Reynoldstown

Discover the Rich History of Reynoldstown: A Historic Neighborhood on Atlanta's East Side

1892 rendering of Atlanta. Reynoldstown is the community on the right, south of the railroad and east of the creek that separates it from Cabbagetown.

One of the first African-American neighborhoods to develop in Atlanta, Reynoldstown began as an area to which former enslaved persons migrated after the Civil War. Established in 1870, Reynoldstown was named in honor of Madison Reynolds, a prominent and successful landowner who operated a store on Wylie Street. In 1909, Reynoldstown became officially annexed to the city of Atlanta.

The Georgia railroad (now the CSX rail line), which ran along the northern section of the neighborhood, became an attractive source of employment for the many displaced freed slaves who migrated to the city in search of work. There was also a sawmill and a ready supply of water and timber for the families who wished to build homes here.

Reynoldstown began to form in the 1860s, at the T-shaped intersection of the Central to Georgia Railroad (CSX) and the Atlanta and West Point Railroad (now the greatly beloved Beltline) on Wylie Street. The streets nearest this area – Chester, Selman, Oliver (now Kenyon), and Wylie – were the very first ones to be settled and were known as Tin Cup alley and, later, the Slide because of the muddy conditions there. Some of the oldest houses in Reynoldstown can still be found here.