Levi Buell Nelson (May 4, 1838 in

Chemung County, New York Chemung County is a county in the southern tier of the U.S. state of New York. The population was 84,148 as of the 2020 census. Its county seat is Elmira. Its name is derived from a Delaware Indian village whose name meant "big horn". Chemun ...

– August 28, 1903 in Atlanta), was an

Atlanta, Georgia 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 ...

city councilman, founder of the

Gate City Street Railroad Company The Gate City Street Railroad Company of Atlanta, Georgia was chartered by the state of Georgia on September 26, 1879. The individuals involved in the formation of the company included Laurent DeGive (Belgian consul and opera house owner), Levi B. ...

. Nelson worked in Cortland, New York, then

Toledo, Iowa Toledo is a city in, and the county seat of, Tama County, Iowa, United States. The population was 2,369 at the time of the 2020 census. History Toledo was founded in 1853 as the county seat of Tama County. It was named after Toledo, Ohio. Tole ...

, before serving in the Union Army during the Civil War. In 1881 he came to Atlanta with his former real estate partner C.P. N. Barker. They invested in farmland in Georgia. Nelson was elected to Atlanta city council and served on the sanitary, relief and water works committees. His home, "one of the handsomest homes in Atlanta" on Boulevard in today's

Old Fourth Ward The Old Fourth Ward, often abbreviated O4W, is an intown neighborhood on the eastside of Atlanta, Georgia, United States. The neighborhood is best known as the location of the Martin Luther King Jr. historic site. Geography The Old Fourth Wa ...

, then an elegant avenue of mansions, burned down in the Great Atlanta fire of 1917. In 1921 the 6-acre site was acquired by

Atlanta Medical Center Wellstar Atlanta Medical Center was a hospital in Atlanta, Georgia operated by Wellstar Health System. It had 460 beds and over 700 physicians. The hospital was a Level I Trauma Center, and an Advanced Primary Stroke Center. It housed a Neuroin ...

for its present location.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nelson, Levi Atlanta City Council members 1838 births 1903 deaths People from Chemung County, New York People from Cortland, New York People from Toledo, Iowa 19th-century American politicians