Because of the warp-speed development in the city in recent years, a lot of Atlanta is shiny and new. But other parts have much historical context.
During the Civil War, Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman ruthlessly set the city on fire as he began his March to the Sea. I remember reading about it in “Gone with the Wind,” by Atlanta’s own Margaret Mitchell, who tells of the event that left almost 40% of the city devastated. See more.