Walking Tour Guide

The following tour was developed to showcase our neighborhood before the 1996 Olympics. Published first in our MLPA newsletter, the tour and accompanying information is provided as an ongoing resource about Morningside-Lenox Park.

Welcome to Morningside as you may have never seen it before.  Please note the following items before you lace up your walking shoes and hit the sidewalks.  You might like to refer to the map.

• This walking tour hits the high spots. Significant sites may not be included. More research is needed.
• Personalize the tour. Place a star near your house or business. Note its history and importance to you.
• The suggested starting point is Smith Park, gateway to the neighborhood. However, begin the tour at any point along the way.
• The walking tour route is approximately six miles long. Break the tour into smaller sections as desired.
• The tour was designed for walking, but biking or driving the tour is possible with a few route modifications.
• Enjoy a walk in Morningside!

Points of Interest

1  SMITH PARK, located at the corner of Monroe Drive and Piedmont Road, was dedicated in July 1932 to honor one of Morningside's developers, James Robert Smith. Note the small plaque near the center of the park. The neighborhood's most prominent park has a small pond and fountain, with fish and aquatic plants, and has been planted with golden hues in the spirit of the Olympics and the Pathways of Gold project.

2  In 1928 when Albert Heery Bailey began construction of the MORNINGSIDE SHOPPING CENTER along Piedmont Road, he designed buildings with each tenant's purposes mind. Original tenants included King Hardware, Blair's Florist and Rhodes Bakery. The second floor at 1582 1/2 Piedmont was built as a Masonic Lodge and used as such for 50 years. 1590 Piedmont houses Rogers Grocery Store and 1586 Piedmont was a Piggly Wiggly. Vestiges of these early enterprises can be found in some of the businesses presently occupying this commercial block.

3  614 and 626 E. MORNINGSIDE DRIVE were two of the first houses in the 1923 Morningside Park development. 626 was home to developer James R. Smith and part of the Fourth National Better Homes Week, May 12-18, 1924.

4  705 E. MORNINGSIDE DRIVE was designed by R. Kennon Perry and built by Thomas K. Windham as The Atlanta Constitution Master Model Home in 1928. Its construction served to promote better home building through the use of high-grade materials and workmanship.

5  WILSON PARK. The triangular park at the intersection of E. Morningside and N. Rock Springs roads memorializes President Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924). Dedicated by the Atlanta Women's Club on May 25, 1924, WILSON PARK was planted with crepe myrtles and elm trees, which all succumbed to Dutch elm disease. Happily, plans call for the park to be replanted with disease-resistant Liberty elms.

6  By 1929, the stucco houses at 696, 697, 701, 702, 707 and 715 SHERWOOD ROAD had all been built in the Mediterranean style, the fashionable late 1920's blending of Italian and Spanish architectural elements.  George H. Lowell is associated with the design of 701 Sherwood.  Other Mediterranean-style houses exist singly in the neighborhood: this collection is noteworthy.

7  SIDNEY MARCUS PARK. In October 1983, residents broke ground for Cumberland / Sherwood Park on land that had been cleared for proposed highway I-485.  After the road was stopped through considerable neighborhood activism, the late Sidney Marcus arranged a land swap with Georgia D.O.T. to acquire the property for a park between Cumberland and Sherwood roads and helped secure state funds to create this popular park.  On Nov. 1, 1983, the Morningside/Lenox Park Association passed a resolution to rename the park in honor of the state representative who helped stop a freeway through Morningside.

8  1511 N. MORNINGSIDE DRIVE was home to Dean Rusk, Secretary of State for Presidents Kennedy and Johnson, just prior to his departure for Davidson College in 1927.

9  Founded in 1925, the first MORNINGSIDE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH was listed at 415 Morningside Drive.  In 1944, members purchased property at 1411 N. Morningside Drive and hired architects Thomas & Wagner of Philadelphia to design a new sanctuary.  A recreation building was constructed in 1945; the congregation moved into the new sanctuary in 1949.  The steeple was added in 1957.

10  Morningside Presbyterian Church's first educational building (located behind the Anshi S'Fard Synagogue at the CORNER OF N. HIGHLAND AND N. MORNINGSIDE) is now used as an apartment building.

11 HIGHLAND PARK SHOPPING CENTER at N. Highland and University. Developed by Byron Kistner in 1925, the row of commercial storefronts originally included family-owned Shackleford's Drugstore, Henry's Dry Cleaning, Rogers Brothers Grocery and an A&P.  Later tenants included Havers 5 & 10, Van Orner's Hardware, a Pig and Whistle Bakery, a beauty salon and several real estate offices.  This development is characteristic of Atlanta's middle-class commercial buildings of the period.

