Culture of Atlanta, Georgia
Encyclopedia
Culture of the Southern United States
The Culture of the Southern United States, or Southern Culture, is a subculture of the United States that is perhaps America's most distinct, in the minds both of its residents and of those in other parts of the country...
. This is due to the fact that in addition to a large population of migrants from other parts of the U.S., nearly three-quarters of a million foreign-born people
Immigration to the United States
Immigration to the United States has been a major source of population growth and cultural change throughout much of the history of the United States. The economic, social, and political aspects of immigration have caused controversy regarding ethnicity, economic benefits, jobs for non-immigrants,...
make Atlanta their home, accounting for 13 percent of the city's population and making Atlanta one of the most multi-cultural cities in the nation. A random Atlantan is more likely to have been born in Bangalore
Bangalore
Bengaluru , formerly called Bengaluru is the capital of the Indian state of Karnataka. Bangalore is nicknamed the Garden City and was once called a pensioner's paradise. Located on the Deccan Plateau in the south-eastern part of Karnataka, Bangalore is India's third most populous city and...
, Seoul
Seoul
Seoul , officially the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea. A megacity with a population of over 10 million, it is the largest city proper in the OECD developed world...
, or Indianapolis
Indianapolis
Indianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population is 839,489. It is by far Indiana's largest city and, as of the 2010 U.S...
than in Atlanta. Thus, although traditional Southern culture is part of Atlanta's cultural fabric, it's mostly a backdrop to one of the nation's leading international cities. This unique cultural combination reveals itself at the High Museum of Art
High Museum of Art
The High Museum of Art , located in Atlanta, is the leading art museum in the Southeastern United States and one of the most-visited art museums in the world. Located on Peachtree Street in Midtown, the city's arts district, the High is a division of the Woodruff Arts Center.-History:The Museum was...
, the bohemian shops of Little Five Points
Little Five Points
Little Five Points is a district of Atlanta, Georgia, United States, 2½ miles east of downtown. It was established in the early 1900s as the commercial district for the adjacent Inman Park and Candler Park neighborhoods to the west and east...
, and the multi-ethnic dining scene found along Buford Highway
Buford Highway
Buford Highway is an international community along and on either side of a stretch of Georgia State Route 13 in DeKalb County, Georgia. It begins just north of Midtown Atlanta, continues northeast through the towns of Brookhaven, Chamblee, and Doraville, and ends northeast of the Perimeter at the...
.
Museums
Atlanta offers one of the most comprehensive arts scenes in the South, offering art museums of all types. The renowned High Museum of ArtHigh Museum of Art
The High Museum of Art , located in Atlanta, is the leading art museum in the Southeastern United States and one of the most-visited art museums in the world. Located on Peachtree Street in Midtown, the city's arts district, the High is a division of the Woodruff Arts Center.-History:The Museum was...
is the Southeast's leading art museum and among the most-visited art museums in the world. The High is part of the Woodruff Arts Center
Woodruff Arts Center
Woodruff Arts Center is a major visual and performing arts center located in Atlanta. The center houses four arts divisions in one campus and not-for-profit organization...
and is the city's major fine and visual arts venue, with a significant permanent collection and an assortment of traveling exhibitions. The Museum of Design Atlanta
Museum of Design Atlanta
The Museum of Design Atlanta is a design museum located in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. MODA is the only museum in the Southeast devoted exclusively to the study and celebration of all things design.- Overview :...
(MODA), a design museum
Design museum
A design museum is a museum with a focus on product, industrial, graphic, fashion and architectural design.Many design museums were founded as museums for applied arts or decorative arts and started only in the late 20th century to collect design....
, is the only such museum in the Southeast.. Contemporary art museums include the Atlanta Contemporary Art Center
Atlanta Contemporary Art Center
The Atlanta Contemporary Art Center is a non-collecting contemporary art museum located in the West Midtown district of Atlanta. The center presents 8-10 art exhibitions per year that are free to the public every Thursday. The Contemporary also commissions artwork and organizes approximately 50...
and the Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia
Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia
The Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia is a contemporary art museum located in Atlanta. The museum collects and archives hundreds of contemporary works by Georgia artists...
. The Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia (MOCA GA) features works by Georgia artists in painting, print, sculpture and photography. The Atlanta Contemporary Art Center is the city's home for challenging contemporary art and education geared toward working artists and collectors of art. Atlanta's Michael C. Carlos Museum
Michael C. Carlos Museum
The Michael C. Carlos Museum is an art museum located in Atlanta on the historic quadrangle of Emory University's main campus. The Carlos Museum has the largest ancient art collections in the Southeast, including objects from ancient Egypt, Greece, Rome, the Near East, and the ancient Americas...
contains the largest collection of ancient art in the Southeast. The Michael C. Carlos Museum
Michael C. Carlos Museum
The Michael C. Carlos Museum is an art museum located in Atlanta on the historic quadrangle of Emory University's main campus. The Carlos Museum has the largest ancient art collections in the Southeast, including objects from ancient Egypt, Greece, Rome, the Near East, and the ancient Americas...
, located at Emory University
Emory University
Emory University is a private research university in metropolitan Atlanta, located in the Druid Hills section of unincorporated DeKalb County, Georgia, United States. The university was founded as Emory College in 1836 in Oxford, Georgia by a small group of Methodists and was named in honor of...
, houses the Southeast's largest collections of ancient art, from ancient Egypt, Greece, Rome, the Near East, and the ancient Americas. The Millennium Gate
Millennium Gate
The Millennium Gate is a triumphal arch and Georgia history museum located in Atlanta, on 17th Street in the Atlantic Station district of Midtown. Based on the Arch of Titus, the monument celebrates peaceful accomplishment, with special attention paid to Georgia's history and people...
, a triumphal arch, contains gallery space that features traditional and modern art exhibits.
Atlanta also hosts a variety of history museums on subjects ranging from the Olympics, aviation, natural history, and beverages. History museums and attractions include the Atlanta History Center
Atlanta History Center
The Atlanta History Center is a history museum located in the Buckhead district of Atlanta, Georgia. The Museum was founded in 1926, and currently consists of 12 exhibits. There are also historic gardens and houses located on the grounds, including the Swan House and Tullie Smith Farm...
, detailing the history of Atlanta and Georgia; the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site
Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site
Martin Luther King, Jr., National Historic Site established on October 10, 1980, consists of several buildings surrounding Martin Luther King, Jr.'s boyhood home on Auburn Avenue in the Sweet Auburn historic district of Atlanta, Georgia. The original Ebenezer Baptist Church, the church where King...
, which includes the preserved boyhood home of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Martin Luther King, Jr. was an American clergyman, activist, and prominent leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement. He is best known for being an iconic figure in the advancement of civil rights in the United States and around the world, using nonviolent methods following the...
, as well as his final resting place; the Atlanta Cyclorama & Civil War Museum, a civil war museum that houses a massive painting and diorama
Diorama
The word diorama can either refer to a nineteenth century mobile theatre device, or, in modern usage, a three-dimensional full-size or miniature model, sometimes enclosed in a glass showcase for a museum...
in-the-round, with a rotating central audience platform, that depicts the Battle of Atlanta
Battle of Atlanta
The Battle of Atlanta was a battle of the Atlanta Campaign fought during the American Civil War on July 22, 1864, just southeast of Atlanta, Georgia. Continuing their summer campaign to seize the important rail and supply center of Atlanta, Union forces commanded by William T. Sherman overwhelmed...
in the Civil War; the Carter Center and Presidential Library
Carter Center
The Carter Center is a nongovernmental, not-for-profit organization founded in 1982 by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and his wife Rosalynn Carter. In partnership with Emory University, The Carter Center works to advance human rights and alleviate human suffering...
, housing U.S. President Jimmy Carter
Jimmy Carter
James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...
's papers and other material relating to the Carter administration and the Carter family's life; historic house museum Rhodes Hall
Rhodes Hall
Rhodes Memorial Hall, commonly known as Rhodes Hall, is a historic house museum located in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It was built as the home of furniture magnate Amos Giles Rhodes, proprietor of Atlanta-based Rhodes Furniture...
, a Romanesque Revival house inspired by the German castles; the Wren's Nest
Joel Chandler Harris House
Joel Chandler Harris House, also known as The Wren's Nest or Snap Bean Farm, is a Queen Anne style farmhouse in Atlanta, Georgia built in 1870. It was home to Joel Chandler Harris, editor of the Atlanta Constitution and author of the Uncle Remus Tales, from 1881 until his death in 1908...
, former home of Brer Rabbit author Joel Chandler-Harris; the Margaret Mitchell House and Museum, site of the writing of the best-selling novel Gone With the Wind
Gone with the Wind
The slaves depicted in Gone with the Wind are primarily loyal house servants, such as Mammy, Pork and Uncle Peter, and these slaves stay on with their masters even after the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 sets them free...
; the World of Coca-Cola
World of Coca-Cola
The World of Coca-Cola is a permanent exhibition featuring the history of The Coca-Cola Company and its well-known advertising as well as a host of entertainment areas and attractions...
