Atlanta on the move: A stone railroad marker that survived the Civil War got a new home while a replica was put in place

Replica Zero Mile Post and interpretive signs in downtown Atlanta (Picket photo)

On Nov. 14, 1864, the eve of the beginning of the March to the Sea, brevet Lt. Col. Orlando Poe, chief engineer of the Military Division of the Mississippi, supervised demolition of the main passenger depot in downtown Atlanta.

Lt. Col. Poe

Poe’s troops used a battering ram to knock out the support columns of the “car shed,” a cooperative venture of the four railroads that served the Georgia city and the Confederacy. The station had been a fixture for about 10 years.

The loss of the structure was just one of many blows to the city when Union Gen. William T. Sherman ordered the destruction of buildings and supplies that could possibly help the Southern cause after his men left town on their campaign to bring the Civil War to civilians.

Not far from the northeast corner of the shed stood a stubby granite post that is associated with the birth of the city. Since 1850, the so-called Zero Mile Post marked the southeastern terminus of the Western & Atlantic Railroad, one of several rail companies vital to the growth of a young Atlanta.

In addition to the car shed, a succeeding depot is long gone. And Zero Mile Post departed in 2018 for a new home at the Atlanta History Center, several miles to the north.

A replica post (right), interpretive panel and revamped metal sign were put in place earlier this year.

The Georgia Building Authority decided to move Zero Mile Post because a building in which it was enclosed needed to be torn down for a viaduct improvement project.

The relocation idea was opposed by the Atlanta City Council and preservation and civic groups, which argued that the landmark should stay put. They complained about the move’s secrecy.

George Barnard's view of the car shed in 1864 (Library of Congress)

The view today (Picket photo)

The history center and the Georgia Building Authority said the relocation would protect the post and improve its accessibility to the public. The authority feared motorists or pedestrians might damage the post because it would be exposed after the building was razed, officials said.

The Georgia Battlefields Association called the debate a “different sort of preservation issue,” given you could see both sides of the argument – while the post’s significance was due to its location, how to protect it once it was out in the open?

Sherman's men destroy track; car shed rubble at right (Library of Congress)

“The mile post had not been routinely accessible in several years since it was in a closed state government building,” the preservation group said in a newsletter this month. “The explanatory historical marker had been in the hard to access basement of a nearby state government building.”

Now, those curious about Zero Mile Post, the Civil War and the city’s rich railroad history can go to two locations, in a scenario that might appear to be a compromise.

(Georgia Battlefields Association)

The original marker (right) is in a gallery at the Atlanta History Center, next to the restored locomotive Texas, famous for its part in the Great Locomotive Chase.

The replica milepost is accessible under the Central Avenue Bridge near its intersection with Wall Street.

The interpretive panel and an updated Georgia Historical Society marker detail the landmark’s significance. Sunlight filters into the dark and dank parking street and parking area where the replica marker juts out from a bed of gravel. (Click here for text of GHS sign)

The building that surrounded the post for three decades was torn down. It had been used as a tourist trolley and police station.

Markers like Zero Mile Post informed train crews where they were along a route. One side of this marker is engraved with "W&A RR OO" – the W & A indicating the Western & Atlantic Railroad and the double-zero designating the beginning of the rail line.

The other side of the marker is engraved “W&A RR 138.” That indicates the 138 miles from downtown Atlanta to the W&A’s endpoint in Chattanooga, Tenn.

The original 800-pound marker measures 7 feet 5 inches, and weighs approximately 800 pounds. That is how the Atlanta History Center displays it, as opposed to 42 inches exposed in its old location.

Mile post before it was enclosed (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

Wartime sites, including car shed (Georgia Battlefields Assn.)

Jackson McQuigg, vice president of properties for the Atlanta History Center, said the Georgia Building Authority asked the center to remove the original post.

“It's worth noting that the replica is on the exact spot of the original. GBA surveyors used GPS to locate the original site (where) the old marker was installed; they came back when we installed the replica."

Building that housed Zero Mile Stone has been demolished (Picket photo)

Treasured part of Atlanta history will now be visible to the public, but some preservationists say it should not have been moved

Zero Mile Post after its move. (Atlanta History Center)

A granite post that marked the birth of the city of Atlanta and survived the Civil War has been moved from the location it occupied since 1850 to a museum several miles to the north, sparking criticism by preservation and civic groups.

While the Atlanta History Center and Georgia Building Authority say Friday's relocation will protect Zero Mile Post and better interpret its story, some organizations are unhappy with the agreement, saying the precious landmark should have stayed where it is.

The aged post, which marked the southeastern terminus of Western & Atlantic Railroad, will be paired at the AHC with the restored 1856 locomotive Texas in a new exhibit about Atlanta’s origin and railroad history. The Texas is famous for its role in the Civil War’s Great Locomotive Chase in April 1862. Opening day is set for Nov. 17.

“It was this railroad that provided the impetus for the beginning and subsequent growth of the city of Atlanta and marks the center of the city from which the Atlanta city limits were measured,” says the National Park Service. The Western & Atlantic was vital for the Confederacy, sending both supplies and troops to the front.

Post at old location (NPS)

Cut a few years before, the post was moved to its longtime home in 1850, when the town took on the name Atlanta. For 70 years it sat in the open, but the growth of the city’s viaduct system led to the Central Avenue Bridge above it and the feature was enclosed in a building in the 1980s. With the exception of a few groups, the marker had not been visible to the public since 1994.

