Inman Park, Oldest Atlanta Neighborhood

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Mrs. Minx

Our next door neighbor on Edgewood Avenue was Mrs. Minx, a mysterious widow lady who wore fancy jewelry and rarely left home. She alone surrounded by dark brown woodwork, mantles and columns. Such were the houses. But a large bush of blue hydrangeas bloomed on her front yard.

Trolley Cars and Cobblestones

The Ben Holland resided across from Inman Park. The street was cobblestone and there were large trolley tracks in the middle. When the route was through in the evening, the trolleys were put on the trolley two doors from our house. At some point on the mid 1940s the tracks were removed for buses. I only rode the trolley once. It was giant step upward for a little girl and the trolley rattled and lurched as we rode along.

The Night a House Burned

During the 1940s my family moved into the house at 951 Edgewood Avenue, two doors from the trolley barn. There was a very large 3 story mansion next door, adjacent to the trolley barn. One night the place caught on fire and burned down. All of the houses were within 30 feet of one another. One spark could have lit our roof. All night long we watched the house burn, until there was nothing left but embers despite the fact that the fire department was there with their red engines. Jeannette Holland Austin
The genealogy of the Holland family dates back to the year 1000 AD and is available to members of www.georgiapioneers.com

The Fish Pond

Inman was twice the size as it is today. It had a steep bank on Edgewood Avenue which us children slid down on boxes. Also, a pond grown over with white water lilies and filled with tad poles. Nothing deterred the Holland children. We used the pond for our swimming pool!

Asa Candler

The first neighborhood in Atlanta was called Inman Park and included Edgewood Avenue beginning at Waverly Way to Elizabeth Street and Euclid Avenue. It was built during the 1890s. The homes were Victorian, most three stories and by today's standards, mansions. Among the first popular residents was Asa Candler who invented coca cola on his basement. The huge mansion on Elizabeth Street was but one of his several homes and donned stained glass windows, built in china cabinets and a wide staircase. In those days there were two staircases, one for the family and one for the servants. The Candler genealogy is available to members of www.georgiapioneers.com

Hello Central

During the 1940s I grew up in Atlanta's oldest neighborhood. Inman
Park. There were no dial phones. What you did was pick up the phone
and say "hello central" to the voice of an operator and tell her who
to dial. Typically, we phoned the drugstore and ordered fountain
drinks delivered to our home. A delivery boy soon arrived riding a
bicycle. And yes, he had balanced on that bike fountain cokes that had
been poured inside white V cups in aluminum holders! What a feat!
Jeannette Holland Austin