, featuring the history of the world famous soft drink brand and its well-known advertising; the Delta Heritage Museum
Delta Heritage Museum
The Delta Heritage Museum is an aviation and corporate museum located in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. The museum is housed in two 1940s-era Delta Air Lines maintenance hangars, which were used until the 1960s when the Delta Technical Operations Center, formerly known as the Jet Base, was...
, an aviation museum
Aviation museum
An aviation museum, air museum or aerospace museum is a museum exhibiting the history and artifacts of aviation. In addition to actual or replica aircraft, exhibits can include photographs, maps, models, dioramas, clothing and equipment used by aviators.Aviation museums vary in size from housing...
that also details the history of the Delta
Delta Air Lines
Delta Air Lines, Inc. is a major airline based in the United States and headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. The airline operates an extensive domestic and international network serving all continents except Antarctica. Delta and its subsidiaries operate over 4,000 flights every day...
corporation; the Robert C. Williams Paper Museum
Robert C. Williams Paper Museum
The Robert C. Williams Paper Museum is a research institution and public museum dedicated to the preservation of the history of paper and paper technology...
, which showcases the history of paper and paper technology, and also allows visitors to create their own paper; the Fernbank Museum of Natural History
Fernbank Museum of Natural History
Fernbank Museum of Natural History, in Atlanta, is a museum in that presents exhibitions and programming about natural history that are meant to entertain as well as educate the public. Its mission is to encourage a greater appreciation of the planet and its people...
, which presents exhibitions and programming about natural history; and the William Breman Jewish Heritage & Holocaust Museum
William Breman Jewish Heritage & Holocaust Museum
The William Breman Jewish Heritage and Holocaust Museum is a museum in Atlanta dedicated to Jewish history, with special emphasis on Georgia and the Holocaust...
, the only Holocaust museum in the Southeast.
Museums geared specifically towards children include the Fernbank Science Center
Fernbank Science Center
The Fernbank Science Center is a museum, classroom, and woodland complex located in Atlanta. It is owned and operated by DeKalb County School System...
, Imagine It! The Children's Museum of Atlanta
Imagine It! The Children's Museum of Atlanta
Imagine It! The Children's Museum of Atlanta is a children's museum located in Atlanta, Georgia, founded in 1988 and opened in 2003. The Museum is located Downtown, adjacent to Centennial Olympic Park. The Museum hosts three exhibits per year.-External links:...
. In addition, the Center for Puppetry Arts
Center for Puppetry Arts
The Center for Puppetry Arts, located in Atlanta, is the nation’s largest organization dedicated to the art form of puppetry. The Center focuses on three areas: performance, education and museum. It is one of the only puppet museums in the world. The Center is located in Midtown, the city's arts...
presents puppets from various time periods and countries around the world, hosts puppet performances, and allows visitors to create their own puppets.
Performing arts
Atlanta's premier performing arts venue is the Fox Theatre, an historic landmark and one of the highest grossing venues in the world. The city also has a large collection of highly successful music venues of various sizes that host top and emerging touring acts. Popular local venues include the TabernacleThe Tabernacle
The Tabernacle, informally known as The Tabby, is a mid-size concert hall, in the U.S. city of Atlanta, currently managed by concert promoter Live Nation...
, the Variety Playhouse
Variety Playhouse
Variety Playhouse is a music venue in the Little Five Points neighborhood of Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It is located on Euclid Avenue and features a variety of music acts including rock, country, folk, bluegrass, jazz, blues and world music as well as other live shows.-Details:The building...
, The Masquerade, the King Plow Arts Center
King Plow Arts Center
The King Plow Arts Center is a commercial, performing, and visual arts center located in the Marietta Street Artery district of Atlanta. King Plow is the largest center of its kind in the city. King Plow is also a popular music venue for concerts and live music shows in Atlanta...
, the Star Community Bar, and the EARL
The EARL
The EARL is a popular alternative music venue in Atlanta, Georgia, located on Flat Shoals Avenue in the neighborhood of East Atlanta. The Earl was opened in 1999 by John Searson, a long-time Atlanta resident but a newcomer to the restaurant and live entertainment business...
.
The Woodruff Arts Center
Woodruff Arts Center
Woodruff Arts Center is a major visual and performing arts center located in Atlanta. The center houses four arts divisions in one campus and not-for-profit organization...
is home to the Tony Award-winning
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
Alliance Theatre
Alliance Theatre Company
The Alliance Theatre is a theater company in Atlanta, Georgia based at the Alliance Theatre, part of the Robert W. Woodruff Arts Center and is the winner of the 2007 Regional Theatre Tony Award. The company, originally the Atlanta Municipal Theatre, staged its first production at the Alliance in...
, as well as the Atlanta Symphony. The Atlanta Opera, which was founded in 1979 by members of two struggling local companies, is now one of the fastest growing opera companies in the nation and garners attention from audiences around the world.
Atlanta is home to over 100 theater, dance, and film arts companies. Actor's Express, Dad's Garage, Atlanta Dance Theater, Lionheart Theater Company, the Ballethnic Dance Company, the Center for Puppetry Arts, IKAM Productions, PushPush Theater Company, and many others offer a wide variety of entertainment options.
There are dozens of world-class theaters and venues, including the Fox Theater, Rialto Theater, Atlanta Civic Center, the Tabernacle
The Tabernacle
The Tabernacle, informally known as The Tabby, is a mid-size concert hall, in the U.S. city of Atlanta, currently managed by concert promoter Live Nation...
, Alliance Theater, 7 Stages, 14th Street Playhouse, the Ferst Center for the Arts, Chastain Amphitheater, Variety Playhouse
Variety Playhouse
Variety Playhouse is a music venue in the Little Five Points neighborhood of Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It is located on Euclid Avenue and features a variety of music acts including rock, country, folk, bluegrass, jazz, blues and world music as well as other live shows.-Details:The building...
, Callanwolde, the Shakespeare Tavern, etc.
Literature
Atlanta is the home of many influential writers of the 20th century, including Margaret MitchellMargaret Mitchell
Margaret Munnerlyn Mitchell was an American author and journalist. Mitchell won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1937 for her epic American Civil War era novel, Gone with the Wind, which was the only novel by Mitchell published during her lifetime.-Family:Margaret Mitchell was born in Atlanta,...
, author of Gone With the Wind
Gone with the Wind
The slaves depicted in Gone with the Wind are primarily loyal house servants, such as Mammy, Pork and Uncle Peter, and these slaves stay on with their masters even after the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 sets them free...
, one of the best-selling books of all time; Alice Walker
Alice Walker
Alice Malsenior Walker is an American author, poet, and activist. She has written both fiction and essays about race and gender...
, author of Pulitzer Prize-wining and critically acclaimed novel The Color Purple
The Color Purple
The Color Purple is an acclaimed 1982 epistolary novel by American author Alice Walker. It received the 1983 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the National Book Award for Fiction...
; Alfred Uhry
Alfred Uhry
Alfred Fox Uhry is an American playwright, screenwriter, and member of the Fellowship of Southern Writers. He is one of very few writers to receive an Academy Award, Tony Award and the Pulitzer Prize for dramatic writing....
, playwright of Driving Miss Daisy
Driving Miss Daisy
Driving Miss Daisy is a 1989 American comedy-drama film adapted from the Alfred Uhry play of the same name. The film was directed by Bruce Beresford, with Morgan Freeman reprising his role as Hoke Colburn and Jessica Tandy playing Miss Daisy...
, which deals with Jewish residents of Atlanta in the early 20th century; and Joel Chandler Harris
Joel Chandler Harris
Joel Chandler Harris was an American journalist, fiction writer, and folklorist best known for his collection of Uncle Remus stories. Harris was born in Eatonton, Georgia, where he served as an apprentice on a plantation during his teenage years...
, author of the Brer Rabbit children's stories. Famous journalists include Ralph McGill
Ralph McGill
Ralph Emerson McGill , American journalist, was best known as the anti-segregationist editor and publisher of the Atlanta Constitution newspaper. He won a Pulitzer Prize for editorial writing in 1959....
, the anti-segregationist editor and publisher of the Atlanta Constitution newspaper. Atlanta is also the home of contemporary editorial cartoonist Mike Luckovich
Mike Luckovich
Michael Edward Luckovich is an editorial cartoonist who has worked for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution since 1989...
, who is syndicated nationally to 150 newspapers.
Music
Atlanta has a thriving music industry and has produced many rock and pop music singers, such as The Black CrowesThe Black Crowes
The Black Crowes are an American rock band formed in 1989. Their discography includes nine studio albums, four live albums and several charting singles. The band was signed to Def American Recordings in 1989 by producer George Drakoulias and released their debut album, Shake Your Money Maker, the...
, alternative metal band Sevendust
Sevendust
Sevendust is an American heavy metal band from Atlanta, Georgia. Formed in 1994 by bassist Vince Hornsby, drummer Morgan Rose and guitarist John Connolly. After their first demo, lead vocalist Lajon Witherspoon and guitarist Clint Lowery joined the group...
, sludge metal band Mastodon
Mastodon (band)
Mastodon is an American heavy metal band from Atlanta, Georgia, formed in 1999. The band is composed of bassist/vocalist Troy Sanders, guitarist/vocalist Brent Hinds, guitarist Bill Kelliher and drummer/vocalist Brann Dailor...
, ska/punk band Treephort
Treephort
Treephort is an American punk rock band from Marietta, Georgia.An article by the Associated Press brought the band international attention in 2004 for their stage antics while on tour.Before this attention, Treephort toured the U.S...
, rock bands Swimming Pool Q's, Uncle Green
Uncle Green
Formed in Basking Ridge, New Jersey in 1980, the band Uncle Green consisted of Matt Brown , Jeff Jensen , Bill Decker , Pete McDade , and Danny Giordano...
(a.k.a 3 Lb. Thrill
3 lb. thrill
3 lb. Thrill was the reincarnation of the Atlanta band Uncle Green. Formed in Basking Ridge, New Jersey in 1980, Uncle Green consisted of Matt Brown , Jeff Jensen , Bill Decker , Pete McDade , and Danny Giordano...
), Light Pupil Dilate
Light Pupil Dilate
Light Pupil Dilate was an American rock trio from Atlanta, Georgia that formed in 2001. They often went by the acronym LPD. Their sound was made by mixing post-punk, hardcore punk, metal, and space rock...
, Big Fish Ensemble, Collective Soul
Collective Soul
Collective Soul is an American rock band originally formed in Stockbridge, Georgia. Collective Soul broke into mainstream popularity with their first hit single, "Shine", which came from their debut album Hints, Allegations, and Things Left Unsaid, released in 1993...
and Third Day
Third Day
Third Day is a Grammy award-winning Christian rock band formed in Marietta, Georgia during the 1990s. The band was founded by lead singer Mac Powell, guitarist Mark Lee and former member Billy Wilkins. The other band members are bassist Tai Anderson and drummer David Carr...
, the folk-pop Indigo Girls
Indigo Girls
The Indigo Girls are an American folk rock music duo, consisting of Amy Ray and Emily Saliers. They met in elementary school and began performing together as high school students in Decatur, Georgia, part of the Atlanta metropolitan area...
, Butch Walker
Butch Walker
Butch Walker is an American recording artist, songwriter, and record producer. He was the lead guitarist for the metal band SouthGang from the late 80s to early 90s as well as the lead vocalist and guitarist for rock band Marvelous 3 from 1997 until 2001.-Career:Walker grew up in Cartersville,...
, and was a proving ground for Connecticut-born pop-rock-blues musician John Mayer
John Mayer (musician)
John Clayton Mayer is an American pop rock and blues rock musician, singer-songwriter, recording artist, and music producer. Born in Bridgeport, Connecticut and raised in Fairfield, Connecticut, he attended Berklee College of Music in Boston. He moved to Atlanta in 1997, where he refined his...
. Mayer, as well as India.Arie
India.Arie
India.Arie is a Grammy Award-winning American singer-songwriter and record producer . She has sold over 3.3 million records in the U.S. and 10 million worldwide. She has won four Grammy Awards from her 21 nominations, including Best R&B Album.-Background:Simpson was born in Denver, Colorado...
and Shawn Mullins, all performed pre-fame at Eddie's Attic
Eddie's Attic
Eddie's Attic is a music club in Decatur, Georgia. Founded in 1992 by Eddie Owen, it is a venue for both local musical talent and musicians of some acclaim who often got their start in the Atlanta area. Artists who developed their fanbase at Eddie's Attic include Shawn Mullins, Sugarland, Indigo...
, an independent club in the intown suburb of Decatur. The "Open Mic Shootout" at Eddie's Attic consistently draws singer-songwriter talent from across the nation, and is held every Monday night. Electronic jam-groove band Sound Tribe Sector 9
Sound Tribe Sector 9
Sound Tribe Sector 9 is an instrumental band known for their live performances. The band’s genre-blending sound is based heavily on instrumental rock and electronic music crossed with elements of funk, jazz, drum and bass, psychedelia, and hip hop...
is also from Atlanta.
The city has a well-known and active live music scene. In the early 1980s, Atlanta was the home of a thriving new wave music
New Wave music
New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...
scene featuring such bands as The Brains
The Brains
The Brains were a rock band from Atlanta, Georgia, led by songwriter Tom Gray in the early 1980s. Their 1980 debut album was entitled The Brains, and was produced by Steve Lillywhite for Mercury Records. The set is probably most noteworthy for the band's own song, "Money Changes Everything", which...
and The Producers
The Producers (band)
The Producers is a new wave and power pop band from Atlanta, Georgia in the 1980s. The original line up included Van Temple on guitar and vocals, former Whiteface member Kyle Henderson on bass and vocals, former Billy Joe Royal sideman "Wayne Famous" on keyboards, and Bryan Holmes on...
, closely linked to the new wave scenes in Athens, Georgia
Athens, Georgia
Athens-Clarke County is a consolidated city–county in U.S. state of Georgia, in the northeastern part of the state, comprising the former City of Athens proper and Clarke County. The University of Georgia is located in this college town and is responsible for the initial growth of the city...
and other college towns in the southeast. Historically there have been a variety of live music traditions going back to Cabbagetown country music pioneer Fiddlin' John Carson
Fiddlin' John Carson
Fiddlin' John Carson was an American old time fiddler and an early-recorded country musician.-Early life:...
, also including a thriving scene in the 90s, also in Cabbagetown, centered on a bar called Dotties, now known as Lenny's and relocated a few blocks away. Video Concert Hall
Video Concert Hall
Video Concert Hall was an early U.S. television network launched on November 1, 1979, on the USA Network and on Showtime, featuring an unhosted rotation of music videos. Often credited as being the precursor to MTV, Video Concert Hall was reportedly the most popular programming on QUBE, a cable...
, precursor to MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
, was founded in Atlanta.
Atlanta's classical music scene includes well-renowned ensembles such as the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra
The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. Robert Spano has been its music director since 2001...
, Atlanta Opera, Atlanta Ballet
Atlanta Ballet
Atlanta Ballet is a ballet company, located in Atlanta, Georgia. It is the nation’s longest continuously performing ballet company and the State Ballet of Georgia.- History :...
, period-instrument ensemble New Trinity Baroque
New Trinity Baroque
New Trinity Baroque is an orchestra with an associated chamber choir, specialised in baroque music played on period instruments. It was founded in 1998 in London but is now based in Atlanta, USA...
, Georgia Boy Choir
Georgia Boy Choir
The Georgia Boy Choir is an American boys' choir. It was founded under the creative leadership of David White, former director of the Atlanta Boy Choir, and the Florida’s Singing Sons Boychoir....
, Atlanta Boy Choir
Atlanta Boy Choir
Atlanta, Georgia has been home to a performing boy choir since the Atlanta Boys Choir was founded as part of the music program in the Atlanta City School System in 1946. That early boy choir gave annual Christmas and Spring concerts at the Atlanta Municipal Auditorium and was composed of boys with...
, and many others. Classical musicians include renowned conductors such as the late Robert Shaw
Robert Shaw (conductor)
Robert Shaw was an American conductor most famous for his work with his namesake Chorale, with the Cleveland Orchestra and Chorus, and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Chorus. Shaw received 14 Grammy awards, four ASCAP awards for service to contemporary music, the first Guggenheim Fellowship...
and the Atlanta Symphony's Robert Spano
Robert Spano
Robert Spano is an American conductor and pianist. Since 2001 he has been Music Director of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra , and he served as Music Director of the Brooklyn Philharmonic from 1996 to 2004...
.
Atlanta is home to many famous hip-hop and R&B musicians, including Arrested Development (group), Mr. Wendal
Mr. Wendal
"Mr. Wendal" is a single released by influential rap group Arrested Development in 1992, from their most commercially successful album, 3 Years, 5 Months & 2 Days in the Life Of.......
& People Everyday
People Everyday
"People Everyday" is the first hit single for rap/hip-hop group Arrested Development. It was released in 1992, taken from their critically acclaimed album 3 Years, 5 Months & 2 Days in the Life Of.......
, Jermaine Dupri
Jermaine Dupri
Jermaine Dupri Mauldin , known as Jermaine Dupri or JD, is an American record producer, songwriter and rapper.- Early life and career :...
, Ludacris
Ludacris
Christopher Brian Bridges , better known by his stage name Ludacris, is an American rapper and actor. Along with his manager, Chaka Zulu, Ludacris is the co-founder of Disturbing tha Peace, an imprint distributed by Def Jam Recordings...
, T.I.
T.I.
Clifford Joseph Harris, Jr. , better known by his stage name T.I., is an American rap artist, film and music producer, actor and author. He is also the founder and co-chief executive officer of Grand Hustle Records....
, Outkast
OutKast
Outkast is an American hip hop duo based in East Point, Georgia, consisting of Atlanta native André "André 3000" Benjamin and Savannah, Georgia-born Antwan "Big Boi" Patton. They were originally known as Two Shades Deep but later changed the group's name to OutKast...
, and Goodie Mob
Goodie Mob
Goodie Mob is a Hip Hop act based in Atlanta, Georgia that formed in 1991 and currently consists of members Cee-Lo Green, Khujo, T-Mo and Big Gipp.-History:The group's name acts as a double backronym...
