Cascade Heights

<h2 id="peyton-road-affair">Peyton Road Affair</h2>
Main article: <a href="/facts/Atlanta%2527s_Berlin_Wall/H7Fz87T4">Atlanta's Berlin Wall</a>
In the early 1960s the area was a predominantly <a href="/facts/White_Americans/H6ToYC5Q">white</a> neighborhood. After an African-American physician (Dr. Clinton E. Warner) bought a home in Peyton Forest, white residents in the area feared that their neighborhood would become a victim of <a href="/facts/Blockbusting/yBFVdRw1">blockbusting</a>,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4">4</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5">5</a> a business practice in which <a href="/facts/Real_estate_agent/sDJTrlzC">real estate agents</a> would profit from the racial fears of white residents while changing the racial makeup of a white residential area. When African Americans moved into a neighborhood, many whites believed that property values would automatically plunge, which was a self-fulfilling prophecy as so many homes went on the market at the same time as whites fled first West End and then Cascade Heights, Adams Park, and most of the rest of southwest Atlanta. Real estate agents stirred up racial tension and benefited from the commissions they earned when fearful homeowners sold their properties, often at a loss, in order to escape the area.
In an infamous 1962–63 episode that came to be called "the <a href="/facts/Peyton_Road_Affair/H7Fz87T4">Peyton Road Affair</a>", Atlanta mayor <a href="/facts/Ivan_Allen_Jr./5vjYNkD2">Ivan Allen</a> responded to residents' fears of blockbusting by directing city staff to erect barricades on Peyton Road and Harlan Road to restrict access to Cascade Heights, thus preventing African-American homeseekers from getting to the neighborhood from Gordon Road (now MLK Drive).<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6">6</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7">7</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:8" href="#fn:8">8</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:9" href="#fn:9">9</a> He took the action at the urging of white residents of southwest Atlanta<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:10" href="#fn:10">10</a> (in particular, one of his high-level employees who lived a short distance from Peyton Road). After the barricades went up, December 18, 1962,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:11" href="#fn:11">11</a> the incident quickly drew national attention. The barrier was compared to the <a href="/facts/Berlin_Wall/WhKAVUE4">Berlin Wall</a> and nicknamed the "Atlanta Wall".<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:12" href="#fn:12">12</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:13" href="#fn:13">13</a> Some newspapers in other parts of the country questioned Atlanta's motto "the City Too Busy to Hate". The walls were torn down when, on March 1, 1963, a court ruled them to be unconstitutional.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:14" href="#fn:14">14</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:15" href="#fn:15">15</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:16" href="#fn:16">16</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:17" href="#fn:17">17</a> White homeowners fled the neighborhood after the barricades were removed. By the end of July 1963, only 15 white homeowners remained in Peyton Forest.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:18" href="#fn:18">18</a>
By the late 1960s the Cascade Heights neighborhood was predominantly African-American. In the 1970s, the area became home to many affluent African-American business professionals, college professionals, celebrities, former pro-athletes, and elected officials and it remains so today. A private or <a href="/facts/Charter_school/mvttNkwB">charter school</a> K-12th grade education is most common for children living in the Cascade Heights area. The area experienced some notable decline in the late 20th and early 21st century partly due to many middle-class and upper-middle-class African Americans in Atlanta moving to the suburbs for newer constructed homes, better public schools, or lower crime. Since 2018, many desired improvements have come to the area since interest in city living has become popular again.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:19" href="#fn:19">19</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:20" href="#fn:20">20</a> Also since 2018, Cascade Heights began to increase in racial diversity and higher income individuals again due to its proximity to <a href="/facts/Downtown_Atlanta/9QzoTa0m">downtown</a>, the <a href="/facts/Hartsfield%25E2%2580%2593Jackson_Atlanta_International_Airport/ev2ekh61">Hartsfield–Jackson International Airport</a>, and having some of the most affordable renovated large homes within the city limits.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:21" href="#fn:21">21</a>

<h2 id="notable-people">Notable people</h2>
Notable current and former residents of Cascade Heights include:

