Henry Irby (January 26, 1807 – February 20, 1879) was an American farmer who is credited with founding the city of

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 ...

in what is now

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 ...

Biography

The son of a harness maker, Irby was born in York County,

South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

, on January 26, 1807. In 1833, he married Sardis Walraven, with whom he had two sons. He later moved to Georgia for unknown reasons. On December 18, 1838, Daniel Johnson sold Irby 202.5 acres of land (known as Land Lot No. 99) in what later became Buckhead for $650. Soon after this purchase, Irby established what became known as Irby's Tavern, a combination of a

tavern A tavern is a place of business where people gather to drink alcoholic beverages and be served food such as different types of roast meats and cheese, and (mostly historically) where travelers would receive lodging. An inn is a tavern that h ...

and a

grocery store A grocery store ( AE), grocery shop ( BE) or simply grocery is a store that primarily retails a general range of food products, which may be fresh or packaged. In everyday U.S. usage, however, "grocery store" is a synonym for supermarket, a ...

. The previously sparsely-populated area around the tavern became known as Irbyville. Irby remained the owner of Buckhead until his death on February 20, 1879. Irby Avenue in Buckhead is named after him, as is the apartment complex "The Irby" located on that street, which was under construction but nearing completion as of February 2019.

Origin of the name Buckhead

Irby is credited with inadvertently giving Buckhead its name when he prominently displayed the head of a buck that had been shot near his tavern. Several details of this story are uncertain. For example, it is unclear who exactly shot the deer, though it may have been Irby himself, his neighbor John Whitley, or an anonymous Native American. It is also uncertain whether the buck's head was mounted on a yard post or over the door of the tavern. The year of this occurrence is also uncertain, but it was soon after Irby first purchased the area, around 1838 or early 1840.

References

1807 births 1879 deaths People from York County, South Carolina American city founders Businesspeople from Georgia (U.S. state) Businesspeople from South Carolina People from Atlanta 19th-century American businesspeople {{GeorgiaUS-bio-stub