Hello World!
Yesterday, I was chatting it up with a teenager at my church. She moved from L.A. about a year or so ago and forthrightly told me that she plans to return to her hometown as soon as she finishes high school and will attend UCLA or Pepperdine University. And then she started listing reasons why she loves L.A. and is not as enthralled about the A…As she eloquently listed her reasons from the A’s lack of a beach to most of her family living in L.A., I found myself being slightly ruffled while trying to appear understanding…But then again, after she finished, I got it…I love my city too…Most people who grew up in a particular city or hometown have an affinity for it like other…Although I was born in Hays, Kansas and my family hails from the best Caribbean isle in the world – Jamaica, I have lived in the A since I was six years old and claim it as my hometown…
A friend of mine hipped me to this cool website last week named Atlanta Time Machine, which includes pictures of various structures and interesting locales the city from years pasts juxtaposed with the same structures and locales now. Read an article about how the website came to be here.
Below are a few pictures from the website…
This theater was located in the infamous West End, specifically 960 Ralph David Abernathy Blvd., SW, which was named Gordon Street in 1946…
And y’all see how times have changed…the same location as of 2004…
A pic of the Decatur branch of the First National Bank located in downtown Decatur or the Dec if you are straight from the A…apparently no date information is available about this postcard, but obviously it was long time ago…
And the same location as of 2004…no bank in sight…
I did not know that the A has a replica of the White House…it’s located at 3687 Briarcliff Road NE…I might have to check that out…Someone needs to invite President Obama to take a look if it hasn’t been done already…
You know I had to post a picture of a church…This is Mt. Moriah Baptist Church as of 1963 located at the 200 Ashby Street SW…
And now 200 Ashby Street SW is 200 Joseph E. Lowery Boulevard…Hmm, I prefer the older architecture…what say you?
To peruse more of these wonderful photographs, please go to the website…
And now I will offer my Top Ten Ways to Know if the A is Your Hometown…
10. You remember the A before the 1996 Summer Olympics…It seems that the A attracted so many people after the Olympics that fateful and beautiful summer of 1996, but I think the A was a world-class city even before…
9. You remember when Donald Lee Hollowell Parkway was Bankhead Highway and Metropolitan Parkway was Stewart Avenue…Although the names have changed, I still think Bankhead Highway and Stewart Avenue when I am driving on these thoroughfares…
8. You remember Freaknik at its prime…Read my post about Freaknik memories…
7. You remember when black people did not live in Clayton County…
6. You remember when no one had heard of T.I., the self-proclaimed King of the South and Ludacris was a radio deejay named Chris Lova Lova. And you remember when rapper Kilo Ali was on the rise and everything Raheem the Dream made was the jam…
5. And speaking of jams, you remember the show “Atlanta Jams,” a A-version of “Soul Train.” I once appeared on the show, and yes, Mom, that would mean that I did visit a night club before I turned 18 years old…Sorry Mom, I had to do it..
4. And speaking of night clubs, you remember Mr. V’s Figure 8 on Campbellton Road…I don’t think I actually visited the night club because it was one of the hot spots in the ’80s and the early ’90s…but I do remember passing by the night club and wondering what went on there as I sat in the back seat of my parents car…
5. You rode in the Pink Pig ride on top of the now closed Rich’s department store in downtown…
4. You remember the first Martin Luther King Jr. holiday celebration after it became an official federal holiday..Thank you Lord!
3. You remember being scared Wayne Williams was going to snatch you out of your bed in the middle of the night…Google him if you are not from the A…
2. You remember when nearly everyone you met in the A grew up in the A…
1. You remember the A before it the A or the ATL and was just simply Atlanta…
What do you remember? Any thoughts?
And I have to give a special shout out to DJ Smurf now known as Mr. Collipark! Benjamin E. Banneker High School Alum Baby…
You’re a native of Atlanta if you remember when
-V103’s tagline was that it was “the no rap radio station”
-the National Black Arts Festival was in Piedmont Park
-Turner Stadium was Fulton County Stadium
-the only reason to go to Marietta was to get a band uniform
-Six Flags had a dance club (I think it was called Sensations)
-there was a Sambo’s restaurant on Candler Road across from South Dekalb Mall
-I-20 was 4 lanes
-there was no train station at Lenox
-there was an ice skating rink at the Omni
-there was nothing but a gas station on Panola Road
-the Piedmont Driving Club was restricted (is it still?)
-Kessler’s was a clothing store and not a building of lofts
-East Lake Meadows was known as Lil Vietnam and not for golf
-I don’t remember that V-103 tagline…wow,that has really changed…
-I remember the National Black Arts Festival in Piedmont…
-Yep, I remember Fulton County Stadium
-Lol about Marietta
-I remember the dance club at Six Flags and remember Six Flags was the spot for Halloween weekend?
-I don’t remember Sambo’s restaurant…
-I remember 1-20 being four lanes
-Wow, I really don’t remember Lenox before the train station
-But I do remember the skating rink at the Omni, and I think I saw Disney on Ice there back in the day…
-Yep, Panola Road was just a road…
-Never heard of the Piedmont Driving Club…
-Sure do remember Kessler’s – really back in the day…
-Yep, East Lake Meadows has become civilized in recent days…thanks for the memories Joyce!