Bankhead is a neighborhood located west of downtown
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
,
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to the ...
. It is surrounded by
Grove Park to the west,
Washington Park and
Hunter Hills Hunter Hills is a neighborhood located west of downtown Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Its motto, "One Community, One Family", has been its cornerstone since 2001. The neighborhood is encompassed in the 30314 zip code. Hunter Hills shares borde ...
to the south. To the east and northeast are Hills Park,
Knight Park
A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...
,
English Avenue and Blandtown. It is also flanked by Rockdale to the northwest. At its center is
MARTA's
Bankhead station and the city's
Maddox Park
Maddox Park is a community park located in the west side of Atlanta (in the Bankhead neighborhood), across Donald Lee Hollowell Parkway from Bankhead MARTA station. It is approximately west of Georgia Tech. The park has an existing rail line r ...
. The neighborhood schools are
The B.E.S.T. Academy
The B.E.S.T. Academy at Benjamin S. Carson (BEST) was opened in Atlanta, Georgia, United States in August 2007. For a short time the academy was simply referred to as "the boys' single gender academy," but was later named by its first principal, C ...
, Grove Park Elementary, A.D. Williams Elementary School,
Carter G. Woodson
Carter Godwin Woodson (December 19, 1875April 3, 1950) was an American historian, author, journalist, and the founder of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH). He was one of the first scholars to study the h ...
Elementary School, Alfred Blalock Elementary School, and Frederick Douglass High School.
The neighborhood's name comes from
Bankhead Highway, a thoroughfare that has since been renamed the
Donald Lee Hollowell Parkway (for a civil rights attorney who lived near Bankhead in the nearby affluent and historic
Collier Heights neighborhood).
The boundaries of Bankhead are Jefferson Street to the north (a few blocks North of Donald Lee Hollowell Parkway), Joseph E. Boone Blvd to the south, Joseph E. Lowery Blvd to the east and Chappell Rd to the west.
Culture
Bankhead is also the former home to artists
T.I.,
Young Dro
D'Juan Montrel Hart (born January 15, 1979), better known by his stage name Young Dro, is an American rapper. After gaining recognition with his regional hit song "Yes Sir", from his 2002 independent album ''I Got That Dro'', Young Dro aligned ...
,
P$C
PSC or Pimp Squad Click (stylized as P$C or Pimp $quad Click), is an American hip hop group from Bankhead, Atlanta, Georgia. Formed in 2001, the group was originally composed of six members, southern rappers Big Kuntry King, Mac Boney, C-Rod, ...
,
Dem Franchize Boyz
Dem Franchize Boyz was an American hip hop group from Atlanta, signed to E1 Music. The group had four members: Parlae (born Maurice Gleaton), Pimpin' (Jamal Willingham), Jizzal Man (Bernard Leverette), and Buddie (Gerald Tiller). They were best ...
,
Shop Boyz, and
D4L
D4L (an acronym of Down For Life) was an American hip hop group formed in 2003, composed of Atlanta-based rappers Fabo, Mook-B, Stoney, and Shawty Lo. They are best known for their 2005 hit single " Laffy Taffy", which peaked at number one o ...
,
Shawty Lo
Carlos Rico Walker (March 22, 1976 – September 21, 2016), better known as Shawty Lo, was an American rapper from Atlanta, Georgia.
He initially came to prominence as a founding member of the Southern hip hop group D4L, and in 2000 founded D4 ...
also claims he is from Bankhead in the Bowen Homes housing projects which is located in the Brookview Heights neighborhood.
The 1990s
Bankhead Bounce
The Bankhead Bounce is a dance that originated in a neighborhood on the west side of Atlanta known as Bankhead. The dance was popularized by a song named "Wassup Wassup" by A-Town Players ( rapper L. "Diamond" Atkins, featuring D-Roc ) that was ...
dance, performed by
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...
at the 1995 MTV Music Video Awards, was named after the neighborhood.
See also
*
Bankhead Courts
Bankhead Courts was a public housing complex located in Bankhead, Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It was demolished in 2011, with the ultimate plan of redevelopment into a mixed-income community, although as of 2018, development has not yet occ ...
- a demolished public housing complex.
References
Neighborhoods in Atlanta
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