View source for Inman Park

{{Short description|Historic district on the east side of Atlanta, Georgia, United States}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2023}}
{{Infobox NRHP
| name         = Inman Park Historic District<ref>The original NRHP listing was as "Inman Park" but the boundary increase renamed it to "Inman Park Historic District" in the NRHP.</ref>
| nrhp_type    = hd
| image        = King of Pops.jpg
| caption      = Welcome Sign in Inman Park
| location     = Roughly bounded by Freedom Parkway, DeKalb and Lake Aves. (original) and Roughly bounded by Lake, Hurt, and DeKalb Aves., and Krog St. (increase), [[Atlanta, Georgia]]
| coordinates  = {{coord|33|45|20|N|84|21|34|W|region:US-GA_type:landmark|display=inline,title}}
| locmapin     = USA Atlanta
| nocat        = yes
| area         =
| built        = 1889
| architect    = Multiple
| architecture = Queen Anne, Shingle Style (original); Queen Anne, Stick/Eastlake, Colonial Revival, Shotgun, Bungalow, Arts & Crafts, Romanesque Revival, Prairie Style, Arts & Crafts Revival, et al. (increase)
| added        = July 23, 1973 (original)<br/>September 16, 2001 (increase)
| refnum       = 73000621 and 01000973<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|2009a}}</ref>
}}
'''Inman Park''' is an [[Intown Atlanta|intown]] [[neighborhood]] on the [[Eastside (Atlanta)|east side]] of [[Atlanta, Georgia]], and its first [[Planned community|planned suburb]]. It was named for [[Samuel M. Inman]].

==History==
Today's neighborhood of Inman Park includes areas that were originally designated:
* Inman Park proper (today the Inman Park Historic District)
* Moreland Park (today the Inman Park-Moreland Historic District)
* part of [[Copenhill Park]] (properties on Atlantis, the south side of Highland, and the north sides of Sinclair and a block of Austin)
* former industrial areas on the western side, now [[mixed-use development]]s including [[Inman Park Village]] and North Highland Steel

The area was part of the battlefield in the [[Battle of Atlanta]] in 1864.

===Atlanta's first streetcar suburb===
Inman Park (proper) was planned in the late 1880s by [[Joel Hurt]], a civil engineer and real-estate developer who intended to create a rural oasis connected to the city by the first of [[Streetcars in Atlanta|Atlanta's electric streetcar lines]], along [[Edgewood Avenue]]. The East Atlanta Land Company acquired and developed more than 130 acres east of the city and Hurt named the new suburb for his friend and business associate, [[Samuel M. Inman]]. [[Joseph Forsyth Johnson]] was hired as landscape designer for Inman Park who included curvilinear street designs and liberal usage of open spaces in his planning.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-3483|title=Inman Park|last=Bazemore|first=Ted|date=September 12, 2007|encyclopedia=The New Georgia Encyclopedia|access-date=27 December 2010|archive-date=1 February 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130201015835/http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-3483|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00t6gbb|title=Bruce Forsyth|work=Who do you think you are?|publisher=BBC|access-date=28 December 2010}}</ref><ref>Joseph Forsyth Johnson was the author of ''The Natural Principles of Landscape Gardening; or, The adornment of land for perpetual beauty''. Belfast: Archer, 1874</ref>
{{multiple image|align=right
|width     = 170
|image1=Robert Winship_home.jpg
|caption1=[[Robert Winship]] home, 1896
|image2=Beath-Dickey House.jpg
|caption2=[[Beath-Dickey House]], 1896}}
{{multiple image|align=right
|width=170
|image1=Phil Haralson_home.jpg
|caption1=[[Phil Haralson]] home, 1896
|image2=George E._King_home.jpg
|caption2=[[George Edward King]] home, 1896
}}

The ''[[Atlanta Constitution]]'' in 1896 grandly described Inman Park:

