17 new buildings and sites on
2005 Most Endangered Historic Places list
Places range from two buildings over
100 years old to Civil Rights sites

In conjunction with National and Georgia Historic Preservation Month in May, the Atlanta Preservation Center has announced its 2005 list of Atlanta’s Most Endangered Historic Places. Featuring 17 historic sites, the list identifies places with architectural, historical and cultural significance that are threatened by the wrecking ball, bulldozers, neglect, and deferred maintenance.

“Two of the city’s most important Civil Rights sites are still in jeopardy – Auburn Avenue in the Martin Luther King Jr. Landmark District and Paschal’s Restaurant and Motel – so we have put them on our 2005 Most Endangered List to keep them in the spotlight,” said Boyd Coons, executive director of the Atlanta Preservation Center. “The city has let this endangerment happen while there is talk about building a Civil Rights Museum.

“We have also placed a bridge and a garden on our Most Endangered List for the first time. It is important to think beyond the usual historic buildings and include all kinds of structures and places that make up the fabric of the city.”

Two of the endangered sites are more than 100 years old -- the c.1901 DuPre Manufacturing Co. now known as The Masquerade or Excelsior Mill and the 1904 Paces Ferry bridge that was renamed Hermi’s Bridge in 1984. The others range from one that is completely unknown, the 1905 Withers House in Oakland City, to a city designated Landmark, the Academy of Medicine.

The sites on the 2005 Most Endangered Historic Places list in alphabetical order are:

• Academy of Medicine, 1941

• Atlanta Public Schools, five buildings date from 1912 to 1956

• Auburn/Edgewood Avenue Commercial District, 1929-1968

• Brother Juniper’s, 1922

• DuPre Manufacturing Co. a/k/a The Masquerade, c.1901

• Huff-Feldman House, 1953

• Paces Ferry Bridge over the Chattahoochee River a/k/a Hermi’s Bridge, 1903

• Paschal’s Restaurant and Motel, 1959 and 1967

• Peachtree Heights West Neighborhood, 1911-1920s

• Peachtree Hills Apartments, 1938

• Ponce de Leon Methodist Episcopal Church a/k/a The Abbey, 1915

• Upchurch-Kelley House and Gardens, 1933

• Withers House, 1905

Buildings and sites are nominated by the Atlanta Preservation Center’s members. Its Advocacy Committee under the leadership of Philip Covin selected the 2005 list.