. Record Producers L.A. Reid and Babyface founded LaFace Records
LaFace Records
LaFace Records is an American record label, owned and operated by Sony Music Entertainment.-Company history:LaFace was formed in 1989 as a joint venture between the producing duo Antonio "L.A." Reid & Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds, and Arista Records. The combined nicknames of the duo's successful...
in Atlanta in the late-1980s; the label has eventually become the home to multi-platinum selling artists such as Toni Braxton
Toni Braxton
Toni Michelle Braxton is an American R&B singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress. Braxton has won six Grammy Awards, seven American Music Awards, and five Billboard Music Awards and has sold over 60 million records worldwide...
, TLC, Usher and Ciara
Ciara
Ciara Princess Harris , known mononymously as Ciara, is an American singer-songwriter, dancer, actress and fashion model. Born in Austin, Texas, she traveled around the world during her childhood, only to land in Atlanta, Georgia where she met music producer, Jazze Pha...
. It is also the home of So So Def Records, a label founded by Jermaine Dupri in the mid-1990s, that signed acts such as Da Brat
Da Brat
Shawntae Harris , better known as Da Brat, is an American rapper and actress. Her debut album, Funkdafied, sold one million copies, making her the first female rapper to have a platinum-selling album.-Early life:...
, Jagged Edge
Jagged Edge (band)
Jagged Edge is an American R&B group, with the lead singers, Brandon & Brian, born in Hartford, CT on October 13, 1975, Kyle Norman of Decatur, GA born on February 26,1976 and Richard Wingo of College Park, GA born on September 3, 1975. Wingo was a late addition to the group, added after Kandi...
, Xscape
Xscape (band)
Xscape, was a female American R&B group that originally started out as a quintet and then became a quartet. The group had a string of hit songs during the 1990s...
and Dem Franchise Boyz. The success of LaFace and SoSo Def led to Atlanta as an established scene for record labels such as LaFace parent company Arista Records
Arista Records
Arista was an American record label. It was a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment and operated under the RCA Music Group. The label was founded in 1974 by Clive Davis, who formerly worked for CBS Records...
to set up satellite offices.
Visual arts
Atlanta is home to a growing, established visual arts community. In 2010, the city was ranked as the ninth-best city for the arts by American Style Magazine. Most of the city's art galleries are located in the Castleberry Hill and West Midtown neighborhoods. While every type of visual art is represented in the city, Atlanta is a major center for contemporary artContemporary art
Contemporary art can be defined variously as art produced at this present point in time or art produced since World War II. The definition of the word contemporary would support the first view, but museums of contemporary art commonly define their collections as consisting of art produced...
, public art
Public art
The term public art properly refers to works of art in any media that have been planned and executed with the specific intention of being sited or staged in the physical public domain, usually outside and accessible to all...
, and urban art
Urban art
Urban art is a style of art that relates to cities and city life often done by artists who live in or have a passion for city life...
. The growing Atlanta campus of Savannah College of Art and Design
Savannah College of Art and Design
SCAD, the Savannah College of Art and Design, is a private, accredited and degree-granting university with locations in Savannah and Atlanta, Georgia, Hong Kong, and Lacoste, France.-History:...
has brought in a steady stream of artists and curators.
Festivals and events
Atlanta's mild climate and plentiful trees allow for festivals and events to take place in the city year-round. One of the city's most popular events is the Atlanta Dogwood FestivalAtlanta Dogwood Festival
The Atlanta Dogwood Festival is an arts and crafts festival held each spring at Piedmont Park in Atlanta, Georgia. Originally held for nine days across two weekends and the weekdays between, it is now held only one weekend during early April, when the native dogwoods are in bloom.- External links :*...
, an arts and crafts festival held in Piedmont Park each spring, when the native dogwoods are in bloom. Atlanta Streets Alive
Atlanta Streets Alive
Atlanta Streets Alive is a ciclovía held throughout the year in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Ciclovía is Spanish for a temporary closing of the street to automobiles for use by people participating in recreational activity, such as bicycling, roller-skating, jogging, strolling, scootering, or...
, inspired by the ciclovía
Ciclovía
Ciclovía is term which translates from Spanish into English as "bike path" and now used worldwide to describe either a permanently designated bicycle route or a temporary event, the closing of the street to automobiles for use by others.-Origins in Colombia:Each Sunday and holiday certain main...
in Bogotá, Colombia, closes city streets to car traffic to allow people to participate in health and community-oriented, such as bicycling, strolling, skating, people-watching, tango, yoga, hula hooping, and break dancing. Inman Park Festival, held in the spring in one of Atlanta’s oldest neighborhoods
Inman Park
Inman Park 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 Atlanta's electric streetcar lines. The East Atlanta Land Company acquired and developed more than 130 acres east of the city...
, offers an artist market, live entertainment, and a wide variety of food vendors. Little Five Points Halloween Festival
Little Five Points Halloween Festival
The Little 5 Points Halloween Festival & Parade is an annual Halloween festival and parade held in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It is the signature Halloween festival in the southeast and one of the top ten Halloween events in the country. On the Saturday before Halloween , over 35,000 people...
, winner of the 2003 Best Festival award by the International Festival and Events Association, takes place the weekend before Halloween in Atlanta's bohemian district
Little Five Points
Little Five Points is a district of Atlanta, Georgia, United States, 2½ miles east of downtown. It was established in the early 1900s as the commercial district for the adjacent Inman Park and Candler Park neighborhoods to the west and east...
, involving a parade and costume contest. Atlanta's large Hispanic community
Hispanic and Latino Communities in Atlanta
Atlanta, the largest urban center in the southeastern U.S., has undergone profound social, cultural and demographic change since the 1980s. Prior to that time, the region contained two main ethnic groups: European Americans and African Americans. However, from 1980 to 1995, the Hispanic population...
is represented in Festival Peachtree Latino
Festival Peachtree Latino
Festival Peachtree Latino is an ethnic festival held annually Piedmont Park in Atlanta, Georgia. The festival, which celebrates Hispanic-American culture, is the largest multicultural event in the entire Southeast...
, the largest multicultural festival in the Southeast, which is held annually at Piedmont Park. Other ethnic festivals include the Atlanta Greek Festival, the Atlanta Turkish Festival, Festival of India, JapanFest, and Korean Festival.
Music & film festivals
Atlanta is the host of the Atlanta Film FestivalAtlanta Film Festival
The Atlanta Film Festival is an Academy Award qualifying, international film festival held in Atlanta, Georgia. Started in 1976 and occurring every April, the festival shows a diverse range of independent films, including genre films such as horror and sci-fi...
, an Academy Award qualifying, international film festival held every April and showcasing a diverse range of independent films, including genre films such as horror and sci-fi. Other film festivals include the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival, the Atlanta Asian Film Festival, and the Out on Film
Out on Film
Out on Film, Atlanta, Georgia's gay film festival, was established in 1987 and is one of the oldest gay film festivals in the United States devoted to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community. The festival is now held in Midtown Atlanta in October to coincide with LGBT History Month...
gay film festival.
Atlanta's main music festival is Music Midtown
Music Midtown
Music Midtown was a large music festival held in Atlanta, Georgia from 1994 to 2005. It is once again resurrected for 2011.The festival ran on one weekend each year from 1994 to 2005. The event drew in excess of 300,000 attendees per year during its peak years. Music Midtown started as a two-day...
, which was revived in 2011 after a six-year hiatus. The festival, which is held in Piedmont Park
Piedmont Park
Piedmont Park is a urban park in Atlanta, Georgia, located about northeast of Downtown, between the Midtown and Virginia Highland neighborhoods. Originally the land was owned by Dr. Benjamin Walker, who used it as his out-of-town gentleman's farm and residence...
, hosts major bands like Coldplay
Coldplay
Coldplay are a British alternative rock band formed in 1996 by lead vocalist Chris Martin and lead guitarist Jonny Buckland at University College London. After they formed Pectoralz, Guy Berryman joined the group as a bassist and they changed their name to Starfish. Will Champion joined as a...
and The Black Keys
The Black Keys
The Black Keys are an American rock duo consisting of vocalist/guitarist Dan Auerbach and drummer/producer Patrick Carney. The band was formed in Akron, Ohio, in 2001. As of October 2011, the band has sold over 2 million albums in the U.S....
. Peachtree Music Festival is a one-day, two-stage outdoor music festival held at the corner of 8th Street and Spring Street in the city's Midtown
Midtown Atlanta
Midtown is the second largest financial district in the city of Atlanta, Georgia, situated between the commercial and financial districts of Downtown and SoNo to the south and the affluent residential and commercial district of Buckhead to the north...
district. The festival blends indie rock
Indie rock
Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...
bands with electronica DJs. Atlanta also hosts several annual events that include live music, including the Atlanta Jazz Festival, the Montreux Festival, and On the Bricks. Corndogorama is a yearly music festival, founded in 1996 by Dave Railey, which features performances from local bands including Indie rock
Indie rock
Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...
