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his life at the corner of
English and Culpepper Street and died in 2004 at age 85. He recalled that in his youth the neighborhood was filled with the smell of the abattoir and fertilizer plant at the north end of English Street. Following Mr. Bibbs' death, all the houses and most of the trees on Fairmont, Culpepper and English Streets were demolished, leaving only the studio of Atlanta artist Gregor Turk (www.gregorturk.com) on English Street and a woodworking studio (www.johnleewoodshop.com) that was built in 2001 on the old Willis homesite. Infrastructure for many new dwellings was laid out but was stalled by the 2008 recession. Building was resumed in 2015, and by 2017 an entire new village was being built of houses marketed at over $ 500,000.
27:. It is located along either side of Huff Road from Howell Mill Road west to Marietta Blvd. It was one of the first black settlements around Atlanta after the Civil War, named for a Black man who owned property. As a community it declined from the 1950s through 1990s, following racially motivated rezoning and a general flight from cities to suburbs. It now forms part of the West Midtown area, a rapidly developing part of Atlanta known for its home furnishings stores, new apartment and condo complexes, restaurants and bars.
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But in 1956 the city had rezoned the area from residential to heavy industrial, part of a racially motivated effort by white city leaders to disrupt the cluster of Black residences and diminish their voting power. Slowly but surely residents left. In 1960 there were 370 residents, in 1990 72% fewer.
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A well circulated but untrue narrative in the decades afterward held that Mrs. Viney Bland was a white slaveowner who generously gave Felix Bland the land as well as an education. It also held that Felix Bland lost the land in the 1870s for not paying taxes, and developer Bob Booth acquired title and
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In 1928 Frank Willis purchased several lots on
English and Culpepper Streets and built a house of 800 square feet at 990 Culpepper. He lived there with his daughter Nellie Ruth Love and her six children until his death in 1949. The last remaining resident of Blandtown was Joseph Bibbs who lived all
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The original residential area of
Blandtown consisted only of Fairmont and Boyd Aves. and English and Culpepper Streets. These streets are immediately adjacent to a fast-growing West Midtown area of wholesale and retail home furnishings stores and new residential and mixed-use complexes such as the
35:
Blandtown was named for the Black family, born in slavery, who bought the land shortly after the Civil War and held it for decades. Samuel Bland purchased the land in 1872, then willed it to his wife, Mrs. Viney Bland, in 1873. She lost part of the land in 1892 as part of a railroad stock purchase
36:
deal. Her son, Felix Bland, acquired the land partly through her will, partly through purchasing land from her, and partly through being willed land by his siblings. Felix Bland and his sister Cherry Osborn eventually sold the land in 1916 and 1918 to R.A. Sims and the
Blandtown Christian Church.
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The area was a hub of development. When the railroad reached the area, industries opened nearby including a mill, a fertilizer factory and a stockyard. The close-knit, mostly black community supported four churches, a public health clinic and more.
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82:. The area is generally referred to as part of West Midtown; the Blandtown name is almost never used except in a historical context, or to refer to the officially recognized neighborhood unit.
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The elementary school closed definitively in 1974. By the 1980s local residents fought for rezoning back to residential, and were supported by councilwoman
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opened yards there in the area in 1957. In 1959 an elementary school opened and was named after John P. Whittaker, a registrar at
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In 1928 a fire swept through the area. 15 homes, a church and 2 restaurants burned down and 75 people were left homeless.
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185:"Welcome to Blandtown: Public art display seeks to reclaim history of changing Atlanta neighborhood"
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163:"The Lost Black History of Midtown Atlanta and a Photoshoot"
212:"Blandtown: A Fascinating Neighborhood with an Ironic Name"
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50:Blandtown thrived until the early 1950s. The
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390:Whitehall Street Retail Historic District
273:Atlanta: Race Class and Urban Expansion
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329:Neighborhoods and districts of Atlanta
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423:Fox Theatre Historic District
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256:"Flames Sweep Atlanta Area,
243:Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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104:Georgia (U.S. state) portal
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288:Atlanta Business Chronicle
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138:NPU D Map, City of Atlanta
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19:is a neighborhood of the
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350:Centennial Park District
161:Rhana, Gittens (2019).
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677:Lindridge/Martin Manor
589:Marietta Street Artery
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118:United States portal
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1012:Table by population
692:North Ormewood Park
599:Westside Provisions
506:Historic Brookhaven
838:Capitol View Manor
682:Little Five Points
60:Atlanta University
1056:33.790°N 84.421°W
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521:Margaret Mitchell
443:Technology Square
80:Apex West Midtown
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903:Oakland City
878:Hunter Hills
833:Capitol View
750:Benteen Park
727:Sweet Auburn
722:Reynoldstown
637:East Atlanta
627:Candler Park
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561:West Midtown
501:Garden Hills
290:July 1, 2009
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220:. Retrieved
218:. 2020-06-17
216:Westside CID
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192:. Retrieved
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68:Clair Muller
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21:West Midtown
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1059: /
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858:Dixie Hills
848:Center Hill
780:Peoplestown
672:Lake Claire
632:Druid Hills
622:Cabbagetown
617:Atkins Park
551:Tuxedo Park
408:Ansley Park
370:Five Points
1047:84°25′16″W
1044:33°47′24″N
976:Grove Park
971:Carey Park
918:Pittsburgh
873:Greenbriar
813:Adamsville
808:Adair Park
790:Summerhill
765:High Point
662:Inman Park
652:Grant Park
546:Pine Hills
258:Miami News
222:2021-05-19
194:2021-05-19
125:References
981:Riverside
933:Vine City
908:Perkerson
742:Southeast
642:East Lake
579:Home Park
574:Blandtown
511:Lindbergh
471:Brookwood
433:Home Park
17:Blandtown
1074:Category
1026:Category
948:Westview
943:West End
828:Ben Hill
823:Bankhead
800:Westside
667:Kirkwood
647:Edgewood
609:Eastside
453:Buckhead
337:Downtown
167:Archived
141:Archived
90:See also
23:area of
883:Just Us
770:Joyland
697:Oakland
461:Ardmore
400:Midtown
31:History
966:Bolton
275:, p.47
531:Paces
380:SoNo
78:and
54:and
189:ajc
56:CSX
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231:^
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187:.
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62:.
321:e
314:t
307:v
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197:.
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