12  CONGREGATION SHEARITH ISRAEL ("remnant of Israel") on University Drive is Atlanta's third oldest Jewish congregation.  The first synagogue was on Washington Street, several blocks south of where Atanta-Fulton County Stadium is now.  In 1949, Shearith Israel bought the former Lanier University property on University Drive.  The main structure on the property was a replica of the Custis-Lee Mansion at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.  The congregation met in the building until the larger synagogue opened behind itin 1957.  (Charles Lewis Fowler. the founder of Lanier University in 1917, thought the South needed an "All Southern" Baptist University and intended to reproduce great southern edifices, such as Monticello and Mount Vernon as part of his grand plan.  However, his scheme failed and he sold the property to the Ku KluxKlan in 1921.  The Klan owned the property for a year and left some ironic neighborhood history to ponder.)

13  HIGHLAND HOUSE AT MORNINOSIDE PARK at the corner of N. Highland and High Point Drive.  Built in 1914 and given to the Georgia Chapter of the Women's Christian Temperance Union in 1927, the red-bricked Highland House is now incorporated into the Morningside Park Condominium development as an example of adaptive reuse.

14  THE HISTORICAL MARKER AT ZIMMER DRIVE AND N. HIGHLAND documents this site as the salient or point of Confederate Gen. Joseph E. Johnston's initial defensive line before the Battle of Peachtree Creek in July 1864 resulted in the Confederate withdrawal from the area.  Walk down Reeder Circle, up Bonnie Lane and back up Cumberland Road to see some of the Tudor eclectic styles which dominate the neighborhood's residential architecture.

15  THE TRAFFIC ISLAND AT LENOX AND JOHNSON ROADS showcases the work of the Morningside Garden Club, founded in 1980 for intown gardeners interested in neighborhood beautification.  The Garden Club uses only organic methods in maintaining this beauty spot.

16  THE HISTORICAL MARKER AT LENOX AND JOHNSON ROADS describes Federal troop movements advancing toward Atlanta during the Civil War.  In July 1864, Gen. William T. Sherman set up headquarters nearby at the intersection of N. Decatur and Briarcliff roads.

17 The homeplace of Daniel Noble Johnson, President of Johnson Estates, Inc., was located at the corner of HOMESTEAD AND JOHNSON ROADS.  Both street names reflect this history.  Charline Avenue was named for Mr. Johnson's daughter.

18  The 1933 Atlanta City Directory lists 1624 JOHNSON ROAD as the real estate sales office of W. A. Ozmer, Vice President of Johnson Estates. Inc.

19  (Two blocks south down Meadowdale from the tour route).  Residents feel like they're in the country when they stroll past the DANIEL N. JOHNSON NATURE PRESERVE on Beech Valley Drive.  Paths lead into a ravine, preserved as a natural flood plain and home to a variety of plant and animal life.  The preserve was deeded to the city of Atlanta in 1935.

20  HERBERT TAYLOR PARK, located off Z Johnson Road near the Noble Drive intersection, is a continuation of Daniel H. Johnson Nature Preserve. The park is named for Atlanta builder, developer and former pharmacist Herbert Taylor.  The land was donated in two parcels in 1972 (by Mr. Taylor) and 1978 (by his son, Mark Taylor) as a gift to the city of Atlanta.  The park was dedicated in April 1987.

21  NOBLE PARK, located at Meadowdale Avenue and Noble Drive, is lovingly tended by neighbors who enjoy the tree-shaded park complete with landscaping, play equipment for children and benches for parents.  The park is named for Daniel Noble Johnson, developer of the Johnson Estates neighborhood in 1930, and was the end of the line for the 16 Noble bus for many years.

22  1585 LENOX ROAD served first as the field office for the Lenox Park development, in which prospective home buyers could review plats and homesite information.  The Lenox Park Garden Club met monthly at the land office in the 1930s. Note "Lenox Park" stone near curb.

23  1627 BARCLAY PLACE, a beautiful result of the Great Depression, was built in the early 1930s using the talents of out-of-work Georgia Tech professors. Fine workmanship is a hallmark of the house's interior wood and plaster features and its brick and stone facade.

24  1607 BARCLAY PLACE. Originally advertised as a handsome modified English-type one-story dwelling, "The Barclay" was designed by Ivey and Crook, well-known Atlanta architects, as one of three model homes built in Lenox Park in 1931.

25  MORNINGSIDE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL at 1053 E. Rock Springs Road started as a six-classroom building in 1929: neighborhood growth prompted construction in 1934 of the main school building, a Tudor Jacobethan structure designed by George H. Bond and featuring exceptional brickwork.  Architect Mark Reese's 1994 addition greatly expanded the school facility and won an Atlanta Urban Design Commission Award in 1995.  Major renovation of the 1934 structure took place in late 1995.

