By Ann Boutwell
Nov. 7, 1926: Buckhead’s Covenant Presbyterian Church opened its new $150,000 Gothic-style building designed by architect Charles H. Hopkins. The church had its beginnings in 1874 and was the city’s first downtown congregation to move to Buckhead. The 56-member congregation worshipped in a tent on Baker Street until 1904 when it dedicated and renamed the new church Harris Street Presbyterian Church. The church stands today at 2461 Peachtree Road on the corner of Terrace Drive. In August 2011 the Atlanta City Council renamed Harris Street to John Portman Boulevard.
Nov. 9, 1956: Mattiwilda Dobbs, daughter of Irene Thompson and John Wesley Dobbs and aunt of future Mayor Maynard Jackson, opens as Gilda in Rigoletto at the Metropolitan Opera. In that role she becomes the third African American to appear in New York’s most prestigious opera house, following Marian Anderson and Robert McFerrin, and the first to sing a principal romantic role.
Nov. 16, 1939: The Atlanta Chamber of Commerce launched Atlanta’s Civil War historical marker project. The plan placed 80 plaques in downtown Atlanta and in residential neighborhoods. In partnership with the Atlanta Convention and Tourist Bureau, the Chamber also published 10,000 copies of a booklet, with map and pictures, highlighting the city’s historical spots. It was rushed to completion by Dec. 15 and the premiere of Gone With the Wind at the Lowe’s Grand Theater on Peachtree Street, where the Georgia Pacific Center stands today.
Nov. 22, 1916: Oakland Cemetery unveils a monument honoring Moses W. Formwalt. He was Atlanta’s first mayor, elected Jan. 31, 1848. Formwalt died in 1852 and finally received a headstone 64 years later.
Nov. 23, 1940: Mayor Hartsfield dedicates Joel Hurt Park, the first new park in the downtown area since the Civil War. Hartsfield fights hard against opposition from downtown Atlanta real estate developers. His vision was to open a mall running all the way from the terminal station to the Atlanta Auditorium-Armory. The park remains, but both buildings are gone.
Nov. 28, 1995: Demolition of the sprawling red brick Scripto, Inc. factory in the Old Fourth Ward makes way for the Martin Luther King Jr. Historic District’s parking expansion. The Atlanta Company founded in 1923, began manufacturing mechanical pencils in 1931 at the 423 Houston St. site (today’s John Wesley Dobbs Avenue). By 1964, Scripto’s gated square-block expansion included the plant buildings, offices and research facilities.
Nov. 30, 1931: Greyhound Lines’ new ultra-modern buses paraded down old Cain Street (today’s Andrew Young International Boulevard) behind an oxcart, antique automobiles and old buses. The destination of the caravan was the new $260,000 Southeastern Greyhound Lines Bus Terminal, designed by Hal Hentz architect. The five-year project located behind the old Davison-Paxon Store on the corner of Cain and Williams streets was a joint effort of the Georgia Public Service Commission and Southeastern Greyhound. For 64 years the landmark building operated on this site. Before the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, Greyhound pulled out for a new location adjacent to the Garnett MARTA station. After the departure, the site was briefly an entertainment spot and then a public parking lot. In January 2004, John Portman’s AmericasMart purchased the two-acre site and razed the terminal for a major expansion.
