Atlanta
City and state capital
Downtown Ebenezer Baptist Church and Behold statue Georgia State Capitol Mercedes-Benz Stadium Centennial Olympic Park Bank of America Plaza The World of Coca-Cola The Fox Theatre
Flag Seal
Nicknames:  The City in a Forest,[1] ATL,[2] The A,[3] Hotlanta,[4] The Gate City,[5] Hollywood of the South[6] (See also Nicknames of Atlanta)
Motto(s):  Resurgens (Latin for Rising again, alluding to the myth of the phoenix bird)
Interactive map of Atlanta
Coordinates: 33°44′56″N 84°23′24″W / 33.74889°N 84.39000°W / 33.74889; -84.39000
Country	United States
State	Georgia
Counties	Fulton, DeKalb
Terminus	1837; 187 years ago (1837)
Marthasville	1843; 181 years ago (1843)
City of Atlanta	December 29, 1847; 176 years ago (1847-12-29)
Government
• Type	Strong–mayor council
• Mayor	Andre Dickens (D)
• Body	Atlanta City Council
Area [7]
• City and state capital	136.31 sq mi (353.04 km2)
• Land	135.32 sq mi (350.48 km2)
• Water	0.99 sq mi (2.57 km2)
Elevation [8]	1,050 ft (320 m)
Population  (2020)[9]
• City and state capital	498,715
• Estimate  (2023)[9]	499,127
• Rank	38th in the United States 1st in Georgia
• Density	3,685.45/sq mi (1,422.96/km2)
• Urban [10]	5,100,112 (US: 9th)
• Urban density	1,997.7/sq mi (771.3/km2)
• Metro [11]	6,307,261 (US: 6th)
Demonym	Atlantans
GDP [12]
• Atlanta (MSA)	$525.9 billion (2022)
Time zone	UTC−5 (EST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−4 (EDT)
ZIP Codes	30301–30322, 30324–30329, 30331–30334, 30336-30346, 30348-30350, 30353-30364, 30366, 30368-30371, 30374-30375, 30377-30378, 30380, 30384-30385, 30388, 30392, 30394, 30396, 30398, 31106-31107, 31119, 31126, 31131, 31136, 31139, 31141, 31145-31146, 31150, 31156, 31192-31193, 31195-31196, 39901
Area codes	404/678/470/943/770
FIPS code	13-04000[13]
GNIS feature ID	351615[8]
Website	atlantaga.gov

Atlanta (/ætˈlæn(t)ə/ at-LAN-(t)ə)^[14] is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, and a portion of the city extends into neighboring DeKalb County. With a population of 498,715 living within the city limits, Atlanta is the eighth most populous city in the Southeast and 38th most populous city in the United States according to the 2020 U.S. census.^[9] It is the core of the much larger Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to more than 6.3 million people (2023 estimate), making it the sixth-largest U.S. metropolitan area.^[15] Situated among the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains at an elevation of just over 1,000 feet (300 m) above sea level, Atlanta features unique topography that includes rolling hills, lush greenery, and the densest urban tree coverage of any major city in the United States.^[16]

Atlanta was originally founded as the terminus of a major state-sponsored railroad, but it soon became the convergence point among several railroads, spurring its rapid growth. The largest was the Western and Atlantic Railroad, from which the name "Atlanta" is derived, signifying the city's growing reputation as a major hub of transportation.^[17] During the American Civil War, it served a strategically important role for the Confederacy until it was captured in 1864. The city was almost entirely burned to the ground during General William T. Sherman's March to the Sea. However, the city rebounded dramatically in the post-war period and quickly became a national industrial center and the unofficial capital of the "New South". After World War II, it also became a manufacturing and technology hub.^[18] During the 1950s and 1960s, it became a major organizing center of the American Civil Rights Movement, with Martin Luther King Jr., Ralph Abernathy, and many other locals becoming prominent figures in the movement's leadership.^[19] In the modern era, Atlanta has remained a major center of transportation, with Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport becoming the world's busiest airport by passenger traffic in 1998 (a position it has held every year since, except for 2020), with an estimated 93.7 million passengers in 2022.^[20][21][22]

