Historic Street Address
When compared to some American towns and cities, Athens has changed relatively little. Then and now, Broad Street divides a bustling downtown from the University of Georgia's North Campus. Running North and South, Milledge Avenue and Lumpkin Street separate local neighborhoods. The 1904 and 1923 - 1924 City Directories both include detailed information on the town's layout, and are excellent sources for those attempting to find a historic address. In order to map historic residential addresses, we have matched old streets with their modern equivalents, and have listed some of the street changes below:
Street Names
Berry Street --> Near the intersection of Strong Street & Foundry Street.
Brooklyn --> A historic African-American community located near Broad Street & Hawthorne Avenue. Brooklyn Cemetery is in this neighborhood.
Cherry Street --> A little alley way off modern-day Lyndon Street, just before Dubose Avenue. For mapping purposes, these address points are located at the intersection of Lyndon Street & Dubose Avenue.
Glen Avenue --> A short street near North Billups Street & Glenhaven Avenue.
Grace Street --> Grace Street no longer exists, but it was very close to the corner of Elizabeth Street & Willow Street.
Lyndon Row --> A part of the Linnentown Community, located near modern-day Church Street & Peabody Street. In the 1960s, the University of Georgia and the City of Athens, razed this thriving African-American community in the name of "urban renewal." UGA's Russell Hall, Creswell Hall and Brumby Hall now sit on this site. Formed in 2020, the Linnentown Project seeks to bring awareness and redress this problem.
Princeton or Princeton Factory --> Comprised of mostly white, working-class men and women, this neighborhood surrounded a textile mill. Located on the southern edge of town, "the mill building is a large two-story brick structure well lighted and afford ing ample room for the machinery. Thirty-five hundred spindles and one hundred looms are in operation. The motive power is drawn from the Middle Oconee River at this point where a large dam with 15 feet fall gives nearly 500 gross horse power." In 1893, 225 people lived in this community and, according to Charles Morton Strahan, "most of it is built on the lands of the Princeton mills. It takes its character from the presence of the cotton mill, in which most of the inhabitants are employed. Two stores, a school, a church and Sunday school and a blacksmith shop are also found at this point." Today, its modern address would be near Old Will Hunter Road & Macon Highway.
Water Street --> Down along the North Oconee River, Water Street has been renamed Dr. Martin Luther King Parkway.
Whitehall --> A company town build around the Georgia Manufacturing Company, a cotton mill. "Occupying the centre of the district and incorporated under a mayor and council is the flourishing town of White hall," noted Charles Morton Strahan. "The town is essentially a factory town, being peopled almost entirely by the operatives of the Georgia factory. . . The population of Whitehall is about400. The town has two good church buildings and supports two excellent schools. It contain likewise a fine grist mill, several stores selling general merchandise, and a good blacksmith shop." This community is located near present-day White Circle and Whitehall Road.
Historic Street Maps
1852 Map: Map drawn by W. L. Mitchell, signed in October 1852. Source: Hargrett Rare Book & Manuscript Library, University of Georgia (Athens, Georgia).
1874 Map: Map drawn by W.W. Thomas in October 1874. Source: Hargrett Rare Book & Manuscript Library, University of Georgia (Athens, Georgia).
1895 Map: Map of the City of Athens in 1895, drawn by William Barnett. Source: Hargrett Rare Book & Manuscript Library, University of Georgia (Athens, Georgia).
1925 Map: Map of the City of Athens in 1925, produced by Warren H. Manning Offices, Inc., Landscape Design and Regional Planning, Cambridge, Massachusetts. This map illustrates the spatial dynamics of racial segregation. Source: Hargrett Rare Book & Manuscript Library, University of Georgia (Athens, Georgia).
1944 Map: Map of the City of Athens in 1944, by city engineer J.G. Beacham. Source: Hargrett Rare Book & Manuscript Library, University of Georgia (Athens, Georgia).
Note: These maps have been georeferenced by the Center for Geospatial Research at the University of Georgia, and are available for free download here.
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