The Candler Park Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. Portions of the content of this web page were adapted from a copy of the original nomination document. [‡]
The Candler Park Historic District consists of the remaining intact portion of a large residential neighborhood dating from the late 19th-early 20th century. Founded as Edgewood, a small suburban community east of Atlanta, the area was later annexed into the city and is now considered to be an in-town neighborhood. The district is centered around Candler Park itself, a large city park dating from the early 1920s. Land in the district consists of gently rolling terrain which slopes upward toward the southern boundary. Streets, with few exceptions, are laid out in a gridiron pattern, with clear distinctions between primary and secondary streets. Small, rectangular shaped lots are arranged along these streets. Houses are generally situated near the front-centers of these lots, and stand back a uniform distance from the streets, except for a scattering of the oldest houses which sit farther back on larger tots. Due to the hilly topography many of the houses are approached by steps leading from the sidewalk. Almost all of the houses are detached, single-family, middle class dwellings. Wood framed construction prevails in the western portion of the district; brick veneer construction prevails in the eastern portion of the district, with stone used quite frequently for foundations and trim and occasionally for entire structures. Two architectural styles, late-Victorian and Bungalow/Craftsman, are predominant in the district. Scattered throughout the western part of the district and dating from about 1895 to 1910 are a number of modest late-Victorian cottages with little detailing and a few large late-Victorian houses with considerable detailing including patterned shingle work, porches detailed with turned columns and ball and spindle trim, heavily corbelled chimneys, and stained glass windows. Predominating in the central section of the district are large numbers of 1910-1920 early wood-frame bungalows which are somewhat transitional in style. The houses still retain some elements of the late-Victorian cottage in addition to simple Craftsman style detailing such as exposed rafters, bracketed eaves, and various configurations of multi-paned upper sash. To the east of Candler Park are the latest houses, built during the 1920s and 1930s. Many of these are classic brick bungalows with Craftsman, Greek Revival, Tudor and other stylistic detailing. Several churches, a ca, 1926 school, a few early 20th century apartment buildings, and clusters of 1920s corner stores are also present in the district. Landscaping consists of informally laid out front yards with trees, shrubbery, and lawns, street trees along many of the streets, curbs and sidewalks, retaining walls, and sidewalks with hexagonal pavers. Non-contributing properties are limited to a few modern apartment buildings and non-historic houses.
Candler Park Historic District is historically and architecturally significant as a late nineteenth-early twentieth century residential neighborhood that evolved from an independent town into an "in-town" streetcar suburb. In terms of community planning and development, it is significant for illustrating one way in which the metropolitan Atlanta area grew during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. In terms of transportation, Candler Park is significant for illustrating how modes of transportation have historically affected community development. In terms of architecture, Candler Park is primarily significant for its historic residential architecture. In terms of landscape architecture, Candler Park is significant for its yard and street landscaping which are characteristic of turn-of-the-century residential landscaping practices.
Candler Park began as the independent community of Edgewood which grew up along the Georgia Railroad tracks in the 1870s, was incorporated in 1899, and was annexed by the City of Atlanta in 1909. Edgewood was linked to the city by the railroad and later by streetcars as well. It was the home of about equal numbers of white and black citizens, representing a wide variety of occupations including businessmen, professionals, tradespersons, laborers, and farmers. Its character began to change in the 1910s and 1920s as realty companies and large property owners began to subdivide the area and sell off great numbers of small lots, all with restrictions limiting ownership to white residents. The area developed rapidly from about 1910 to the 1940s as a middle-class white neighborhood. Its name, Candler Park, derives from a large park of the same name in its midst, which was developed beginning in 1922 on land conveyed to the city by the Edgewood Park Realty Company. The neighborhood experienced a serious decline beginning in the 1950s as suburbs around the Atlanta perimeter gained in popularity. Today it is once again assuming its earlier character of a prosperous middle-class neighborhood.
Candler Park illustrates a typical pattern of late nineteenth-early twentieth - - century development in Georgia and elsewhere in which independent suburban towns were subsumed by an expanding city and further developed as "in-town" suburbs. In addition, it serves as a good example in the metropolitan Atlanta area of incremental suburban development in which, typically, churches, schools, stores, and recreational facilities are built in the area as the neighborhood expands. Such neighborhoods, like Candler Park, were typically laid out with gridiron plans. Candler Park stands in sharp contrast to Atlanta's nearby picturesque planned suburbs of Inman Park, Druid Hills, and Ansley Park, with .the exception of the deed restrictions which in all these neighborhoods limited housing to white residents.
‡ Carolyn Brooks, National Register Researcher, Georgia Department of Resources, Historic Preservation Section, Candler Park Historic District, DeKalb County, GA, nomination document, 1983, National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places, Washington, D.C.
Nearby Neighborhoods
Street Names
Benning Place NE • Brooks Avenue NE • Callan Circle NE • Candler Park Drive NE • Candler Park Terrace NE • Candler Street NE • Clifton Road • Clifton Terrace NE • Druid Place NE • Elmira Place NE • Euclid Avenue NE • Euclid Terrace NE • Felder Avenue NE • Ferguson Street NE • Glendale Avenue NE • Goldsboro Road NE • Hillcrest Avenue NE • Hooper Avenue NE • Indiana Avenue • Iverson Street • Iverson Street NE • Josephine Street NE • Magnolia Street • Mansfield Avenue NE • Marion Avenue NE • Marlbrook Drive NE • McLendon Avenue NE • Mell Avenue NE • Miller Avenue NE • Nelms Street • Oakdale Road NE • Page Avenue NE • Sheppard Place NE • Sterling Street NE