City: Atlanta, GA

Category: Tours & Attractions

Telephone: (404) 656-7092

Description: As you explore Atlanta and Georgia, you can gain a wealth of background from the state’s historical markers. You can’t miss them: The olive green, cast-aluminum signs are 42 by 38 inches and are emblazoned with the state seal. Statewide, there are some 2,600 markers, about 950 of which concern the Civil War. The metro Atlanta area has about 650 historical markers. The program was launched in 1951 and strongly emphasized Civil War history in the buildup to the 100th anniversary of the conflict. Artist and historian Wilbur Kurtz, who was a consultant on the movies Gone With the Wind and Song of the South, wrote the text for the markers between Tennessee and Atlanta. Another prominent historian, Colonel Allen P. Julian, described Sherman’s March to the Sea on the markers south of Atlanta to Savannah. Historical markers are scattered across metro Atlanta. You can see some along DeKalb Avenue about 2 miles east of Five Points, the area that was at the center of the Battle of Atlanta. There are several markers around the Inman Park/Reynoldstown MARTA station; the fighting at this location is depicted in the Atlanta Cyclorama. There are also several in the Buckhead area near Peachtree Creek.