Edgewood Avenue

History

Edgewood Avenue originated with the Atlanta & Edgewood Street Railroad Company, which was authorized to run horsecars along Foster Street to the village of Edgewood. Joel Hurt, the company's owner, introduced Atlanta's first electric streetcar service in 1889 to make his garden suburb, Inman Park, accessible. The present route was created by combining two existing streets—Line Street and Foster Street—after Hurt's East Atlanta Land Company demolished 94 houses and lots, built the missing road, and renamed the entire avenue Edgewood Avenue.

Restaurant and bar district

After decades of neglect, the part of Edgewood Avenue in the Old Fourth Ward became a bar and restaurant district with eclectic nightspots such as Sister Louisa's Church of the Living Room and Ping Pong Emporium, Corner Tavern, Noni's, Circa, and the Sound Table, which Food & Wine magazine recognized as one of the 50 Best Bars in America. Bar and restaurant owners are drawn to the area's non-corporate feel, attributed to its urban layout and historic turn-of-the-century architecture.

Since 2013, when the area around Boulevard was perceived as a site of drug traffic, petty crime, and homeless hideaways, the corridor has shown growth and maturity. As of 2014, more establishments were opening, including Bad Dog Taqueria, the Music Room, and Panbury's Double Crust Pies, as owners sought to capitalize on improved access via the Atlanta Streetcar, which started service in late 2014. In 2013, Creative Loafing editor Cliff Bostock called Edgewood Avenue the most diverse party and dining area in the city in terms of age, sexual orientation, lifestyle, and race.

In April 2014, Atlanta magazine noted the avenue had become a foodie hangout only recently, with co-owner Keiran Neely of Pizzeria Vesuvius and the Music Room stating that Edgewood Avenue had begun to explode based on the streetcar.