2019 Updates
2019 Walking the Line Updates (You are free to print this!)
In 2019, the Fort Line was revisited. As happens in Atlanta, things change. The following is a listing of the most important changes to text in the book.
Southeast Trail
By far the most important change is the moving of the Cyclorama from Grant Park to the Atlanta History Center. The building it was in remains, but all the Civil War exhibits and artifacts, including the famous rotating diorama are gone.
A small cannon that was used at Fort Walker has been restored to the site. It is not in its most logical place, but at least it is there.
At Fort C7 some garages have been built over some of the relics of the fort embankments.
Slaton Elementary School was on the site of Fort S. It is now the Atlanta Neighborhood Charter School.
Northeast Trail
Correction: Only James Andrews was hung at that site. The other conspirators were killed elsewhere, or imprisoned.
Fort L still has its dog park but in two visits no dogs and their walkers were seen. Instead it has become something of a colony of homeless people, even some with tents in place.
Fort N on the Atlanta School Archive site is being further buried under an enlargement of the building structures there.
At Fort O’s site, the church has become…Dad’s Garage, one of Atlanta’s most interesting theatres. The embankment and the southerly incline of the Fort site, and the junk yard under it, still exist.
Fort C10’s site still exists but much of the ridge it is on has been built over by newer apartment buildings, and is further hemmed in by construction of two new buildings. The children’s park is temporarily closed in 2019 for renovation, but more likely for safety from the neighboring construction.
Northwest Trail
The site of Fort Z, the Georgia Tech Library, is currently closed to traffic because of building gutting and renovation in progress. Other construction in the area continues unabated, further obscuring the view of the Line. You can park and walk up the steep hill to see the Steps and grounds.
Fort X (Fort Hood) has been completely renovated and is now a GT Environmental campus building. The plaque is still there, though moved slightly, and the gates are frequently open and therefore the plaque and the ridge behind the building are still often accessible.
The gentrification of Marietta Street continued. But all the historical sites mentioned in the Side Tour still exist.
The odd museum of cars behind Fort W is gone.
The impressive buildings on the site of Fort E are now equally impressive burned shells from a fire that gutted all the buildings on the site. They may not be from 150 years ago, but they very much look like ruins from the fall of Atlanta now!
A building did get put onto the site of Fort H, but it does not appear to be part of the Hyatt Hotel.
The biggest change is the removal of the Georgia Dome and its replacement by the Mercedes-Benz Arena to the North of the Dome site. This has made some changes to the roads in the area, but nothing that affects the tour directions.
No changes were noted elsewhere along any of the above Trails, nor the remaining southwest and south Line forts.
—Dr. Larry Krumenaker, June 2019