Meet You at the Buck's Head / The Commercial Core Reimagined

Meet You at the Buck's Head, also, The Commercial Core Reimagined. . Meet You at the Buck's Head , In 1838, Henry Irby purchased more than 200 acres surrounding the intersection of Peachtree, Roswell, and Paces Ferry Roads for just $650. Irby was the son of a South Carolina harness maker and a relative newcomer to the area. He became a prosperous farmer and built a general store facing Roswell Road. A small crossroads community grew up around it, with a post office, blacksmith shop, and other businesses serving neighboring farmers and drovers on their way to market in Atlanta., According to local lore, a hunter hung a buck's head on a nearby post and it became a noteworthy landmark. Fellow travelers would say, “Meet you at the Buck's Head.” The name stuck … despite attempts over the years to rebrand the Buckhead community with more stylish monikers like Atlanta Heights., The Commercial Core Reimagined , In the early 20th century, Buckhead's commercial center developed rapidly at this intersection, especially after a new streetcar line opened in 1909 from downtown Atlanta to Buckhead. In 1923, Philips C. McDuffie built the still-standing, two-story, gray brick office and retail building in front of you. By then, a hardware store, a barbershop, a dry cleaner, and several grocery stores lined Peachtree Road here. With the addition of many small shops in the coming years, this remained the commercial hub of the community into the 1950s., In 1949, the Atlanta Constitution remarked that Buckhead “is a far cry from the days when the settlement was a gathering place for cattle traders and farmers bringing produce from north Georgia.”, [Captions] , . (Top) Buckhead, ca. 1918, with buildings liming Roswell Road. The Donaldson Building (right), which replaced Irby's store in 1900, still stands today. Like Irby's, it was a general store – and home to the community's first soda fountain. Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Libraries. , . (Bottom) A 1948 view of Buckhead looking north along Peachtree Road where Roswell Road enters. In 1974, the commercial buildings at left were torn down and replaced with a park the following year. Kenan Research Center at the Atlanta History Center