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Andrea

By Andrea
in Atlanta

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ironchapman City

ironchapman

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Unfortunately, our department of transportation (like those in many states) has taken the tragically flawed position that the way to fix traffic jams is just to add more lanes to existing roads, or to build new more gigantic roads next to them. I-85 is a classic case study. Now, instead of jamming up two lanes, we can jam up 10 lanes.

:wacko:

Isn't it just fun to drive on those monsters :P

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Andrea Burg

Andrea

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You changed it on me! My first post looks kind of strange underneath this pic!

Anyways, I'll go with what teshadoh said. :)

Sorry, IC, I didn't mean to be tricky. You are hereby declared co-winner!!!

Do you know whose radio tower that is in the background? I have never kept up with who owns what tower.

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Andrea Burg

Andrea

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Exactly, Martinman!! It looks like it was taken somewhere around centerfield, out where the giant magnolia tree stood.

Here's another great picture of the old ballpark, taken in 1950. My Grandpa was a huge Crackers fan and he took us kids out there a number of times. Atlanta hadn't made it to the big leagues in the early 60's but it was sure exciting to us!!

Ponce%20de%20Leon%20Ballpark%201950.jpg

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Andrea Burg

Andrea

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Yeah, that's right, IC! By the time I came along they just called it Ponce de Leon Ballpark and I never knew it had been called Spiller Field until I read that in Tim Darnell's book. To my young eyes Ponce de Leon Ballpark seemed pretty much equivalent to the pictures I had seen of Yankee Stadium -- in fact, I thought they looked very similar.

Of course the Braves arrived in 1966 so I just caught the tail end of that era. However, until the big announcement that the Braves were coming, I don't believe it ever crossed my mind that the Crackers and Ponce de Leon were not the permanent epicenter of baseball in our town. The biggest player I remember from those days was Tim McCarver who went on to become very famous.

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ironchapman City

ironchapman

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Yeah, that's right, IC! By the time I came along they just called it Ponce de Leon Ballpark and I never knew it had been called Spiller Field until I read that in Tim Darnell's book. To my young eyes Ponce de Leon Ballpark seemed pretty much equivalent to the pictures I had seen of Yankee Stadium -- in fact, I thought they looked very similar.

Of course the Braves arrived in 1966 so I just caught the tail end of that era. However, until the big announcement that the Braves were coming, I don't believe it ever crossed my mind that the Crackers and Ponce de Leon were not the permanent epicenter of baseball in our town. The biggest player I remember from those days was Tim McCarver who went on to become very famous.

I remember my parents mentioning the Crackers. They too came to Atlanta at the end of this era. My Mom moved here from Kentucky in the late 1950's (my grandfather was in seminary up there) because her family had traditionally lived here for generations. My Dad moved here from Mississippi in the 1960's so that he could get a job in the Cobb County schools. I remember them telling me about the Crackers before they left.

Didn't the Crackers have a great record of winning championships before they left town for the Braves? It seems like I saw that somewhere.

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Andrea Burg

Andrea

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Didn't the Crackers have a great record of winning championships before they left town for the Braves? It seems like I saw that somewhere.
Yes, indeed, the Crackers were arguably the most successful minor league team ever! Baseball (like almost everything else) was segregated for much of that time but the Black Crackers were also incredibly good. Earl Mann, who owned the team and who I actually got to meet one time, was Mr. Baseball and he was known far and wide. Atlantans would get every bit as hyped about the fortunes of the Crackers as they do the Braves and Falcons these days.

Here are a couple of good links:

Discussing the Crackers with Tim Darnell

Article from NGE

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Andrea Burg

Andrea

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Okay, I think that last photo was a little geographically undesirable. For the record it's the Phillips McDuffie house on Cherokee Road, designed by Hentz, Adler and Shutze and completed in 1922. Still in the family, I'm told. McDuffie developed Garden Hills, which "joined the list of other historic Atlanta neighborhoods established during the roaring twenties including Morningside, Shadowlawn, and Sylvan Hills."

Here's something more interesting, and I'm sure folks will get it right off the bat:

mystery%201.jpg

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Andrea Burg

Andrea

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Finally, I get to answer one before IC or teshadoh...that is the corner of Virginia and N. Highland in Va-Hi...I think.
Exactly, Ryan!!! That's looking at Murphy's across the street from just outside of Fontaine's. This is probably my favorite street corner in all of Atlanta.

I absolutely love neighborhood retail districts like this. When I was a kid we'd ride our bikes up to Oakhurst, Kirkwood or East Lake and get a sundae at the drugstore's marble counter and see what was happening "in town." Fortunately there are still vestiges of these areas from earlier days in many intown neighborhoods, and lots of them are thriving again. It makes me sad that the inexorable juggernaut of northward development crushed most of these streetcorner retail districts in the neighborhood I live in now, but hopefully we'll get to bring some of them back.

Did any of y'all ever go to the old Murphy's by chance? When we lived on Lanier it was literally around the corner, and I spent many an evening hanging out on his back patio with a bottle of wine and good friends. Amazing how 25 years goes by!

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