, Hip hop
Hip hop
Hip hop is a form of musical expression and artistic culture that originated in African-American and Latino communities during the 1970s in New York City, specifically the Bronx. DJ Afrika Bambaataa outlined the four pillars of hip hop culture: MCing, DJing, breaking and graffiti writing...
, Metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
, and Electronic
Electronic music
Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
groups.
Cuisine
Atlanta's cuisine contains a mix of urban establishments garnering national attention, ethnic restaurants offering cuisine from every corner of the world, and traditional eateries specializing in Southern dining.In the last decade, Atlanta has emerged as a sophisticated restaurant town. Many of the restaurants that have opened within the city's gentrifying neighborhoods since 2000 have garnered praise on a national scale, including Bocado, Bacchanalia, and Miller Union in West Midtown, Empire State South in Midtown
Midtown Atlanta
Midtown is the second largest financial district in the city of Atlanta, Georgia, situated between the commercial and financial districts of Downtown and SoNo to the south and the affluent residential and commercial district of Buckhead to the north...
, and Two Urban Licks, Parish, and Rathbun's on the east side.
Visitors seeking to sample international Atlanta are directed to Buford Highway
Buford Highway
Buford Highway is an international community along and on either side of a stretch of Georgia State Route 13 in DeKalb County, Georgia. It begins just north of Midtown Atlanta, continues northeast through the towns of Brookhaven, Chamblee, and Doraville, and ends northeast of the Perimeter at the...
, the city's international corridor. There, the million-plus immigrants that make Atlanta home have established various authentic ethic restaurants, ranging from Vietnamese, Indian, Cuban, Korean, Mexican, Chinese, Russian, and Mongolian.
For traditional Southern fare, one of the city's most famous establishments is The Varsity
The Varsity
The Varsity is a restaurant chain, iconic in the modern culture of Atlanta, Georgia. The main branch of the chain is the largest drive-in fast food restaurant in the world...
, a long-lived fast food chain and the world's largest drive-in restaurant. Mary Mac's Tea Room
Mary Mac's Tea Room
Mary Mac's Tea Room is an historic restaurant in Atlanta, Georgia, serving Southern cuisine. Every morning the workers shuck bushels of corn, hand wash selected greens and snap the fresh green beans by hand. Breads and desserts are baked on the premises. The restaurant is located in the Midtown...
, where every morning workers shuck bushels of corn, wash selected greens, and snap fresh green beans by hand, has been Atlanta's Southern dining destination for more than 60 years. Other eateries offering Southern food include Colonnade and the Horseradish Grill.
Sports
| Club | Sport | League | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|
| Atlanta Falcons Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta, Georgia. They are a member of the South Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League... |
Football American football American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by... |
National Football League National Football League The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing... |
Georgia Dome Georgia Dome The Georgia Dome is a domed stadium located in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, between downtown to the east and Vine City to the west. It is primarily the home stadium for the NFL Atlanta Falcons and the NCAA Division I FCS Georgia State Panthers football team. It is owned and operated by the... |
| Atlanta Braves Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are a professional baseball club based in Atlanta, Georgia. The Braves are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League. The Braves have played in Turner Field since 1997.... |
Baseball Baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond... |
Major League Baseball Major League Baseball Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League... , NL National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League , is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball, and the world's oldest extant professional team sports league. Founded on February 2, 1876, to replace the National Association of Professional... |
Turner Field Turner Field Turner Field is a stadium in Atlanta, Georgia, home to Major League Baseball's Atlanta Braves since 1997. Turner Field was originally built as Centennial Olympic Stadium, it was completed in 1996 to serve as the centerpiece of the 1996 Summer Olympics... |
| Atlanta Hawks Atlanta Hawks The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta, Georgia. They are part of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association .-The first years:... |
Basketball Basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules... |
National Basketball Association National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada... |
Philips Arena Philips Arena Philips Arena is an indoor arena in Atlanta, Georgia.Completed in 1999 to replace The Omni, at a cost of $213.5 million, it is home to the Atlanta Hawks, of the National Basketball Association, and the Atlanta Dream, of the Women's National Basketball Association... |
| Atlanta Thrashers Atlanta Thrashers The Atlanta Thrashers were a professional ice hockey team based in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Atlanta was granted a franchise in the National Hockey League on June 25, 1997, and became the league's 28th franchise when it began play in the 1999–2000 NHL season... (Moved to Winnipeg) |
Ice hockey Ice hockey Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take... |
National Hockey League National Hockey League The National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States... |
Philips Arena Philips Arena Philips Arena is an indoor arena in Atlanta, Georgia.Completed in 1999 to replace The Omni, at a cost of $213.5 million, it is home to the Atlanta Hawks, of the National Basketball Association, and the Atlanta Dream, of the Women's National Basketball Association... |
| Atlanta Silverbacks Atlanta Silverbacks Atlanta Silverbacks is an American professional soccer team based in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Founded in 1995, the team plays in the North American Soccer League , the second tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, having previously sat out the 2009 and 2010 seasons while the ownership... |
Soccer Football (soccer) Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball... |
USL First Division USL First Division The United Soccer Leagues First Division was a professional men's soccer league in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico.... |
Silverbacks Park |
| Georgia Force Georgia Force The Georgia Force are an Arena Football League team based in Gwinnett County, Georgia, United States that plays in the South Division of the American Conference. The team is owned by Doug MacGregor and Donn Jennings... |
Arena Football Arena football Arena football is a variety of gridiron football played by the Arena Football League . It is a proprietary game, the rights to which are owned by Gridiron Enterprises, and is played indoors on a smaller field than American or Canadian outdoor football, resulting in a faster and higher-scoring game.... |
Arena Football League | Philips Arena Philips Arena Philips Arena is an indoor arena in Atlanta, Georgia.Completed in 1999 to replace The Omni, at a cost of $213.5 million, it is home to the Atlanta Hawks, of the National Basketball Association, and the Atlanta Dream, of the Women's National Basketball Association... |
| Gwinnett Gladiators Gwinnett Gladiators The Gwinnett Gladiators are a professional minor league ice hockey team based in Duluth, Georgia. The Gladiators play in the South Division of the ECHL's Eastern Conference. The Gladiators play their home games at the Arena at Gwinnett Center.... |
Ice hockey Ice hockey Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take... |
ECHL ECHL The ECHL is a mid-level professional ice hockey league based in Princeton, New Jersey with teams scattered across the United States... |
Arena at Gwinnett Center Arena at Gwinnett Center The Arena at Gwinnett Center is an indoor arena in Duluth, Georgia, United States. The arena was an expansion to the Gwinnett Center, which also includes a performing arts center and a convention center... |
| Atlanta Vision Atlanta Vision The Atlanta Vision is an American Basketball Association team based in Atlanta. The team began play in the fall of 2004. They finished the 2005 season with a 7-14 record. They missed the playoffs. However, in the 2005-06 season, they finished 23-7, good for first place in the Barnes-Malone... |
Basketball Basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules... |
ABA American Basketball Association (21st century) The American Basketball Association, often abbreviated as ABA, is a semi-professional men's basketball league that was founded in 1999. The current ABA has no affiliation with the original American Basketball Association that merged with the National Basketball Association in 1976... :Blue Conference |
The Sampson's Center |
| Atlanta Rollergirls | Roller Derby Roller derby Roller derby is a contact sport played by two teams of five members roller skating in the same direction around a track. Game play consists of a series of short matchups in which both teams designate a scoring player who scores points by lapping members of the opposing team... |
Women's Flat Track Derby Association Women's Flat Track Derby Association The Women's Flat Track Derby Association is an association of women's flat track roller derby leagues in the United States. The organization was founded in April 2004 as the United Leagues Coalition but was renamed in November 2005. It is registered in Raleigh, North Carolina as a 501 business... |
All American Skating Center |
Bobby Dodd Stadium
Bobby Dodd Stadium at Historic Grant Field is the football stadium located at the corner of North Avenue at Techwood Drive on the campus of Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, Georgia, who completed the 2011 season with a loss to rival UGA...
, built in 1913 by the students of Georgia Tech
Georgia Institute of Technology
The Georgia Institute of Technology is a public research university in Atlanta, Georgia, in the United States...
. Atlanta also played host to the second intercollegiate football game in the South, played between the A&M College of Alabama
Auburn University
Auburn University is a public university located in Auburn, Alabama, United States. With more than 25,000 students and 1,200 faculty members, it is one of the largest universities in the state. Auburn was chartered on February 7, 1856, as the East Alabama Male College, a private liberal arts...
(now Auburn University) and the University of Georgia
University of Georgia
The University of Georgia is a public research university located in Athens, Georgia, United States. Founded in 1785, it is the oldest and largest of the state's institutions of higher learning and is one of multiple schools to claim the title of the oldest public university in the United States...
in Piedmont Park
Piedmont Park
Piedmont Park is a urban park in Atlanta, Georgia, located about northeast of Downtown, between the Midtown and Virginia Highland neighborhoods. Originally the land was owned by Dr. Benjamin Walker, who used it as his out-of-town gentleman's farm and residence...
in 1892; this game is now called the Deep South's Oldest Rivalry
Deep South's Oldest Rivalry
The Deep South's Oldest Rivalry is an American college football rivalry game played by the Auburn Tigers football team of Auburn University and the Georgia Bulldogs football team of the University of Georgia...