26  In 1941, members of HAYGOOD METHODIST CHURCH bought four acres of property at the corner of E. Rock Springs and Sussex roads.  Because of World War II, the church was not completed until 1947.  Founded in 1925, the church originally was located at N. Highland Avenue and Lanier Place.  Haygood was named for Bishop Atticus G. Haygood and his sister, Laura Haygood. an early Methodist missionary to China.

27  In the 1930s, residents referred to SUNKEN GARDEN PARK as the "rose bowl."  Gardeners from nearby households were sent to work on its rose beds. After years of neglect, the MLPA rallied in 1985 to reclaim the park, now the site of the neighborhood association's annual Celebration of Summer and many other gatherings.  The park lies between E. Sussex and W. Sussex on E. Rock Springs Road.

28  Behind Sunken Garden Park is MORNINGSIDE NATURE TRAIL.  This densely forested trail winds through a ravine between Plymouth and Berkshire roads. It most likely resembles Sunken Garden Park before it was developed.  The former Lenox Park Garden Club planted dogwoods here to remember those who had fought in World War II.¶

29  From the nature trail, one can glimpse 1625 E. SUSSEX or "The Sussex," one of three model homes designed by Lewis Crook of Ivey and Crook to promote the Lenox Park development of 1931.  Herbert Kaiser was the developer of Lenox Park.

30  1750 W. Sussix.  Designed in 1941 by Philip Shutze, the great Atlanta classical architect, this grand residence is an interpretation of the Governor's Palace at Williamsburg and reflects the original owner's (Harry Dwoskin) great concern that the highest quality of workmanship be carried out in its construction.  Shutze also designed the Swan House on the grounds of the Atlanta History Center.

31  The STONE WALL AT W. SUSSEX AND WILDWOOD.  Built by Sonny Reece of the former Monroe Landscaping Co. and inspired by a trip to Italy, the stone wall with its imbedded millstone is a neighborhood landmark at the Haizlip residence.

32  Residents often bring their children to climb on the play equipment or play Frisbee or football at LENOX-WILDWOOD PARK, located at Wildwood and Lenox roads.  The park has tennis courts and off-street parking. Park land behind the tennis courts stretches to Berkshire Road

33  1743 MERTON ROAD is a dramatic "ranch redo" or reconstruction of a ranch-style house by architect Barry Doss.  Several Doss-designed ranch conversions dot this part of the neighborhood.

34  963 PLYMOUTH ROAD, one of the Lenox Park model homes, was featured in promotional pieces as "The Chateau."  The two-story, white-painted brick dwelling with French inspirations was designed by Ivey and Crookin 1931.

35  LENOX PARK MARKER AT 878 PLYMOUTH ROAD.  An original marker for the Lenox Park development, this urn-capped pillar served as the model for reproducing the 12 markers placed at the neighborhood's boundaries in 1991.  Continue up N. Pelham past Pine Ridge Drive.  Note the many expressions of the Tudor eclectic style house.  Cross N. Rock Springs Road onto E. Peiham and turn right up Rockmont.

36  636 ROCKMONT, home to its builder J. Thomas K. Windham in 1932, displays an elaborate interplay of brick and stone in the Tudor eclectic style and seems to prove, as company ads boasted, that Windham homes would "age with dignity."

37  (Though not easily accessible from the tour route up Piedmont, consider crossing Piedmont and then taking a right on Montgomery Ferry to approach this neighborhood landmark on foot.) The oldest church in Morningside, ROCK SPRING PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH started in a school house in 1870. The first sanctuary a white frame structure without a steeple, was built on the site of the current church at Piedmont and Rock Spring roads.  Architect Charles H. Hopson designed the present Jacobean Revival sanctuary, completed in 1922.  Tombstones in the graveyard next to the church date back to 1875.  Rock Spring Presbyterian Church and its manse at 1800 Piedmont Avenue were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.

38  In 1951, members of MORNINGSIDE BAPTIST CHURCH held their first worship service in the current sanctuary on Piedmont Road, bounded by Peiham Road and Montgomery Ferry Drive.  The church was designed by Thomas W. Gardner of Nashville in the "gothic style" members voted to accept.  Founded in 1930, the church met in a temporary building at N. Highland Avenue and Wessyngton Road beginning in 1931.

39 The HISTORICAL MARKER AT E. PELHAM AND PIEDMONT ROADS describes Federal troop movements advancing toward Atlanta during the Civil War.  In July 1864, Federal troops were brought from Buckhead and placed in a line starting at Morningside Baptist Church and running to about the intersection of E. Rock Springs and Cumberland roads.