Negro Slave Auction - Atlanta

Update: This page has lots of high-res photos taken during the Union occupation of Atlanta. By combining three of them (somewhat crudely), we can get a panoramic view that view that includes both No. 8 (left) and the Intelligencer office (right):

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I love the composite panorama! Great job!
 
What did they use to pave the sidewalks in front of the stores? The sidewalks are different than the earth road. The material looks like concrete, which I don't believe wasn't possible in that era (Porland cement was discovered later, I believe). It doesn't look like a madamized sidwalk, although I could be wrong, It's not stone, brick, or wood planking. Maybe it could be made of compacted stone dust?
 
What did they use to pave the sidewalks in front of the stores? The sidewalks are different than the earth road. The material looks like concrete, which I don't believe wasn't possible in that era (Porland cement was discovered later, I believe). It doesn't look like a madamized sidwalk, although I could be wrong, It's not stone, brick, or wood planking. Maybe it could be made of compacted stone dust?
That's a great question. Here are full-res closeup of the sidewalks on both sides of the street; they look to me like paving stones:

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sidewalks.jpg



One note about concrete, though -- it goes back a looooong way. The Coliseum in Rome is largely made of concrete, as is the dome of the Pantheon there. So it could turn up almost anywhere!
 
That's a great question. Here are full-res closeup of the sidewalks on both sides of the street; they look to me like paving stones:

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One note about concrete, though -- it goes back a looooong way. The Coliseum in Rome is largely made of concrete, as is the dome of the Pantheon there. So it could turn up almost anywhere!

I think you are right about the sidewalks being made of stone, after viewing the close-ups. It looks like they haven't been swept lately, so in the first picture in this series it looked like continous concrete, as the dirt on the sidewalk filled the cracks in the stones and made them all look very similar.

As for the history of concrete, it was used (in a somewhat different material combination) extensivly by the Romans. But some say that the secret of Roman concrete was lost for some 13 centuries, until the development of Portland Cement as an essential element of concrete, sometime around the early 20th century. But there are some records of scattered occasional uses in Italy and Finland in the 160os, a process for developing Portland Cement was patented in 1824. Of course, getting the key elements together to make concrete would have been a challenge in the Civil War era - all of the materials are heavy and difficult to transport by wagon, which may be why it wasn't used more when other materials were available - until the development of the dump truck.
 
You have a point look at this Wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milita..._War#Fort_Wagner.2C_Fort_Pillow.2C_and_beyond

"African American soldiers participated in every major campaign of 1864–65 except Sherman's Atlanta Campaign in Georgia."​

Clearly though someone forgot to tell this guy. Perhaps he was a steward or officers servant and not part of the regular USCT.

I think if the guy is actually black, he was placed their by the photographer and was his assistant. The 14th USCT were in Chattanooga guarding Sherman's supply line when this photo was taken and they were the closest unit of USCT. I don't see Sherman outfitting a servant or steward in a uniform with Corporal stripes.
 
I highly doubt that is a USCT in the first photo. Sherman wouldn't have them.
In the photo used in the panorama, no. But this is a closeup of the soldier in the image at the very beginning of the thread at No. 8, Whitehall Street:

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We don't know the date of that photo, although one of the others can be dated very precisely, based on a hand-lettered broadside plastered to the Atlanta Intelligencer building, for a soldier-produced play performed on October 29, 1864. Sherman's army set off for the coast on November 15, at which time the city burned. This spot, as noted above was near the heart of the city, and surely didn't escape damage in that conflagration. So surely this image was made during Sherman's occupation; LoC dates it as Sept-Nov 1864, and that sure seems right.
 
In the photo used in the panorama, no. But this is a closeup of the soldier in the image at the very beginning of the thread at No. 8, Whitehall Street:

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We don't know the date of that photo, although one of the others can be dated very precisely, based on a hand-lettered broadside plastered to the Atlanta Intelligencer building, for a soldier-produced play performed on October 29, 1864. Sherman's army set off for the coast on November 15, at which time the city burned. This spot, as noted above was near the heart of the city, and surely didn't escape damage in that conflagration. So surely this image was made during Sherman's occupation; LoC dates it as Sept-Nov 1864, and that sure seems right.

Yes that's the one I was speaking of. Yes his hands look like those of a black but he ain't supposed to be there. Maybe he's just got a really good tan.
 
Yes that's the one I was speaking of. Yes his hands look like those of a black but he ain't supposed to be there. Maybe he's just got a really good tan.

Didn't Sherman receive a few but left them behind? I thought he'd gotten some but didn't want to take them with him. Might be thinking of something else!
 
What did they use to pave the sidewalks in front of the stores? The sidewalks are different than the earth road. The material looks like concrete, which I don't believe wasn't possible in that era (Porland cement was discovered later, I believe). It doesn't look like a madamized sidwalk, although I could be wrong, It's not stone, brick, or wood planking. Maybe it could be made of compacted stone dust?
From other street photos I have seen of Atlanta, the sidewalks appear to be cut slabs of sandstone. The sandstone has two colors, tan/buff and a reddish. You are correct in your observation about Portland cement.
 
That's a great question. Here are full-res closeup of the sidewalks on both sides of the street; they look to me like paving stones:

Expired Image Removed


Expired Image Removed


One note about concrete, though -- it goes back a looooong way. The Coliseum in Rome is largely made of concrete, as is the dome of the Pantheon there. So it could turn up almost anywhere!
The curbing is sections of cut granite, older sections of Atlanta still have this same type of curbing. The high res closeup of the sidewalk looks like cut sandstone.
 
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