<blockquote>High up above the city, where the purest breezes and the brightest sunshine drove away the germs of disease, and where nature had lavished her best gifts, the gentlemen who conceived the thought of Inman Park found the locality above all others which they desired. It was to be a place of homes, of pretty homes, green lawns, and desirable inhabitants. And all save those who would make desirable residents have been excluded. ... It's the prettiest, highest, healthiest and most desirable locality I ever saw. Everybody is friendly and neighborly. ... And as far as accessibility it ranks second to no residence portion of the city. We have three car lines and frequent schedules.<ref>"Homes at the Park: Beautiful residences that make Inman Park an ideal home place", Atlanta Constitution, 1896-03-26</ref></blockquote>

Like new developments throughout the United States at the time, but in stark contrast to the attitudes prevalent in the neighborhood today, Inman Park was conceived of and promoted as a segregated community.

Moreland Park was by contrast developed as a more traditional, incremental building of sub-divisions as opposed to the grand plan for Inman Park proper.

===Decline===
[[Image:Inman Park houses 1895.jpg|thumb|right|Sketches of three Inman Park houses, 1895; [[Ernest Woodruff]]'s house at top; [[Beath-Dickey House]] at bottom]]
The arrival of the automobile allowed upper class Atlantans to live in suburbs farther north from downtown workplaces, such as [[Morningside-Lenox Park|Morningside]] and what is now considered [[Buckhead]]. Inman Park became less fashionable and the exuberant Victorian architecture came to seem dated. The mansions came to be subdivided into apartments.

Similar to other intown neighborhoods such as [[Virginia Highland]], Inman Park fell to blight during the white middle and upper class exodus to the northern suburbs in the 1950s and 1960s, and was:

<blockquote>an economically depressed neighborhood of mostly blue-collar white folks, elderly couples who could not afford to move out and families on disability and welfare. They lived in rented bungalows or big houses chopped up into tiny roach-infested apartments.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dw8AAAAAMBAJ&q=%22bob+griggs%22+inman&pg=PA72|title=Atlanta Magazine|first=Emmis|last=Communications|date=1 October 2005|publisher=Emmis Communications|access-date=16 April 2018|via=Google Books}}</ref>
</blockquote>

===Atlanta's first intown neighborhood to gentrify===
Driving through the neighborhood on his way to appraise stained glass windows in the doomed home of Judge Durwood T. Pye on Poplar Circle, Robert Griggs was smitten by the extraordinary architecture of the [[Beath-Dickey House]], then a dilapidated multi-unit rental property. He and his partner, Robert Aiken, bought the house{{when|date=April 2020}} and restored it to a single-family dwelling. They were followed by others who restored homes; founded{{when|date=April 2020}} Inman Park Restoration, the neighborhood association; and created{{when|date=April 2020}} a neighborhood newsletter, a garden club to rehabilitate public spaces, and a pre-school.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Marr|first1=Christine V.|last2=Jones|first2=Sharon Foster|title=Inman Park|date=2008|publisher=Arcadia Pub.|location=Charleston, S.C.|isbn=978-0-7385-6731-0|page=101}}</ref> To publicize the progress they were making, they began{{when|date=April 2020}} a Tour of Homes with a small festival, which has grown into the hugely popular Inman Park Festival, held each spring.

===Freeway revolt against I-485===

{{Main|Freeway revolt in Atlanta}}

During this same period, there was an intense fight against the [[Interstate 485 (Georgia)|I-485]] freeway which was to be built through the neighborhood, although many properties in Inman Park, as well as the entire neighboring neighborhood of [[Copenhill]], were torn down in preparation for freeway construction.

===Inman Park today===
After decades of restoration and renewal, Inman Park is now regarded as a highly desirable intown neighborhood with a mixture of rental and owner-occupied houses and condominiums. Built up as it was over decades, the neighborhood housing now ranges from tiny mill town shotguns to the Victorian mansions of the original development, intermixed with bungalows of all sizes built during the first three decades of the 20th century. Like its housing, the makeup of Inman Park has changed since its inception, with a population that is 25% non-white and of varying economic levels—although increasing housing prices are beginning to force more economic homogeneity.<ref name="Data from US Census Bureau">{{cite web|url=http://statisticalatlas.com/neighborhood/Georgia/Atlanta/Atlanta-Inman-Park/Race-and-Ethnicity|title=Race and Ethnicity in Atlanta-Inman Park, Atlanta, Georgia (Neighborhood)|website=Statisticalatlas.com|access-date=26 August 2015}}</ref> Since the beginning of its renewal, inclusivity and a strong sense of community have distinguished Inman Park. The neighborhood association has always welcomed renters and homeowners alike, with nominal annual dues, while the Inman Park Festival, which attracts tens of thousands of visitors every spring, brings residents together to produce the largest all-volunteer festival in Georgia. The Festival's centerpiece is the Tour of Homes, which showcases the wide variety of sizes and types of residences in the neighborhood.

