The Streetcar & Its Involvement in Virginia-Highland

Fig. 1. A large historic house located off the old streetcar path on North Highland.

Kenneth Jackson in Crabgrass Frontier states that no invention “had greater impact on the American city between the Civil War and World War 1 than the visible and noisy streetcar and the tracks that snaked down the broad avenues into undeveloped land (103).” The same is true for the area known as Virginia-Highland. This neighborhood developed as many typical American suburbs did during the early 20th century. It was originally a white, middle-class residential neighborhood with initial growth beginning in 1889 when the Fulton County Street Railroad Company’s Nine-Mile Circle trolley line cut through the area. The streetcar started downtown and traveled along Highland Avenue (now North Highland Avenue), Virginia Avenue, North Boulevard (now Monroe Drive), and back to Highland Avenue before returning to the city. Before the area was developed, Atlanta residents would take the trolley to the “country,” as it was called, to enjoy the cool breezes and relaxing atmosphere.

Fig. 2. The curve at Virginia and Highland.

The oldest structures in Virginia-Highland can be found along the trolley line. The impact of this line on the area is evident in the community’s street pattern. The area employs a grid system of streets because real estate values at the time were determined by proximity to the streetcar line. A grid pattern achieved the shortest distances to the line from individual properties. The effects of the trolley on the neighborhood are also felt in the curving intersections of Virginia Avenue and Boulevard (now Monroe Drive) and of Virginia and Highland Avenues. Space was needed to accommodate the trolleys wide turning radii when maneuvering around corners. Later subdivisions in Virginia-Highland incorporated curvilinear streets and a semi-rural feel as a direct result of an increase in automobile usage and ownership.

Fig. 3. Some say that these lines are remnants of the old streetcar that used to run down Virginia. However, I have no proof to confirm or deny this.