3 Beautifully Historic Reasons to visit Terminus Atlanta

Starting from the mid-1700s to the present, Terminus Atlanta has been a hub of societal development breaking political borders.

There's so much to talk about in regards to Terminus: the MARTA, a citywide fire and an urban tornado, even the Gone with the Wind premiere. Terminus' history is rich with Georgia's red (as its clay), entrepreneurial spirit, like these next three sites.

Coca-Cola

Atlanta has probably been most well-known as the home of Coca-Cola since its creation in 1886 by Fulton County's John Pemberton. It was first sold at Jacob's Pharmacy on Courtland Street. A man by the name of Asa Griggs Candler incorporated a stake he acquired (1887) in Pemberton's business into what is now known as the Coca Cola Company (1888). Candler later incorporated The Coca-Cola Company (1892), which is the current corporation -- the original headquarters still stands today as an on-campus church for Georgia State University. Only 50 years afterward, Coca-Cola was a nationwide icon in the United States. The World of Coca-Cola opened in 1991 and has been Atlanta's most visited attraction ever since.

Sweet Auburn Avenue

After the Race Riot in 1906, Blacks began relocating downtown from the Piedmont area to Atlanta's Fourth Ward. There, Blacks had many "firsts" with the first black-owned company for life insurance and being dubbed the wealthiest black street in the world by Fortune Mag in 1956. Sweet Auburn was home to civil rights leaders like John Wesley Dobbs and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Many colleges were founded, along with clubs, churches, news shops, and various businesses - all Black owned establishments. You can still see where a majority of the shops were (and, in some cases, are) and every year, Atlanta celebrates those accomplishments with the Sweet Auburn Festival, usually held in early May - this year the festival falls on the 9^th to 11^th.

Centennial Olympic Park

The International Olympic Committee chose Atlanta as the 3^rd host city for the 1996 Centennial Summer Olympic Games in 1990. They spent the next years improving everything in the city from parks to transit conditions to sports buildings in preparation for the big event. However, those games are most remembered for the bombing by Eric Robert Rudolph. Since then, fortunately, the park has been refurnished and brought back to its carnival-like glory originally intended for the games. The Georgia Dome, Phillips Arena, CNN Center, Georgia Aquarium, and World of Coca-Cola all surround Centennial Olympic Park - there's even a Ferris Wheel from England beside it now. Numerous small events are held in the park and locals can't help but visit at least during the summer months for a romp through the Olympic Rings fountain and on the ice skating rink during the winter ones.

As you walk through the streets on a visit to Terminus Atlanta, you'll see old and new almost seamlessly mixed together. It's an example of living history - the stories always growing longer and ending at eternity.