West End

An independent farming community consumed by the growth of metro-Atlanta and now comprised of large houses on large lots set far away from the city center and inhabited by people not put off by a long a commute sounds like a description of Alpharetta. However, one of the first Atlanta suburbs that fits this description is the West End section of Atlanta. A tavern at the intersection of what is now Lee and Abernathy provided a center for the community then called White Hall. A railroad spur constructed around 1850 connected White Hall with Five Points and made living in White Hall feasible for men who worked in the city. Soon the name White Hall was cast aside and the area was named after the British theater district.

It was classic Borderland complete with anglophilia. Even now, many years after much of the area fell into poverty the beauty of the area is still apparent. The houses make up a variety of “European” styles are set on grounds seemingly made for botanical experimentation. West End contains some of the most beautiful examples of Victorian architecture that still exits in Atlanta.

This is the house of Joel Chandler Harris, author of the once beloved and now controversial Uncle Reus Stories. The Wren’s Nest, in all of its gingerbread glory, is a lovely example of the neighborhood. It is now a museum devoted to Harris and the Reus stories, and as such is beautifully maintained.

The area directly around the Wren’s Nest has some beautifully restored houses, as shown in this picture of the street. Some streets curve, some more or less work on a grid system. Some houses are missing, replaced by apartment buildings and other bits of fill-in architecture.

Beyond the sometimes scruffy loveliness of the area and even the look it affords us into the past, West End is interesting for other reasons. It is somewhat amusing that this area, which is almost textbook intown Atlanta, started life as a farming community and then became an affluent suburb that saw Atlanta slowly grow around it. I can not wrap my head around the idea that Kennesaw will one day be considered in-town living, but I’m sure my great-great-grandfather would have laughed at the idea that Marthasville would morph into a huge city that would swallow White Hall. It is interesting how while the definition of what is suburbia is fairly static what we define as suburbia often changes.

(Background information from Go Straight on Peachtree by Anne River Siddons.)