<ul><li><a href="/facts/Maynard_Jackson/MGHTHND8">Maynard Jackson</a> (1938–2003), the first African American mayor of Atlanta</li>
<li><a href="/facts/Keisha_Lance_Bottoms/zquPasPL">Keisha Lance Bottoms</a>, former Atlanta mayor and director of the White House <a href="/facts/Office_of_Public_Liaison/S4mcj3qk">Office of Public Engagement</a></li>
<li>Former Atlanta mayor <a href="/facts/Shirley_Franklin/FUdNbE99">Shirley Franklin</a></li>
<li>Former UN Ambassador and Atlanta mayor <a href="/facts/Andrew_Young/HAauhA8o">Andrew Young</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/John_Lewis/bhpdeCqm">John Lewis</a> (1940–2020), <a href="/facts/Big_Six_(activists)/JMbtJs53">civil rights leader</a> and <a href="/facts/United_States_House_of_Representatives/cdBPb9pY">congressman</a></li>
<li>Baseball legend <a href="/facts/Hank_Aaron/MdeMXgaf">Hank Aaron</a> (1934–2021)</li>
<li><a href="/facts/Benjamin_Mays/od5Cy50E">Benjamin Mays</a>, Ph.D. (1894–1984), president of <a href="/facts/Morehouse_College/0FUqHg60">Morehouse College</a> from 1940–1967</li>
<li>Dr. Hamilton Holmes (1945–1995), one of two African Americans to integrated the University of Georgia</li>
<li>Dr. Clint Warner, M.D. (1924–2012), surgeon and former chief of staff of Southwest Community Hospital, one of the first medical centers in the nation owned or operated by African Americans</li>
<li><a href="/facts/Ozell_Sutton/gTKTls4A">Ozell Sutton</a>, past national president of <a href="/facts/Alpha_Phi_Alpha/LKe9YooE">Alpha Phi Alpha</a> fraternity and founding member of the <a href="/facts/National_Center_for_Missing_and_Exploited_Children/Jo3u81tc">National Center for Missing and Exploited Children</a></li>
<li>Howard W. Grant, Ph.D, First Executive Director of the Atlanta Board of Education; President/CEO of The Fulton Atlanta Community Action Authority (FACAA)</li>
<li><a href="/facts/Kandi_Burruss/JRJ2QWf1">Kandi Burruss</a>, singer/songwriter, record producer, and cast member of <a href="/facts/The_Real_Housewives_of_Atlanta/0JqU24YT">The Real Housewives of Atlanta</a></li>
<li>Major Harry R. "Bob" Kerr, president of the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association; and, Joseph Suttles, former grand master of the Masonic Lodge of Georgia and great-grandson of Revolutionary War soldier and early Atlanta settler William Suttles in 1820.</li>
<li><a href="/facts/Tayari_Jones/txTdBPD5">Tayari Jones</a>, author of <a href="/facts/An_American_Marriage/SJwr9Mh2">An American Marriage</a></li></ul>