. The city hosts college football's annual Chick-fil-A Bowl
Chick-fil-A Bowl
The Chick-fil-A Bowl, formerly called the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, and before that simply called the Peach Bowl, is an annual college football bowl game played in Atlanta, Georgia since December 1968. The first three Peach Bowls were played at Grant Field on the Georgia Tech campus in Atlanta....
(Formerly known as The Peach Bowl) and the Peachtree Road Race
Peachtree Road Race
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Peachtree Road Race 10K is a 10 kilometer road race held annually in Atlanta, Georgia on July 4, Independence Day. The Peachtree Road Race was until recently the world's largest 10 kilometer race , a title it has held since the late 1970s...
, the world’s largest 10 km race. Atlanta was the host city for the Centennial 1996 Summer Olympics
1996 Summer Olympics
The 1996 Summer Olympics of Atlanta, officially known as the Games of the XXVI Olympiad and unofficially known as the Centennial Olympics, was an international multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1996 in Atlanta, Georgia, United States....
. Centennial Olympic Park
Centennial Olympic Park
Centennial Olympic Park is a 21 acre public park located in downtown Atlanta, Georgia, USA that is owned and operated by the Georgia World Congress Center Authority. The park was built by the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games as part of the infrastructure improvements for the Centennial...
, built for 1996 Summer Olympics, sits adjacent to CNN Center
CNN Center
The CNN Center is the world headquarters of the Cable News Network . The main newsrooms and studios for several of CNN's news channels are located in the building...
and Philips Arena
Philips Arena
Philips Arena is an indoor arena in Atlanta, Georgia.Completed in 1999 to replace The Omni, at a cost of $213.5 million, it is home to the Atlanta Hawks, of the National Basketball Association, and the Atlanta Dream, of the Women's National Basketball Association...
. It is now operated by the Georgia World Congress Center
Georgia World Congress Center
The Georgia World Congress Center or GWCC is the major convention center in Atlanta. It is the fourth-largest convention center in the United States at 3.9 million ft2 and hosts more than a million visitors each year. At the time opened in 1976 the Georgia World Congress Center was the first state...
Authority.
The city is also host to four different major league sports
U.S. cities with teams from four major sports
There are 12 U.S. cities with teams from four major sports, where "city" is defined as the entire metropolitan area, and "major professional sports leagues" as:...
. The Atlanta Braves
Atlanta Braves
The Atlanta Braves are a professional baseball club based in Atlanta, Georgia. The Braves are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League. The Braves have played in Turner Field since 1997....
baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
team has been the Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
franchise of Atlanta since 1966; the franchise was previously known as the Boston Braves (1912–1952), and the Milwaukee Braves (1953–1965). The team was founded in 1871 in Boston, Massachusetts as a National Association club, making it the oldest continuously operating sports franchise in North American sports. The Braves won the World Series
World Series
The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball, played between the American League and National League champions since 1903. The winner of the World Series championship is determined through a best-of-seven playoff and awarded the Commissioner's Trophy...
in 1995 and had a recently ended unprecedented run of 14 straight divisional championships from 1991 to 2005. Before the Braves moved to Atlanta, the Atlanta Crackers
Atlanta Crackers
The Atlanta Crackers were minor league baseball teams based in Atlanta, Georgia, between 1901 and 1965. The Crackers were Atlanta's home team until the Atlanta Braves moved from Milwaukee in 1966....
were Atlanta's professional baseball team from 1901 until their last season in 1965. They won 17 league championships in the minor leagues. The Atlanta Black Crackers
Atlanta Black Crackers
The Atlanta Black Crackers were a professional Negro league baseball team which played during the early to mid 20th century.- Founding :The Crackers were founded in 1919...
were Atlanta's Negro League team from around 1921 until 1949.
The Atlanta Falcons
Atlanta Falcons
The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta, Georgia. They are a member of the South Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
American football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
team plays at the Georgia Dome
Georgia Dome
The Georgia Dome is a domed stadium located in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, between downtown to the east and Vine City to the west. It is primarily the home stadium for the NFL Atlanta Falcons and the NCAA Division I FCS Georgia State Panthers football team. It is owned and operated by the...
. They have been Atlanta's National Football League
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
franchise since 1966. They have won the division title three times, and a conference championship once, going on to lose to the Denver Broncos
Denver Broncos
The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver, Colorado. They are currently members of the West Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
in Super Bowl XXXIII
Super Bowl XXXIII
Super Bowl XXXIII was an American football game played on January 31, 1999, at Pro Player Stadium in Miami, Florida to decide the National Football League champion, following the 1998 regular season. The American Football Conference champion Denver Broncos defeated the National Football...
. Super Bowl XXVIII
Super Bowl XXVIII
Super Bowl XXVIII was an American football game played on January 30, 1994, at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia, to decide the National Football League champion following the 1993 regular season. The National Football Conference champion Dallas Cowboys defeated the American Football...
and XXXIV
Super Bowl XXXIV
Super Bowl XXXIV featured the National Football Conference champion St. Louis Rams and the American Football Conference champion Tennessee Titans in an American football game to decide the National Football League champion for the 1999 regular season...
were held in the city. In the Arena Football League, The Georgia Force
Georgia Force
The Georgia Force are an Arena Football League team based in Gwinnett County, Georgia, United States that plays in the South Division of the American Conference. The team is owned by Doug MacGregor and Donn Jennings...
has been Atlanta's team since the franchise relocated from Nashville
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
in 2002. The 2005 National Conference champions play in Philips Arena
Philips Arena
Philips Arena is an indoor arena in Atlanta, Georgia.Completed in 1999 to replace The Omni, at a cost of $213.5 million, it is home to the Atlanta Hawks, of the National Basketball Association, and the Atlanta Dream, of the Women's National Basketball Association...
.
The Atlanta Hawks
Atlanta Hawks
The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta, Georgia. They are part of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association .-The first years:...
basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
team has been the National Basketball Association
National Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...
franchise of Atlanta since 1969; the team was previously known as the Tri-Cities Blackhawks (1946–1951), Milwaukee
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Milwaukee is the largest city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, the 28th most populous city in the United States and 39th most populous region in the United States. It is the county seat of Milwaukee County and is located on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan. According to 2010 census data, the...
Hawks (1951–55), St. Louis
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
Hawks (1955–68). The team's sole NBA championship was in 1958, when they were the St. Louis Hawks.
From 1992 to 1996 Atlanta was home to the short-lived Atlanta Knights, an International Hockey League team. Their inaugural season was excellent for a new team, and was only bested by their sophomore season in which they won the championship Turner Cup. In 1996 they moved to Quebec City and became the Quebec Rafales
Quebec Rafales
The Atlanta Knights were a minor league professional ice hockey team in the International Hockey League from 1992 to 1996. The Knights were based in Atlanta, Georgia, and played at the Omni Coliseum. The team became the Quebec Rafales from 1996 to 1998....
. In 1999 the Atlanta Thrashers
Atlanta Thrashers
The Atlanta Thrashers were a professional ice hockey team based in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Atlanta was granted a franchise in the National Hockey League on June 25, 1997, and became the league's 28th franchise when it began play in the 1999–2000 NHL season...
hockey
Ice hockey
Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...
team became Atlanta's National Hockey League
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States...
franchise. They replaced the Atlanta Flames
Atlanta Flames
The Atlanta Flames were a professional ice hockey team based in Atlanta, Georgia, USA from 1972 to 1980. The team, a member of the National Hockey League , was relocated to Calgary, Alberta, Canada for the start of the 1980–81 NHL season and were re-named the Calgary Flames. The NHL returned to the...
which had departed for Calgary
Calgary
Calgary is a city in the Province of Alberta, Canada. It is located in the south of the province, in an area of foothills and prairie, approximately east of the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies...
, Alberta
Alberta
Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...
in 1980, becoming the Calgary Flames
Calgary Flames
The Calgary Flames are a professional ice hockey team based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. They are members of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League . The club is the third major-professional ice hockey team to represent the city of Calgary, following the...
. The Thrashers made it to their first playoffs in 2007. Both the Thrashers and the Hawks play in Philips Arena
Philips Arena
Philips Arena is an indoor arena in Atlanta, Georgia.Completed in 1999 to replace The Omni, at a cost of $213.5 million, it is home to the Atlanta Hawks, of the National Basketball Association, and the Atlanta Dream, of the Women's National Basketball Association...
.
In golf, the final event of the PGA Tour
PGA Tour
The PGA Tour is the organizer of the main men's professional golf tours in the United States and North America...
season, The Tour Championship
The Tour Championship
The Tour Championship was historically the final event of golf's PGA Tour season. Since 2007, it has been the final event of the FedEx Cup, the competition for the first official championship trophy for the PGA Tour season. From 1987 to 1996, several courses hosted the event...
, is played annually at East Lake Golf Club. This golf course is used because of its connection to the great amateur golfer Bobby Jones
Bobby Jones (golfer)
Robert Tyre "Bobby" Jones Jr. was an American amateur golfer, and a lawyer by profession. Jones was the most successful amateur golfer ever to compete on a national and international level...
