Two Atlanta sites ranked on historic places most in peril across Georgia

The Georgia Trust has unveiled their annual list of the most endangered historic properties across the state. For two irreplaceable Atlanta places, the news isn’t great.

Published every year since 2005, the list features a range of sites, representing local history from generations of Georgians—all at risk of being lost. While last year’s list featured four sites in the metro area, including the Central Library and Gaines Hall, this year’s list has two.

The first site, and only solo building in the city, is the 1929-built National Library Bindery Company building. Located on Peachtree Road in Buckhead, the building—designed by noted architects A. Ten Eyck Brown and Alfredo Barili, Jr.—is one of the oldest standing structures on the street. Currently, the building is threatened by plans for a new apartment building on the site, though developer Branch Properties has not made a final determination as to whether they will retain the building.

The second Atlanta place to make the list encompasses an entire neighborhood.

The Druid Hills District and Olmsted Linear Park is threatened by increased demand for development. Designed by Frederick Law Olmsted—of Central Park fame—the district has been called “the finest example of late 19th and early 20th Century comprehensive planning and development in the Atlanta area, and one of the finest period suburbs in the Southeast” by the U.S. Department of the Interior.

But densification and destruction of old homes in the district could change the character of the neighborhood forever.

The Georgia Trust

In addition to Atlanta’s sites, statewide the list includes:

• A.J Gillen Department Store - Maxeys (Oglethorpe County)
• Bibb City Elementary - Columbus (Muscogee County)
• Cuthbert Water Tower - Cuthbert (Randolph County)
• Fire Station No. 2 - Rome (Floyd County)
• Fort Valley Freight Depot - Fort Valley (Peach County)
• Foster-Thomason-Miller House - Madison (Morgan County)
• Kit Jones Vessel - Darien (McIntosh County)
• Underground Savannah - Savannah (Chatham County)

While the list may evoke melancholy for statewide preservationists, plans are already in place to stabilize two of the buildings, and with the help of the Georgia Trust, hopefully all 10 on the list can be saved, like many others from previous years.

• 2018 PLACES IN PERIL [The Georgia Trust]
• Georgia's 10 most endangered historic structures revealed [Curbed Atlanta]