Mozley Park Historic District
The Mozley Park Historic District is a typical early 20th-century residential neighborhood, located approximately three miles west of downtown Atlanta. The community is named after the original landowner, Dr. Hiram Mozley, who's heirs inherited the land after his death in 1902. The houses in the district were built over a 20-year period, beginning around 1920 when the basic street arrangements were completely mapped.
The houses built in the oldest section of the neighborhood are Folk Victorian cottages and Craftsman bungalows built on small lots with varied setbacks and no driveways. There have been modest changes to the houses, including new awnings, siding, and rear additions. The overall neighborhood plan is that of a gridiron, typical of many Atlanta neighborhoods. Many of the streets have retained their original granite curbing and narrow sidewalks with hexagonal pavers. Lots are primarily 50 feet wide.
The district also includes the Mozley Park Recreational Area. In 1922, the citizens of Mozley Park and the surrounding area asked the Atlanta City Council to purchase the Mozley estate for a recreation area to serve residents of the southwest side of Atlanta. The Civil War breastworks and trenches that remained on the site were leveled. A park was developed with roadways, landscaped areas, lakes, a swimming pool, and a bathhouse.
The only other non-residential building in the district is the Frank L. Stanton Elementary School, named for Georgia's first poet laureate. It was built on a wooded hill adjacent to Mozley Park. The school is a traditional two-story, red-brick building with limestone trim and awning windows. In the 1950s and 1960s, public project developments, including the construction of Interstate 20, altered portions of the landscape in Mozley Park. Some older houses and streets have been demolished. But because of the minimal alterations to the majority of the houses, the neighborhood has maintained its integrity as an early 20th-century residential community.
Mozley Park Historic District is roughly bounded by Westview Dr., West Lake Ave., Seaboard Coast Line Railroad tracks, and Rockmark and Martin Luther King, Jr., drs. The houses in the district are private residences and are not open to the public. Mozley Park at 1565 Martin Luther King, Jr., Dr. is open 6:00am to 11:00pm daily.
Information and photos courtesy of the National Register for Historic Places Atlanta, Georgia Travel Itinerary, a subsidiary of the National Park Service.
