Ponce De Leon Route Map
If y'all've been to Atlanta, you probably have a Ponce story.
And if you lot don't, you should go 1.
This sixteen-mile road is home to everything from tattoo parlors to cloak-and-dagger nightclubs, upscale furniture shops, the latest dining spots, churches and historic homes. Connecting a number of Atlanta communities, Ponce de Leon Avenue is a life source for the city.
Equally a travel experience, it's singular for its straightforward route (provided, of form, you don't get lost in all the Peachtree limbs). You'll exist hard-pressed to find another way to experience Atlanta from outset to finish in one straight line with aplenty sidewalks, MARTA stops and a hazard to hop on the Atlanta BeltLine, a paved, mixed-use trail frequented by joggers, bikers and boutique 4-legged friends alike.
But don't exist agape to venture off the avenue at least a little, as it cuts through some of Atlanta's about attraction-packed neighborhoods. Showtime with Midtown, and so explore Virginia Highland, Druid Hills, downtown Decatur, Scottsdale and all the way to Clarkston, dwelling to the "nearly diverse square mile in America," according to Time mag.
Got a bike? Fifty-fifty ameliorate. While you lot might not desire to pedal all the way up and down Ponce itself, you lot can hop on the adjacent Liberty Parkway Trail and discover the many green spaces of this tree-lined metropolis. From the trail, connect to the BeltLine on one end, or make your way to Olmsted Linear Park on the other for a taste of natural history at the Fernbank Museum.
Exploring nature is a fitting introduction to the beloved roadway, although it may not seem similar it. Given Ponce's more mod reputation as the backdrop for a raucous night out, few would characterize it every bit a mystical pathway to nature. But the wonders of the great outdoors are actually its ultimate essence.
History of Atlanta's Ponce de Leon Avenue
Which brings u.s. to the avenue'southward backstory – and i very important affair you lot need to know earlier y'all caput out: Ponce has very little – and everything – to practise with Juan Ponce de Leon, the Spanish explorer.
It all began with prowling for a potable after a long, hard day. Sound familiar? It's the draw of Ponce for many – and ordinarily the start of a dark you're non soon to forget. It's also how this Atlanta staple of adept eats and nifty entertainment came to be in the offset place.
In 1868, a railroad construction crew was hard at work laying the tracks of the Air-Line Railroad, the route of which would later become today's ever-popular BeltLine. Cutting off from their previous h2o supply at Yancey Spring, the crew members discovered two new cold springs on the same property.
These were no ordinary springs. For one thing, they tasted bad. In the words of i traveler in the 1870s, the waters had a "sulfurous, nasty taste." Just what the waters lacked in season they made upwardly for in declared healing powers. Many on the coiffure claimed to accept been cured of their piece of work-related ailments after a few weeks drinking the sulfurous fluids. Was information technology truthful? (Information technology wasn't). Officially, nosotros'll never actually know, but their claims were enough to attract curious visitors far and wide. Dr. Henry Lumpkin Wilson, Atlanta'southward first official physician (turned real estate agent) then named them the "Ponce de Leon Springs" in laurels of the Spanish explorer'southward quest for the fountain of youth, despite no evidence the explorer ever stepped human foot near Atlanta.
So, you run across, it has nil and everything to exercise with Ponce de Leon. And that'due south what makes it the perfect Atlanta backstory, co-ordinate to Sheffield Hale, Atlanta native and President and CEO of the Atlanta History Center. "I love Atlanta because that'southward what nosotros do actually well. Puffery. Ponce de Leon is a wonderful case of a developer taking that to its logical extreme with the fountain of youth," Hale said.
And so the artery grew. Trolley access, followed by a streetcar end in 1879, dually incentivized apply of public transportation and visits to Ponce de Leon Park, which over time acquired cabins, a pavilion and entertainment park status (complete with a laughing gallery and merry-go-round).
In 1890 came the 4-acre Ponce de Leon Lake where the electric current Midtown Place shopping center sits and Pairs Swimming, situated roughly in the spot of the Ford Factory Lofts and Kroger supermarket. Ponce de Leon Avenue had go a premier destination for the metropolis's elite, lined to the east with impressive mansions to match the monied Druid Hills addresses.
And every bit the park generated recreational interest, commercial ventures followed. In a move that would fully detach the name from its origin, the springs, pond and lake were all buried to build a baseball stadium, Ponce de Leon Ballpark, or "Poncey," in 1907 (the stadium later became the site of the urban center's first integrated baseball game game). In 1926, the massive Sears building across the street followed.
Ponce Urban center Market: Shopping & Dining Magnet
Today, if you lot're on the BeltLine, you lot'll pass by that same Sears building, forth with the flock of shoppers, diners and revelers making their way inside. An amalgamation of retail, apartments, restaurants, and businesses similar Mailchimp, Ponce Urban center Market (PCM) is equally a place to snag new conditioning gear, see upward with friends for dinner and drinks, or clock in for a hard twenty-four hour period'due south work at the office. The difficult-to-miss revitalization of the Sears edifice opened to the public in 2014 and has been a rousing success always since.
Nostalgia finds its fashion forward on the PCM rooftop. Seasonal attractions similar an water ice skating rink, as well every bit year-round games, recreate the entertainment park aspect of the original Ponce de Leon Park. But as you lot look back, you're as well looking forward, with a prime view of the metropolis – and the promise of tomorrow. "You go up on the height of Ponce and you can see the hereafter," said Hale.
Beloved Atlanta Landmarks on Ponce
Ponce City Market'due south iconic architecture, along with other successfully preserved historical structures along the avenue, like the Plaza and Fob Theatre and The Georgian Terrace, will do much to secure the unique character of that future. Their influence rests in both their preserved appearance and their ongoing, original use.
As yous make your way further downwardly the artery, don't just pose for pictures in front of the Plaza Theater – catch a feature film inside, then chat about it with your friends at The Righteous Room, a fantastic dive bar next door.
Same goes for The Play tricks Theatre in Midtown Atlanta. The venue, constructed in 1926, continues to host upward to 5,000 audience members for contemporary performances.
And you tin always count on closing out a dark on Ponce at the Majestic Diner, which opened in 1939, and, given its 24/7 operating model, has technically been open always since.
Meanwhile, the nearby Clermont Lounge keeps adept, raunchy fun live in the basement of the recently renovated Hotel Clermont. If chic, Instagram-worthy luxury is more your matter, the hotel's beautiful chief levels and killer rooftop bar are just the place to bask Atlanta'due south forward progress on Ponce.
Related: six Must-Run across Stops Along Atlanta's Ponce de Leon Artery
Each Mile Tells a Story
There'due south something for anybody, all on one artery.
"Ponce has graphic symbol and is more of a cosmopolitan, welcoming place considering of what's been saved. It's kind of at the nexus of then many unlike regions and backgrounds of Atlanta," Hale said.
And everyone'southward watching to encounter what happens side by side. As author Marking Pendergrast put it in his 2016 City on the Verge, "For the foreseeable futurity, Atlanta will remain a 'city on the verge,' full of potential, hype, and hope."
In the concurrently, there's no better place to explore Atlanta'south past, present and future – and have an unforgettable solar day – than Ponce. It may not be a fountain of youth, simply where else can you lot train for your half marathon, walk through civil rights history, party in a hotel basement and greet the dawn in an art deco diner, all on ane street?
Ponce De Leon Route Map,
Source: https://www.exploregeorgia.org/article/atlanta-ponce-de-leon-avenue
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