Former industrial areas on the west side of the neighborhood have been redeveloped into [[mixed-use development|mixed-use complexes]]. The former [[General Pipe and Foundry Company|General Pipe and Foundry]] site is now North Highland Steel and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20110720095322/http://www.inmanpark.org/mead_1.php Mead paper plant] site is now [[Inman Park Village]]. In the early 1990s the former Atlanta Stove Works was transformed by swapping out two letters of its name and became the Atlanta Stage Works, a film and media production center that eventually housed the early [[Tyler Perry]] film studios and the National AIDS Quilt. In 2015 it was converted into a mixed-use office and restaurant space, to be added to the space across Krog Street to form the [[Krog Street Market]].

==Geography==
Inman Park is bordered by:<ref name=gm>Google Maps</ref>
*the [[BeltLine]] [[Eastside Trail]] on the west, across which lies the [[Old Fourth Ward]]
*[[Freedom Parkway]] on the north, across which lies [[Poncey-Highland]]
*[[Moreland Avenue]] on the east, across which lies [[Candler Park, Atlanta|Candler Park]]
*DeKalb Avenue on the south, across which lie [[Cabbagetown, Atlanta|Cabbagetown]] and [[Reynoldstown]]

[[Little Five Points]] district is located where Inman Park and Candler Park meet at Moreland Avenue and Euclid/McClendon.<ref name=gm/>

==Architecture==

<gallery>
Image:House_Inman_Park.jpg|[[Woodruff House (Atlanta, Georgia)|Woodruff House]]
Image:House_Inman_Park 2.jpg|Victorian House with late 20th Century adornments added before historic zoning
Image:House_Inman_Park 3.jpg|Four-Square with Greek Revival columns added in 1970s (before historic zoning)
Image:House_Inman_Park 4.jpg|"The Castle" Romanesque Revival house
Image:Beath-Dickey House 2011.jpg|[[Beath-Dickey House]]
Image:Candler Mansion Inman Park.jpg|[[Callan Castle (Atlanta)|Callan Castle (Candler mansion)]]
Image:Atlanta etc. 019.jpg|Late 20th Century Arts & Crafts Revival houses
Image:Trolley Barn Inman Park.jpg|Trolley Barn
Image:Park in Inman Park.jpg|Springvale Park
File:Kriegshaber House Atlanta.JPG|[[Kriegshaber House|Kriegshaber House (Wrecking Bar Brewpub)]]
</gallery>
Inman Park contains Atlanta's best collection of residential architecture from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Styles include Queen Anne, high-style Italianate and Romanesque mansion as well as smaller bungalows, shotguns, and foursquares. Inman Park was Atlanta's first example of a garden suburb, with great attention paid to street layout, parks and other public space, and would inspire other Atlanta garden suburbs such as the [[Frederick Law Olmsted]]-designed [[Druid Hills, Georgia|Druid Hills]].

