State Square

Atlanta's first Union Station, also known as Union Depot (1853–1864) was the original depot of Atlanta, Georgia. It was designed by architect Edward A. Vincent. It stood in the middle of State Square, the city's main square at the time, where Wall Street now is between Pryor Street and Central Avenue. It was destroyed in General Sherman's burning of the city during the Battle of Atlanta. Atlanta's 1871 Union Station was built on the site.

Atlanta's second Union Station was built in 1871 on the site of the 1853 station, burned in mid November 1864 when Federal forces left Atlanta for the March to the Sea. It was built in Second Empire style, designed by architect Max Corput. It was located at what is now Wall Street between Pryor Street and Central Avenue. It was replaced by the 1930 Union Station three blocks northwest and one block southwest. As of 2011, a parking structure is located on the site of the 1853 and 1871 stations.

The Atlanta Zero Mile Post is a stone marker which marked the terminus of the Western and Atlantic Railroad in Atlanta. It was located in a disused building in Downtown Atlanta, within the Underground Atlanta Historic District, under the Central Ave. viaduct, between Alabama and Wall streets. The Zero Mile Post was recognized with a historical marker by the Georgia Historical Commission in 1958 and entered into the National Register of Historic Places in 1977. It was delisted in 2019. In the 1980s, the Zero Mile Post was placed indoors as a passenger depot for the New Georgia Railroad tourist operation was constructed around it. After the New Georgia Railroad ceased operation in 1994, the former station was secured behind a locked fence, and would only be accessible by appointments approved by the Georgia Building Authority. In October 2018, the Zero Mile Post was carefully and successfully removed from the Georgia Building Authority's depot building, with the former being moved to the Atlanta History Center and the latter demolished to accommodate the reconstruction of the Central Avenue and Courtland Street bridges above. A replica post was placed in the exact GPS coordinates of the original's location and paired with an interpretive marker provided by The Georgia Historical Society after the bridgework concluded. The Zero Mile Post's relocation generated controversy, with some arguing that it lost much of its significance by being removed from its original location, while those at the history center assure that it is well preserved and that the replica is better suited for outdoor exhibition. The Zero Mile Post is currently displayed and interpreted in an exhibition, Locomotion: Railroads and the Making of Atlanta, with the recently restored Texas locomotive, one of the two remaining Western & Atlantic locomotives that would have passed by that very mile post scores of times during its service. Usually placed along rail lines at each mile, markers informed train crews where they were along a specific route. The above-ground portion of the rectangular marker measures approximately 1 foot wide on each side and 42 inches tall. The crown is pyramidal, and one side the marker is engraved with "W&A RR OO" – the W & A indicating the Western & Atlantic Railroad and the double-zero designating the beginning of the rail line. The other side of the marker is engraved “W&A RR 138”. When entirely exposed, the marker measures 7 feet 5 inches, and weighs approximately 800 pounds.

The Republic Block (completed in 1873) was at the time of its completion one of the most remarkable commercial constructions in Atlanta. It faced Pryor Street between Decatur St. and Railroad Ave. (now Wall St.), now site of Georgia State University buildings. It faced the Kimball House which stood across Pryor St. to the northwest. The block was built on the initiative of William Goodnow, a manager for the Republic Insurance Company of Chicago, with partners ex-governor Joseph E. Brown, Judge O. A. Lochrane, and othersIts first tenants were hardware mostly wholesale and other dealers (hardware, diamonds, jewelry, millinery, dry goods, boots and shoes, clothing, tobacco and cigars), as well as an architect, attorney, a bank, the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, as well as the Republic Insurance Company.The "Republic block" was demolished in 1940 and replaced with a garage and automobile filling station.

The Trout House was one of three hotels in antebellum Atlanta, Georgia, along with the Atlanta Hotel and Washington Hall. It was built in 1849 by Jeremiah F. Trout. It was a four-story brick building at the southwest corner of Decatur and Pryor Streets, facing the union depot and State Square.Confederate President Jefferson Davis spoke here during his visit to Atlanta of February 16, 1861, although he did not spend the night.The hotel was destroyed during General Sherman's burning of Atlanta.

