Briarcliff Plaza, also known as Ponce de Leon Plaza, is a

strip mall A strip mall, strip center or strip plaza is a type of shopping center common in North America 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. ...

-type shopping center designed by architect George Harwell Bond and opened in 1939 at the southwest corner of

Ponce de Leon Avenue Ponce de Leon Avenue ( ), often simply called Ponce, provides a link between Atlanta, Decatur, Clarkston, and Stone Mountain, Georgia. It was named for Ponce de Leon Springs, in turn from explorer Juan Ponce de León, but is not pronounced ...

and Highland Avenue in the Poncey-Highland

neighborhood of Atlanta : The city of Atlanta, Georgia is made up of 243 neighborhoods officially defined by the city. These neighborhoods are a mix of traditional neighborhoods, subdivisions, or groups of subdivisions. The neighborhoods are grouped by the city planni ...

. Braircliff Plaza was developed by Relnac Inc., and was proposed to cost $300,000. Construction began after the last home on the block was purchased by Relnac Inc., the Dr. Robin Adair estate, and Briarcliff Plaza opened throughout 1939 with businesses such as Dupree Dry Cleaners, Blick’s Bowling Alley, Holcomb Flowers, the Georgia Fruit & Vegetable Company and Nick Caruso’s Big Place which offered shoe repair, hat cleaning, pressing, repairing and hat cleaning.History Atlanta, "Plaza Theatre and Briarcliff Plaza"
/ref> It was Atlanta's first shopping center with off-street parking. It is anchored by the historic Plaza Theatre and Urban Outfitters.New Georgia Encyclopedia, "Shopping Center Architecture"
/ref> A portion of the historic plaza area was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 2020.

Druid Apartments

The Druid Apartments originally occupied the site. The $75,000 building was built in 1917 as a project of patent medicine magnate and real estate developer

George Francis Willis George Francis Willis (1880, Waynesville, North Carolina - July 20, 1932) was an American millionaire who made his fortunes with patent medicines. Biography Willis attended Bingham Military School in Asheville, North Carolina, and later moved t ...

. In 1920, Forrest and

George Adair George Washington Adair (March 1, 1823 – September 29, 1899) was a real-estate developer in post Civil War Atlanta. Early life Col George Washington Adair was born 1 Mar 1823, of Scots-Irish parentage in rural Morgan County, Georgia. His pa ...

brokered a deal whereby Willis sold the apartments for $125,000 to Alex F. Marcus and Charles F. Ursenbach - both brothers-in-law of

Leo Frank Leo Max Frank (April 17, 1884August 17, 1915) was an American factory superintendent who was convicted in 1913 of the murder of a 13-year-old employee, Mary Phagan, in Atlanta, Georgia. His trial, conviction, and appeals attracted national at ...

,"And the Dead Shall Rise", Steve Oney
/ref> who had famously been lynched in 1915.

External links

"Plaza Drugs through the ages", ''Pecanne Log'' (Atlanta history blog)"Plaza Theatre & Briarcliff Plaza", ''History Atlanta'' (Atlanta history website)
h1>

References

{{coord, 33.7733, -84.3530, type:landmark_region:US-GA, display=title Buildings and structures in Fulton County, Georgia Shopping malls established in 1939 Buildings and structures in Atlanta Shopping malls in the Atlanta metropolitan area Landmarks in Atlanta George Harwell Bond buildings 1939 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state) National Register of Historic Places in Fulton County, Georgia