History of CVM & Firehouse
The Firestataion:
We stand in the 10th Ward Firestation #20, at 590
Manford Road Southwest. It is the only community landmark building physically
in Capitol View Manor, but it is considered part of the Capitol View Historic
Register nomination because it was built to serve the Sylvan Hills community
that was in development at the time of its construction in 1926. The project, championed by then city Alderman
Charles M. Ford, was built by the Shaw Construction Company and cost $10,500.
The building has a brick façade and utilizes gables that reference the English
Vernacular Revival style predominant on Manford, Mellview and Shannon.
The firestation opened in classic Southern style on December
5, 1926., with a barbecue, of course! In attendance were city council members,
county commissioners, pastors of 10th ward churches and mayor-elect,
Isacc Newton (I.N.) Ragsdale.
CVM
Capitol View Manor is situated on Land Lot #88 and was
originally part of Henry County as Georgia residents expanded westward after
the withdrawal (or expulsion) of the Native Americans. The land was located
outside of the Confederate defenses during the Civil War.
After the war the Freedman’s Aid Society purchased 450
acres, Land Lot 73 and Land Lot 88. Funds were raised to build Clark College
for the freed victims of Southern exploitation. Buildings were situated on Land
Lot 73. Land Lot 88 was used to train students in agricultural science and animal
husbandry. The crops and animals raised on this property were used to feed the
students of the college and sales from the farm underwrote tuitions.
In 1899 the college sold off some property to the Atlanta
and West Point Railroad to build a raised rail bed, which you still see today. Some
of this property was sold to Capitol View (not Manor) developers to build many
of the houses you see facing Metropolitan parkway.
In the 1920s Clark University and Atlanta University planned
to merge and the land was sold to a group of investors, who were affiliated
with the Georgia Savings Bank and Trust Company (Joseph Boston, George M. Brown
and John E. Oliver).
In 1925 the City annexed property south of University
Avenue, including Lot 88.
In 1926 the investors hired Olin I. Freeman to design a
subdivision named Capitol View Manor. Freeman was a civil engineer by trade,
who received training under Orrin F. Kauffman. Kauffman subscribed to
Olmsteadian principles of development having worked with Frederick Law Olmstead
on the development of Druid Hills. Olmstead’s influence is evident in the
curvilinear design of the streets as well as the rolling hills of the park like
terrain. Dill Avenue Park, in sight of the firehouse, was in the original
design of the subdivision and intended to serve as a roundabout feature.
One of the early housing developers in CVM was Turman-Brown
Real Estate, a partnership between S. B. Turman a long time Fulton County
developer and George M. Brown, Jr. president of the Georgia Savings Bank &
Trust. The firm had offices in the same
bank. Atlanta was currently experiencing a housing shortage and Brown
capitalized on this, creating an “Own Your Own Home” campaign in the city. To
give their subdivision a competitive edge, they stationed an agent in the
subdivision on Sundays to give tours.
The marketing of CVM by its original investors suggests they
were targeting an emerging white-collar managerial group. The use of “Manor”
distinguished it from Capitol View across the way and gave the impression of
exclusivity employed by advertising in that time period.
In 1929 real estate firm and developers Maddox &
Tisinger (Paul Maddox & Thomas Tisinger) were the primary sellers in CVM.
They offered fa ull service home purchasing package that included financing,
home construction and “follow-up purchasing services” in CVM.
In line with purveying a more stately living environment, in
1928 residents petitioned for the name of Dill Avenue to be changed and in 1929
it was changed to Manford. Likewise Shannon was once Capitol View Avenue and
also received a name change in 1929.
The predominance of brick houses in the English Vernacular
style was another draw for white collar prospects, as well as proximity to the
trolley line (right at the corner of Dill and Stewart/Metropolitant) and the
newly built Capitol View School designed by A. Ten Eyck Brown, who also
designed the MLK, Jr. Federal Building on Forsyth Street.
In 1930, Joseph Boston, the primary investor of the group
currently paying the mortgage to Clark University, died. At this point the note
had not been repaid. By 1933 the investors defaulted on the loan and $71,000
was still indebted to Clark University. There was a clause in the contract that
allowed for what was essentially a short sale, and the investment group sold
the property on the steps of the courthouse. Clark University recouped only
$10,000.
The Depression gave rise to entrepreneurial solutions in the
real estate industry. Maddox designed homes that would “help pay for
themselves.” These homes had a semi-duplex configuration. They can be seen at
the following addresses: 594 Shannon
Drive, 574 Shannon Drive, 573 Shannon Drive and 569 Manford Road. Maddox
published an article in the National Real Estate Journal in 1930 detailing the
designs.
Despite these attempts to up sales, the Depression did have
a big impact on the community and by 1935 there were only 58 homes in CVM.
In 1937 the residents petitioned for a park and a portion of
the Deckner property was purchased to build a park which at that time had
tennis courts, a baseball diamond and a playground. The park was named for the
mother of State Senator Everett Millican, Emma Millican, who lived in Capitol
View Manor until her death.
During WWII Atlanta was a center for war-time industry,
rationing and of course had Ft. McPherson nearby. Another developer, Hillside
Homes, began construction on Erin Avenue, in a style now known as the American
Small House. Residents of CVM objected to the “poorer quality” and smallness of
the houses that they perceived to diminish the value of their neighborhood.
These homes were designed to house war workers. As a compromise, Hillside
agreed to put in sidewalks and paved driveways, vary the color of the roofs and
use several different front elevations. Among other restrictions on these
houses was a covenant forbidding the sale or lease of these houses to African
Americans until January 1, 1975.
The post war years saw another real estate boom and by 1950
90% of the lots in CVM had been built out. The ranch houses you see in the
neighborhood were built primarily between 1950 and 1961, and, according to our
State Historic Preservation Office, are ideal, intact examples of early ranch
house development in Georgia.
