OUR HISTORY

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January 2026 

By Kathy “Riverside Kate” Hearn & Kelly Calhoun

THE UPPER WESTSIDE STORY

Atlanta’s Upper West Side possesses a rich and layered history that few people today fully recognize, yet it remains worthy of acknowledgment and remembrance. Once considered part of the surrounding “country” rather than the city itself, this area has experienced repeated cycles of growth and decline. Although modern industry and commerce dominate its outward appearance, these developments conceal the still-bucolic neighborhoods that line its streets and echo an earlier, pastoral past.

One of Atlanta’s most iconic names, “Peachtree,” originated not in the city center but in Bolton, at the Indian village of Standing Peachtree in northwest Atlanta. This name predates the city itself and reflects a much older cultural landscape. Standing Peachtree was located along an ancient Indian path on both sides of the Chattahoochee River, near the mouth of Peachtree Creek. The site served as an important center of living and trade for the Creek and Cherokee peoples long before European settlement transformed the region.

The origin of the name “Standing Peachtree” has been debated for generations. Some accounts suggest it referred to a “pitch tree,” a pine used for extracting resin, while others believe it was named for an actual peach tree that served as a landmark. Regardless of its precise origin, the name endured and became inseparable from Atlanta’s identity. 

Following the Revolutionary War, tensions increased as white settlements expanded east and west of Creek territory. Caught between these settlements, the Creek Indians fought to retain their lands along the Chattahoochee River. The War of 1812 brought additional people and military activity to Standing Peachtree, further accelerating change.

Reverend William Jasper Cotter, who arrived during this period with his father, later described the area in his biography as a landscape of extraordinary beauty, clear rivers and creeks, fertile valleys, forested hills, and abundant wildlife. He recalled vibrant wildflowers, including honeysuckle, dogwood, redbud, and wild roses, and remembered encountering this environment as a nine-year-old during the spring.

During the War of 1812, a prominent rise overlooking the river was selected as an ideal crossing point. Major James McConnell Montgomery was enlisted to construct Fort Peachtree, also known as Fort Gilmer, and establish a flatboat ferry system. 

This crossing became known as Montgomery Ferry and later DeFoor’s Ferry in 1853. By 1822, Montgomery owned more than 1,000 acres of land ceded by the Creek Indians the year before. He moved his family to the area, becoming one of the first permanent white settlers, built a home near present-day Moores Mill and Bolton Roads, continued operating the ferry, and established a church on Casey’s Hill, now Crestlawn Cemetery.

The arrival of the railroad transformed the region. In 1837, Montgomery Ferry was initially selected as the proposed railroad right here in Upper West Side in a junction known as “Terminus,” though the Zero Mile Post was later relocated to its current downtown location. By 1838, the Western & Atlantic Railroad completed a bridge at Boltonville, connecting Atlanta to major regional cities. The railroad spurred Atlanta’s rapid development into the state’s most important inland transportation center.

After the Civil War, the pastoral farms along the Chattahoochee evolved into residential communities that became known as the Upper West Side. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, neighborhoods expanded, including Riverside, developed after the introduction of electric streetcars. 

By 1952, these neighborhoods were annexed into the City of Atlanta, leading to increased industrialization. Beginning in the 1980s and accelerating after 2000, new residents and redevelopment initiatives revitalized the area. Today, the Upper West Side seeks to restore and celebrate its deep historical legacy and renewed sense of place. 

*As documented by primary author Kathy “Riverside Kate” Hearn, with research and editorial support by Kelly Calhoun, Architectural Historian.

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PHOTO CREDITS:

Header "Train" - Raphael Tuck & Son’s Post Card Series No. 2438, “Atlanta, GA. Art Publisher to their Majesties the King and Queen. The Western & Atlantic R. R. Bridge Over Chattahoochee River is eight miles out of Atlanta, and was built in 1850 at a cost to the State of $7,000,000. The Railroad, 139 miles in extent, is the main highway between the Ohio Valley and the South Atlantic Coast; it was the objective point of Sherman’s bloody and victorious campaign in 1864.

Footer "Map" - A map courtesy of The Atlanta Constitution, "Ancient Cemetery Marks Site of Fulton County's First Town." Sunday, May 3, 1931, page 13 (digital 90). 1) Location of Montgomery cemetery; 2) Old Martin DeFoor home, no longer standing; 3) Residence of Martin Walker, grandson of Martin DeFoor and on whose property the cemetery is located; 4) Location of Standing Peachtree; 4) Location of Standing Peachtree as show by the Eleazer Early map of Georgia drawn in 1818; 5) Location of the old ferry across the river; 6) River pumping station, Atlanta waterworks