Masonry Magazine June 1972 Page. 15
ATLANTA: Queen City of the South
Site of the '73 MCAA Annual Convention, Marriott Hotel, February 22-28
Under one big roof on Peachtree Street you can paint a picture, or buy one; act in a play, or see one; sing in an opera, play in a concert, or hear one; dance in a ballet, or watch one; see a movie, a mobile, or a piece of sculpture.
The roof is that of the Memorial Arts Center in Atlanta, a $13 million complex built by the arts, devoted to the arts, and consisting entirely of the arts. The Center, quite literally, rose from the ashes of the Orly plane crash of 1962 which took the lives of 122 Atlanta Art Association members who were touring art centers of Europe. The crash caused predictions that the city's cultural growth would be stunted for a hundred years.
Six years after the tragedy, the Center, a memorial to those who died, opened with an array of cultural achievements which is unparalleled in the South.
Such is the spirit of Atlanta, Queen City of the South, which arose from the devastation and rubble following the Civil War to emerge as one of America's most beautiful and bustling metropolises.
Atlanta is a city for everyone a joy to live in, a delight to visit. One probably hears more about the French Quarter of New Orleans or St. Louis's Gaslight Square, but Atlanta ranks among them for uniqueness with an enchanting attraction of its own The Underground. "A step into the past for pleasure in the present" is the way some people describe it.
Underground Atlanta is a dozen surprises a city that became a secret when it was hidden by a vast viaduct system nearly half a century ago and today encompasses most of the physical remains of Atlanta's history. Here, Zero Milepost marks the spot of Atlanta's 1887 birth as the southeastern terminus of the Western and Atlantic railroad.
During the Civil War this was the main marshalling area of the wounded of both armies. The C.S.A. Hospital and Supply Headquarters were here, with Sherman's occupation headquarters nearby. Here, the old Atlanta was destroyed in 1864. You can still see the original fireline.