Joyland is a neighborhood of small, single family homes in southeast Atlanta, Georgia

Atlanta, Georgia

Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...

 and site of a former 1921 amusement park built for African Americans.

It is bordered by the Downtown Connector

Downtown Connector

In Atlanta, Georgia, the Downtown Connector or 75/85 is the concurrent section of Interstate 75 and Interstate 85 through the core of the city. Beginning at the I-85/Langford Parkway interchange, the Downtown Connector runs generally due north, meeting the east-west Interstate 20 in the middle....

 (I-75/I-85) freeway on the west, High Point

High Point (Atlanta)

High Point is a neighborhood of Atlanta on the south side of the city, south of the BeltLine and the neighborhood of Peoplestown, west of South Atlanta and the Villages at Carver, north of Joytown and east of Capitol View Manor. It is a small planned community containing primarily newly constructed...

 on the north, Pryor Avenue and The Villages at Carver on the east, and Amal Heights on the south.

History

On May 16, 1921, Joyland Park, an amusement park for African Americans was opened in the area, according to its ads in the Atlanta Independent at the time, "the only shady park" where African Americans "could enjoy themselves".

In 1926 a subdivision for African Americans, also called Joyland Park, was built here. Residents included farmers, farmhands and laborers. Lots were around 4000 ft2 in size.

Later the Joyland Park public housing project was built in the area.

Parks

Joyland Park at the center of the neighborhood was renamed Arthur Langford Park in 1995, in honor of city councilman, Georgia state senator (1984–1994) and minister Arthur Langford, Jr.

Arthur Langford, Jr.

Arthur E. Langford, Jr. was an Atlanta, Georgia city councilman and Georgia state senator . When he was a student as Morris Brown College, Langford worked against drugs and violence in poor neighborhoods, founding the...

. Joyland also has a street named after him, Arthur Langford, Jr. Place.