Actual Factual Georgia
If you’re new in town or have questions about this special place we call home, ask us! E-mail Andy Johnston at q&a@ajc.com or call 404-222-2002.
Q: What year did Atlanta’s Boys High and Tech High combine to become Grady High School?
—George Getz, Decatur
Q: This is a popular question from our readers, so even though I answered a similar one a couple of years ago, here's a short refresher on one of Atlanta's most intense all-time high school rivalries. Students at Boys and Tech High tried to best one another in all aspects of life until the schools merged to form Henry W. Grady High School in 1947. They had different campuses until 1924, when Boys High burned. When it reopened, it was next to Tech High, basically where Grady High is now, just south of Piedmont Park on Charles Allen Drive. Football games between the rival teams often were played either in the park or at Georgia Tech's Grant Field to accommodate the huge crowds. The winning team often would try to walk to The Varsity, but "After the game against Tech High, you would go down (to) the streets with your fists clenched and ready to fight and die," according to "Living Atlanta: An Oral History of the City, 1914-1948."
Q: My wife and I returned to the area from living in Shreveport, La., and noticed there were three towns named Atlanta in that area. How many Atlantas are there in the U.S.?
—Bob Smith, Marietta
A: You didn't think this was the only Atlanta, did you? There are others, including one in Louisiana – population of 163, according to the 2010 U.S. Census – which is presumed to be named for our Atlanta, since the founding settlers came from here. The U.S. Census Bureau has classified seven others as a city, town or village in Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Nebraska and Texas, but I found other places – some no more than crossroads — named Atlanta in Arkansas, California, Delaware, Idaho, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio and Wisconsin, bringing the total to 17. If you've heard of others, let me know.
