In May 1886, Armistead, who still owned the land, began to charge visitors $0.05 to drink water from the spring. Armistead's decision was met with resistance from the Atlanta Street Railway, whose management worried that customer frustration over the charge could hurt their business. However, the following year, the railway purchased the land from Armistead. In January 1888, the railway leased the land to N. C. Bosche, a local businessman who planned to convert the area into a

artificial lake called Ponce de Leon Lake. This lake, as well as a smaller pond called Pairs Pond, were created in mid-1890.[5] Around the same time that the railway company had purchased the land, African Americans began to be denied entry to the area.[27] Throughout the early 1880s and before, the parkland had previously been open to both African Americans and white Americans,[5] though they were required to use separate venues while at the park.[28][29] However, by 1887, black people who were taking the streetcar to the spring were told by police that they would not be allowed to enter the land.[27]

Amusement park

A color image of an amusement park from the early 20th century, showing several rides, including a Ferris wheel
The amusement park, c. early 20th century

In January 1903, 47 acres (19 ha) of land surrounding the spring was purchased by a company that would eventually be known as the Ponce de Leon Amusement Company, which intended to develop the land as an amusement park.

penny arcade, among others.[5] The new area soon became known as "the Coney Island of Atlanta".[30][5] The park was scheduled to open for its inaugural season in May 1903, but this opening was postponed by about a month.[5] The casino opened on June 1 with a performance of The Lady Slavey operetta, and the park as a whole opened to several thousand visitors several days later on June 6.[5] Like with the spring area before it, this amusement park enforced a policy of racial segregation, only allowing African Americans entry if they were servants for white guests.[5] In 1906, the park was purchased by the Ponce de Leon Park Association, which was run by casino lessee Jack Wells as president, Joseph Whitehead as treasurer, and Hugh L. Cardoza as secretary and manager.[5] The association invested $50,000 into renovations for the park (equivalent to $1,695,556 in 2023), which added new attractions and ushered in the park's heyday.[5] In 1907, the lake was filled in and a ballpark, Ponce de Leon Park, was built on the location.[5] This ballpark served as the home venue for the Atlanta Crackers, the city's Minor League Baseball team, who debuted at the park on May 23 of that year before 8,000 spectators.[5] The ballpark would later also serve as the home venue for the Atlanta Black Crackers, the city's Negro league baseball team.[5]

Later land use

A color photograph of a park, with a pond in the foreground and a large brick building in the background
Historic Fourth Ward Park with Ponce City Market in the background, 2012

While the spring and accompanying amusement park remained a popular retreat throughout the early 1900s,

Ford Factory Lofts.[32] Also in the 2000s, a significant amount of land just south of Ponce City Market in what had previously been the spring area was converted into the Historic Fourth Ward Park, while the railroad right of way that ran next to the spring area has undergone redevelopment as part of the BeltLine, a series of shared-use paths and urban green spaces that surround the city.[33]

See also

Notes

  1. Ryan Gravel, one of the founders of the BeltLine in Atlanta, said that railroad workers constructing the Atlanta and Richmond Air-Line Railway in 1871 may have discovered the spring.[13]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Zaring 1987, p. 42.
  2. ^ a b c d McMahon 1944, p. 220.
  3. ^ Partridge 1951, p. 55.
  4. ^ a b Clarke 1881, p. 187.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae Toton 2008.
  6. ^ a b Harper's New Monthly Magazine 1879, pp. 39–40.
  7. ^ a b c Williamson & Dunham-Jones 2021, p. 169.
  8. ^ a b c d e King 1939, p. 254.
  9. ^ King 1939, p. 255.
  10. ^ McMahon 1944, p. 224.
  11. ^ a b Irvine 1938, p. 118.
  12. ^ a b Zaring 1987, p. 44.
  13. ^ a b c Gravel 2016, p. 28.
  14. ^ Herrick & LeGrand 1949, p. 106.
  15. ^ Peale 1886, p. 82.
  16. ^ Janes 1876, p. 86.
  17. ^ Johnson 2020.
  18. ^ a b c Wright 1938, p. 199.
  19. ^ McMahon 1944, p. 223.
  20. ^ a b c d McMahon 1944, p. 221.
  21. ^ Davis & Davis 2012, pp. xxvii–xxviii.
  22. ^ Klima 1982, p. 71.
  23. ^ MacDougald 1940, p. 137.
  24. ^ a b c King 1939, p. 253.
  25. ^ Garrett 1981, p. 22.
  26. ^ McMahon 1944, pp. 222–223.
  27. ^ a b Rabinowitz 1994, pp. 150–151.
  28. ^ Grant 1993, p. 218.
  29. ^ Rabinowitz 1994, p. 151.
  30. ^ Mixer 1906, p. 8.
  31. ^ The Atlanta Journal-Constitution 2020.
  32. ^ Johnston 2016.
  33. ^ Williamson & Dunham-Jones 2021, pp. 169–173.

Sources

Further reading

External links

Media related to Ponce de Leon Springs (Atlanta) at Wikimedia Commons

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