Flashback photos: 1979, 40 years ago in Atlanta (Part Two)

Metro Atlanta

Flashback photos: 1979, 40 years ago in Atlanta (Part Two)

Ronald Reagan visited Atlanta just days after officially announcing his intention to run for president. Other famous names such as Harry Crews, Leontyne Price and Frank Capra were in town, too. The Falcons had Steve Bartkowski and the Braves' roster included Bob Horner and Phil Niekro. Take a journey back 40 years to Georgia and Atlanta in 1979.

A January, 1979 photo of the Briarcliff Plaza containing the Plaza Theatre. Briarcliff Plaza is located on Ponce de Leon Avenue at Highland Avenue in the Poncey-Highland neighborhood of Atlanta. (DWIGHT ROSS JR./AJC staff)

Shops and restaurants at the corner of Virginia and Highland avenues in November 1979.

Workers unfurl an Academy Theatre banner on the marquee of the former Erlanger Theatre (later called the Columbia Theatre and the Atlanta Theatre) in 1979 when the theatrical group signed a lease to use the building for its 1980 season. The building, located at 583 Peachtree Street, was later demolished and the spot is now a parking lot.

An exterior view of the Atlantan Hotel on Cone Street in April 1979. It's now the Holiday In Express & Suites.

Hot steel is poured into ingot mould at Atlantic Steel Co. on December 5, 1979. The steel company was located where Atlantic Station now stands.

Atlanta Falcons quarterback Steve Bartkowski in 1979

Falcons wide receiver Billy Ryckman studies Steve Bartkowski's passing in 1979.

Freedom Fund dinner chairwoman Billye Aaron shows a check for the NAACP fund-raiser to husband Hank on Sept. 20, 1979.

Tyrone Brooks speaking at a rally for Hosea Williams at Martin Luther King's grave on April 1, 1979.

Cabbagetown as seen from Oakland Cemetery on Sept. 3, 1979.

May 21, 1979 - Kids hang out in Cabbagetown. Left to right: Rooster Long, Mike Harper, Gary Harper and Wayne Bayles (kid).

The landmark 17-story Candler building was built in 1906 by Asa Candler. This show of the building was taken in 1979.

The ornate entrance to the Candler Building on Margaret Mitchell Plaza as seen in 1979.

Director Frank Capra visiting Clayton Junior College for a lecture in February 1979

Cobb Electric Membership Corp power control technician Tom Hutto watches the dials closely during peak months in 1979.

Writers Harry Crews and Paul Hemphill at Manuel's Tavern on April 16, 1979.

Ronald Reagan entering the Georgia World Congress Center on Nov. 16, 1979 to announce his intention to run for president.

Storefronts and shop signs in downtown Decatur in September 1979.

Chinese Vice Premier Deng Xiaoping touring the Ford Motor Company Assembly Plant, Hapeville, Georgia, February 1, 1979.

Protesters picketing against Chinese Vice Premier Deng Xiaoping's visit to Atlanta on February 2, 1979.

Front of building that burned across from Emory University in Jan 1979. This was the Emory Village area.

Construction workers building the MARTA Five Points Station, December 1979

In October 1979, the end of the line for Ga. 400 was at Johnson Ferry Road.

June 19, 1979 - Atlanta, Ga.: William 'Mac' McCullum (right) and Raymond Henderson (left) wait on a customer at his small grocery store in Cabbagetown.

Cabbagetown residents stand in front of a run down apartment building on May 21, 1979.

Bob Horner takes a full cut at the pitch but only comes up with a single. Photo taken August 14, 1979 (Louie Favorite/AJC staff)

The Braves' Bob Horner in 1979.

March, 1979: The Inman Park School, 729 Edgewood Ave. Atlanta, Ga. Nearly 100 years old and Atlanta's oldest school building, Inman Park School is in the National Register of Historic Places. This eight-classroom, three story 1892 brick schoolhouse served Atlanta's first suburb for decades and has been converted into 10 apartments. The building is credited to Swedish architect Gootfried Norrman.

Gate 1 at Lakewood Fairgrounds, which stood abandoned at the time this photo was taken on June 29, 1979

Opera star Leontyne Price in Atlanta in 1979.

Luckie St. looking west toward Cone Street and Techwood Drive on July 5, 1979.

The old Stonehenge Mansion built by Samuel Hoyt Venable in 1914 is now St. John's Lutheran Church, which bought it in 1959 and later added a sanctuary. It's at the corner of Ponce de Leon Ave. and Oakdale Road. This photo was taken in 1979.

This is the non-smoking section of Mary Mac's, back in 1979 when people smoked inside restaurants, with a mural of the Atlanta skyline on the wall.

Fuzzy Zoeller smiles as he puts on the green jacket as winner of the Masters on Sunday. April 15, 1979.

Arnold Palmer signs autographs at the Augusta National Golf Course on Tuesday. April 10, 1979.

Exterior of Melvin's restaurant on Northside Drive on June 17, 1979.

Myrtle Street at 6th Street looking south in Midtown Atlanta. Photo taken August 17, 1979.

Retired Falcons Tommy Nobis modeling clothes in a department store, January 1979.

The last of the runners leave the start of the 1979 Peachtree Road Race.

Cotton House Village Square, Milton Avenue in Alpharetta in 1979

Phil Niekro scores as on deck batter Bob Horner steps up to the plate in 1979. Houston Astros catcher Alan Ashby is in the background.

It was obviously a very warm autumn day as Jan Nichols took a break from roller skating to sunbath on a stone wall in Piedmont Park on October 21, 1979.

The Pink Pig's monorail cars Priscilla and Percival on the roof of Rich's department store, December 1979

19790617 - ATLANTA, GA -- Exterior of Atlanta landmark Mary Mac's Tea Room on Ponce de Leon Avenue. (DWIGHT ROSS Jr/AJC staff) 1979

A man with an umbrella walks toward a gay pride event on a rainy day in Piedmont Park on June 25, 1979.

In this 1979 shot, construction workers work on the 32nd floor of Southern Bell's new corporate headquarters in Midtown Atlanta. The $90 million structure, which sits on a commanding site at Ponce de Leon Avenue and West Peachtree Street, will rise 47 floors. It was completed in 1982 and was known as the Southern Bell Center, then BellSouth Center and, as it is today, AT&T Midtown Center I.

Atlanta Braves owner Ted Turner looking for a winning streak at the Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium in 1979 (BILLY DOWNS/AJC staff)

The Tropical Grove Fruit Stand at 421 Ponce de Leon Avenue.

Atlanta Falcons' Jeff Van Note during a game, December 1979

Central City Park (now Woodruff Park). Photo taken March 2, 1979. (Bill Mahan/AJC staff)

Pigeons fly up from Central City Park (now known as Woodruff Park) in front of the Trust Company Bank building in 1979.

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A January, 1979 photo of the Briarcliff Plaza containing the Plaza Theatre. Briarcliff Plaza is located on Ponce de Leon Avenue at Highland Avenue in the Poncey-Highland neighborhood of Atlanta. (DWIGHT ROSS JR./AJC staff)

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