Much like the city itself, Atlanta’s Hotel Clermont rose from the ashes last year.
The 1924 buiding underwent a major renovation after falling into disrepair, adding restaurants and a rooftop entertainment space.
When chef Anthony Bourdain visited the Clermont Lounge — in the basement of the building but not owned by the same group as the hotel — he said the lounge should be a national landmark.
That hasn’t happened, but the state Historic PreservatIon Division recently added the hotel to the Georgia register of historic places. The eight-story Georgian Revival-style building was constructed in 1924 on Ponce de Leon Avenue as apartments. It was converted into a hotel in 1939.
» Here's everything to know about the renovated Hotel Clermont
The Clermont is one of 11 Georgia sites recently added to the list, seven of which are in Atlanta. Here are the other sites:
Briarcliff Plaza
The plaza, at the corner of Ponce and North Highland, is perhaps best known for its neon signage. Constructed in 1940, the architecture is a "rare example of the Streamline Moderne style," the preservation division states. Accordng to the GHPD announcement, the shopping center was "the first automobile-oriented shopping center in Atlanta and Georgia that included dedicated off-street parking for its customers."
Collier-Perry-Bentley House
This north Atlanta house, built around 1823, is a “rare, extant example of early development in what would become the city of Atlanta, and is one of the oldest documented houses within the current city limits,” according to a post about the home on the preservation site. The house is the work of Atlanta architect R. Kennon Perry, and its end chimneys were built by Meredith Collier.
F.H. Ross & Co. Laundry Warehouse
Like Briarcliff Plaza, the warehouse is an example of Streamline Moderne architecture. The 1949 building has a flat roof, rounded corners, planar facades and a smooth cast stone door.
First Presbyterian Church of Atlanta
First Presbyterian was founded in 1848, only three years after Marthasville took the name "Atlanta." The church moved to its current Midtown address in 1915. The large stained glass windows were installed in 1919. Its 20 windows "were created by the top studios of the day — Tiffany, D'Ascenzo and Willet," according to an article by The AJC's Pete Corson.
» The stained glass windows of First Presbyterian Church
Westview Cemetery
Areas of the nearly 600 acres feature monuments marking the graves of many prominent names from the past, including Asa Candler, William Hartsfield, Joel Chandler Harris, Henry Grady, Robert Shaw, Robert Woodruff and L.P. Grant, who donated the land for Grant Park, according to The AJC's Actual Factual Georgia column. The cemetery, just off MLK Jr. Drive and Interstate 20, buries about 200 bodies a year.
Whitehall Street Retail Historic District
This multiblock area on Peachtree Street and MLK Jr. Drive in downtown Atlanta quickly developed into a commercial shopping corridor for the city. The district contains good examples of late 19th and early 20th century commercial building types and architectural styles.
Also receiving historic designation is the Cherry Grove Baptist Church Schoolhouse in Wilkes County; the Napier Heights Historic District in Macon; and two buildings on the campus of the Charlie Norwood VA Medical Center in Augusta.
These sites will be submitted to the National Park Service to be listed in the national register of historic places.
To be eligible for listing in the national register, a property or majority of properties in a district must be 50 years old or older, keep its historic integrity in location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling and association and meet at least one of the National Register Criteria for Evaluation, according to the register's website. Georgia's register uses the same criteria and documentation procedures as the national register.
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