There are two historic districts within the Inman Park neighborhoods: the Inman Park historic district, and the [[Inman Park-Moreland Historic District]], originally the separate suburb of Moreland Park.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/atlanta/ihd.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081013224027/http://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/atlanta/ihd.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 13, 2008|title=Inman Park--Moreland Historic District--Atlanta: A National Register of Historic Places Travel Itinerary|website=Nps.gov|access-date=16 April 2018}}</ref> 
<!-- The History section was removed, as it was copied from http://www.inmanpark.org/flyer.html. Please do not restore copyrighted content if you wish to re-write this section. -->

Notable houses include:
* [[Beath-Dickey House]]
* [[Callan Castle (Atlanta)|Callan Castle (Candler mansion)]]
* [[Kriegshaber House|Kriegshaber House (Wrecking Ball Brewpub)]]

==Other points of interest==
*The [[Krog Street Tunnel]] under the [[CSX Railroad]] connects Inman Park with Cabbagetown and is famous for [[street art]].
*[[Krog Street Market]] is a gourmet [[food hall]]
*[[Edgewood Avenue]] in both Inman Park and Old Fourth Ward is a restaurant street that has been gaining acclaim especially since 2013.
*[[Highland Avenue (Atlanta)|Highland Avenue]] connects Inman Park to the [[Poncey–Highland|Poncey Highland]] and [[Virginia–Highland|Virginia Highland]] neighborhoods. The Highland Avenue corridor offers dozens of local restaurants and shops.
*[[St. Hilda's Inman Park|St. Hilda's]] was built in 1939 as a Baptist church, and since 1978 has been a parish of the [[Anglican Catholic Church]].

==Parks==
Parks in Inman Park include Springvale Park, a pet project of [[Joel Hurt]] and designed by the [[Olmsted Brothers]].<ref>[http://inmanpark.org/park-social/ "Parks", Inman Park association website] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140821183806/http://inmanpark.org/park-social/ |date=2014-08-21 }}</ref> Part of [[Freedom Park (Atlanta)|Freedom Park]] lies in the neighborhood, which the [[BeltLine]] trail also borders. There are also smaller parks: Delta Park, Inman Park, the park in Inman Park Village, and the Bass Recreation Center.

==Government==
Inman Park is in [[Neighborhood planning unit|NPU]] N. Neighbors participate in the Inman Park Neighborhood Association (IPNA).<ref>[http://inmanpark.org/about-inman-park/npu/ Inman Park Neighbors Association site] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140821132151/http://inmanpark.org/about-inman-park/npu/ |date=2014-08-21 }}</ref>

==Education==
Inman Park residents are served by [[Atlanta Public Schools]].

Zoned schools include:
* [https://www.atlantapublicschools.us/springdale Springdale Park Elementary School] (SPARK)
* [[Inman Middle School]]
* [[Midtown High School (Atlanta)|Midtown High School]]

==Transportation==
[[MARTA]] runs bus service and rail service. The [[Inman Park / Reynoldstown (MARTA station)|Inman Park / Reynoldstown MARTA station]] is located at the south end of the neighborhood.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Inman Park, Atlanta, Georgia}}
*[http://www.inmanpark.org/ Inman Park Neighborhood Association]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120317013620/http://citycouncil.atlantaga.gov/2002/images/adopted/0410/02O0050.pdf Atlanta City Council resolution (2002) to expand the historic district], contains detailed information about Inman Park history and architecture
*[http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-3483 New Georgia Encyclopedia] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130201015835/http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-3483 |date=2013-02-01 }}
* [https://books.google.com/books?id=gIw-AAAAYAAJ&dq=%22j.m.+beath%22&pg=PA21 Sketches of prominent Inman Park homes, 1895]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070703230301/http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/travel/atlanta/ Atlanta, Georgia, a National Park Service ''Discover Our Shared Heritage'' Travel Itinerary]

{{Inman Park}}
{{Atlanta neighborhoods}}
{{Former Atlanta neighborhoods}}
{{Historic Districts in Metro Atlanta}}

[[Category:Neighborhoods in Atlanta]]
[[Category:Historic districts in Metro Atlanta]]
[[Category:Streetcar suburbs]]
[[Category:Queen Anne architecture in Georgia (U.S. state)]]
[[Category:Shingle style architecture in Georgia (U.S. state)]]
[[Category:Colonial Revival architecture in Georgia (U.S. state)]]
[[Category:Historic mansion districts]]
[[Category:Bungalow architecture in Georgia (U.S. state)]]
[[Category:Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Georgia (U.S. state)]]
[[Category:National Register of Historic Places in Atlanta]]