College Park, Georgia

19th century

The community that became College Park was founded as Atlantic City in 1890 as a depot on the Atlanta and West Point Railroad. The town was renamed Manchester when it was incorporated as a city in 1891. It was renamed again as the city of College Park in 1896. The city's name came from being the home of Cox College (where the city hall and other buildings now stand) and Georgia Military Academy (now the Woodward Academy). The east–west avenues in College Park are named for Ivy League colleges, and the north–south streets are named for influential College Park residents.^[8]

20th century

During World War I's anti-German hysteria, the name of Wilhelm Street was changed to Victoria Street in "solidarity with our British brethren." At the same time Berlin Avenue was changed to Cambridge Avenue and the name of German Lane was changed to English Lane.^[9] The history of College Park has been closely linked with what is now known as Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport—airport development having spurred several radical changes to the landscape of the municipality over the course of the 20th century.^[10] In 1966, a study funded by the Department of Housing and Urban Development suggested that the introduction and expansion of jet aircraft travel would place the airport and surrounding communities, including College Park, into conflict; ultimately, the study concluded that "the only effective way to control the use of land is to own it," suggesting that the airport would have to acquire the properties it would be in conflict with in order to expand.^[11]

In the 1970s and 1980s, large swaths of property in College Park were purchased using information detailed in The Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport Noise Land Reuse Plan, which allowed the airport to apply for federal funding to purchase property deemed to be in so-called "noise land."^[12][13] The 1985 Chuck Norris film Invasion U.S.A. was notoriously filmed in these abandoned portions of College Park; houses owned by the City of Atlanta and the FAA were allowed to be blown up to simulate bazooka attacks, a decision that has faced modern day criticism due to the fact that nearby properties were still in the process of being purchased.^[14][13] This site would eventually, in 2003, in part be home to the Georgia International Convention Center; the center officially opened in 1985 at a separate location, but was relocated to the area in response to planned airport runway expansions.^[15] Today, the GICC is the second largest convention center in Georgia, featuring a carpeted ballroom and multiple spaces for meetings, conferences and conventions. It is the only convention center in the country that also houses a SkyTrain with direct rail access to an international airport.^{[citation needed]} Directly next to the Georgia International Convention Center is the Gateway Center Arena, which opened in November 2019, home to the NBA's G-League College Park Skyhawks and where the WNBA's Atlanta Dream will play their 2020 season.^[16]

In 1978, the College Park Historical Society was founded in order to combat proposed northward expansion of the airport; the society succeeded in lobbying against proposed flight paths over the neighborhood colloquially known as Historic College Park, as well as registered swaths of homes and the Main Street commercial district with the National Register of Historic Places, eventually resulting in the establishment of the College Park Historic District.^[13]

Between the 1980s and the early 2000s, as part of continued execution of the FAA noise abatement program, the City of Atlanta and the FAA purchased roughly 320 acres of property (containing residential structures, churches, and some small commercial buildings) immediately adjacent to the west side of downtown College Park, resulting in a multitude of properties sitting abandoned for decades.^[17] The totality of these eventually abandoned properties purchased from the 1970s through the 2000s have been described as a major player in shaping a negative public image of the city, second only to the perception of crime in the area.^[18]

Early 21st century

Crime

For much of the 2000s, College Park – along with the other so-called Tri-Cities, East Point and Hapeville – has been popularly associated with crime;^[42] for example, a comedy/travel book originally published in 2005 describes College Park as "a nightmarish southern ghetto."^[43] Over the course of the 2010s, this reputation has been publicly challenged in the media, by Tri-Cities residents, and by the College Park Police Department.^[44][45][46]

The Federal Bureau of Investigation's annual Uniform Crime Report reveals that the College Park Police Department has historically reported a high crime rate per 100,000 persons as compared to other US jurisdictions.^[47] In 2008, College Park had one of the highest crime rates in Georgia, with reports including 13 homicides. However, 2008 was an outlier with respect to the rest of that decade and homicide; for the rest of the years between 2000 and 2010, between 1 and 3 homicides were reported annually. Further, it has been suggested that crime rate per 100,000 persons misrepresents the prevalence of crime, as College Park's daytime population is thought to swell to 50,000 persons (substantially more than the ~15,000 permanent residents considered in crime statistics).^[48]

The Uniform Crime Report and data released by the College Park Police Department suggests that the 2010s have brought a substantial decline in total crime, particularly in the latter half; in 2018, a total of 1,225 crimes were reported (compared to 2,695 in 2001, 2,530 in 2010, and 1,387 in 2017), 85% of which were property crimes.^[46] In 2018, there was a 13 percent decrease in Part I crimes and zero homicides as compared to 2017, following a 15 percent decrease from 2016 to 2017.

As of the 2016 American Community Survey, 35.7% of College Park residents are estimated to live in poverty which partly contributed to the crime problem.^[49]

Top employers

According to College Park's 2017 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report,^[55] the top employers in the city were:

Historic district

The city center is part of the College Park Historic District, a 606-acre historic district listed on the National Register of Historic Places.^[7] The district contains 853 recognized historical resources constructed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.^{[citation needed]}

The majority of the historic structures are homes of the Queen Anne style, various Late 19th and 20th Century Revivals, and bungalows of the American Craftsman style, all dating from 1882 to 1946.^[7] Other major historical structures include:^[7] The College Park Woman's Clubhouse at Camellia Hall (1927);^[56] the College Park First United Methodist Church (1904);^[57] a United States Postal Service Office (1937); four schools (constructed between 1914 and 1942); and the College Park Depot (pre-1900), part of the Atlanta & West Point Railroad.^[58]

Public libraries

Atlanta-Fulton Public Library System operates the College Park Branch.^[59]

Primary and secondary schools

Highways

• Interstate 85.

Public transit

The Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) provides rail and bus service in College Park. College Park Station—serviced by the Gold Line and Red Line—is the third busiest station in the MARTA rail system, with a weekday average of 9,023 entries.^[89][90]

Sports

Music