Downtown Districts

Centennial Olympic Park/Convention Center

The area around Centennial Olympic Park is home to several of Atlanta’s biggest tourist attractions.

Centered round a large plaza immediately north of the park are the World of Coca-Cola museum, dedicated to the history and culture of Atlanta’s famous soft drink; the immense Georgia Aquarium, the largest aquarium in the United States; and the Center for Civil and Human Rights, which explores human rights movements with a focus on the 20th-century African-American Civil Rights Movement.

Around the perimeter of Centennial Park are the College Football Hall of Fame sports museum and the Skyview Atlanta Ferris wheel. Nearby are the State Farm Arena and Mercedes-Benz Stadium, and the Georgia World Congress Center.

Peachtree Street/Fairlie-Poplar Historic District

Atlanta’s historic downtown, home to the oldest skyscrapers in the city, is an area of roughly two dozen blocks, bordered by Five Points to the south, the Centennial Olympic Park district to the west, and the GSU campus to the east. It sits between two MARTA stations, Peachtree Center and Five Points. Take Peachtree Center if you would like to ride one of the longest escalators in the southeastern states!

This Grid District, officially the Fairlie-Poplar Historic District, also offers a wide range of places to eat, including lots of small establishments serving international cuisine, especially along Broad Street.

Many of the buildings in this area are historically notable. One such edifice is the thin-wedge-shaped Flatiron Building (also known as the English-American Building), constructed in 1897 and preceding the more famous New York City building of the same name. Atlanta’s Flatiron was the second skyscraper ever built in the city, and today is its oldest still surviving.

Nearby is the Georgia State University’s Rialto Center for the Arts. The original Rialto building, constructed as a movie theater in 1916 in what was once Atlanta’s main theater district, at one time boasted the largest electric sign south of New York. Today, the Rialto Center offers jazz, world music, dance, film, and theatrical performances.

Underground Atlanta/Five Points

The area around Underground Atlanta and Five Points is primarily a nightlife district with comparatively little to offer during the day. The once-popular Underground Atlanta, a below-street-level mall and entertainment area which suffered a decline in recent years, is currently undergoing redevelopment.

The historic significance of Five Points is as the original center of Atlanta during its formative years: the spot where the downtown streets and trolley tracks met. Today, the place is marked by the Five Points Monument, a 36-foot steel sculpture created by artist George Beasley. Commemorative panels outline the history of the area and the streets that meet there.

Another historic site nearby is the Western and Atlantic Railroad Zero Milepost, marking the original end point of the railroad line through Georgia that quite literally put Atlanta (then known by the descriptive name of “Terminus”) on the map.

The milepost itself, a 42-inch-tall stone block, is unfortunately inconvenient to get to, located inside a now-abandoned office building near the 90 Central Avenue parking deck.

State Capitol & Vicinity

The chief attraction of this large southeastern swathe of downtown is Georgia’s State Capitol, although there are a few other buildings of historic or architectural note.

Inside the Georgia Capitol (206 Washington Street SW) there is a free museum devoted to aspects of the state’s history and nature. Free self-guided tours of both the building and its grounds and statuary are also offered, with brochures available from the Capitol Tour Desk or online. Please note that photo ID is required for adult visitors.

The Catholic Shrine of the Immaculate Conception (48 Martin Luther King Jr Drive SW) is one of the oldest buildings in the city, designed in the Gothic Revival style by William H Parkins in 1869 and completed in 1873. The former church building was severely damaged by shell fire during the Civil War; its then priest famously persuaded the Union forces not to burn either it or several of the other churches in Atlanta.

Across the road is Atlanta’s City Hall (68 Mitchell Street SW), a striking and historic 1920s Neo-Gothic style building, its high rise architecture typical of city hall buildings of the time. The City Hall was built on the former site of the house that Sherman used during his occuation of the city, one of the few structures in Atlanta his troops did not destroy.

West Auburn Avenue

The west Auburn Avenue district in the far east of Atlanta’s Downtown is part of an important African-American heritage area that stretches eastwards out to the Martin Luther King, Jr National Historic Park. The Downtown section of “Sweet Auburn” Avenue includes several sights and attractions.

The historic Big Bethel AME Church (220 Auburn Avenue NE) is one of the founding African Methodist Episcopal churches of Georgia, and once housed the first public school in Atlanta for black children. The present building dates from 1922. At the same intersection you can also see several large street murals, including one of Civil Rights icon John Lewis.

The APEX Museum (135 Auburn Avenue) houses exhibits on local history, including the development of Auburn Avenue plus more general displays exploring aspects of history from an African-American perspective. You can see additional exhibitions of African-American-focused history and culture at the Auburn Avenue Research Library (101 Auburn Avenue NE). Details of current and upcoming exhibitions are available here.

Nearby is The Municipal Market, formerly known as the Sweet Auburn Curb Market, a historic city market established in 1918 (the present building is from 1924), which draws its name from its segregated history: whites used the indoor market, with African-American shoppers confined to curbside stalls. Today the market is a lunchtime destination for all, with food stalls and restaurants, plus baked goods, fresh foods and produce.

Castleberry Hill

Castleberry Hill, in the southwest of Downtown, is one of Atlanta’s official Landmark Historic Districts and an emerging arts neighborhood. This small district, centered around Peters and Walker Streets alongside the railroad line, dates back from the years after the Civil War, when it was developed as an industrial and warehousing site. Many of the historic warehouses have since been converted into restaurants, galleries and apartments.

If you visit during the day, you may recognize some parts of Castleberry Hill: the district has often served as a backdrop for movies and TV shows such as The Walking Dead. There are also several art galleries and places to eat, and a vast mural (at Haynes and Nelson Streets) in memory of African-American businessman Herman J Russell, commissioned by his family and created by local street art company The Loss Prevention.

Generally, however, Castleberry Hill is very quiet on weekdays, becoming more alive on weekends and evenings when the area’s restaurants attract more people to the district. An evening tour of Castleberry’s art galleries, the Second Friday Art Stroll, is held on the second Friday of each month.