Underground Atlanta



The number one place visitors to Atlanta ask about is Underground Atlanta.  Usually they have heard about it for years or might have seen it on television on New Year's Eve to watch the big Peach Drop.  I found myself in downtown Atlanta for a Saturday afternoon so I thought I would stroll through.


Here is what the Peach Drop looks like in March. No peaches and not many people.  The peach drops from the white scaffolding to the left of the photo.  It is somewhat camouflaged by the building behind it.






To get to Underground, you must go, well... underground.  You can go down stairs.



Or, you can go down an escalator.  As you can see there are many tall people in Atlanta because they all seem to touch the bricks overhead as they descend to Underground.  Note how black that section of brick is.  Fortunately, I am short and I also didn't feel the need to gather 5 million germs with the swipe of my hand.  (It makes me want to put on hand santizer and I am now sitting in my nice sterile home.)






Okay, moving on.  At the bottom of the escalator or stairs, this is the view...  Wait...Before I show it to you I want you to see what it used to look like many years ago. 





The lower part next to the train track would be the present day Underground.  Here we go!














Was it what you expected?  Probably not.  To me, Underground is a piece of Atlanta history that is searching for its identity.  Right now it looks like an old strip mall.  Years ago, it looked a bit more"historical" but even in the 1970's when it first opened as a tourist destination and I used to go there as a child, Underground had stores and restaurants and touristy shops.  Now the touristy shops cater to the party crowd rather than families.  If I ever want a "grill"  I know where to go, and I don't mean an appliance for cooking steaks!


Underground is not very busy on a Saturday afternoon. 





Here is a cheesy  train to represent the importance of the railroad to Atlanta. 






Remember Dante's Down the Hatch?  Underground actually has its own underground.  There were quite a few establishments that were located in the basement of Underground.    This is a closed stairway to a restaurant called Dante's. 



Are you wondering how all this came about?  History 101.  Atlanta was a Railroad town before the Civil War.  The "Zero Milepost" of Atlanta's railway system is located in Underground which is at Peachtree and Lower Alabama Streets.  Here is the sign indicating Alabama and Pryor.


When much of Atlanta was destroyed during the Civil War, it was rebuilt at this same location.  In the 1920's traffic became so congested the viaducts were built above the railroad tracks and some streets to help alleviate the traffic. Pretty soon the traffic moved up and the underground was forgotten.  It lay in ruins until 1968 when plans started for this tourist attraction.  It stayed open until 1980 and then closed for 9 years due to MARTA construction and declining attendance. It has remained open since then with many businesses coming and going.  One interesting new business is the Segway rentals.  Certainly not what you might expect but a fun way to see the sights.




There is also a new food court.  Expensive, tasty, but predictable.


 


I ate lunch, and then went back into the main part of Underground.  I couldn't help feeling like I was missing something. Where had the charm of Underground gone?   I looked around at store after store.  And then it hit me.  To get the charm of Underground you don't want to look "around," you need to look "up" and sometimes "down."

THIS is what you want to go to Underground for during the day - to see the old original storefronts and real history.
 


















 




And this column is my favorite sight of all.



No doubt, Underground Atlanta is worth a visit.  Just take some time to look around... oops, I mean look up and down.

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