Running parallel to Peachtree Street, one of the most historic streets in Georgia’s political and civic history is Auburn Ave. Auburn Avenue was the center of African American life in Atlanta. It boasts the commercial and cultural home of many firsts for African American’s in Georgia.
Dubbed “Sweet Auburn” Auburn Avenue was filled with black-owned businesses, entertainment, and churches. Once described by Fortune magazine at the “richest Negro street in the world,” Auburn Ave. was once a self sustained economic hub.
Georgia Encyclopedia explains how legislation led to Auburn Ave. turning into an economic stronghold for African Americans.
“During the next two decades, as restrictive Jim Crow legislation was codified into law, the city’s African American population became confined to the area between downtown and Atlanta University and to neighborhoods on the city’s east side, known today as the Old Fourth Ward. It was during this period that Auburn Avenue first achieved prominence as a commercial corridor and became home to the city’s emerging black middle class.”
Learn more about Auburn Avenues colorful history here: http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/counties-cities-neighborhoods/auburn-avenue-sweet-auburn