After the Civil War ended in 1865, Atlanta was gradually rebuilt. Due to the city’s superior rail transportation network, the state capital was moved from Milledgeville to Atlanta in 1868. In the 1880 Census, Atlanta surpassed Savannah as Georgia’s largest city. Beginning in the 1880s, Henry W. Grady, the editor of the Atlanta Constitution newspaper, promoted Atlanta to potential investors as a city of the “New South” that would be based upon a modern economy and less reliant on agriculture. By 1885, the founding of the Georgia School of Technology (now Georgia Tech) and the city’s black colleges had established Atlanta as a center for higher education. In 1895, Atlanta hosted the Cotton States and International Exposition, which attracted nearly 800,000 attendees and successfully promoted the New South’s development to the world.
Atlanta in the Civil War, ca. 1861-65
Atlanta’s Grady Hospital on May 25, 1892
Atlanta in 1864
Atlanta’s Equitable Building in 1892
Atlanta’s Five Points area, 1892
Atlanta’s Piedmont Park, 1895
Decatur Street, Atlanta, Georgia, 1864
Downtown Atlanta taken from the roof of the Equitable Building, 1895
Paddling around Lake Abana in Atlanta’s Grant Park in 1895
Peachtree (then Whitehall Street) looking toward Wall Street with the Kimball House looming in the background, ca. 1890s
Peachtree Street in Atlanta, GA, 1875
Peachtree Street, Atlanta, Georgia, 1864
Railroad yards, Atlanta, Georgia, 1864
Street in Atlanta, ca. 1890s
Wagon train leaving Atlanta, Georgia, 1864
Wagon train on Whitehall Street, Atlanta, Georgia, 1864
Whitehall Street (now Peachtree Street) from Mitchell Street, 1895
Whitehall Street, Atlanta, Georgia, ca. 1860s
