Midtown-Colony Square

Midtown

Midtown offers one of the best vantage points in the entire city to connect with Atlanta's past, present and future! The area near Peachtree and 10th Street was once known as the "Tight Squeeze" (explained below). In the 1970's, the area was essentially the "Haight Ashbury" or "Greewhich Village" of Atlanta. In the 1990's, Midtown embarked on a development boom that has made the area one of the most dynamic neighborhoods in all of Atlanta. Today, the Midtown is poised to become the epicenter of Atlanta in the 21st Century.

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"Tight Squeeze"

Midtown Map, 1895

According to Volume I of Atlanta historian Frank Garrett's anthology "Atlanta and Environs," the name goes back to the very earliest days of Peachtree Road. When the Civil War ended in 1865, the city went through a desperate time. Many people were left penniless and in need of jobs and homes. A ragtag group of freedmen, Confederate veterans and morphine addicts formed a small shantytown on a bend in Peachtree Road. At that point, the road curved to avoid a deep ravine near what we now know as 10th Street.

When Peachtree Road was straightened in 1887, the gully was filled in. You can still see signs of it today: if you stand at 10th Street and Peachtree (now Street), you can see a big dip to the northeast. The massive parking lot that's there now used to be the dangerous area called Tight Squeeze.

Over 150 years ago, merchants heading south to Atlanta had to slow down as they passed this bend. This left them vulnerable to highwaymen and the shantytown's residents. They robbed the stalled wagons and sometimes murdered the passing merchants. Travel along that stretch of Peachtree grew so perilous, a Fulton County grand jury decided to set up a secret detective force to patrol the area and protect travellers. The area was so dangerous it “took a mighty tight squeeze to get through with one's life.”

Source: GPBS

Colony Square

Colony Square is a mixed-use development and sub-district in Midtown Atlanta, Georgia, located on Peachtree Street in between 14th and 15th Streets. The oldest high-rise development in Midtown, the sub-district was built between 1969 and 1975, with Henri Jova of Jova/Daniels/Busby serving as principal architect. It is believed to be the first mixed-use development in the Southeastern USA. [ see also: Colony Square ]

TIP: Stand on the SW corner of Peachtree Street and 14th Street (in front of the "Proscenium" building at 1170 Peachtree) and watch this 4-minute video. After that, treat yourself to a bite and beverage at The Establishment or 5 Church.

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