Community Love: Digital History on the Atlanta BeltLine

This past semester, Georgia State University professor Adina Langer led a Master’s class in history: Theory and Practice of Digital History. As a semester-long assignment, the students were required to study the Atlanta BeltLine from a historical perspective, focusing on a topic with geographical ties to the railroad corridor. The project culminated in the Rail Corridor Archive, an online digital history narrative of topics related to the Atlanta BeltLine, resulting in archives of photos, documents, interviews, images, and other historical artifacts.

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Student Austin Coleman presented on the history of the baseball field on Ponce de Leon.

Topics ranged from Murphy Crossing and the Old State Farmer’s Market, the old Spiller Field where the Atlanta Crackers and Black Crackers played, to a history of West End. One student examined the architectural history of schools on the Atlanta BeltLine.

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Student Susan Prillaman explored the old rail lines that comprise the Atlanta BeltLine.

Another student, Alexandra Troxell, presented on the history of the farmer’s market that once occupied the buildings near the Westside Trail at Allene Avenue.

Alexandra Troxell discusses the history of the old farmer's market site on the Westside Trail.
Alexandra Troxell discusses the history of the old farmer’s market site on the Westside Trail.

You can see the complete Rail Corridor Archive here, and visit our History on the Atlanta BeltLine blog series for more discoveries on the 100 year old rail corridor.

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