My Ancestor Once Owned “ALL” of Downtown Atlanta! Learn About My Discovery

You can find your ancestors.

I found the above photograph in an old 1880s article published in the Atlanta Constitution. I had been searching for this home for many years. Some years ago, I discovered that Archibald Holland owned all of downtown Atlanta when I discovered that he drew 202 1/2 acres in Atlanta in 1821. That real estate comprises all of downtown Atlanta. The northern line is Northside Drive, and the Fulton line is Fulton Street.

After the initial discovery, I searched for the plat recorded in Henry County, Georgia. Henry County was the parent county of Fulton County and Atlanta. In other words, there was no town or settlers in the Atlanta area in 1821! Archibald was the first settler in downtown Atlanta.

Here are the first three research tools:

1. Georgia Land Lotteries.
2. Deeds and Plat Books.
3. Old Georgia newspapers, reading each page separately.

The results produced the following questions:

1. Did Archibald sell the land? Answer: An old letter dated 1833 was found among family records of a great-aunt that included a letter that revealed that Archibald had been searching for farmland for his cattle. The letter revealed Paulding County…