Also related to Margaret’s wedding, on the Atlanta side of things, was the history of Inman Park church, neighborhood and Trolley Barn where the wedding and reception were on a rainy rainy first weekend in May that I wrote for the program, tying the place in to, as Aunt D said, our family and our family’s love of history:
Begun in 1888, the neighborhood of Inman Park is integral in the story of Atlanta’s history. Inman Park’s developer, Joel Hurt, used this neighborhood to introduce the electric streetcar to Atlanta in 1889 and the track ran along Edgewood Ave from downtown, past the trolley car repair barn (the Trolley Barn) where Margaret and Kevin’s wedding reception will be. The neighborhood itself attracted some of the wealthiest Atlantans including Coca-Cola magnate Asa Candler.
The United Methodist Church where Margaret and Kevin’s wedding is being held was dedicated in 1898. The Romanesque church was built of Stone Mountain granite and designed by notable Atlanta architect Willis F. Denny.
Despite elite beginnings, the neighborhood was in serious disrepair by the 1960s when historic preservation efforts across the country were starting to take off. By the end of that decade a renaissance of the neighborhood had begun. Around this time, members of Margaret’s extended family were living in Atlanta including her Uncle Cavett whose passion for architecture and history drew him to these very streets. By 1973, Dora and Dennis McDaniel had also moved to the city.
Today Inman Park is a protected historic district known for the elaborate Victorian homes built by Atlanta’s elite in the late 1800s. However, it is now home to people from all walks of life as Atlantans seek to live closer to the city center. The development of historically industrial zones surrounding the neighborhood (particularly along the nearby Beltline path) reflect yet another renaissance for the neighborhood and for Atlanta as a whole.
Turned Georgian 