ATLVault

Paige Watts is the author of a new book, "What's With Atlanta?" The travel writer and blogger shares some fascinating aspects about life in the ATL.

Founded in 1871, Doraville is one of Georgia's oldest cities, but features an amazing diversity. Mayor Joe Geierman talks about his city's rich history; the old General Motors plant that was a catalyst for Doraville's economic growth; the new Assembly Atlanta; and the challenges facing this intown Atlanta suburb.

On April 6, 1972, a fire began at the Triangle Refinery in Doraville, starting with an overfilled storage tank. Vapors from the tank reached nearby homes on Doral Circle and ignited a pilot light at one of the homes causing an explosion. The explosion then set three storage tanks on fire. 

In all, 300 people were evacuated from their homes, staying at nearby elementary schools, hotels, or with friends and family. Two people died in the fire, whose flames reached up to 400 feet and were visible from downtown Atlanta.

In 2022, Valerie Biggerstaff wrote a 50-year retrospective on the famous Doraville refinery fire, and shares her research with digital content producer Tim Darnell and ATLVault on Atlanta News First. 

On Sept. 5, 1955, two Atlanta businessmen - Joe Rogers and Tom Forkner - opened the very first Waffle House, located in DeKalb County's Avondale Estates community. Rogers started in the restaurant business as a short-order cook in 1947 
at the Toddle House in Connecticut.
By 1949, he was a regional manager, then moved to Atlanta. He met Forkner 
while buying a house from him in Avondale Estates.
Today, Waffle House has more than 1,900 locations in 25 states.
Njeri Boss, vice president of public relations, and Virginia Angles, curator of the Waffle House museum, talk about this national iconic culinary brand.

On Aug. 28, 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered one of the most famous speeches in human history. On the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in an address that culminated the march on Washington, King delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech. Lasting less than 18 minutes, King's speech has inspired millions around the world. 

But where did King actually draft his speech? Conventional history records he wrote the speech at the Willard Intercontinental Hotel in Washington, D.C. But David Yoakley Mitchell of the Atlanta Preservation Center and Dr. Robert Adams of the Penn Center on St. Helena Island, South Carolina, say one of history's most influential speeches has its roots elsewhere.

One of the world’s most celebrated and influential speeches was delivered 60 years ago.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., made his now-famous “I Have a Dream” speech on August 28, 1963, capping the “March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom” event.

King gave his speech from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.

Here is a recording of what became a speech that has inspired millions around the world.

The product that has become the world's most iconic consumer brand was first served in Atlanta, Georgia, on May 8, 1886. Dr. John Stith Pemberton, a local pharmacist, produced the syrup for Coca-Cola, and carried a jug of the new product down the street to Jacobs’ Pharmacy, where it was sampled, pronounced “excellent” and placed on sale for five cents a glass as a soda fountain drink. Carbonated water was teamed with the new syrup to produce a drink that has become a symbol of American capitalism all over the world.

ATLVault's Tim Darnell speaks with Bob Hope, himself a legendary public relations executive who once worked for Coke, about the product's history, legacy and its future. Welcome to ATLVault on Atlanta News First.

On April 3, 1948,  the first Black police officers began patrolling Atlanta's streets around Auburn Avenue, marking the official integration of the Atlanta Police Department. Author Thomas Mullen discusses the challenges these pioneers faced in mid-20th century Atlanta. Mullen is the author of seven books, including Darktown, Midnight Atlanta and Lightning Men, written in the timeframe of 1940s and 1950s Atlanta.

 Early city officials purchased six acres in 1850 to be a public burial ground for a young-but-fast-growing town of Atlanta. 

Originally called Atlanta Graveyard or City Burial Place, this was the beginning of Oakland Cemetery. 

It was officially renamed in 1872. By then it had expanded to 48 acres, mainly due to pressures of the Civil War. In the late 19th century, families tended the plots of loved ones, creating an assortment of lovely gardens. Oakland became a popular destination for Sunday carriage rides and picnics.

As the 20th century unfolded, Oakland increasingly was surrounded by residential and industrial development. With the passage of time, many graves went unattended as descendants moved away or lost touch with their antecedents. After years of deferred maintenance and budgetary shortfalls, Oakland became a  deteriorating landscape of weed-choked lots and neglected monuments.

In 1976, Oakland Cemetery was listed on the National Register of Historic Places and experienced a renewal of interest and attention from “friends” that would eventually take over much of the restoration and maintenance of the cemetery and become the Historic Oakland Foundation.

Through restoration projects, fundraising, willpower, and imagination, Oakland Cemetery and its stories have been saved from obscurity. Today, the cemetery welcomes 105,000 visitors a  year who stroll the grounds, attend a tour or special event, and come to learn about Atlanta’s rich history.

 The Heart of Atlanta Supreme Court decision stands among the court’s most significant civil rights rulings.

In Atlanta, two arch segregationists vowed to flout the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the sweeping slate of civil rights reforms just signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson.

The Pickrick restaurant was run by Lester Maddox, who would eventually become governor of Georgia. The other, the Heart of Atlanta motel, was operated by lawyer Moreton Rolleston Jr.

After the law was signed, a group of ministry students showed up for a plate of skillet-fried chicken at Maddox’s diner. At the Heart of Atlanta, the ministers reserved rooms and walked to the front desk. Maddox greeted them with a pistol, axe handles, and a mob of White supporters. Rolleston refused to accept the Black patrons.

These confrontations became the centerpiece of the nation’s first two legal challenges to the Civil Rights Act.

Ronnie Greene is the author of “Heart of Atlanta: Five Black Pastors and the Supreme Court Victory for Integration.”

Its streets were traveled by some of the nation’s principled and most courageous. Its buildings were brick-laid by people who endured and persevered to leave behind a better city than they discovered.

Atlanta and the nation have taken a lot from Auburn Avenue. Now, the time may have finally arrived to give something back.

ATLVault talks with David Yoakley Mitchell, executive director of the Atlanta Preservation Center, about the legacy of Sweet Auburn.

Located in downtown Atlanta, Ebenezer Baptist Church was founded in 1886 by Pastor John A. Parker and eight others. 

Affiliated with the Progressive National Baptist Convention and American Baptist Churches USA, it was the church where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was co-pastor 
from 1960 until his assassination in 1968; the location of the funerals of both Dr. King and congressman John Lewis; and the church for which U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock has been pastor since 2005. 

It is located in the historic area now designated as the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historical Park.

Rev. John Vaughn is the executive pastor, and he speaks with ATLVault on the church's history and its current place in America and the world.

The two political candidates couldn’t have been more different. One man, descending from a family line of Baptist ministers and championing the values of temperance and chastity, promised law and order. The other belonged to a political party thriving on social disorder and looser interpretations of the laws regarding recreational pursuits.

Such a scenario could be easily imagined in any modern election, but it was exactly the case 175 years ago, when the newly renamed and incorporated city of Atlanta held its first mayoral election.