Photos of Atlanta and Georgia in 1979

Things to Do

Flashback Photos: 1979, 40 years ago in Georgia (Part One)

A young football player named Herschel Walker from Johnson County High School was getting a lot of attention. Hurricane David blew through the Georgia coast. And folks took their first rides on MARTA’s system, which opened in June. Let’s take a trip back to 1979.

Peachtree Street at Peachtree Place in Midtown on August 2, 1979.

The Plaza Theatre on Ponce de Leon Avenue and Highland on January 9, 1979.

Gregg Allman performs with the Allman Brothers Band in September 1979.

Allman Brothers Band performing during a concert, September 3, 1979, probably in Atlanta. An online search didn't turn up any scheduled shows that day, but they were in Philadelphia on Aug. 29 and in Memphis on Sept. 4.

Concertgoers watch the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra perform in Piedmont Park, July 1979

View of Cabbagetown as seen from Oakland Cemetery in August 1979.

City Hall in downtown Decatur, August 1979

MARTA's Five Points Station being constructed at Broad and Alabama in March 1979.

Johnson County High School football star Herschel Walker during practice, December 1979

Herschel Walker as a Johnson County High School football star in Wrightsville, Ga., answering interview questions, November 1979.

Tybee Island residents evacuating in preparation for Hurricane David, September 1979

Isaac Hayes in concert at Stone Mountain in October 1979, with Atlanta Pops Orchestra conductor Albert Coleman in the background.

Construction of the new Atlanta Central Library near completion, June 1979

Macon City Auditorium in 1979.

New building, Central State Hospital, Milledgeville, Georgia, October 24, 1979.

Rosalynn Carter speaks with students at the 1979 commencement ceremony for Bessie Tift College in Forsyth, where she delivered a speech on June 3, 1979.

From the original caption: "Atlantic Steel, located at the I-75-85 interchange and 14th Street occupies the only 200-acre site in the country that is so close to an urban area, the company's president says."

Georgian Terrace's ornate stairwell in October 1979

The original caption from October 1979: "Underworld Tour - Two Atlanta legislators and MARTA officials stroll deep under Peachtree Street Monday. The group, which included Reps. Mildred Glover, and Killiaen Townsend, toured the cavernous tunnel that will house MARTA's north line when it goes into service September 1981. The legislators, members of the MARTA Overview Committee, inspected the tunnel and the beginnings of the Peachtree Center Station."

Shop owners renovate the exterior of their store in the Virginia-Highland area, August 1979.

Mayor Andrew Young meeting with President Jimmy Carter and Dr. Benjamin Mays during a ceremony, January 1979

Title Fallen traffic lights and trees block roads in Savannah after Hurricane David passes through, 1979.

Workers clear the roads of debris after Hurricane David hits the coastline, 1979.

Aerial view of Henry County Hospital under construction off Hudson Bridge Road (forground). I-75 running north (right) south (left) in center of photo. (Steve Deal/AJC staff) undated photo but hospital opened in July, 1979. (File)

Coach Jerry Glanville during a Falcons practice with his defensive backs, August 1979. Calvin Cruce/AJC file

Larry and Betty Furlong sell pumpkins at Candler Park's Great Pumpkin Fest, October 28, 1979. AJC file

Hustler magazine publisher Larry Flynt is surrounded by heavy security as he arrives March 19, 1979, at the Fulton County Courthouse for the start of his trial on obscenity charges. In June 1984, Joseph Paul Franklin, a self-avowed white supremacist, was indicted by a Gwinnett County grand jury and charged with aggravated assault in the 1978 shootings of Larry Flynt (above) and Gene Reeves (not pictured). Flynt was left paralyzed from the waist down by the attack; Reeves recovered and went on to become a judge in Gwinnett County. Franklin, a serial killer who may have killed up to 22 people, was executed by lethal injection in Missouri in November 2013. Reeves died in July 2015 at age 85.