Maria Saporta, founder of the Saporta Report, wrote in February, “If you want to find Atlanta’s heart – our zero mile post – good luck. It is buried beneath a downtown parking deck in a state-owned building surrounded by chain-link fences in addition to spiked metal bars topped with barbed wires.” (Her column argued that developers in what’s called the Gulch area downtown should have included a multimodal station in their plans. She has since decried the move of the post in a Nov. 5 column.)

Zero Mile Post’s fate became the subject of debate when development plans firmed up and news that two bridges – on Central Avenue and Courtland Street – were tapped for replacement. The GBA said it needed to raze the building so that a parking deck between the bridges would have additional exit and entrance options.

Agency: Artifact needed protecting

“We endeavored to get a lot of different perspectives on what do with the post,” including from the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, said Morgan Smith-Williams, communications director for the state authority, While the agency said it knew the significance of the marker was its location, protecting the artifact was foremost, she said.

This building under a bridge enclosed the artifact since the 1980s (Picket photo)

That’s because of the fear that motorists or pedestrians might damage the Zero Mile Post because it would be much more exposed, said Smith-Williams.

“The original marble marker is fragile -- any outdoor location would expose it to the elements and potential for vandalism, and endanger its survival,” the history center said Monday in a press release.

A replica of Zero Mile Post that has long been at the Atlanta History Center in the Buckhead neighborhood will replace the original. It will be accompanied by a marker with text provided by the Georgia Historical Society, officials said.

Click Georgia Battlefields Assn. map for wartime spots

“The marker and replica post will be positioned along sidewalks that will be constructed around the original site, increasing the visibility and awareness of this preserved historic spot on a daily basis, something that could not be done previously,” the AHC said.

It said the use of replicas is commonplace, particularly when fragile items are exposed to the elements. "By doing this, the artifact is preserved, but the historical significance of the location is also acknowledged."

City Council wanted it to stay put

The relocation has faced opposition, including from Atlanta City Council, which in May adopted a resolution calling for Zero Mile Post to stay put.

It said the artifact, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, “is arguably the single most important object relating to the story of Atlanta’s founding.”

The resolution noted that the post “survived the construction of the 1853 Union Depot, Gen. William T. Sherman’s destructive entrance and exit from the City in 1864, the construction of the viaducts in the 1920s, more demolitions and fires, and has remained in the ground since 1850.”

It added that it could have been a draw for visitors once the surrounding, unoccupied building was removed.

The old marker for Zero Mile Post

That’s the viewpoint of the Atlanta Preservation Center, which has Zero Mile Post on its endangered list. The group argues the downtown street grid grew around the marker and railroad lines.

David Mitchell, director of operations for the group, said news of the move Monday was a dark day for preservation. “It is always better to leave things in their original location.”

“I would have liked to have seen further conversation to whatever alternatives could have been provided,” he told the Picket. “This belongs to the city of Atlanta and its citizens and no singular entity has governance over what belongs to the general public.”

Mitchell said engineering students at Georgia Tech could have helped come up with a plan to protect the original post once it was out in the open. Many other monuments are exposed to the elements, he said.

“The stone has been there for 150 years. It is 5 inches wide by 7 feet tall. You are telling me this is thwarting a multimillion project?”

In a newsletter during the summer, the Georgia Battlefields Association noted: “We’re confident the post will be preserved, but where it will be preserved is uncertain. Its significance derives from its location, which adds to the complexity of the issue.”

Smith-Williams, the spokesperson for the Georgia Building Authority, said the replica will be in the same location, but will be “more sturdy and weatherproof than the original.”

A second replica will be placed near by the Georgia Railroad Freight Depot, she said. The arrangement with the AHC is a five-year lease.

“I think this is a win-win for Georgians,” Smith-Williams said. “The original historic artifact is with the authority that is best-suited to preserve it.”

Post was near railroad car shed destroyed by Federals

Ongoing debate over the decision

The history center said it will be a good steward of the “irreplaceable artifact” of Atlanta’s railroad history.

“Positioning the Zero Mile Post beside the recently restored Texas locomotive, one of the two remaining Western & Atlantic locomotives [the other being the General] that would have passed by that very mile post scores of times during its service offers valuable interpretive possibilities, AHC President and CEO Sheffield Hale said in a statement. "Railroads build and created Atlanta, and these two objects tell Atlanta's origin story like no others."

Kyle Kessler, community program manager for the Center for Civic Innovation in Atlanta, called the move a “major disappointment.”

He quoted the National Park Service by saying, “Moving a property destroys the relationships between the property and its surroundings and destroys association with historic events and persons.” The move threatens the status of the post on the National Register, he added.

Kessler said the “clandestine operation” came before adequate input from agencies and the public.

Many of those who commented Monday on the AHC’s Facebook page, which showed a video of the marker being pulled into the Texas gallery, were critical of the move, saying there should have been more discussion. “Happy for you guys, but really disappointed in Atlanta and how they protect history. Other states don’t do it this way,” one commenter wrote.Others were more supportive.

Markers like Zero Mile Post informed train crews where they were along a route. One side of this marker is engraved with "W&A RR OO" – the W & A indicating the Western & Atlantic Railroad and the double-zero designating the beginning of the rail line. The other side of the marker is engraved “W&A RR 138.”

When removed from the ground, entirely exposed, the 800-pound marker measures 7 feet 5 inches, and weighs approximately 800 pounds. That is how the Atlanta History Center will display it, as opposed to 42 inches exposed in its old location.

The center said the Solomon Luckie lamppost will be in an adjacent gallery, adding to the story of the city's early history. Luckie, a free African-American, was killed during Union shelling of the city in summer 1864.