Timeline
Below is a timeline of events that are relevant to the "windows" we've offered. These do not represent a comprehensive history of English Avenue and Vine City. Big and small, they represent we believe some of the history and daily life in these ares. When possible, we've provided links that will explain the timeline events in more detail.
- 1876: Edward Wachendorf settles in the area and opens nursery at 660 Sunset Street
- 1901-1903: The years that Livingstone Mims was Mayor of Atlanta
- 1910: English Avenue Elementary School opens
- 1917: Fire in Sweet Auburn neighborhood leads to migration into the Westside
- 1952: Reverend Cottrell moves to Atlanta.
- 1964: Hector Black (the "White Jesus") moves into Vine City
- 1965: The Vine City Foundation begins to publish The Vine City Voice
- August 1967: Hector Black and his family leave Vine City after controversy
- August 1967: Vine City checkers Tournament
- September-October 1967: Race riots break out in vine City
- 1968: Reverend Cottrell becomes pastor of Beulah Baptist Church
- 1970s: New public housing built; neighborhood changes from "white flight"; MARTA arrives
- 1971: Vine City native J. Otis Cochran graduates from Yale Law School
- 1979: MLK/Ashby Business Association is founded to support local businesses
- 1980s: Neighborhood becomes haven for crack and cocaine dealers; crime increases
- 1986: Reverend Cottrell founds the Vine City Health & Housing Ministry
- 1987: Georgia Dome and Georgia World Congress Center are constructed
- 1989: Georgia Dome Trust Fund is created to provide $8 million for regional development
- June 5, 1989: High school students present their oral history project about Vine City
- July 18, 1989: Vine City residents hold a demonstration at the Democratic National Convention
- 1990s: Georgia-Pacific Corporation's "Project Hope" builds new homes
- September 21, 2002: "The Bowl" floods with 4 feet of sewage water
- 2006: Arthur Blank, owner of the Atlanta Falcons, announces desire to build a new stadium.
- November 21, 2006: 92-year-old resident Kathryn Johnston is killed during police raid
- 2007: Sunset Avenue officially becomes a Historic District
- 2008: Housing crisis creates a new wave of foreclosures
- 2010: Census reveals that 40% of houses in English Avenue/Vine City are abandoned
- October 2010: AJC article announces Vine City as most dangerous neighborhood in Atlanta
- 2011: Dramatic documentary Snow on tha Bluff is shown at the Atlanta Film Festival
- 2011: Police officers Jamie and Kevin Wallace move into rent-free home in Vine City
- 2012: Falcons announce decision to build a new stadium near the Georgia Dome
- July 11, 2012: Atlanta City Council approves plan for Mims Park
- January 2013: Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed agrees to partially fund the Falcons stadium
- 2013: New Falcons Stadium location is approved
- September 2013: Mount Vernon Baptist Church and Friendship Church sell their property for Falcons Stadium deal
- November 2013: Redeemer Community Church is planted in Vine City
- November 2013: Annual English Avenue Festival of Lights