Atlanta Beltline Tour Group

Atlanta Beltline Tour Group

June 11, 2022, 9:00AM

 This Week's Tour...

...met at 9:00AM Saturday on the Beltline Eastside Trail near Parish (R.I.P...soon to reopen as "Painted Park"!). We walked for 1 1/2 hours, covering 1 mile of the Beltline, ending at Ponce City Market.

"The Tourists"...
...shouting out to to TWO future docents, a visiting Chicagoan and the rest of our intrepid, early Saturday crew!


Thanks for a great tour!

Map of the week...
...Atlanta's railroads in 1887!

We talked about the founding of Atlanta in 1837 and the growth of the railroads to Chattanooga, Augusta, and LaGrange up to 1868 when Atlanta became the state capital. The Atlanta Beltline Eastside Trail follows a railroad developed after 1868, Southern RR that eventually linked Atlanta to Charlotte.


Tree of the week...
...singling out one of the hundreds of specimens from the dozens of collections along the arboretum.

As we walked under the Freedom Parkway overpass and into the "Frederick Law Olmstead"-themed section of the arboretum, among the species of trees planted here due to their large, upright, stately growth is the Swamp White Oak. True to its name, "...the swamp white oak typically grows on hydromorphic soils. It is not found where flooding is permanent, although it is usually found in broad stream valleys, low-lying fields, and the margins of lakes, ponds, or sloughs."


Swamp white oak 

"Stump" of the week...
...featuring a question raised during the tour that Jeff couldn't answer.

Q: What's that plant?

A: Other than "really interesting", the plant we spied growing in deep shade under the sassafras and box elders trees appears to be a "Lords and Ladies" plant. Also, just really odd looking!


Lords and Ladies