, an Atlanta native.
From 2001 to 2003 Atlanta hosted the Atlanta Beat soccer
Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
team of the defunct Women's United Soccer Association
Women's United Soccer Association
The Women's United Soccer Association, often abbreviated to the WUSA, was the world's first women's soccer league in which all the players were paid as professionals. Founded in February 2000, the league began its first season in April 2001 with eight teams in the United States...
. They appeared in two of the three Founders Cup championships held, losing to the Bay Area CyberRays in 2001, and the Washington Freedom
Washington Freedom
The Washington Freedom was an American professional soccer club based in the Washington, D.C. suburb of Germantown, Maryland that participated in Women's Professional Soccer. The Freedom was originally founded in 2001 as a member of the defunct Women's United Soccer Association. Since 2004, the...
team in 2003. Atlanta is the home of the Atlanta Silverbacks
Atlanta Silverbacks
Atlanta Silverbacks is an American professional soccer team based in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Founded in 1995, the team plays in the North American Soccer League , the second tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, having previously sat out the 2009 and 2010 seasons while the ownership...
of the United Soccer Leagues
United Soccer Leagues
The United Soccer Leagues is the organizer of several soccer leagues with teams in the United States, Canada and the Caribbean. It includes men's and women's leagues, both professional and amateur. Leagues currently organized are the USL Pro, the USL Premier Development League, the W-League, and...
First Division (Men) and W-League (Women). In 1968 the Atlanta Chiefs
Atlanta Chiefs
The Atlanta Chiefs were a soccer team based in Atlanta, Georgia that played in the NPSL and NASL from 1967 to 1972. Their home fields were Atlanta Stadium and Tara Stadium . The club was the brainchild of Dick Cecil, then Vice President of the Atlanta Braves baseball franchise who were the Chiefs'...
professional soccer team won the NASL
North American Soccer League
North American Soccer League was a professional soccer league with teams in the United States and Canada that operated from 1968 to 1984.-History:...
championship, playing their home games at the now demolished Atlanta Fulton County Stadium.
The Atlanta Kookaburras are a successful Australian rules football
Australian rules football
Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...
club that compete in men's and women's divisions in the MAAFL and SEAFL and USAFL National Championships
USAFL National Championships
The USAFL National Championships is a tournament for Australian rules football in the United States.Since 1997, the National Championships have been a large event featuring teams from the United States and Canada in four men's divisions and a women's division...
.
Other nearby sports facilities include Atlanta Motor Speedway
Atlanta Motor Speedway
Atlanta Motor Speedway is a track just outside Hampton, Georgia, twenty miles south of Atlanta. It is a quad-oval track with a seating capacity of over 125,000. It opened in 1960 as a standard oval. In 1994, 46 condominiums were built over the northeastern side of the track...
, a 1.5 mile (2.4 km) NASCAR race track in Hampton, Georgia
Hampton, Georgia
Hampton is a city in southwestern Henry County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 6,987. Census Estimates for 2005 show a population of 4,743. Hampton mailing addresses also dip into eastern Clayton County and northern Spalding County.The Atlanta Motor...
. Road Atlanta
Road Atlanta
Road Atlanta is a 2.54-mile road course located just north of Braselton, Georgia, USA. The facility is utilized for a wide variety of events, including professional and amateur sports car and motorcycle races, racing and driving schools, corporate programs and testing for motorsports teams...
is another famous local race track, located in Braselton, Georgia
Braselton, Georgia
Braselton is a town in Barrow, Gwinnett, Hall, and Jackson Counties in the U.S. state of Georgia, about 40 miles northeast of Atlanta. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 7,511....
. In 2005 Atlanta competed with other major U.S. cities for the NASCAR Hall of Fame. In March 2006, Atlanta lost to Charlotte
CHARLOTTE
- CHARLOTTE :CHARLOTTE is an American blues-based hard rock band that formed in Los Angeles, California in 1986. Currently, they are signed to indie label, Eonian Records, under which they released their debut cd, Medusa Groove, in 2010. Notable Charlotte songs include 'Siren', 'Little Devils',...
, North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
.
Atlanta also was the home to the now-defunct World Championship Wrestling
World Championship Wrestling
World Championship Wrestling, Inc. was an American professional wrestling promotion which existed from 1988 to 2001. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, it began as a regional promotion affiliated with the National Wrestling Alliance , named Jim Crockett Promotions until November 1988, when Ted Turner and...
organization and events. Atlanta hosted the NCAA Final Four
NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship
The NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship is a single-elimination tournament held each spring in the United States, featuring 68 college basketball teams, to determine the national championship in the top tier of college basketball...
Men's Basketball Championship in April 2002 and April 2007. Atlanta also hosted Wrestlemania 2011.
Media
Atlanta's only major daily paper is The Atlanta Journal-ConstitutionThe Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is the only major daily newspaper in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, and its suburbs. The AJC, as it is called, is the flagship publication of Cox Enterprises. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is the result of the merger between The Atlanta Journal and The Atlanta...
. Weekly papers include Creative Loafing
Creative Loafing
CL Inc. is the Tampa, Florida-based publisher of three city newsweeklies and their associated websites. Each of the papers focuses on local news, politics, arts and entertainment, and restaurants...
, The Sunday Paper, Access Atlanta, and Atlanta Nation. A monthly newsprint publication, Stomp And Stammer, features local music news, indie rock
Indie rock
Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...
record reviews, and cultural commentary. Atlanta
Atlanta (magazine)
Atlanta is an award-winning monthly general-interest magazine based in Atlanta, Georgia and owned by Emmis Publishing, a division of Emmis Communications...
is the city's general-interest magazine. The Atlanta Business Chronicle
American City Business Journals
American City Business Journals is an American newspaper chain based in Charlotte, North Carolina owned by Advance Publications. It has a range of media including 41 primary metropolitan weekly publications, which reach 4 million readers with business community related news, and Bizjournals, the...
, the city's business newspaper. Ethnic newspapers serving Atlanta's international community include Mundo Hispanico, Korea Daily Atlanta, Korea Times Atlanta, and Atlanta Chinese News. Other publications include Atlanta INtown Newspaper, the Buckhead Reporter, and the Northside Neighbor.
The Atlanta metro area is served by a wide variety of local television stations, and is the ninth largest designated market area (DMA) in the U.S. with 2,059,450 homes (1.88% of the total U.S.). All of the major networks have stations in the market, along with two PBS stations and some independent ones.
Several cable television
Cable television
Cable television is a system of providing television programs to consumers via radio frequency signals transmitted to televisions through coaxial cables or digital light pulses through fixed optical fibers located on the subscriber's property, much like the over-the-air method used in traditional...
networks also operate from Atlanta, including TBS, CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
, Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network is a name of television channels worldwide created by Turner Broadcasting which used to primarily show animated programming. The channel began broadcasting on October 1, 1992 in the United States....
, Boomerang
Boomerang (TV channel)
Boomerang is a 24-hour American cable television channel owned by Turner Broadcasting System, a division of Time Warner. Boomerang specializes in reruns of animated programming from Time Warner's extensive archives, including pre-1986 MGM, Hanna-Barbera, Cartoon Network, DePatie-Freleng Enterprises...
, and TNT
Turner Network Television
Turner Network Television is an American cable television channel created by media mogul Ted Turner and currently owned by the Turner Broadcasting System division of Time Warner...
. These stations are owned by Turner Broadcasting System
Turner Broadcasting System
Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. is the Time Warner subsidiary managing the collection of cable networks and properties started and acquired by Robert Edward "Ted" Turner starting in the mid-1970s. The company has its headquarters in the CNN Center in Atlanta, Georgia. TBS, Inc...
(now a subsidiary of Time Warner
Time Warner
Time Warner is one of the world's largest media companies, headquartered in the Time Warner Center in New York City. Formerly two separate companies, Warner Communications, Inc...
). The Weather Channel (owned by General Electric
General Electric
General Electric Company , or GE, is an American multinational conglomerate corporation incorporated in Schenectady, New York and headquartered in Fairfield, Connecticut, United States...
's NBC Universal
NBC Universal
NBCUniversal Media, LLC is a media and entertainment company engaged in the production and marketing of entertainment, news, and information products and services to a global customer base...
) also broadcasts from the Atlanta area. According to Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
, the first nationwide music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
programming on cable television, Video Concert Hall
Video Concert Hall
Video Concert Hall was an early U.S. television network launched on November 1, 1979, on the USA Network and on Showtime, featuring an unhosted rotation of music videos. Often credited as being the precursor to MTV, Video Concert Hall was reportedly the most popular programming on QUBE, a cable...
was created in Atlanta.
There are also numerous local radio stations serving many genres of music, sports, and talk. The nationally syndicated Neal Boortz
Neal Boortz
Neal A. Boortz, Jr. is an American Libertarian radio host, author, and political commentator. His nationally syndicated talk show, The Neal Boortz Show, airs throughout the United States on Dial Global . It is ranked seventh in overall listeners, with 4.25+ million per week...
and Clark Howard
Clark Howard
Clark Howard , is a popular U.S. talk radio host of the nationally syndicated consumer advocate program The Clark Howard Show. The show covers consumer and financial news, with advice on how to spend less, save more and avoid rip-offs...
shows are broadcast from Atlanta radio station AM 750 WSB.