<h2 id="references">References</h2>

<ol>
<li id="fn:1">See John H. Goff, "The Sandtown Trail", Atlanta Historical Bulletin, Vol. 11, No. 4 (December 1966). <a href="/wiki/Atlanta_Historical_Bulletin" target="_blank">/wiki/Atlanta_Historical_Bulletin</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:2">See Franklin Garrett, Atlanta and Environs (University of Georgia Press, 1954) for details on many of these and other names important in the early history of the neighborhood. <a href="/wiki/Franklin_Garrett" target="_blank">/wiki/Franklin_Garrett</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:3">William Phillips "Map of Fulton County", 1872, documents many places, roads, and property owners at that time, when there would have been limited change since before the Civil War. <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:4">Ernie Suggs and Tom Benett, "Former Mayor Ivan Allen Jr. dead at age 92; Mayor helped city bridge racial divide", Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Legacy.com, retrieved January 10, 2012 <a href="http://www.legacy.com/Obituaries.asp?Page=LifeStory&PersonId=1132461" target="_blank">http://www.legacy.com/Obituaries.asp?Page=LifeStory&PersonId=1132461</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:5">Paul Crater (December 2011), "49 Years Ago This Month: Atlanta's 'Berlin Wall'; December 1962", Atlanta, archived from the original on January 29, 2012 <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120129172456/http://www.atlantamagazine.com/flashback/story.aspx?ID=1573118" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20120129172456/http://www.atlantamagazine.com/flashback/story.aspx?ID=1573118</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:6">Paul Crater (December 2011), "49 Years Ago This Month: Atlanta's 'Berlin Wall'; December 1962", Atlanta, archived from the original on January 29, 2012 <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120129172456/http://www.atlantamagazine.com/flashback/story.aspx?ID=1573118" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20120129172456/http://www.atlantamagazine.com/flashback/story.aspx?ID=1573118</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:7">Tammy H. Galloway (2010), "Ivan Allen Jr. (1911–2003)", The New Georgia Encyclopedia <a href="http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-1382" target="_blank">http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-1382</a> <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:8">"Remaining Walls", Ebony, Johnson Publishing Company, pp. 24–25, June 1963 <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=riksVFZN9XsC&q=%22west+end%22+atlanta+ebony&pg=PA95" target="_blank">https://books.google.com/books?id=riksVFZN9XsC&q=%22west+end%22+atlanta+ebony&pg=PA95</a> <a href="#fnref:8" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:9">"The South: Divided City". Time. January 18, 1963. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20081220123816/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,874660,00.html" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20081220123816/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,874660,00.html</a> <a href="#fnref:9" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:10">Tammy H. Galloway (2010), "Ivan Allen Jr. (1911–2003)", The New Georgia Encyclopedia <a href="http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-1382" target="_blank">http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-1382</a> <a href="#fnref:10" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:11">Sacred places: a guide to the civil rights sites in Atlanta, Georgia. p. 159. <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=oi8Cfin4lkwC&pg=PT131" target="_blank">https://books.google.com/books?id=oi8Cfin4lkwC&pg=PT131</a> <a href="#fnref:11" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:12">Tammy H. Galloway (2010), "Ivan Allen Jr. (1911–2003)", The New Georgia Encyclopedia <a href="http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-1382" target="_blank">http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-1382</a> <a href="#fnref:12" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:13">"Remaining Walls", Ebony, Johnson Publishing Company, pp. 24–25, June 1963 <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=riksVFZN9XsC&q=%22west+end%22+atlanta+ebony&pg=PA95" target="_blank">https://books.google.com/books?id=riksVFZN9XsC&q=%22west+end%22+atlanta+ebony&pg=PA95</a> <a href="#fnref:13" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:14">Ernie Suggs and Tom Benett, "Former Mayor Ivan Allen Jr. dead at age 92; Mayor helped city bridge racial divide", Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Legacy.com, retrieved January 10, 2012 <a href="http://www.legacy.com/Obituaries.asp?Page=LifeStory&PersonId=1132461" target="_blank">http://www.legacy.com/Obituaries.asp?Page=LifeStory&PersonId=1132461</a> <a href="#fnref:14" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:15">Paul Crater (December 2011), "49 Years Ago This Month: Atlanta's 'Berlin Wall'; December 1962", Atlanta, archived from the original on January 29, 2012 <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120129172456/http://www.atlantamagazine.com/flashback/story.aspx?ID=1573118" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20120129172456/http://www.atlantamagazine.com/flashback/story.aspx?ID=1573118</a> <a href="#fnref:15" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:16">Tammy H. Galloway (2010), "Ivan Allen Jr. (1911–2003)", The New Georgia Encyclopedia <a href="http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-1382" target="_blank">http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-1382</a> <a href="#fnref:16" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:17">"Remaining Walls", Ebony, Johnson Publishing Company, pp. 24–25, June 1963 <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=riksVFZN9XsC&q=%22west+end%22+atlanta+ebony&pg=PA95" target="_blank">https://books.google.com/books?id=riksVFZN9XsC&q=%22west+end%22+atlanta+ebony&pg=PA95</a> <a href="#fnref:17" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:18">White flight: Atlanta and the making of modern conservatism. p. 5. <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=c5763Zgu4_oC&pg=PA4&lpg=PA5" target="_blank">https://books.google.com/books?id=c5763Zgu4_oC&pg=PA4&lpg=PA5</a> <a href="#fnref:18" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:19">"Funding for Long Awaited Cascade Road Complete Street Improvements Approved by City Council | What Now Atlanta". August 3, 2021. <a href="https://whatnowatlanta.com/funding-for-long-awaited-cascade-road-complete-street-improvements-approved-by-city-council/" target="_blank">https://whatnowatlanta.com/funding-for-long-awaited-cascade-road-complete-street-improvements-approved-by-city-council/</a> <a href="#fnref:19" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:20">"Atlanta moves forward with Cascade Corridor Improvement Project". <a href="https://south7585news.com//atlanta-moves-forward-with-cascade-corridor-improvement-project-p648-106.htm" target="_blank">https://south7585news.com//atlanta-moves-forward-with-cascade-corridor-improvement-project-p648-106.htm</a> <a href="#fnref:20" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:21">"Where to live now in Atlanta 2018: Cascade". <a href="https://www.atlantamagazine.com/list/where-to-live-now-in-atlanta-2018/cascade/" target="_blank">https://www.atlantamagazine.com/list/where-to-live-now-in-atlanta-2018/cascade/</a> <a href="#fnref:21" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
</ol>

Cascade Heights open-in-new

Cascade Heights