Atlanta Beltline Tour Group

Atlanta Beltline Tour Group

Feb 10, 2024

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"...
What a great group! Touring the Eastside Trail via California, Boone NC, Zoo Atlanta...interesting perspectives! I hope I earned the privilege of your time.


Thanks for a great tour!

Pic of the week...
...a Sears (now Ponce City Market) Postcard!!

Opened in 1926/1928 (depending on your research), here's a view of the warehouse from Ponce, looking southeast toward the Ford Factory Square and the beltline (on the farside). This is prior to the western wing addition (closest to us) and the loading dock (where we ended the tour). 


Sears Roebuck & Company

Tree of the week...
...is going to be a repost of ALL OF THEM.

One of our intrepid tourists was interested specifically in growing her tree identification knowledge. It can be tough during the winter, since leaves are such an integral part of identification, but here is the list of the trees I pointed out along the trail:

  • Fringe trees (Chionanthus retusus)
  • Chickasaw plum (Prunus angustifolia)
  • Shortleaf pine (Pinus echinata)
  • Cathedral live oak (Quercus virginiana)
  • Georgia oak (Quercus georgiana)
  • American Beech (Fagus grandifolia)
  • Sawtooth oak (Quercus acutissima, non-native)
  • Eastern Cottonwood (Populus deltoides)
  • Pignut hickory (Carya glabra)
  • Blackgum (Nyssa sylvatica..not sweet gum...ew)
  • Lots of oaks (genus Quercus), including white swamp, southern red, chinquapin
  • Carolina and Canada Hemlocks (Tsuga caroliniana and canadensis)
  • Southern Magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora)
  • Southern red oak (Quercus falcata)
  • Scarlett oak (Quercus coccinea...remember Cochineal bugs...a source of red dye)
  • - ...and then oak hill with all 33 native oak species
...and follow this link to Trees Atlanta's "Interactive Tree Inventory Map" to see them all!


Pignut Hickory

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



Q: Jeff stumped himself when he couldn't recall which organization conceived the Fox Theatre!

A: The Shriners!  In 1928, the Fox was originally conceived as a home for Atlanta’s Shriners organization. To create a headquarters befitting the group’s prominent social status, the Shriners looked to the ancient temples of the Far East to inspire a mosque-style structure befitting their stature. Storied architectural gems like the Alhambra in Spain and Egypt’s Temple of Kharnak heavily influenced the building’s elaborate and intensely ornate design. Bursting with soaring domes, minarets and sweeping archways, the exterior of the building gave way to stunning gold leaf details, sumptuous textiles and exquisite trompe l’oeil art (an art technique that uses realistic imagery to create optical illusions) inside. (cont.)