Little Five Points
Encyclopedia
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
, Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, 2½ miles (4 km) east of downtown
Downtown Atlanta
Downtown Atlanta is the first and largest of the three financial districts in the city of Atlanta. Downtown Atlanta is the location of many corporate or regional headquarters, city, county, state and federal government facilities, sporting facilities, and is the central tourist attraction of the city...
. It was established in the early 1900s as the commercial district
Commercial district
A commercial district or commercial zone is any part of a city or town in which the primary land use is commercial activities , as opposed to a residential neighbourhood, an industrial zone, or other types of neighbourhoods...
for the adjacent Inman Park
Inman Park
Inman Park was planned in the late 1880s by Joel Hurt, a civil engineer and real-estate developer who intended to create a rural oasis connected to the city by the first of Atlanta's electric streetcar lines. The East Atlanta Land Company acquired and developed more than 130 acres east of the city...
and Candler Park
Candler Park
Candler Park is a 55-acre city park located at 585 Candler Park Drive NE, in Atlanta, Georgia. It is named after Coca-Cola magnate Asa Griggs Candler, who donated this land to the city in 1922...
neighborhoods to the west and east. It is home to many of the city's older retail stores, restaurant
Restaurant
A restaurant is an establishment which prepares and serves food and drink to customers in return for money. Meals are generally served and eaten on premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services...
s, bars, theater companies, and music venue
Music venue
A music venue is any location used for a concert or musical performance. Music venues range in size and location, from an outdoor bandshell or bandstand or a concert hall to an indoor sports stadium. Typically, different types of venues host different genres of music...
s. L5P is also known for the alternative culture
Alternative culture
Alternative culture is a type of culture that exists outside or on the fringes of mainstream or popular culture, usually under the domain of one or more subcultures...
that it brings to the city of Atlanta.
By the 1970s, Little Five Points had fallen into disrepair. A revitalization began as urban pioneers (see gentrification
Gentrification
Gentrification and urban gentrification refer to the changes that result when wealthier people acquire or rent property in low income and working class communities. Urban gentrification is associated with movement. Consequent to gentrification, the average income increases and average family size...
) moved into the then-cheap neighborhood and restored the Victorian-style
Victorian architecture
The term Victorian architecture refers collectively to several architectural styles employed predominantly during the middle and late 19th century. The period that it indicates may slightly overlap the actual reign, 20 June 1837 – 22 January 1901, of Queen Victoria. This represents the British and...
homes. By 1981, local merchants formed the Little Five Points Partnership to continue the restoration
Building restoration
Building restoration describes a particular treatment approach and philosophy within the field of architectural conservation. According the U.S...
and expansion of the retail area, turning what was formerly a gas station into the "484 retail area" — several retail shops aligned in strip-mall
Strip mall
A strip mall is an open-area shopping center where the stores are arranged in a row, with a sidewalk in front. Strip malls are typically developed as a unit and have large parking lots in front...
style.
Layout
The name is a reference to Five PointsFive Points (Atlanta)
Five Points is a district of Atlanta, Georgia, United States, the primary reference for the downtown area. The name refers to the convergence of Marietta Street, Edgewood Avenue, Decatur Street, and two legs of Peachtree Street Five Points is a district of Atlanta, Georgia, United States, the...
, which is the center of downtown Atlanta. "Little" Five Points refers to the intersection
Intersection (road)
An intersection is a road junction where two or more roads either meet or cross at grade . An intersection may be 3-way - a T junction or fork, 4-way - a crossroads, or 5-way or more...
at the center of the neighborhood. Two points are provided by Moreland Avenue (U.S. 23 and Georgia 42), which runs perfectly north/south, and forms the county
County (United States)
In the United States, a county is a geographic subdivision of a state , usually assigned some governmental authority. The term "county" is used in 48 of the 50 states; Louisiana is divided into parishes and Alaska into boroughs. Parishes and boroughs are called "county-equivalents" by the U.S...
line dividing Fulton
Fulton County, Georgia
Fulton County is a county located in the U.S. state of Georgia. Its county seat is Atlanta, the state capital since 1868 and the principal county of the Atlanta metropolitan area...
and DeKalb
DeKalb County, Georgia
DeKalb County is a county located in the U.S. state of Georgia. The population of the county was 691,893 at the 2010 census. Its county seat is the city of Decatur. It is bordered to the west by Fulton County and contains roughly 10% of the city of Atlanta...
. Two points are provided by Euclid
Euclid
Euclid , fl. 300 BC, also known as Euclid of Alexandria, was a Greek mathematician, often referred to as the "Father of Geometry". He was active in Alexandria during the reign of Ptolemy I...
