Castleberry Hill is a neighborhood in

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 498,7 ...

, adjacent to and southwest 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 ...

. It is a federally recognized historic district since 1985 and became a City of Atlanta Landmark District in 2006.

History

The area in the city limits of Atlanta known today as Castleberry Hill was originally part of the renegade Snake Nation community that functioned during the 1850s. According to an article from Atlanta Magazine,"Who the Heck Was Juan Ponce de Leon?: The Stories behind Atlanta's Street Names," Atlanta Magazine, March 2009, Vol. 48, Issue 11, p. 64 Castleberry Hill was, by the mid-nineteenth century, a red-light district filled with prostitutes, gambling, and cockfighting. By the time the Civil War began, however, this area was in the process of industrialization. Items such as terra cotta and other building materials were produced then in Atlanta factories. Additionally, Castleberry Hill then contained cotton warehousing and grocers. One of those grocers was Daniel Castleberry, for whom the area was named. Daniel Castleberry, however, is believed to have been an established businessman in the area as a result of his winning the land in the 1821 Georgia Land Lottery. By the early 1990s, the area had fallen on hard times, serving as the backdrop for

dystopic A dystopia (from Ancient Greek δυσ- "bad, hard" and τόπος "place"; alternatively cacotopiaCacotopia (from κακός ''kakos'' "bad") was the term used by Jeremy Bentham in his 1818 Plan of Parliamentary Reform (Works, vol. 3, p. 493). ...

films such as

Freejack ''Freejack'' is a 1992 American science fiction cyberpunk action film directed by Geoff Murphy and starring Emilio Estevez, Mick Jagger, Rene Russo, and Anthony Hopkins. The screenplay was written by Steven Pressfield, Ronald Shusett (who also pr ...

and

Kalifornia ''Kalifornia'' is a 1993 American road thriller film directed by Dominic Sena, in his feature film directorial debut. It stars Brad Pitt, Juliette Lewis, David Duchovny, and Michelle Forbes. The film tells the story of a journalist (Duchovny) a ...

. Loft conversions began in the 1980s, and by 1992, there were 120 lofts with 150 residents. The

1996 Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

saw another influx of development. By the early 21st century, however, Castleberry Hill began another renaissance with major motion pictures and TV series such a
Walking Dead'
being filmed in the area; the now well-known Castleberry Hill Art Stroll, which is held on the second Friday of each month, has become yet another popular event in this area. Castleberry Hill is noted for having the largest concentration of black owned businesses in the nation.

Gallery

File:Castleberry Hill Atlanta.jpg, The Art Stroll File:Castleberry hill.jpg, The Art Stroll File:Castleberry hill art stroll.jpg, The Art Stroll File:Castleberry Hill lofts.jpg, Lofts File:Lofts castleberry hill.jpg, Lofts

References

External links

Atlanta, Georgia, a National Park Service ''Discover Our Shared Heritage'' Travel Itinerary
{{Atlanta neighborhoods , state=expanded Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Georgia (U.S. state) Neighborhoods in Atlanta Arts districts National Register of Historic Places in Atlanta