Cumberland is an
edge city
''Edge city'' is a term that originated in the United States for a concentration of business, shopping, and entertainment outside a traditional downtown or central business district, in what had previously been a suburban residential or rur ...
in
Cobb County
Cobb County is a county in the U.S. state of Georgia, located in the Atlanta metropolitan area in the north central portion of the state. As of 2020 Census, the population was 766,149. Its county seat and largest city is Marietta.
Along with ...
located in an
unincorporated area
An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...
of the northwest
Atlanta metropolitan area
Metro Atlanta, designated by the United States Office of Management and Budget as the Atlanta–Sandy Springs–Alpharetta, GA Metropolitan Statistical Area, is the most populous metropolitan statistical area in the U.S. state of Georgia and the ...
, Georgia, United States. It is situated northwest of
downtown Atlanta
Downtown Atlanta is the central business district of Atlanta, Georgia, United States. The larger of the city's two other commercial districts ( Midtown and Buckhead), it is the location of many corporate and regional headquarters; city, county, s ...
. With approximately 122,000 workers and 103,000 residents, Cumberland is the region's fifth-largest business district, and is marked by several modern
skyscraper
A skyscraper is a tall continuously habitable building having multiple floors. Modern sources currently define skyscrapers as being at least or in height, though there is no universally accepted definition. Skyscrapers are very tall high-ris ...
s rising from the wooded hills above the freeways.
Geography
It is situated northwest of
downtown Atlanta
Downtown Atlanta is the central business district of Atlanta, Georgia, United States. The larger of the city's two other commercial districts ( Midtown and Buckhead), it is the location of many corporate and regional headquarters; city, county, s ...
at the junction of
I-75
Interstate 75 (I-75) is a major north–south Interstate Highway in the Great Lakes and Southeastern regions of the United States. As with most Interstates that end in 5, it is a major cross-country, north–south route, traveling from St ...
and
I-285 (the "Cobb Cloverleaf") in
Cobb County
Cobb County is a county in the U.S. state of Georgia, located in the Atlanta metropolitan area in the north central portion of the state. As of 2020 Census, the population was 766,149. Its county seat and largest city is Marietta.
Along with ...
. Although small portions lie within incorporated
Smyrna
Smyrna ( ; grc, Σμύρνη, Smýrnē, or , ) was a Greek city located at a strategic point on the Aegean coast of Anatolia. Due to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence, and its good inland connections, Smyrna rose to promi ...
, the majority of the area is unincorporated and shares
ZIP code 30339 with the
Vinings area, which the
United States Postal Service
The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal service in the U ...
assigns as an Atlanta mailing address, although "Vinings" is acceptable as an alternate. While there are no official boundaries (except for the CID, which is a 5½-square-mile area that includes the interchanges of I-75 (Exit#s 258,9,60) and I-285 (Exit#s 19,20), and U.S. Highway 41), the
business district
A central business district (CBD) is the commercial and business centre of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides with the "city ...
generally extends as far northeast as the Wildwood Office Park on Powers Ferry Road, and up
Cobb Parkway
U.S. Route 41 (US 41) is a part of the United States Numbered Highway System that runs from Miami, Florida, to the Upper Peninsula of the US state of Michigan. In the U.S. state of Georgia it travels from the Florida state line southea ...
, the district's
main street. Windy Hill Road is generally the northern extent of the district. To the south and west, it extends down
Cumberland Parkway
The Louie B. Nunn Cumberland Parkway is a east–west controlled-access highway in the U.S. state of Kentucky, extending from Barren County in the west to Somerset in the east. It is one of seven named highways designated in Kentucky's park ...
and
Paces Ferry Road
Through much of the 19th century, Pace's Ferry was an important ferry across the Chattahoochee River near Atlanta. Started in the early 1830s near Peachtree Creek, it was run by Hardy Pace, one of the city's founders. It was an important transpor ...
.
History
Cumberland has changed immensely over the past 50 years. From 1927 to 1960, the area contained
Camp Bert Adams
Bert Adams Scout Camp is a long-term overnight camp owned and operated by the Atlanta Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America. Bert Adams is located south of Covington, Georgia, situated on Lake Bulow Campbell; the camp is one of three major ...