Avenue, which runs northeast/southwest. The fifth point was originally Seminole
Seminole
The Seminole are a Native American people originally of Florida, who now reside primarily in that state and Oklahoma. The Seminole nation emerged in a process of ethnogenesis out of groups of Native Americans, most significantly Creeks from what is now Georgia and Alabama, who settled in Florida in...
Avenue, which met the intersection from the northwest, but the Seminole point was converted to a plaza and there is no longer a five-point intersection, though some regard McLendon Avenue, extending east from Euclid's southern intersection at Moreland, as the new fifth point.
Little Five Points is surrounded by the Inman Park
Inman Park
Inman Park was planned in the late 1880s by Joel Hurt, a civil engineer and real-estate developer who intended to create a rural oasis connected to the city by the first of Atlanta's electric streetcar lines. The East Atlanta Land Company acquired and developed more than 130 acres east of the city...
, Edgewood
Edgewood (Atlanta)
Edgewood is a neighborhood located on the east side of Atlanta, Georgia, United States, located approximately three miles east of downtown Atlanta.-History:...
, Candler Park
Candler Park
Candler Park is a 55-acre city park located at 585 Candler Park Drive NE, in Atlanta, Georgia. It is named after Coca-Cola magnate Asa Griggs Candler, who donated this land to the city in 1922...
and Poncey-Highland
Poncey-Highland
Poncey-Highland is a neighborhood on the east side of Atlanta, Georgia, located south of Virginia-Highland. It so named because it is near the intersection of east/west Ponce de Leon Avenue and north/southwest North Highland Avenue. This Atlanta neighborhood was established between 1905 and 1930,...
neighborhoods of Atlanta. Immediately to the south on Moreland, just through the DeKalb Avenue and Georgia Railroad underpass, is the Edgewood Retail District, a late-2000s urban infill land development
Land development
Land development refers to altering the landscape in any number of ways such as:* changing landforms from a natural or semi-natural state for a purpose such as agriculture or housing...
of former Atlanta Gas Light Company land. This provides the area its big-box stores (Lowe's
Lowe's
Lowe's Companies, Inc. is a U.S.-based chain of retail home improvement and appliance stores. Founded in 1946 in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, the chain now serves more than 14 million customers a week in its 1,710 stores in the United States and 20 in Canada. Expansion into Canada began in...
, Target, Kroger
Kroger
The Kroger Co. is an American supermarket chain founded by Bernard Kroger in 1883 in Cincinnati, Ohio. It reported US$ 76.7 billion in sales during fiscal year 2009. It is the country's largest grocery store chain and its second-largest grocery retailer by volume and second-place general retailer...
, Ross
Ross Dress For Less
Ross Stores, Inc. , is a chain of American off-price department stores headquartered in Pleasanton, California, operating under the name Ross Dress for Less. It is the third largest off-price retailer in the United States, behind T.J. Maxx and Marshalls, both of which are owned by TJX Companies.As...
, Best Buy
Best Buy
Best Buy Co., Inc. is an American specialty retailer of consumer electronics in the United States, accounting for 19% of the market. It also operates in Mexico, Canada & China. The company's subsidiaries include Geek Squad, CinemaNow, Magnolia Audio Video, Pacific Sales, and, in Canada operates...
, Office Depot
Office Depot
Office Depot is a supplier of office products and provides many services. The company's selection of brand name office supplies includes business machines, computers, computer software and office furniture, while its business services encompass copying, printing, document reproduction, shipping,...
and others), mostly at the opposite end of the spectrum from the historic Little Five Points. However, its smaller shops constructed along Caroline Street, although occupied by many chain store
Chain store
Chain stores are retail outlets that share a brand and central management, and usually have standardized business methods and practices. These characteristics also apply to chain restaurants and some service-oriented chain businesses. In retail, dining and many service categories, chain businesses...
s, are done in a small-town "main street
Main Street
Main Street is the metonym for a generic street name of the primary retail street of a village, town, or small city in many parts of the world...
" style (but with underground parking), and the entire development is done in brick
Brick
A brick is a block of ceramic material used in masonry construction, usually laid using various kinds of mortar. It has been regarded as one of the longest lasting and strongest building materials used throughout history.-History:...
, as Little Five Points originally was.
Life
It is home to metro-wide indie radio station WRFGWRFG (FM)
WRFG is a local indie radio format, public FM broadcasting station licensed to the city of Atlanta, Georgia, transmitting on a frequency of 89.3 MHz...
FM 89.3, two independent bookstores (Charis Books and More and A Cappella Books), record stores (Criminal Records, Wax'n'Facts), coffee shop
Café
A café , also spelled cafe, in most countries refers to an establishment which focuses on serving coffee, like an American coffeehouse. In the United States, it may refer to an informal restaurant, offering a range of hot meals and made-to-order sandwiches...
s (Java Lords, Aurora Coffee, Starbucks
Starbucks
Starbucks Corporation is an international coffee and coffeehouse chain based in Seattle, Washington. Starbucks is the largest coffeehouse company in the world, with 17,009 stores in 55 countries, including over 11,000 in the United States, over 1,000 in Canada, over 700 in the United Kingdom, and...
