It is currently Fri Mar 29, 2024 9:39 am

All times are UTC - 5 hours [ DST ]




Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 8 posts ] 
Author Message
 Post subject: Building housing Atlanta's Zero Mile Post to be demolished
PostPosted: Sat Apr 21, 2018 11:44 am 

Joined: Sat Aug 25, 2007 12:45 am
Posts: 1010
From the Atlanta newspaper's subscription website:
Quote:
The building housing the Zero Mile Post, one of Atlanta’s oldest historical landmarks, is slated for demolition sometime within six to 12 months, and the state agency handling its demolition is making no promises that the granite post will return to the position it’s held since 1850.

According to a statement provided to the AJC by the Georgia Building Authority, which owns the single-story building under the Central Avenue viaduct, the agency will “protect and preserve” the historic post but that its eventual position after the construction is “to be determined.” The GBA’s statement said that efforts will be made to “find a solution so the Zero Mile Post can be viewed by the general public.”
and
Quote:
The Zero Mile Post is a granite pillar about three feet tall that was erected in 1850 to mark the “terminus” of the Western & Atlantic Railroad. The railroad, which was surveyed in 1837 went into use in 1842, was commissioned by the Georgia Legislature as a way to bring rail into the state from Chattanooga. The W&A rail project was wildly successful and gave rise to a new city at the end of the line, which went by the names Terminus and Marthasville before settling on “Atlanta” in 1847. Other rail lines would later connect to the terminus and turn the city into a southeastern hub of transportation and commerce.

The Zero Mile Post was so important to the city that in 1874, the city limits were expanded and redrawn to form a circle with a radius of 1.5 miles out from the post. The post’s importance also lives on in the Atlanta United’s Golden Spike tradition, where a special guest star is invited to drive a large spike into the “ground” at Mercedes-Benz Stadium before each home game.
Link to full article:
Zero Mile Post building to be demolished within year


Offline
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Building housing Atlanta's Zero Mile Post to be demolish
PostPosted: Thu Apr 26, 2018 12:42 pm 

Joined: Sat Aug 25, 2007 12:45 am
Posts: 1010
The Atlanta Journal Constitution newspaper has published another article on the Zero Mile Post:
Quote:
The Zero Mile Post, which has marked Atlanta’s center since 1850, could be moved within a year to create better access to a parking deck.

Local preservationists are exasperated.

“That would show you what our priorities are in this city,” said Boyd Coons, executive director of the Atlanta Preservation Center.

The Georgia Building Authority, which plans to demolish the building that houses the post, is looking for a new home for the landmark that would make the Zero Mile Post more accessible to the public.

But for some preservationists, a historic place marker should stay in the place it marks.

“The significance of the location and the artifact itself are connected,” said Kyle Kessler, an architect and past president of the Atlanta Downtown Neighborhood Association. “Any move … would result in a loss of integrity.”
And another excerpt, quoting an opposing viewpoint:
Quote:
Sheffield Hale, president and CEO of the Atlanta History Center, said he understands the sentiment to keep the post in its original space but said, “This is an artifact that needs to be protected inside.” Hale observed that in Europe, it’s a common practice to place a fragile statue inside a museum and to place a replica in its original position outside.

Although the history center has had no conversations with the agencies handling the post, Hale said his museum would be an ideal place to preserve the original.

“We are the custodians of the city’s history,” he said. “We’re a logical place to put it. The Texas locomotive is here. The Solomon Luckie lamppost is here. They would all be within close proximity to each other.” Plus, he noted, the museum already has a replica of the post that could be swapped with the original.
Link to the full article, which was posted at 2:37 p.m. Wednesday, April 25, 2018: Debate already begun on Zero Mile Post’s fate


Offline
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Building housing Atlanta's Zero Mile Post to be demolish
PostPosted: Fri Nov 02, 2018 1:25 pm 

Joined: Sat Aug 25, 2007 12:45 am
Posts: 1010
An update from the Atlanta Intown newspaper: Historic Zero Mile Post moved from Downtown to Atlanta History Center

And an article from Curbed Atlanta about opposition to the move:
Preservationists are peeved after downtown’s Zero Mile Post was relocated to Buckhead - Activists have launched a petition to bring the post back to its old neighborhood


Offline
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Building housing Atlanta's Zero Mile Post to be demolish
PostPosted: Fri Nov 02, 2018 1:52 pm 

Joined: Sat Sep 04, 2004 10:54 am
Posts: 1184
Location: Tucson, Arizona
While it would have been nice to have kept the Zero mile post in it's original location, the move isn't without precedence. Other artifacts of the Western and Atlantic Railroad of the State of Georgia have been relocated for various reasons. The Master Clock which once stood in the office of the railroad was relocated to the State Capital building years ago. It was restored to working condition by the local chapter of the National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors and now stands outside the Office of the Governor.

_________________
"When a man runs on railroads over half of his lifetime he is fit for nothing else-and at times he don't know that."- Conductor Nimrod Bell, 1896


Offline
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Building housing Atlanta's Zero Mile Post to be demolish
PostPosted: Fri Nov 02, 2018 11:39 pm 

Joined: Fri Mar 26, 2010 11:43 am
Posts: 746
A clock is a clock, while it has connection to it's original location, identical clocks were everywhere, and it's actual location wasn't significant. The Zero Post is as much about location as it is anything else, and ripping it from it's roots is simply a form of artifact destruction.


Offline
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Building housing Atlanta's Zero Mile Post to be demolish
PostPosted: Sun Nov 04, 2018 2:19 pm 

Joined: Fri Dec 03, 2004 9:42 pm
Posts: 2875
As already suggested, keep the original inside where it's protected from weather and vandals. If so inclined, create a replica and place it at the original location. I'm guessing that might be in the middle of a freeway interchange, so not readily accessible.

Related question. Is the Golden Spike not as historically significant since it's no longer at the original location?


Offline
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Building housing Atlanta's Zero Mile Post to be demolish
PostPosted: Sun Nov 04, 2018 5:39 pm 

Joined: Fri Mar 12, 2010 9:52 pm
Posts: 188
Location: Pittsburgh
For those unfamiliar with Atlanta, the Zero Milepost https://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/atlanta/wes.htm has long been a source of local pride. When the MARTA rapid transit system was started in the 1970s, it was decided that the Five Points Station in downtown Atlanta, where the two principal rapid rail routes would cross, would effectively replicate the nearby Zero Milepost along the railroad. All of MARTA’s mileposting and engineering chainage stations in all directions are based on “zero” being in the middle of Five Points Station.

/s/ Larry
Lawrence G. Lovejoy, P.E.


Offline
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Building housing Atlanta's Zero Mile Post to be demolish
PostPosted: Mon Nov 05, 2018 5:41 pm 

Joined: Sat Aug 25, 2007 12:45 am
Posts: 1010
Maria Saporta, an Atlanta business writer, has written about the milepost's move:
Atlanta’s zero milepost belongs at Atlanta’s zero mile mark


Offline
 Profile  
 
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 8 posts ] 

All times are UTC - 5 hours [ DST ]


 Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Google [Bot], Randy Gustafson and 123 guests


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot post attachments in this forum

Search for:
Jump to: