History

Prior to the late nineteenth century the land within and surrounding Ashview Heights was home to Native Americans named by English settlers as "the Creek Indians." With the violent and forced removal of native residents the land was transformed into the mixed residential and industrial corridor that is recognized today. Whitehall Street, in the present-day West End community, is one of the most remembered landmarks of this history. The street’s namesake comes from the tavern, which was established in the 1830’s by one of the areas new settlers, Charner Humphries. The tavern was called the White Hall because of its resemblance to the White House. With the incorporation of the City of Atlanta and reputation as the Terminus of the South, late nineteenth century Ashview Heights was one of the first streetcar neighborhoods.

Although, the present community members battle common urban issues of blight and delinquency Ashview Heights has always maintained the spirit of that history as shown by the 1979 opening of an underground MARTA Rapid Rail station on historic Ashby Street, present day Joseph E. Lowery, near the northern border of Ashview Heights. Even the essence of the original native settlers appears to be engrained in the culture of the community as the area is historically home to Faculty of the neighborhood’s schools, the first black doctor lived off of Lowery, the first black model that was allowed to wear Tiffany Jewelry for Sacks Fifth Avenue lived off of Palmetto, Spike Lee grew up in neighborhood and his grandmother lived off of Palmetto and he could frequently be seen casually walking down the ‎street. We have first black major developers that originated in the neighborhood.