With a nominal gross domestic product (GDP) of $473 billion in 2021, Atlanta has the eleventh largest economy of cities in the U.S. and the 22nd largest in the world.^[23] Its economy is considered diverse, with dominant sectors in industries including transportation, aerospace, logistics, healthcare, news and media operations, film and television production, information technology, finance, and biomedical research and public policy.^[24] The gentrification of some of its neighborhoods, initially spurred by the 1996 Summer Olympics, has intensified in the 21st century with the growth of the Atlanta Beltline. This has altered its demographics, politics, aesthetics, and culture.^[25][26][27]

History

Native American settlements

For thousands of years prior to the arrival of European settlers in North Georgia, the indigenous Creek people and their ancestors inhabited the area.^[28] Standing Peachtree, a Creek village where Peachtree Creek flows into the Chattahoochee River, was the closest Native American settlement to what is now Atlanta.^[29] Through the early 19th century, European Americans systematically encroached on the Creek of northern Georgia, forcing them out of the area from 1802 to 1825.^[30] The Creek were forced to leave the area in 1821, under Indian Removal by the federal government, and European American settlers arrived the following year.^[31]

Western and Atlantic Railroad

In 1836, the Georgia General Assembly voted to build the Western and Atlantic Railroad in order to provide a link between the port of Savannah and the Midwest.^[32] The initial route was to run southward from Chattanooga to a terminus east of the Chattahoochee River, which would be linked to Savannah. After engineers surveyed various possible locations for the terminus, the "zero milepost" was driven into the ground in what is now Foundry Street, Five Points. When asked in 1837 about the future of the little village, Stephen Harriman Long, the railroad's chief engineer said the place would be good "for one tavern, a blacksmith shop, a grocery store, and nothing else".^[33] A year later, the area around the milepost had developed into a settlement, first known as Terminus, and later Thrasherville, after a local merchant who built homes and a general store in the area.^[34] By 1842, the town had six buildings and 30 residents and was renamed Marthasville to honor Governor Wilson Lumpkin's daughter Martha. Later, John Edgar Thomson, Chief Engineer of the Georgia Railroad, suggested the town be renamed Atlanta, supposedly a feminine version of the word "Atlantic", referring to the Western and Atlantic Railroad.^[17] The residents approved, and the town was incorporated as Atlanta on December 29, 1847.^[35]

Civil War

By 1860, Atlanta's population had grown to 9,554.^[36][37] During the American Civil War, the nexus of multiple railroads in Atlanta made the city a strategic hub for the distribution of military supplies.^[38]

In 1864, the Union Army moved southward following the capture of Chattanooga and began its invasion of north Georgia. The region surrounding Atlanta was the location of several major army battles, culminating with the Battle of Atlanta and a four-month-long siege of the city by the Union Army under the command of General William Tecumseh Sherman. On September 1, 1864, Confederate General John Bell Hood decided to retreat from Atlanta, and he ordered the destruction of all public buildings and possible assets that could be of use to the Union Army. On the next day, Mayor James Calhoun surrendered Atlanta to the Union Army, and on September 7, Sherman ordered the city's civilian population to evacuate. On November 11, 1864, Sherman prepared for the Union Army's March to the Sea by ordering the destruction of Atlanta's remaining military assets.^[39]

Reconstruction and late 19th century

After the Civil War ended in 1865, Atlanta was gradually rebuilt during the Reconstruction era. The work attracted many new residents. Due to the city's superior rail transportation network, the state capital was moved from Milledgeville to Atlanta in 1868.^[40] In the 1880 Census, Atlanta had surpassed Savannah as Georgia's largest city.^[41]

Beginning in the 1880s, Henry W. Grady, the editor of the Atlanta Constitution newspaper, promoted Atlanta to potential investors as a city of the "New South" that would be based upon a modern economy and less reliant on agriculture. By 1885, the founding of the Georgia School of Technology (now the Georgia Institute of Technology) and the Atlanta University Center, a consortium of historically Black colleges made up of units for men and women, had established Atlanta as a center for higher education. In 1895, Atlanta hosted the Cotton States and International Exposition, which attracted nearly 800,000 attendees and successfully promoted the New South's development to the world.^[42]

20th century

During the first decades of the 20th century, Atlanta enjoyed a period of unprecedented growth. In three decades' time, Atlanta's population tripled as the city limits expanded to include nearby streetcar suburbs. The city's skyline grew taller with the construction of the Equitable, Flatiron, Empire, and Candler buildings. Sweet Auburn emerged as a center of Black commerce. The period was also marked by strife and tragedy. Increased racial tensions led to the Atlanta Race Riot of 1906, when Whites attacked Blacks, leaving at least 27 people dead and over 70 injured, with extensive damage in Black neighborhoods. In 1913, Leo Frank, a Jewish-American factory superintendent, was convicted of the murder of a 13-year-old girl in a highly publicized trial. He was sentenced to death but the governor commuted his sentence to life. An enraged and organized lynch mob took him from jail in 1915 and hanged him in Marietta. The Jewish community in Atlanta and across the country were horrified.^[43][44] On May 21, 1917, the Great Atlanta Fire destroyed 1,938 buildings in what is now the Old Fourth Ward, resulting in one fatality and the displacement of 10,000 people.^[17]

On December 15, 1939, Atlanta hosted the premiere of Gone with the Wind, the epic film based on the best-selling novel by Atlanta's Margaret Mitchell. The gala event at Loew's Grand Theatre was attended by the film's legendary producer, David O. Selznick, and the film's stars Clark Gable, Vivien Leigh, and Olivia de Havilland, but Oscar winner Hattie McDaniel, an African-American actress, was barred from the event due to racial segregation laws.^[45]

Atlanta played a vital role in the Allied effort during World War II due to the city's war-related manufacturing companies, railroad network and military bases. The defense industries attracted thousands of new residents and generated revenues, resulting in rapid population and economic growth. In the 1950s, the city's newly constructed highway system, supported by federal subsidies, allowed middle class Atlantans the ability to relocate to the suburbs. As a result, the city began to make up an ever-smaller proportion of the metropolitan area's population.^[17]

Civil Rights movement

African-American veterans returned from World War II seeking full rights in their country and began heightened activism. In exchange for support by that portion of the Black community that could vote, in 1948 the mayor ordered the hiring of the first eight African-American police officers in the city.^[46]

Much controversy preceded the 1956 Sugar Bowl, when the Pitt Panthers, with African-American fullback Bobby Grier on the roster, met the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets.^[47] There had been controversy over whether Grier should be allowed to play due to his race, and whether Georgia Tech should even play at all due to Georgia's Governor Marvin Griffin's opposition to racial integration.^[48][49][50] After Griffin publicly sent a telegram to the state's Board of Regents requesting Georgia Tech not to engage in racially integrated events, Georgia Tech's president Blake R. Van Leer rejected the request and threatened to resign. The game went on as planned.^[51]

In the 1960s, Atlanta became a major organizing center of the civil rights movement, with Martin Luther King Jr., Ralph Abernathy, and students from Atlanta's historically Black colleges and universities playing major roles in the movement's leadership. While Atlanta in the postwar years had relatively minimal racial strife compared to other cities, Blacks were limited by discrimination, segregation, and continued disenfranchisement of most voters.^[52] In 1961, the city attempted to thwart blockbusting by realtors by erecting road barriers in Cascade Heights, countering the efforts of civic and business leaders to foster Atlanta as the "city too busy to hate."^[52][53]

Desegregation of the public sphere came in stages, with public transportation desegregated by 1959,^[54] the restaurant at Rich's department store by 1961,^[55] movie theaters by 1963,^[56] and public schools by 1973 (nearly 20 years after the US Supreme Court ruled that segregated public schools were unconstitutional).^[57]

In 1960, Whites comprised 61.7% of the city's population.^[58] During the 1950s–70s, suburbanization and White flight from urban areas led to a significant demographic shift.^[52] By 1970, African Americans were the majority of the city's population and exercised their recently enforced voting rights and political influence by electing Atlanta's first Black mayor, Maynard Jackson, in 1973. Under Mayor Jackson's tenure, Atlanta's airport was modernized, strengthening the city's role as a transportation center. The opening of the Georgia World Congress Center in 1976 further confirmed Atlanta's rise as a convention city.^[59] Construction of the city's subway system began in 1975, with rail service commencing in 1979.^[60] Despite these improvements, Atlanta lost more than 100,000 residents between 1970 and 1990, over 20% of its population.^[61] At the same time, it developed new office space after attracting numerous corporations, with an increasing portion of workers from northern areas.^[62]

1996 Summer Olympic games

Atlanta was selected as the site for the 1996 Summer Olympic Games. Following the announcement, the city government undertook several major construction projects to improve Atlanta's parks, sporting venues, and transportation infrastructure; however, for the first time, none of the $1.7 billion cost of the games was governmentally funded. While the games experienced transportation and accommodation problems and, despite extra security precautions, there was the Centennial Olympic Park bombing,^[63] the spectacle was a watershed event in Atlanta's history. For the first time in Olympic history, every one of the record 197 national Olympic committees invited to compete sent athletes, sending more than 10,000 contestants participating in a record 271 events. The related projects such as Atlanta's Olympic Legacy Program and civic effort initiated a fundamental transformation of the city in the following decade.^[61]

21st century

During the 2000s, the city of Atlanta underwent a profound physical, cultural, and demographic change. As some of the African American middle and upper classes also began to move to the suburbs, a booming economy drew numerous new migrants from other cities in the United States, who contributed to changes in the city's demographics. African Americans made up a decreasing portion of the population, from a high of 67% in 1990 to 54% in 2010.^[64] From 2000 to 2010, Atlanta gained 22,763 white residents, 5,142 Asian residents, and 3,095 Hispanic residents, while the city's Black population decreased by 31,678.^[65][66] Much of the city's demographic change during the decade was driven by young, college-educated professionals: from 2000 to 2009, the three-mile radius surrounding Downtown Atlanta gained 9,722 residents aged 25 to 34 and holding at least a four-year degree, an increase of 61%.^[67] This was similar to the tendency in other cities for young, college educated, single or married couples to live in downtown areas.^[68]

Between the mid-1990s and 2010, stimulated by funding from the HOPE VI program and under leadership of CEO Renee Lewis Glover (1994–2013),^[69] the Atlanta Housing Authority demolished nearly all of its public housing, a total of 17,000 units and about 10% of all housing units in the city.^[70][71][72] After reserving 2,000 units mostly for elderly, the AHA allowed redevelopment of the sites for mixed-use and mixed-income, higher density developments, with 40% of the units to be reserved for affordable housing. Two-fifths of previous public housing residents attained new housing in such units; the remainder received vouchers to be used at other units, including in suburbs. At the same time, in an effort to change the culture of those receiving subsidized housing, the AHA imposed a requirement for such residents to work (or be enrolled in a genuine, limited-time training program). It is virtually the only housing authority to have created this requirement. To prevent problems, the AHA also gave authority to management of the mixed-income or voucher units to evict tenants who did not comply with the work requirement or who caused behavior problems.^[73]

In 2005, the city approved the $2.8 billion BeltLine project. It was intended to convert a disused 22-mile freight railroad loop that surrounds the central city into an art-filled multi-use trail and light rail transit line, which would increase the city's park space by 40%.^[74] The project stimulated retail and residential development along the loop, but has been criticized for its adverse effects on some Black communities.^[75] In 2013, the project received a federal grant of $18 million to develop the southwest corridor. In September 2019 the James M. Cox Foundation gave $6 Million to the PATH Foundation which will connect the Silver Comet Trail to The Atlanta BeltLine which is expected to be completed by 2022. Upon completion, the total combined interconnected trail distance around Atlanta for The Atlanta BeltLine and Silver Comet Trail will be the longest paved trail surface in the U.S. totaling about 300 miles (480 km).^[74]

Atlanta's cultural offerings expanded during the 2000s: the High Museum of Art doubled in size; the Alliance Theatre won a Tony Award; and art galleries were established on the once-industrial Westside.^[76] The College Football Hall of Fame relocated to Atlanta and the National Center for Civil and Human Rights museum was constructed. The city of Atlanta was the subject of a massive cyberattack which began in March 2018.^[77] In December 2019, Atlanta hosted the Miss Universe 2019 pageant competition.^[78][79][80] On June 16, 2022, Atlanta was selected as a host city for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.^[81]

Geography

Atlanta encompasses 134.0 square miles (347.1 km²), of which 133.2 square miles (344.9 km²) is land and 0.85 square miles (2.2 km²) is water.^[82] The city is situated in the Deep South of the southeastern United States among the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. At 1,050 feet (320 m) above mean sea level, Atlanta has the highest elevation among major cities east of the Mississippi River.^[83] Atlanta straddles the Eastern Continental Divide. Rainwater that falls on the south and east side of the divide flows into the Atlantic Ocean, while rainwater on the north and west side of the divide flows into the Gulf of Mexico.^[84] Atlanta developed on a ridge south of the Chattahoochee River, which is part of the ACF River Basin. The river borders the far northwestern edge of the city, and much of its natural habitat has been preserved, in part by the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area.^[85]

Atlanta is 21 miles (33 km) southeast of Marietta,^[86] 27 miles (43 km) southwest of Alpharetta, 146 miles (234 km) southwest of Greenville, South Carolina,^[87] 147 miles (236 km) east of Birmingham, Alabama,^[88] and 245 miles (394 km) southwest of Charlotte, North Carolina.^[89]

Despite having lost significant tree canopy coverage between 1973 and 1999, Atlanta now has the densest urban tree coverage of any major city in the United States and is often called "City of Trees" or "The City in a Forest".^{[16][90][91][92]}

Cityscape

The Downtown skyline at sunset

Midtown Atlanta as seen along the Downtown Connector

Partial view of North Buckhead skyline looking southwest

Most of Atlanta was burned during the American Civil War, depleting the city of a large stock of its historic architecture. Yet architecturally, the city had never been traditionally "southern" because Atlanta originated as a railroad town, rather than a southern seaport dominated by the planter class, such as Savannah or Charleston. Because of its later development, many of the city's landmarks share architectural characteristics with buildings in the Northeast or Midwest, as they were designed at a time of shared national architectural styles.^[93]

During the late 20th century, Atlanta embraced the global trend of modern architecture, especially for commercial and institutional structures. Examples include the State of Georgia Building built in 1966, and the Georgia-Pacific Tower in 1982. Many of the most notable examples from this period were designed by world renowned Atlanta architect John Portman. Most of the buildings that define the downtown skyline were designed by Portman during this period, including the Westin Peachtree Plaza and the Atlanta Marriott Marquis. In the latter half of the 1980s, Atlanta became one of the early homes of postmodern buildings that reintroduced classical elements to their designs. Many of Atlanta's tallest skyscrapers were built in this period and style, displaying tapering spires or otherwise ornamented crowns, such as One Atlantic Center (1987), 191 Peachtree Tower (1991), and the Four Seasons Hotel Atlanta (1992). Also completed during the era is the Portman-designed Bank of America Plaza built in 1992. At 1,023 feet (312 m), it is the tallest building in the city and the 14th-tallest in the United States.^[94]

The city's embrace of modern architecture has often translated into an ambivalent approach toward historic preservation, leading to the destruction of many notable architectural landmarks. These include the Equitable Building (1892–1971), Terminal Station (1905–1972), and the Carnegie Library (1902–1977).^[95] In the mid-1970s, the Fox Theatre, now a cultural icon of the city, would have met the same fate if not for a grassroots effort to save it.^[93] More recently, preservationists may have made some inroads. For example, in 2016 activists convinced the Atlanta City Council not to demolish the Atlanta-Fulton Central Library, the last building designed by noted architect Marcel Breuer.^[96]

Atlanta is divided into 242 officially defined neighborhoods.^[97] The city contains three major high-rise districts, which form a north–south axis along Peachtree: Downtown, Midtown, and Buckhead.^[98] Surrounding these high-density districts are leafy, low-density neighborhoods, most of which are dominated by single-family homes.^[99]

Downtown Atlanta contains the most office space in the metro area, much of it occupied by government entities. Downtown is home to the city's sporting venues and many of its tourist attractions.^[100] Midtown Atlanta is the city's second-largest business district, containing the offices of many of the region's law firms. Midtown is known for its art institutions, cultural attractions, institutions of higher education, and dense form.^{[101][102][103][104][105]} Buckhead, the city's uptown district, is eight miles (13 km) north of Downtown and the city's third-largest business district. The district is marked by an urbanized core along Peachtree Road, surrounded by suburban single-family neighborhoods situated among woods and rolling hills.^{[106][107][108][109]}

Surrounding Atlanta's three high-rise districts are the city's low- and medium-density neighborhoods,^[106] where the craftsman bungalow single-family home is dominant.^[110] The eastside is marked by historic streetcar suburbs, built from the 1890s–1930s as havens for the upper middle class. These neighborhoods, many of which contain their own villages encircled by shaded, architecturally distinct residential streets, include the Victorian Inman Park, Bohemian East Atlanta, and eclectic Old Fourth Ward.^[93][111] On the westside and along the BeltLine on the eastside, former warehouses and factories have been converted into housing, retail space, and art galleries, transforming the once-industrial areas such as West Midtown into model neighborhoods for smart growth, historic rehabilitation, and infill construction.^[112]

In southwest Atlanta, neighborhoods closer to downtown originated as streetcar suburbs, including the historic West End, while those farther from downtown retain a postwar suburban layout. These include Collier Heights and Cascade Heights, home to much of the city's affluent African-American population.^{[113][114][115]} Northwest Atlanta contains the areas of the city to west of Marietta Boulevard and to the north of Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, including those neighborhoods remote to downtown, such as Riverside, Bolton and Whittier Mill. The latter is one of Atlanta's designated Landmark Historical Neighborhoods. Vine City, though technically Northwest, adjoins the city's Downtown area and has recently been the target of community outreach programs and economic development initiatives.^[116]

Gentrification of the city's neighborhoods is one of the more controversial and transformative forces shaping contemporary Atlanta. The gentrification of Atlanta has its origins in the 1970s, after many of Atlanta's neighborhoods had declined and suffered the urban decay that affected other major American cities in the mid-20th century. When neighborhood opposition successfully prevented two freeways from being built through the city's east side in 1975, the area became the starting point for Atlanta's gentrification. After Atlanta was awarded the Olympic games in 1990, gentrification expanded into other parts of the city, stimulated by infrastructure improvements undertaken in preparation for the games. New development post-2000 has been aided by the Atlanta Housing Authority's eradication of the city's public housing. As noted above, it allowed development of these sites for mixed-income housing, requiring developers to reserve a considerable portion for affordable housing units. It has also provided for other former residents to be given vouchers to gain housing in other areas.^[73] Construction of the Beltline has stimulated new and related development along its path.^[117]

Climate

Under the Köppen classification, Atlanta has a humid subtropical climate (Cfa)^[118] with generous precipitation year-round, typical for the Upland South; the city is situated in USDA Plant Hardiness Zone 8a, with the northern and western suburbs, as well as part of Midtown transitioning to 7b.^[119] Summers are hot and humid, with temperatures somewhat moderated by the city's elevation. Winters are overall mild but variable, occasionally susceptible to snowstorms even if in small quantities on several occasions, unlike the central and southern portions of the state.^[120][121] Warm air from the Gulf of Mexico can bring spring-like highs while strong Arctic air masses can push lows into the teens °F (−7 to −12 °C).

July averages 80.9 °F (27.2 °C), with high temperatures reaching 90 °F (32 °C) on an average of 47 days per year, though 100 °F (38 °C) readings are not seen most years.^[122] January averages 44.8 °F (7.1 °C), with temperatures in the suburbs slightly cooler due largely to the urban heat island effect. Lows at or below freezing can be expected 36 nights annually,^[123] but the last occurrences of temperatures below 10 °F (−12 °C) were December 24, 2022,^[123] and January 2014, eight years apart. Extremes range from −9 °F (−23 °C) on February 13, 1899 to 106 °F (41 °C) on June 30, 2012.^[123] Average dewpoints in the summer range from 63.7 °F (17.6 °C) in June to 67.8 °F (19.9 °C) in July.^[124]

Typical of the southeastern U.S., Atlanta receives abundant rainfall that is evenly distributed throughout the year, though late spring and early fall are somewhat drier. The average annual precipitation is 50.43 in (1,281 mm), while snowfall is typically light and rare with a normal of 2.2 inches (5.6 cm) per winter.^[123] The heaviest single snowfall occurred on January 23, 1940, with around 10 inches (25 cm) of snow.^[125] However, ice storms usually cause more problems than snowfall does, the most severe occurring on January 7, 1973.^[126] Tornadoes are rare in the city itself, but the March 14, 2008 EF2 tornado damaged prominent structures in downtown Atlanta.^[127]