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A couple of weeks ago, I enjoyed participating in a history tour of Piedmont Park offered by the Piedmont Park Conservancy. Our group gathered by the Visitors Center and the volunteer tour guide began with the earliest history of the land. She told us the Muscogee or Creek Native Americans lived on the land until they were forcibly removed and Georgia distributed 202 1/2 acre parcels to Land Lottery winners.
Sarah and Sam Walker were not the land lottery winners but purchased the land in 1834. They cleared the forest, prepared the land for farming and built a cabin for themselves. Their son built a cabin in 1857 and that cabin is now part of Piedmont Driving Club.
Walking around the park, our tour guide pointed out stone features that were originally built as part of the Cotton States and International Exposition of 1895. The Exposition lasted 100 days, included 6,000 exhibits and hosted 800,000 visitors.
A duck had taken up residence on some of the historic granite that still remains from the 1895 Exposition.
Following the Exposition, the Olmsted Brothers were asked to develop a plan for the park. That plan was completed in 1912, but was not fully implemented due to budget constraints. When the city of Atlanta and Piedmont Park Conservancy came up with a master plan in 1995, they honored the Olmsted Brother vision.
The Visitors Center was built in 1910 and was the first permanent building in the new park, following the Exposition. Old buildings from the Exposition were sold to help fund the Visitors Center, which was restored in 1996 by the Piedmont Park Conservancy.
One of our stops was the swimming pool area, which was first built in 1925 and known as the Piedmont Park Bath House.
Piedmont Park Bath House, front of building.
The plaque on the front of the Bath House shows it was built in 1926 when Walter Sims was Mayor of Atlanta.
We stopped to see the “Free Nelson Mandela” sculpture, created by David Hammons. The sculpture gate was originally locked, but was opened in 1990 after Mandela was released.
Free Nelson Mandela sculpture at Piedmont Park
Our guide shared with us that there was once a golf course on the land that is now the park. Looking across the former golf course area, she told us the granite part of Park Tavern Restaurant was a historic Piedmont Park building. It was used as stables for horse enthusiasts beginning in 1905 and became a men’s golf clubhouse in 1928.
Looking across former golf course space at Piedmont Park to Park Tavern Restaurant.
I enjoyed reading a quote from 2004, when a Conservancy volunteer told Atlanta Magazine writer Jennifer McClaine, “That’s the thing about the park: You never know what people are going to find about this place that they love.” (Atlanta Magazine, “Ever Green,” by Jennifer McClaine, June 2004)
We saw a few other historic sites and our tour guide was knowledgeable, so a fun day at the park. Aside from history, so much was going on in the park that day. A couple was getting married in the gazebo, people shopping and eating at the Green Market, friends and family gathered on picnic blankets, dog owners letting their pups frolic freely in the dog park, couples and families on benches, some with markers in remembrance of others from the past who also loved the park.
The Piedmont Park Conservancy contributes over $3.5 million a year towards maintaining and improving the Park. They also put on programs such as the Green Market, recreational and fitness activities, special events, and environmental education programs for youth.
I don’t recall going to Piedmont Park as a child in Atlanta. I do remember in the late 1970s and early 1980s going with friends to hear free Atlanta Symphony Orchestra concerts at the park. A friend reminded me that we went to the park in the 90s with our young children, who danced and played on the stage.
The park went through some hard times in the 70s and 80s, but is now a lovely place with a lot to offer and enjoyed by many.
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