Atlanta in 50 Objects
A pink pig and a renegade cow. A movie prop and a Coke bottle. A Pulitzer Prize–winning book and a Nobel Prize–winning icon.
How do you tell the story of Atlanta in 50 objects? We decided the best experts were Atlantans themselves—residents who cheer the Braves and rue I–285 rush-hour traffic, who understand how Civil War losses and Civil Rights victories together helped forge the city’s unique identity. Atlanta History Center asked the public to submit what objects they think best represent their town. The parameters were broad: an object could also be a person, a place, an institution, or an idea. After receiving hundreds of submissions, History Center staff assembled a collection of fifty pieces that represent the themes identified by the public. In addition to items from our own collections, we have partnered with many local institutions and individuals to gather artifacts from around the city to tell this community–driven story.
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport
In 1925, Atlanta leased an abandoned racetrack with the goal of turning it into an airfield.
The land was renamed Candler Field after its original owners, which included Coca-Cola president Asa Candler. Candler Field doubled in size during World War II and became known as Atlanta Municipal Airport.
By 1957, Atlanta was the nation’s busiest airport with more than two million passengers annually and work began on a larger terminal building to relieve the congestion. The new $21 million terminal, the largest in the nation, opened in 1961 and was stretched beyond its six million passenger capacity in its first year. In 1980, the airport opened the world’s largest terminal complex, designed to handle fifty-five million passengers a year.
In 1971, the city renamed the airport after Mayor William B. Hartsfield, who steered the airport from the barnstorming era to the jet age. In 2003, the city added the name of Mayor Maynard Jackson, who led the rebuilding of the airport in the 1970s. The Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport continues expanding to keep up with passenger demand. In 2015, the airport served a record one-hundred million passengers and is the World’s Busiest Airport by passenger count.
Header Image: Kenan Research Center at Atlanta History Center, Floyd Jilson Photographs
Atlanta Municipal Airport terminal building, 1967. Kenan Research Center at Atlanta History Center
Boarding the plane train at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. Courtesy Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport