He'll be comin' to Atlanta...

[18thVirginia]

http://www.civilwarshades.org/george-barnard/

Many of the photos of Atlanta are by George M. Barnard. Though not as well known as Matthew Brady, he was another of the photographers of the Civil War. This details how the photos we're able to still see were prepared. The photo of Barnard's photo wagon is in #23 above :

Though Barnard (standing at left) is not the most well-known Civil War photographer – Matthew Brady is more celebrated – many of Barnard's images are symbolic icons of the Civil War. Working with large negatives made of glass, Barnard's exposures required a fixed facility (the portable darkroom in the distance in this photograph), chemicals and fresh water for the negative plates, and the extended time to setup, prepare the glass plate, expose the image, and develop the negative on site. Because original photographs are contact prints and not enlargements, the photographs are the same size as the negative. In the case of large images, the glass plate negatives were 12 x 15 inches in size. Barnard might expose a number of negatives for any one subject in case of breakage. http://www.atlantapreservationcenter.com/Preserved_on_Glass

A closeup of the photo wagon from the larger photo in post #23.

 

[Lt R. Blackwell 4th Texas]

These are all great photos and comments. I live in midtown and work downtown so these have special appeal to me.

I do have a couple of questions, if anybody knows.

It clearly appears that the streets are made of dirt, but is it just dirt, or is some kind of gravel or rock mixed in?

Also, it looks like the sidewalks are made of wood planking cut in squares. Does anyone know?

Thx.

 

[18thVirginia]

When we talked about this in New Orleans, I did some research on the various paving techniques. Maybe we'll do a new thread on it. It's not exactly a Ladies Tea topic, but it seems to come up in the various photo threads. But off the top of my head, I seem to recall that they used square or rectangular blocks of stone and of wood for sidewalk areas or intersections.

 

[Lt R. Blackwell 4th Texas]

When we talked about this in New Orleans, I did some research on the various paving techniques. Maybe we'll do a new thread on it. It's not exactly a Ladies Tea topic, but it seems to come up in the various photo threads. But off the top of my head, I seem to recall that they used square or rectangular blocks of stone and of wood for sidewalk areas or intersections.

Thanks

 

[Chattahooch33]

View attachment 65612

Intelligencer Newspaper Office, LOC

Then:

NOW:

 

[Chattahooch33]

View attachment 65705

Atlanta, 1864

Car shed at left is seen in other photos in this thread

This is actually a painted aerial view done by the great Wilbur Kurtz.
Sorry for the small size and bad quality.

 

[Chattahooch33]

THEN:

NOW:

 

[Chattahooch33]

These are all great photos and comments. I live in midtown and work downtown so these have special appeal to me.

I do have a couple of questions, if anybody knows.

It clearly appears that the streets are made of dirt, but is it just dirt, or is some kind of gravel or rock mixed in?

Also, it looks like the sidewalks are made of wood planking cut in squares. Does anyone know?

Thx.

You need to find the book Atlanta & Environ by Franklin Garrett. It is the 2 volume life-work of Garrett who was known as the "first and last official historian of Atlanta". The book goes year by year from the 30's through the mid 1900s and is pretty much the bible of Atlanta.
It went back into print recently but is pretty much priceless.

992 pages:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/0820339024/?tag=civilwartalkc-20

 

[Lt R. Blackwell 4th Texas]

You need to find the book Atlanta & Environ by Franklin Garrett. It is the 2 volume life-work of Garrett who was known as the "first and last official historian of Atlanta". The book goes year by year from the 30's through the mid 1900s and is pretty much the bible of Atlanta.
It went back into print recently but is pretty much priceless.

992 pages:

http://www.amazon.com/Atlanta-Environs-Chronicle-People-1820s-1870s/dp/0820339024/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1430240419&sr=8-1&keywords=atlanta and environs

Thanks, 33. I moved to Atlanta in 86, and I remember hearing Franklin on the radio many times prior to his passing. He was quite a treasure.

Based on your excellent work on this site, you should publish your own book!

 

[18thVirginia]

Engine "Hero" destroyed by Confederates in evacuating Atlanta, Ga. Engine used by Mitchell's men in attempt to burn R.R. bridges. They were caught upon it and hanged in Atlanta., ca. 1860 - ca. 1865

http://www.archives.gov/global-page...sons/images/atlanta-1864-image15.caption.html

 

[Chattahooch33]

NOW:

 

[18thVirginia]

How cool are you, Chattahooch33!!

 

[18thVirginia]

Atlanta, Georgia. Sherman's men in Confederate fort east of Atlanta, George Barnard. LOC.

 

[CheathamHill]

How cool are you, Chattahooch33!!

meh...kind of a hoser..

 

[18thVirginia]

Atlanta, Georgia (vicinity). Bomb-proof shelter, Barnard, LOC.

"The city residents who could, built bomb-proof structures or "pits" such as this in their gardens or hills to escape the artillery bombardment during Sherman's siege of Atlanta. Atlanta resident Lucy Caldwell used the pit in her neighbor's yard, which was dug six feet in the ground and covered with timber and earth. "Within was laid a carpet and a few chairs," she recalled, "thither we would go, when the shelling began." Even the embankment of the secluded Walton Springs, once the fashionable promenade spot for city residents, became home to caves dug into the surrounding hillside."

http://www.atlantapreservationcenter.com/Preserved_on_Glass

 

[18thVirginia]

Atlanta, Ga. The shell-damaged Ponder House, Barnard, LOC.

 

[18thVirginia]

Atlanta, Ga, Burned Building, Barnard, LOC.

Mary Ann Harris Gay provided for her family during Reconstruction by selling her book, Prose and Poetry by a Southern Lady, often door-to-door. But a later work written for her nephew, Life in Dixie During the War, details her experiences in Atlanta.

The long tramp to the Stone Mountain was very lonely. Not a living thing overtook or passed us, and we soon crossed over the line and entered a war-stricken section of country where stood chimneys only, where lately were pretty homes and prosperity, now departed. Ah, those chimneys standing amid smouldering ruins! No wonder they were called 'Sherman's sentinels,' as they seemed to be keeping guard over those scenes of desolation." – from Life in Dixie During the War - See more at: http://georgiawomen.org/2010/10/gay-mary-ann-harris/#sthash.L84VR4sa.dpuf

 

[Chattahooch33]

View attachment 66285

Georgia, Atlanta, Confederate Works Northside, ca. 1862 - ca. 1865, Barnard, LOC.

I'm 99.9% positive this isn't Atlanta. There wasn't really a building with that type of architecture or scope in Atlanta. I think it may be Columbia, SC.

 

[18thVirginia]

I think you're correct, chattahooch33, the photo was misidentified in the NARA collection. It's in Columbia.

 

[18thVirginia]

Sarah Conley Clayton was an adolescent girl whose diary about living in war time Atlanta was published as Requiem for a Lost City.

"Sallie Clayton belonged to one of Georgia's wealthiest and most prominent families. Her memoirs are colored by the losses her family suffered. The introduction to this work includes background on the Claytons, Sallie's writings, and Civil War Atlanta that provides a more balanced and fuller account of life at "the crossroads of the Confederacy". The introduction also attempts to give a more accurate view of Civil War Atlanta than that in the popular mind."

http://www.amazon.com/dp/0865546223/?tag=civilwartalkc-20