In 1979, it was announced that the sign would be dismantled in order to make way for the new Georgia-Pacific headquarters, which would swallow up the trianglar traffic island as part of the building's plaza. According to a 2002 AJC column by Maria Saporta, Robert W. Woodruff himself ordered the sign removed in order to help negotiations with G-P's move. Saving the sign became a flashpoint for preservationists who had recently watched the Fox Theatre escape demolition. (Bill Mahan / AJC file)

1979: Start of the Peachtree Road Race in Atlanta, July 4, 1979. Atlanta Journal-Constitution Photographic Archives. Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library.

1979 -- Although patrons still visited Underground Atlanta by the end of the '70s, the shine had worn off the downtown attraction as crime raged and the area was considered dangerous. After being closed in 1980, Underground Atlanta was abandoned in 1982.

Seed & Feed Marching Abominable street band performs in Piedmont Park, Atlanta, Georgia, May 1979.

Original caption: "June 30, 1979 -- The East Line MARTA rail station dedication ceremony and inaugural first run of MARTA trains: U.S. Secretary of Transportation Brock Adams and other dignitaries applaud as the inaugural train moves from East Lake to downtown after a breakdown in service."

June 19, 1979 - Joyce Brookshire walks down Carroll St. in Cabbagetown.

Original caption: "June 30, 1979 - The first passengers come through, or like the girl on right, climb over, the fare gates. Some of the turnstiles stuck and people had to step over them to get in while they were trying to be repaired."

April 19, 1979 -- Neighbors along Penn Street in Midtown Atlanta join to fight crime by forming a Neighborhood Watch program.

May, 1979 - Cabbagetown residents pose for a group picture. From left to right: Dan and Faye Hardy, Warren Presley (boy with tire) and James Perkins (by telephone pole).

1979: An estimated 3,000 Georgia teachers march for higher wages in Atlanta despite rain. Some of the legible signs held by protesters read "Butts County says we'll teach your children if you will feed ours, " Dedication does not pay bills, " "5% won't pay my rent" and "GAE speaks for me."

June 17, 1979: Good Buddy's Fast Food restaurant at 830 McDonough Blvd. S.E.

June 17, 1979: Good Buddy's Fast Food restaurant at 830 McDonough Blvd. S.E.

This Home Depot on Memorial Drive opened June 22, 1979. It was one of the first two stores opened in Atlanta by Bernie Marcus and Arthur Blank.

The Elisha Winn House, built in 1811, is probably the oldest structure in the Metro Atlanta region. This is how it appeared before a restoration effort began in 1979. (Bill Mahan / AJCP582-017i AJC Archive at the GSU Library Archives)

Former Braves third baseman Bob Horner in 1979. AJC file photo

July 1979 -- Rush hour traffic jams busy Ashford-Dunwoody Road near its intersection with Mount Vernon Road.

In this 1979 photo, Dunwoody residents protest the planned widening of Ashford-Dunwoody Road.

Oct. 1979 -- Area residents Dick Bennett and John Pruitt express their opinions at the bike rally at Dunwoody Village.

On New Years Eve, 1979, an impromptu crowd took over Margaret Mitchell Square to usher in 1980 and to say goodbye to the Neon Spectacular. The sign would stick around for one more year, then disappear from Atlanta's downtown scene for another 22 years. (Charles Pugh / AJC file)

Newspaper caption: Although Sears, Roebuck and Co. says it will close its Atlanta distribution center, state and city leaders keep trying to lure the retailer's 8,000-employees merchandise group to the city. January 24, 1979." Photo: Ray West/AJC

August 1979 -- A row of houses along Myrtle Street in Midtown.

1 / 48

Peachtree Street at Peachtree Place in Midtown on August 2, 1979.

Today's Gallery Headlines

PHOTOS: Lizzo reads to College Park Elementary School students

PHOTOS: Atlanta Dream lead WNBA finals

PHOTOS: Journey brings farewell tour to Atlanta

PHOTOS: UGA photojournalism students focus on the Georgia National Fair

More Galleries

PHOTOS: A look at Dragon Con over the years

PHOTOS: Lionel Richie and Earth, Wind & Fire perform in Atlanta

PHOTOS: 2026 Juneteenth Festival held in Piedmont Park

PHOTOS: "Weird Al" Yankovic