Some of the Atlanta area’s hallowed historic haunts take the “haunting” part quite seriously. Horton’s Books & Gifts and the Strand Theatre, for instance, proudly claim resident ghosts.
In our occasional series called Throwback Atlanta, we are highlighting places that have evaded the bulldozer and retained a good deal of their original character. And there’s nothing a ghost likes more than cheating the grave.
Do you have a favorite longtime locale, especially one that’s off the beaten path? Reach out to alexishauk@gmail.com with your suggestions.
Without further ado, here are five spots brimming with character, mystique, tenacity and timelessness.
Horton’s Books & Gifts – 1891
For some? It’s the cats. For others? It’s the ghost. For most? It’s probably the books and the gifts.
Credit: Alexis Hauk
Credit: Alexis Hauk
Four horsemen of the apocalypse — OK, cats — greet anyone crossing the threshold of Georgia’s oldest bookstore. It’s a cute-as-a-button establishment in downtown Carrollton, the bustling county seat of largely rural Carroll County, an hour’s drive west of Atlanta.
The cats, Poe, Dante, Savannah and Magic, have all somehow been trained to resist hopping up on shelves and knocking things down.
Credit: Courtesy of Horton's Books & Gifts
Credit: Courtesy of Horton's Books & Gifts
Dorothy Pittman, Horton’s current owner, bought the store in the late 1990s. A trained librarian, she grew up in Carrollton but lived out of state for years, returning to help care for her mother. Then the opportunity arose to buy Horton’s.
The bookstore’s founder, N.A. Horton, was a man of many talents. He sold books. He sold furniture. He prepared folks for burial.
Credit: Courtesy of Horton's Books & Gifts
Credit: Courtesy of Horton's Books & Gifts
Initially, professional undertaker Horton got into the literature trade because he wanted to sell textbooks, which were going for a lucrative 18 cents apiece. Evidently, his first idea was to peddle these volumes in his funeral home, according to the Paris Review. Eventually, though, the mortuary side of the business was laid to rest.
When Horton died in 1916, the family business passed on to his son, Hewling “Hap” Horton, who ran it until his own death. The shop passed hands just two more times before Pittman bought it.
Credit: AJC
Credit: AJC
And yes, this place is “haunted by our very own ghost,” said Judy McClellan, Horton’s events coordinator and general helper. “Every so often, books will just fall off the shelf. She’s a friendly ghost. She just plays tricks on us.”
Don’t even think of blaming those cats. They’re tucked away at night, McClellan said.
Credit: Alexis Hauk
Credit: Alexis Hauk
Horton’s Books & Gifts: 410 Adamson Square, Carrollton. 770-832-8021, hortonsbooks.com.
Strand Theatre – 1935
Executive director Andy Gaines distinctly remembers his first experience with the Strand. When he won student of the year as a third grader at Russell Elementary School in Smyrna, the reward was a trip into the “big city” of Marietta, and it was love at first sight.
Credit: Courtesy of Strand Theatre
Credit: Courtesy of Strand Theatre
Looking at the gorgeous art deco edifice, it’s not hard to see why. Costing $150,000 to build in 1935, the venue started as a nucleus for the moving pictures. At the time, given its newfangled features like “heating and air conditioning,” it was touted as the “most modern theatre outside of Atlanta.” The Strand enjoyed one renovation in the mid-1960s, changed ownership in the 1970s, and then went through several transformations from the 1980s to early 2000s, at which point it fell into disrepair.
That’s when the Friends of the Strand formed as a nonprofit and launched a $5 million capital campaign to restore the dilapidated gem to its original shine. When the renovations were finished in 2009, Strand emerged as an all-encompassing arts hub. The venue’s name, by the way, has been appended a couple of times this century. It’s now officially known as the Earl and Rachel Smith Strand Theatre, following a donation Earl Smith made in his late wife’s memory in 2017.
Credit: AJC video still
Credit: AJC video still
The Strand’s live performances run the gamut. There are locally produced shows like the “Jukebox Giants: Motown & More” musical revue and the “Strand Ole Opry” country series. It has offered a silent film series with live orchestra accompaniment and a 1940s-style radio hour with a foley artist on hand to re-create sounds. Both leverage a mix of nostalgia and novelty.
Oh, and there are two ghosts here, including one woman in the balcony who’s a “terrible singer but we love her anyway,” Gaines quipped.
The ghosts aren’t keeping patrons away, though. Last year, the theater sold more than 30,000 tickets, according to a recent grant proposal. When it comes to programming, Gaines said that ultimately it’s about getting the mixture of different tastes right.
Credit: bandres@ajc.com
Credit: bandres@ajc.com
“We always talk about ourselves as this really big meal. There’s a reason why you have a salad and a main course, a reason why you have a dessert. I mean, the Journey Tribute Band is not changing the world, but everyone needs a slice of dessert.”
Strand Theatre: 117 North Park Square, Marietta. 770-293-0080, earlsmithstrand.org.
Moe’s and Joe’s – 1947
The year 1947 was packed with catalyzing cultural events. The Truman Doctrine. Jackie Robinson signing with the Brooklyn Dodgers. Marlon Brando ripping his shirt and yelling “Stella!” on Broadway. But in the world of Atlanta beer barons, there was the formation of Moe’s and Joe’s, which began cementing its legacy as a generations-spanning neighborhood watering hole and touting itself as one of the nation’s top sellers of Pabst Blue Ribbon, aka PBR.