, a
Boy Scout
A Scout (in some countries a Boy Scout, Girl Scout, or Pathfinder) is a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement. Because of the large age and development span, many Scouting associations have split ...
reservation which still has a road bearing its name in the Vinings vicinity (the camp moved in 1960 to a site south of
Covington). The area began seeing growth following
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, but major development did not occur until
Cumberland Mall opened as Georgia's largest and metro Atlanta's sixth enclosed regional mall in 1973. A decade later, the first office tower of
Cobb Galleria
Cobb Galleria is a large office park with six skyscrapers located in the Cumberland/ Vinings district of Cobb County in the U.S. state of Georgia. Its location is sandwiched between Marietta, Smyrna, Sandy Springs and the City of Atlanta. ...
was built on of prime space in what became the heart of the Cumberland district. This paved the way for several other towers,
retail strips and
hotel
A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a ref ...
s. In 1988, property owners formed the Cumberland Community Improvement District (Cumberland CID), the first in Georgia. The CID, a
self-taxing district, has raised millions and has completed several
infrastructure
Infrastructure is the set of facilities and systems that serve a country, city, or other area, and encompasses the services and facilities necessary for its economy, households and firms to function. Infrastructure is composed of public and priv ...
improvements in the area since its inception. During the summer of 1994, the Cobb-Marietta Exhibit Hall and Coliseum Authority built the $48 million
Cobb Galleria
Cobb Galleria is a large office park with six skyscrapers located in the Cumberland/ Vinings district of Cobb County in the U.S. state of Georgia. Its location is sandwiched between Marietta, Smyrna, Sandy Springs and the City of Atlanta. ...
Centre by renovating the existing mall there, and it has become another success for the district. A few small shopping centers were constructed in the mid-1990s, and a Cumberland Mall expansion and renovation was completed in 2006. Construction was completed on the
Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre
Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre is a performing arts venue located in the Cumberland/Galleria edge city, in northwest Atlanta, Georgia, United States. The $145 million facility celebrated its grand opening September 15, 2007, with a concert b ...
in late 2007, adding
nightlife
Nightlife is a collective term for entertainment that is available and generally more popular from the late evening into the early hours of the morning. It includes pubs, bars, nightclubs, parties, live music, concerts, cabarets, theatre, c ...
to the area. The
Atlanta Opera
The Atlanta Opera is an opera company located in the Atlanta metropolitan area. Founded in 1979, it produces mainstage opera productions and arts education programs for Metropolitan Atlanta and the Southeast.
In 2007, The Atlanta Opera moved into ...
, founded in 1979, moved its base to this location.
Transportation
The dominant form of transportation in Cumberland, as with most suburban edge cities, is the automobile, which is transported along a network of collector roads. Cumberland Boulevard encircles most of the area, and then continues northeast to Wildwood as Windy Ridge Parkway after crossing US Highway 41 (Cobb Parkway). Windy Ridge runs through the Interstate North office park, located immediately to the north of the interchange, and home to the Weather Channel. Interstate North Parkway runs parallel to 75 southeast to 285, then parallels it (and Powers Ferry) across the
Chattahoochee River
The Chattahoochee River forms the southern half of the Alabama and Georgia border, as well as a portion of the Florida - Georgia border. It is a tributary of the Apalachicola River, a relatively short river formed by the confluence of the Chatta ...
. Akers Mill Road starts in the east at Powers Ferry, is broken by a stretch of Cumberland Boulevard, then continues west across 41. Circle 75 Parkway begins at Windy Hill Road, opposite the I-75 southbound off-ramp, and parallels the road until turning southwest along I-285, becoming Spring Road at 41 (and then Concord Road at Atlanta Road in Smyrna).
CobbLinc
CobbLinc (formerly Cobb Community Transit) is the bus public transit system in Cobb County, Georgia, one of metro Atlanta's three most populous suburban County (United States), counties. (The others are Gwinnett County, Georgia, Gwinnett County, ...
, Marietta/Cobb County's Transit System serves the District in addition to one
MARTA
Marta may refer to:
People
* Marta (given name), a feminine given name
* Märta, a feminine given name
* Marta (surname)
:István Márta composer
* Marta (footballer) (born 1986), Brazilian professional footballer
Places
* Marta (river), an ...
bus line making connections at the Cumberland/Galleria Transfer station. The former Louisville & Nashville (Now CSXT) mainline from Cincinnati to Atlanta, runs just west of Truist Park.
Economy
![Cumberland Atlanta](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e4/Cumberland_Atlanta.jpg)
Cumberland's office towers house some of the area's 24 million square feet (over 2.2 million square meters) of office space, containing more office space than
downtown Miami
Downtown Miami is the urban city center of Miami, Florida. The city's greater downtown region consists of the Central Business District, Brickell, the Historic District, Government Center, the Arts & Entertainment District, and Park West. It ...
and making it
metro Atlanta
Metro Atlanta, designated by the United States Office of Management and Budget as the Atlanta–Sandy Springs–Alpharetta, GA Metropolitan Statistical Area, is the most populous metropolitan statistical area in the U.S. state of Georgia and the ...
