Although many Atlantans may refer to the south side of Atlanta, Georgia as "South Atlanta", South Atlanta is in fact an officially defined neighborhood of the city of Atlanta within the south side, and one rich in African-American history. It is bounded on the northeast by the railroad and the Chosewood Park

Chosewood Park

Chosewood Park is a neighborhood in southeast Atlanta, Georgia. It is located south of Peoplestown and Grant Park, west of Boulevard Heights and Benteen Park, northwest of Thomasville Heights and the Atlanta federal penitentiary, and northeast of South Atlanta and Lakewood Heights...

 neighborhood; on the northwest by the railroad and the BeltLine

Beltline

The Beltline is a region of central Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The area is located immediately to the south of Calgary's downtown , and is sometimes considered part of downtown...

 and the Peoplestown

Peoplestown

Peoplestown is a Victorian streetcar-era neighborhood just south of Turner Field and central Atlanta. It is bounded by:* Ormond Street and the Summerhill neighborhood on the north,* Hill Street and the Grant Park neighborhood on the east,...

 neighborhood, on the west by High Point

High Point (Atlanta)

High Point is a neighborhood of Atlanta on the south side of the city, south of the BeltLine and the neighborhood of Peoplestown, west of South Atlanta and the Villages at Carver, north of Joytown and east of Capitol View Manor. It is a small planned community containing primarily newly constructed...

 and the Villages at Carver, and on the south mostly by Turman Street and the Lakewood Heights

Lakewood Heights (Atlanta)

Lakewood Heights is a neighborhood in southeast Atlanta. It is bounded by:* the Betmar LaVilla, the Villages at Carver, and South Atlanta neighborhoods on the north,* the Chosewood Park neighborhood on the northeast,...

 neighborhood.

History

South Atlanta was originally known as Brownsville. Author Ray Stannard Baker in The Atlanta Riot described it in 1907, which today reeks of condescension, but nonetheless illustrates the industriousness of Brownsville at the time:

When I went out to Brownsville, knowing of its bloody part in the riot, I expected to find a typical negro slum. I looked for squalor, ignorance, vice. And I was surprised to find a large settlement of negroes practically every one of whom owned his own home, some of the houses being as attractive without and as well furnished within as the ordinary homes of middleclass white people. Near at hand, surrounded by beautiful grounds, were two negro colleges — Clark University and Gammon Theological Seminary. The post office was kept by a negro. There were several stores owned by negroes. The schoolhouse, though supplied with teachers by the county, was built wholly with money personally contributed by the negroes of the neighborhood, in order that there might be adequate educational facilities for their children. They had three churches and not a saloon. The residents were all of the industrious, property-owning sort, bearing the best reputation among white people who knew them.

Clark University

Clark Atlanta University

Clark Atlanta University is a private, historically black university in Atlanta, Georgia. It was formed in 1988 with the consolidation of Clark College and Atlanta University...

 (founded in 1869), moved to a site in South Atlanta in 1883, establishing Gammon Seminary Theological Seminary the same year. In 1941 Clark departed to its present location near Downtown Atlanta

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...

when it joined the Atlanta University system. It served as a cultural, religious and community anchor in South Atlanta. Its importance was magnified by the fact that at the time, black artists and performers has little opportunity to perform in the South except on black college campuses, and black audiences had little access to "white" cultural activities. Brownsville became an “elite” black community during segregation.

In addition, between 1894–1915, South Atlanta benefited from the development of Lakewood Park and its agricultural fairs which were held annually 1916–1975.