Credit: Lane Brothers
Credit: Lane Brothers
It began when brothers Moe and Joe Krinsky, freshly returned from serving in World War II, decided to transform a deli into a haven for old and young alike to enjoy pitchers of PBR on the cheap. Inflation doesn’t seem to have hit the pricing here, where $2 tallboys and $3.50 pitchers still exist.
Fun fact: In 1957, a news item detailed an oddball deal between the Krinsky brothers and a wealthy patron of their “suds parlor,” to borrow the parlance of the Atlanta Constitution at the time. As the tale goes, a man named Bob Harvey agreed to trade the Krinskys a 1930 Rolls Royce in exchange for “1,200 pitchers of beer, as desired.” To keep track of Harvey’s intake, the Krinskys created their own self-printed, customized fake Krinsky bucks. No word on whether Harvey ever reached his quota.
Moe’s & Joe’s: 1033 North Highland Ave. NE, Atlanta. 404-873-6090, facebook.com/moesnjoes.
Clermont Lounge – 1965
This mainstay needs no introduction, but we’ll endeavor to capture the essence of “Atlanta’s oldest strip club and one of the world’s best dive bars,” per its website.
Credit: Steve Schaefer
Credit: Steve Schaefer
The lounge opened in 1965 in the basement of the formerly scruffy but now chic Clermont Hotel, which sits on one of Atlanta’s storied arteries, Ponce de Leon Avenue.
Its staying power is based in part on the refreshing sense that all bodies, ages, experience levels and backgrounds are celebrated here. This is a place for people looking to revel, get into trouble or shake off a bad day. A job ad from 1977 said it all: “Dancers — experienced or non experienced.”
Credit: Charles Jeffress
Credit: Charles Jeffress
During Atlanta’s 1990s indie rock era, bands like Opal Foxx Quartet and The Jody Grind played amid clouds of smoke that accumulated like nicotine hurricanes just offshore from a hangover. Bill Taft of The Jody Grind ardently defended the Clermont’s honor in a 1991 news item: “Too many people think that area of Ponce is a war zone, like west Beirut. What they don’t know is that the Clermont Lounge is just a great bar that serves great, cheap drinks.”
Anita Rae Strange, Clermont’s most famous dancer better known as Blondie, has graced the bar for more than 40 years and is known both for her poetry, which she reads to patrons, and for a signature move where she takes a beer can and mashes it into a coaster with her bosoms.
In 2013, the late Anthony Bourdain hung out there with Strange and TV personality Alton Brown, as part of his show “The Layover,” and summed up Clermont with these words: “This place should be a national landmark.”
Credit: Steve Schaefer
Credit: Steve Schaefer
The Clermont Motor Hotel, built in the 1920s, was forced to close in 2009 under health inspector orders, citing issues like mold, dirty bed linens and bed bugs. But after a $30 million overhaul and reopening in 2018, the Clermont Hotel is a luxury experience with rooms ranging from $150 to $350 per night.
If you decide to visit, just don’t try to take photos, lest you join the likes of Mumford & Sons, who were kicked out in 2013 for ignoring the “No Cameras” sign. Mum’s the word, Mumford.
Clermont Lounge: 789 Ponce De Leon Ave. NE, Atlanta. 404-874-4783, clermontlounge.net.
Blind Willie’s – 1986
Established in the mid-1980s as a “booze, blues and Cajun food” joint, Blind Willie’s is an homage to Piedmont Blues pioneer William Samuel McTier — better known as Blind Willie McTell — who was born in the early 20th century in Thomson, Georgia. His influence echoes across the musical landscape, from the Allman Brothers Band’s cover of his “Statesboro Blues” to a tribute penned by Bob Dylan.
Blind Willie’s is a small venue. If you squint, you might think you’re stepping into a joint in New Orleans, with all of its Mardi Gras beads and miniature street signs for Bourbon, St. Charles and Canal streets.
The mascot is a gator in sunglasses holding a guitar. There’s a framed T-shirt that states, “It ain’t easy being sleazy.” And portraits of all-time blues greats look down on a crowd that’s usually on its feet, dancing or swaying.
Credit: Associated Press
Credit: Associated Press
Many of the bands that play regular gigs have been with the venue since the beginning. One is 75-year-old singer Sandra Hall — the “Empress of the Blues” — who first stepped onto the slightly elevated Blind Willie’s stage in 1990 and has been a regular ever since. Given its diminutive size, there were nights she recalls when you could barely squeeze in through the door — and those were the best ones.
“I don’t care what they say. Blues is not old folks music,” she said. One of her signature songs is the saucy “Use What You Got,” which kicks off: “I see you looking, Daddy. Do you dig what you see? I know what you’re thinking. You want some of me.”
Hall got her start singing in her grandfather’s church when she was 4 and has since become a veteran of stages near and far. She’s worked with legends like B.B. King, Otis Redding and Koko Taylor. But the “cozy spot” in Atlanta’s Virginia-Highland neighborhood keeps its hold on her partly because audiences here are really, really into it.
Credit: Courtesy of Sandra Hall
Credit: Courtesy of Sandra Hall
“I made a promise that everywhere I go, I’ll get you to get up out of your seat, clap your hands, stomp your feet, shake your head, shake your butt, whatever. Have fun,” she said. And that they do.
“It’s like going back in a time machine where everywhere you can stand, there’s somebody dancing,” said Gary Schweitzer, bassist for the Juke Joint Dukes featuring William “Blues Man” Reed, which has performed at Blind Willie’s since 2015. “It’s just an energy that was probably pretty common 50 years ago that you don’t get very often these days. And it’s just really cool.”
Blind Willie’s: 828 North Highland Ave. NE, Atlanta. 404-873-2583, blindwilliesblues.com.
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