On Saturday I was honored to attend a street naming ceremony in Queens, New York. The intersection of 192nd Street at LindenBoulevard was named Phife Dawg Way paying homage to the legendary member of the hip hop group A Tribe Called Quest. Pfife Dawg, who’s real name was Malik Taylor passed away earlier this year due to complications with diabetes.
I’ve lost two amazing co-workers at WSB and seen them honored with streets renamed after them. The late great Royal Marshall had an intersection named after him in downtown Atlanta, and my good friend, the iconic Captain Herb Emory had the Lee Road Bridge at Interstate 20 named after him and the Interstate 85/GA 400 flyover ramps now take his name.
I realized this weekend, that there are a lot of roads in metro Atlanta named after people, and maybe we really don’t know who these people are. Some streets are named for people that everyone knows, like Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, Hank Aaron Drive and Jimmy Carter Boulevard, but others are less familiar. In case you ever wondered while driving around town, here are some of the folks that you might recognize from your commutes.
Steve Reynolds Boulevard: named after a former state senator and a member of the Transportation Board.
John Wesley Dobbs: the unofficial mayor of Auburn Ave., Dobbs was an African-American civic and political leader. He died in 1961.
Chastain Road: Named after Emory Winn Chastain who owned a large amount of land in Cobb County, including the land where Chastain Road now sits.
Tom Moreland Interchange: Thomas Moreland spent over 30 years working for the Georgia Department of Transportation serving as both commissioner and chief engineer.
Hugh Howell Road: He was an Atlanta area attorney and developer. He was chairman of the state Democratic Party in the 1930s.
Button Gwinnett Road: He was a British-born American founding father who, as a representative of Georgia to the Continental Congress. He was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence.
Barrett Parkway: Ernest Barrett was the chairman of the county commission in Cobb County from 1965 to 1984. He was also a former trustee of Kennesaw State University.
Ralph David Abernathy Boulevard: He was a leader of the Civil Rights Movement, a minister, and th Rv. Martin Luther King Jr.’s closest friend.
Joseph E. Boone Boulevard: He was a civil rights activist and organizer who marched with King.
Hamilton E. Holmes Drive: He was an orthopedic physician and one of the first African-American students admitted to the University of Georgia. He was also the first African-American student at the Emory University School of Medicine.
Hollowell Parkway: Donald L. Hollowell was a civil rights attorney in the state of Georgia. He is best remembered for his instrumental role in winning the desegregation of the University of Georgia in 1961.
Arum Drive: There is actually an Arum Drive in Mableton! I am pretty sure that it was nothing to do with me though.
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