One of Atlanta’s more interesting neighborhoods is the area known as Cabbagetown. Cabbagetown is located on the east side of Atlanta.
It lies next to Atlanta’s Oakland Cemetery, founded in 1850, and the final resting place of many of Atlanta’s famous including Bobby Jones, Margaret Mitchell and many names significant in Atlanta’s History.
When visiting Cabbagetown you will want to schedule a tour of this historic site.
by Keizers via WikiMedia Commons
I guess I have passed through Cabbagetown at least a thousand times as I drove down Boulevard.
When I was much younger this is the route we took coming into Atlanta when visiting Ponce de Leon Ballpark to watch the Atlanta Crackers play baseball.
During peak travel hours or just to avoid the crowded connector through the city, I will still prefer a drive south down Boulevard until it dead ends at McDonald Boulevard and the Federal Penitentiary. From that point I am definitely out of heavy traffic.
Cabbagetown has gone through a lot of changes through the years. It began life as a mill town. Houses were built around the Fulton Bag and Cotton Mill as housing for its workers. Many of the homes were of the shotgun house style. A shotgun house is a small rectangular house with rooms one behind the other and a door at the rear of the home. It was said you could fire a shotgun through the front door and shot would exit the rear door. Or as Brother Dave Gardner once said, “If you knock on the front door, the back door rattles.”
Many of the original houses are still standing in the area. The oldest remaining homes were built between 1886 and 1892. As you might imagine, over the ensuing years indoor plumbing and electricity have been added to these homes.
There are many stories concerning the naming of Cabbagetown. One of the most prevalent is about a truck trying to make a sharp turn on one of the narrow streets overturning and spilling its load of cabbages all over the street. Legend has it the residents quickly gathered the cabbage and for days the area smelled of cooked cabbage. Another story involves many local residents raising cabbage in small garden plots in their yards and once again that smell of cabbage cooking.
By Mark Peppers via wikimedia commons
No matter the reason for its name, the community has always been linked to the mill itself. The mill closed in 1977.
The neighbor went into a decline with the closing of the mill. It became a harbor for prostitution and drug sales.
Residents of other sections of Atlanta as well as visitors were wary about visiting the area.
In the early 1990s things began to change for the community. Artists began to move into the area and many small businesses began to appear. In 1997 further change began to take place in the neighborhood. The old mill was being renovated and turned into lofts. Cabbagetown was once again becoming a community.
by John Ramspott via wikimedia commons
In 1999 fire hit Cabbagetown destroying parts of the neighborhood.
Then in 2008 a tornado blew through Atlanta and the Cabbagetown area where it hit the Fulton Cotton Mill/The Stacks lofts as well as damaging homes in the neighborhood. Each time tragedy struck, Cabbagetown fought back to survive and rebuild.
Now residents and visitors visit Cabbagetown to enjoy good food and drink at a number of restaurants. On Carroll Street you will find Little’s Food Store, the Milltown Tavern and the recently opened Cabbage Pie. On Boulevard you will find Agave. Just up the way on Memorial Drive you can enjoy Six Feet Under with its rooftop view of Oakland Cemetery.
You may look forward to the neighborhood’s Chomp and Stomp bluegrass and chili festival which takes place the first weekend in November.
Or you might just drop in at one of the restaurants, and then take a stroll through this vibrant neighborhood.
Who knows, you may just find yourself a new home.
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