's fifth-largest commercial office district, after
Downtown
''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business distric ...
,
Midtown,
Buckhead
Buckhead is the uptown commercial and residential district of the city of Atlanta, Georgia, comprising approximately the northernmost fifth of the city. Buckhead is the third largest business district within the Atlanta city limits, behind Downt ...
, and
Perimeter Center
Perimeter Center is a major edge city in Atlanta metropolitan area, metro Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It is centered on Perimeter Mall, the nucleus around which it has formed. Perimeter Center is located north of Atlanta proper, and lies with ...
. Companies such as
Travelport
Travelport Worldwide Ltd provides distribution, technology, payment solutions for the travel and tourism industry. It is the smallest, by revenue, of the top three global distribution systems (GDS) after Amadeus IT Group and Sabre Corporation.
...
,
The Home Depot
The Home Depot, Inc., is an American multinational home improvement retail corporation that sells tools, construction products, appliances, and services, including fuel and transportation rentals. Home Depot is the largest home improvement re ...
,
Genuine Parts Company
Genuine Parts Company (GPC) is an American service organization engaged in the distribution of automotive replacement parts, industrial replacement parts, office products and electrical/electronic materials. GPC serves numerous customers from mor ...
,
Papa John's
Papa John's International, Inc., d/b/a Papa Johns, is an American pizza restaurant chain. It is the fourth largest pizza delivery restaurant chain in the United States, with headquarters in Louisville, Kentucky and Atlanta, Georgia metropolitan ...
,
RaceTrac
RaceTrac, Inc. is an American corporation that operates a chain of gasoline service stations across the Southern United States. The firm is Georgia's third largest private company, with sales of $9.1 billion in 2013.
History
The company was fou ...
, and
The Weather Channel
The Weather Channel (TWC) is an American pay television channel owned by Weather Group, LLC, a subsidiary of Allen Media Group. The channel's headquarters are in Atlanta, Georgia. Launched on May 2, 1982, the channel broadcasts weather forecas ...
are headquartered in the area. Cumberland also houses some ten million square feet (930,000m²) of retail, with its focal point being Cumberland Mall.
In 2017, the
Atlanta Braves
The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. The Braves ...
opened
Truist Park
Truist Park (originally SunTrust Park) is a baseball stadium in the Atlanta metropolitan area, approximately 10 miles (16 km) northwest of downtown Atlanta in the unincorporated community of Cumberland, in Cobb County, Georgia. Opened in 2 ...
and
The Battery Atlanta
The Battery Atlanta is a mixed-use development located in the Atlanta metropolitan area, approximately 10 miles (16 km) northwest of downtown Atlanta in the unincorporated community of Cumberland, in Cobb County, Georgia. It is adjacent to ...
, a mixed-use development surrounding the ballpark, at the west-northwest side of the interchange of I-75 and I-285, just north of Cobb Galleria, with a pedestrian bridge connecting both complexes.
Attractions
![SunTrust Park Opening Day 2017](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/87/SunTrust_Park_Opening_Day_2017.jpg)
*
Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area
Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area (CRNRA) preserves a series of sites between Atlanta and Lake Sidney Lanier along the Chattahoochee River in Georgia, U.S. The 48-mile (77 km) stretch of the river affords public recreation opportu ...
*
Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre
Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre is a performing arts venue located in the Cumberland/Galleria edge city, in northwest Atlanta, Georgia, United States. The $145 million facility celebrated its grand opening September 15, 2007, with a concert b ...
*
Cobb Galleria Centre
The Cobb Galleria Centre is a meeting and convention center in the Cumberland/Galleria district of Cobb County, northwest of Atlanta, Georgia, in the United States. It is also located next to a cluster of mid-rise office buildings, Cumberland Mal ...
*
Cumberland Mall
*
Silver Comet Trail
The Silver Comet Trail is a rail trail in west-northwestern Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States.
Route
The Silver Comet Trail is named for the ''Silver Comet (train), Silver Comet'' passenger train that traversed the same route from 1 ...
*
Truist Park
Truist Park (originally SunTrust Park) is a baseball stadium in the Atlanta metropolitan area, approximately 10 miles (16 km) northwest of downtown Atlanta in the unincorporated community of Cumberland, in Cobb County, Georgia. Opened in 2 ...
*
The Battery Atlanta
The Battery Atlanta is a mixed-use development located in the Atlanta metropolitan area, approximately 10 miles (16 km) northwest of downtown Atlanta in the unincorporated community of Cumberland, in Cobb County, Georgia. It is adjacent to ...
References
{{authority control
Unincorporated communities in Cobb County, Georgia
Unincorporated communities in Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia populated places on the Chattahoochee River
Edge cities in the Atlanta metropolitan area