The Kimball House was the name of two historical hotels in Atlanta, Georgia. United States. Both were constructed on an entire city block at the south-southeast corner of Five Points, bounded by Whitehall Street (now part of Peachtree Street), Decatur Street, Pryor Street, and Wall Street, a block now occupied by a multi-story parking garage.

Underground Atlanta is a shopping and entertainment district in the Five Points neighborhood of downtown Atlanta, Georgia, United States, near the Five Points MARTA station. It is currently undergoing renovations. First opened in 1969, it takes advantage of the viaducts built over the city's many railroad tracks to accommodate later automobile traffic.

The Atlanta Hotel also known as Thompson's Hotel, was one of the original hotels in antebellum Atlanta, Georgia. It stood at the northwest side of State Square, pre-war Atlanta's central square, on the northwest side of Pryor Street between Decatur Street (then Marietta Street) and what is now Wall Street (which before the war was the railroad track).The hotel was run by Dr. Joseph Thompson. The future vice-president of the Confederate States of America, Alexander H. Stephens, was stabbed in 1848 on the hotel's steps ("piazza") by Judge Francis H. Cone over a political argument.The hotel was destroyed during General Sherman's burning of Atlanta.

Murrell's Row was a red-light district of Atlanta "starting at the juncture of Line, Decatur and Peachtree streets" (i.e. at today's Five Points "and running back towards Pryor on Decatur street". According to Archival Atlanta: Named for the notorious Tennessee murderer, John A. Murrell, this section of town was a favorite hangout for thieves, gamblers, cutthroats, and prostitutes. Drunken brawls and cockfights were common and expected here. Before the Civil War, Murrell’s Row was the preferred meeting place for those who wanted to fight and concoct schemes. This notorious area north of Decatur Street between Peachtree and Pryor faded away shortly before the Civil War.

Washington Hall was a historic hotel in antebellum Atlanta, Georgia. Built in 1846, the building was one of the earliest hotels built in the city. The hotel, along with many other structures in the city, was destroyed in 1864 during the Battle of Atlanta.

The Markham House was a 19th-century hotel located in Atlanta, Georgia. Built by William Markham and opened 15 November 1875 with 107 rooms and central heat, it was a center of Atlanta's civic life, with the balcony serving as a platform for famous speaking guests recently arriving at the adjacent Union Station. It burned in 1896 after Markham's death. Fire chief W.R. Joyner did his best to save the structure, but it was destroyed.

Violent attacks by armed mobs of white Americans against African Americans in Atlanta, Georgia, began after newspapers, on the evening of September 22, 1906, published several unsubstantiated and luridly detailed reports of the alleged rapes of four local women by black men. The violence lasted through September 24, 1906. The events were reported by newspapers around the world, including the French Le Petit Journal which described the "lynchings in the USA" and the "massacre of Negroes in Atlanta," the Scottish Aberdeen Press & Journal under the headline "Race Riots in Georgia," and the London Evening Standard under the headlines "Anti-Negro Riots" and "Outrages in Georgia." The final death toll of the conflict is unknown and disputed, but officially at least 25 African Americans and two whites died. Unofficial reports ranged from 10–100 black Americans killed during the massacre. According to the Atlanta History Center, some black Americans were hanged from lampposts; others were shot, beaten or stabbed to death. They were pulled from street cars and attacked on the street; white mobs invaded black neighborhoods, destroying homes and businesses. The immediate catalyst was newspaper reports of four white women raped in separate incidents, allegedly by African American men. A grand jury later indicted two African Americans for raping Ethel Lawrence and her niece Mabel Lawrence. An underlying cause was the growing racial tension in a rapidly changing city and economy, competition for jobs, housing, and political power. The violence did not end until after Governor Joseph M. Terrell called in the Georgia National Guard, and African Americans accused the Atlanta Police Department and some Guardsmen of participating in the violence against them. Local histories by whites ignored the massacre for decades. It was not until 2006 that the event was publicly marked – on its 100th anniversary. The next year, the Atlanta massacre was made part of the state's curriculum for public schools.