), a health and wellness center (Sweetgrass Wellness Spring), new and used clothing
Clothing
Clothing refers to any covering for the human body that is worn. The wearing of clothing is exclusively a human characteristic and is a feature of nearly all human societies...
stores (Rag-O-Rama), novelty shops (Junkman's Daughter), a new-age
New Age
The New Age movement is a Western spiritual movement that developed in the second half of the 20th century. Its central precepts have been described as "drawing on both Eastern and Western spiritual and metaphysical traditions and then infusing them with influences from self-help and motivational...
shop (Crystal Blue), a locally owned credit union
Credit union
A credit union is a cooperative financial institution that is owned and controlled by its members and operated for the purpose of promoting thrift, providing credit at competitive rates, and providing other financial services to its members...
(B.O.N.D Credit Union ), a natural foods store (Sevananda Natural Foods Market ), an independent pharmacy
Pharmacy
Pharmacy is the health profession that links the health sciences with the chemical sciences and it is charged with ensuring the safe and effective use of pharmaceutical drugs...
, and independent record labels (DB Records
DB Records
DB Records is a record label owned by Danny Beard. The label's headquarters reside in the Wax N Facts record store in the Atlanta, Georgia neighborhood of Little Five Points.-History:In 1978, Danny Beard helped some friends in an Athens, Georgia rock band...
) and Shut Eye Records & Agency, three theaters (7Stages, Dad's Garage Theatre Company, and Horizon Theatre), a major music venue (Variety Playhouse
Variety Playhouse
Variety Playhouse is a music venue in the Little Five Points neighborhood of Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It is located on Euclid Avenue and features a variety of music acts including rock, country, folk, bluegrass, jazz, blues and world music as well as other live shows.-Details:The building...
), a community music school (The Little 5 Points Music Center ), a smoking store (42°), and several local restaurants and bars. The neighborhood is featured in the Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network is a name of television channels worldwide created by Turner Broadcasting which used to primarily show animated programming. The channel began broadcasting on October 1, 1992 in the United States....
show Class of 3000
Class of 3000
Class of 3000 is an American animated television series on Cartoon Network that was created by, was executively produced by, and starred André 3000 of the Hip Hop group OutKast as superstar and music teacher Sunny Bridges, set at Atlanta, Georgia's Westley School of Performing Arts. Mr...
as well as the Internet Girls series of books by Lauren Myracle
Lauren Myracle
Lauren Myracle is an American author of young adult books. She is the oldest of three sisters and has three older brothers. She grew up in Atlanta, Georgia where she attended Trinity School and The Westminster Schools...
, who mentions by name several of the businesses in Little Five Points.
Little Five points is home to a large celebration every Halloween
Halloween
Hallowe'en , also known as Halloween or All Hallows' Eve, is a yearly holiday observed around the world on October 31, the night before All Saints' Day...
. Bands play in the square, local vendors sell arts and crafts
Arts and crafts
Arts and crafts comprise a whole host of activities and hobbies that are related to making things with one's hands and skill. These can be sub-divided into handicrafts or "traditional crafts" and "the rest"...
, and the highlight of the celebration is the Little Five Points Halloween Parade. The parade
Parade
A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, floats or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually celebrations of some kind...
features local celebrities, biker
Motorcycling
Motorcycling is the act of riding a motorcycle. A variety of subcultures and lifestyles have been built up around motorcycling.-Benefits:Robert M. Pirsig's book Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance was a paean celebrating motorcycling...
s in costume, live music, hearse
Hearse
A hearse is a funerary vehicle used to carry a coffin from a church or funeral home to a cemetery. In the funeral trade, hearses are often called funeral coaches.-History:...
s, several local marching band
Marching band
Marching band is a physical activity in which a group of instrumental musicians generally perform outdoors and incorporate some type of marching with their musical performance. Instrumentation typically includes brass, woodwinds, and percussion instruments...
s, and many parade floats that are put together by community action groups and local businesses.
The book The Highs & Lows of Little Five: A History of Little Five Points (ISBN 9781596298743) was released in February 2010.
External links
- http://www.little5points.com/
- Map from Google Maps
- History of Inman Park - Little Five Points
- Shut Eye Records & Agency (L5P)
- Saralyn Chesnut, Amanda C. Gable, and Elizabeth Anderson, "Atlanta's Charis Books and More: Histories of a Feminist Space", Southern Spaces, 3 November 2009.