Cumulus Media, Inc. engages in the acquisition, operation, and development of commercial radio stations in mid-size radio markets in the United States and is also headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. As of December 31, 2005, it owned and operated 307 radio stations in 61 mid-sized U.S. media markets; and a multimarket network of 5 radio stations in the English-speaking Caribbean; as well as provided sales and marketing services for 2 radio stations under local marketing agreement.
Cox Enterprises
Cox Enterprises
Cox Enterprises is the successor to the publishing company founded in Dayton, Ohio, United States, by James Middleton Cox, who began with the Dayton Daily News. He was the Democratic candidate for the President of the United States in the election of 1920...
, which owns the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, WSB-TV
WSB-TV
WSB-TV, virtual channel 2.1 , is the ABC affiliate in Atlanta, Georgia. It is the flagship television station of Cox Enterprises and its Cox Media Group subsidiary...
, and WSB-AM-FM, is headquartered in Atlanta. International medical, law, and business publisher NewsRx is headquartered in the Atlanta suburb of Vinings. Nintendo
Nintendo
is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
's American Division has its distribution center based in Atlanta, the primary location from where imported games and products arrive to United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and are often inspected and shipped to stores nationwide.
Religion
Southern Baptist Convention
The Southern Baptist Convention is a United States-based Christian denomination. It is the world's largest Baptist denomination and the largest Protestant body in the United States, with over 16 million members...
, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
The Presbyterian Church , or PC, is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination in the United States. Part of the Reformed tradition, it is the largest Presbyterian denomination in the U.S...
, and the United Methodist Church
United Methodist Church
The United Methodist Church is a Methodist Christian denomination which is both mainline Protestant and evangelical. Founded in 1968 by the union of The Methodist Church and the Evangelical United Brethren Church, the UMC traces its roots back to the revival movement of John and Charles Wesley...
, the three historically most prominent denominations in the Southern U.S.
Once again, Atlanta stands in contrast to other Southern
Southern United States
The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive area in the southeastern and south-central United States...
cities with its large, and rapidly growing, Roman Catholic population. The number of Catholics grew from 292,300 members in 1998 to 900,000 members in 2010, an increase of 207 percent. The population is expected to top 1 million by 2011. The increase is fueled by Catholics moving to Atlanta from other parts of the U.S. and the world, and from newcomers to the church. About 16 percent of all metropolitan Atlanta residents are Catholic. As the see of the 84 parish Archdiocese of Atlanta, Atlanta serves as the metropolitan see
Metropolitan bishop
In Christian churches with episcopal polity, the rank of metropolitan bishop, or simply metropolitan, pertains to the diocesan bishop or archbishop of a metropolis; that is, the chief city of a historical Roman province, ecclesiastical province, or regional capital.Before the establishment of...
for the Province of Atlanta. The archdiocesan cathedral is the Cathedral of Christ the King and the current archbishop is the Most Rev. Wilton D. Gregory. Also located in the metropolitan area are several Eastern Catholic parishes which fall in the jurisdiction of Eastern Catholic eparchies
Eparchy
Eparchy is an anglicized Greek word , authentically Latinized as eparchia and loosely translating as 'rule over something,' like province, prefecture, or territory, to have the jurisdiction over, it has specific meanings both in politics, history and in the hierarchy of the Eastern Christian...
for the Melkite
Melkite Greek Catholic Eparchy of Newton
The Eparchy of Newton is an eparchy of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church, an Eastern Catholic church in communion with the Roman Catholic Church...
, Maronite, and Byzantine
Byzantine Catholic Eparchy of Passaic
The Byzantine Catholic Eparchy of Passaic is the Catholic eparchy governing most Byzantine Catholics in the eastern United States. Its headquarters are at 445 Lackawanna Avenue, Woodland Park . The current bishop is the Most Reverend William C. Skurla.The Eparchy was erected July 6, 1963 and its...
Catholics.
Atlanta is also home to a large Jewish community estimated to include 120,000 individuals in 61,300 households within the Atlanta Metropolitan Area This study places Atlanta's Jewish population as the 11th largest in the United States, up from 17th largest in 1996. The Temple, a reform synagogue
Synagogue
A synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer. This use of the Greek term synagogue originates in the Septuagint where it sometimes translates the Hebrew word for assembly, kahal...
, located on Peachtree Street, and its then-rabbi, Alvin Sugarman, were featured in the film Driving Miss Daisy
Driving Miss Daisy
Driving Miss Daisy is a 1989 American comedy-drama film adapted from the Alfred Uhry play of the same name. The film was directed by Bruce Beresford, with Morgan Freeman reprising his role as Hoke Colburn and Jessica Tandy playing Miss Daisy...
.
Atlanta is also the see
Episcopal See
An episcopal see is, in the original sense, the official seat of a bishop. This seat, which is also referred to as the bishop's cathedra, is placed in the bishop's principal church, which is therefore called the bishop's cathedral...
of the Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta
Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta
The Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta is the diocese of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America, with jurisdiction over middle and north Georgia. It is in Province IV of the Episcopal Church and its cathedral, the Cathedral of St...
. This Diocese is headquartered at Saint Philip's Cathedral
Episcopal Cathedral of Saint Philip, Atlanta
The Cathedral of Saint Philip, also known as St. Philip Cathedral or St. Philip's is an Episcopal cathedral in the Buckhead area of Atlanta, Georgia. It is the seat of the Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta.-Creation of the Cathedral and Its Namesake:...
and is led by the Right Reverend
Right Reverend
The Right Reverend is a style applied to certain religious figures.*In the Anglican Communion and the Roman Catholic Church in Great Britain it applies to bishops except that The Most Reverend is used for archbishops .*In some churches with a...
J. Neil Alexander
J. Neil Alexander
John Neil Alexander is the 9th bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta, being elected to that office March 31, 2001. On July 7, 2001, Bishop Alexander was installed as bishop in a service at the Cathedral of St. Philip in Atlanta, Georgia...
whose voice within the Church made him a candidate for Primacy
Presiding Bishop
The Presiding Bishop is an ecclesiastical position in some denominations of Christianity.- Evangelical Lutheran Church in America :The Presiding Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is the chief ecumenical officer of the church, and the leader and caretaker for the bishops of the...
at the 2006 General Convention
General Convention of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America
The General Convention is the primary governing and legislative body of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America. With the exception of the Bible, the Book of Common Prayer, and the Constitution and Canons, it is the ultimate authority in the Episcopal Church. General Convention...
.
The city is the headquarters of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Atlanta, with Annunciation Cathedral and Metropolitan Alexios presiding. In total, there are eleven Orthodox
Eastern Orthodox Church
The Orthodox Church, officially called the Orthodox Catholic Church and commonly referred to as the Eastern Orthodox Church, is the second largest Christian denomination in the world, with an estimated 300 million adherents mainly in the countries of Belarus, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Georgia, Greece,...
parishes in Atlanta, including Greek, Orthodox Church in America, Antiochian
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
The Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America is the sole jurisdiction of the Antiochian Orthodox Church in the United States and Canada with exclusive jurisdiction over the Antiochian Orthodox faithful in those countries, though these faithful were originally cared for by the...
, Serbian
Serbian Orthodox Church
The Serbian Orthodox Church is one of the autocephalous Orthodox Christian churches, ranking sixth in order of seniority after Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem, and Russia...
, Ukrainian and Romanian
Romanian Orthodox Church
The Romanian Orthodox Church is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox church. It is in full communion with other Eastern Orthodox churches, and is ranked seventh in order of precedence. The Primate of the church has the title of Patriarch...
.
Two Protestant denominations maintain headquarters in Atlanta for their regional bodies. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is a mainline Protestant denomination headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. The ELCA officially came into existence on January 1, 1988, by the merging of three churches. As of December 31, 2009, it had 4,543,037 baptized members, with 2,527,941 of them...
's Southeastern Synod consists of about 175 congregations in Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, and Mississippi and is led by the Rev. Julian Gordy, synod bishop. The ELCA is strongly represented throughout metropolitan Atlanta. Also, the Southeast Conference, United Church of Christ
Southeast Conference, United Church of Christ
The Southeast Conference of the United Church of Christ is the regional body of the United Church of Christ within the states of Alabama, northwestern Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Tennessee . Headquartered in Atlanta, the conference's executive is the Rev. Dr. Timothy C...
, is also headquartered in Atlanta and serves about 50 congregations in the states of Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina, and central and eastern Tennessee. There are eight United Church of Christ
United Church of Christ
The United Church of Christ is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination primarily in the Reformed tradition but also historically influenced by Lutheranism. The Evangelical and Reformed Church and the Congregational Christian Churches united in 1957 to form the UCC...
congregations in the Atlanta metro area.
The headquarters for The Salvation Army's United States Southern Territory is also located in Atlanta. There are eight churches, numerous social service centers, and youth clubs located throughout the Atlanta area.