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Atlanta Cyclorama & Civil War Museum facts for kids
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Cyclorama of the Battle of Atlanta
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Atlanta former Cyclorama building
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 Location in Atlanta
Location in Georgia (U.S. state)
Location in the United States
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| Location | Atlanta, Georgia |
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| Built | 1885 |
| Architect | American Cyclorama Co.; John Francis Downing |
| Visitation | 54,489 (2014) |
| NRHP reference No. | 71000274 |
| Added to NRHP | December 9, 1971 |
The Atlanta Cyclorama and Civil War Museum was a special museum in Atlanta, Georgia. Its most famous part was the Atlanta Cyclorama, which is a huge, round painting of the Battle of Atlanta. This battle was a big event during the American Civil War.
History of the Painting
This amazing painting was made in 1885. It was meant to travel around and show people in the North what the war was like. It showed famous Union (Northern) officers, but the Confederate (Southern) officers were not shown in detail.
In 1891, a man named Paul Atkinson bought the painting and moved it to Atlanta. He tried to change the painting to make the Battle of Atlanta look like a win for the Confederates. He even repainted some Confederate prisoners to look like defeated Union soldiers!
Visitors would enter the building and sit inside a special area. The giant, round painting would slowly turn around them, letting them see the whole picture. For a while, this painting was the largest oil painting in the world! If you unrolled it, it would be about 42 feet tall and 358 feet long. That's taller than a four-story building and longer than a football field!
For many years, volunteers would tell the story of the painting. Some of these volunteers were even veterans of the Civil War or their family members. Later, famous actors like Victor Jory and Shepperd Strudwick narrated the story you heard while watching the painting.
Civil War Museum Exhibits
The museum also had many interesting items from the Civil War. You could see pictures and artifacts from that time. One very cool exhibit was The Texas, a real steam locomotive. This train was part of a famous event called the Great Locomotive Chase. In this chase, The Texas chased another captured train called The General. This exciting story was even made into movies, like the 1927 film The General and the 1956 Disney movie The Great Locomotive Chase.
Before seeing the painting, visitors could watch a short film about the Atlanta Campaign. This film was narrated by the famous actor James Earl Jones. The cyclorama painting itself wasn't just a flat picture. It had a cool three-dimensional scene in front of it called a diorama. This diorama made the painting feel even more real.
There's a fun story about the diorama and actor Clark Gable. When the movie Gone with the Wind first came out, the actors visited the Atlanta Cyclorama. Clark Gable supposedly joked that the only way the painting could be better was if he was in it. So, the museum managers added his face to one of the sculptures in the diorama, making him a dying soldier!
Moving to a New Home
In 2014, officials in Atlanta announced that the Cyclorama would move to the Atlanta History Center. This center is in an area of Atlanta called Buckhead. People had been thinking about moving the painting for a while, especially after another large panoramic painting, the Gettysburg Cyclorama, was restored.
It was going to cost a lot of money to restore and move the painting, at least $8 million. Many places were considered for its new home. The Atlanta History Center was chosen because a local couple offered $10 million to help with the project. The History Center also raised a lot more money, totaling over $32 million for the move.
The Cyclorama closed its doors to the public in its old location on June 30, 2015. This was to get ready for the big move. The Atlanta History Center started building a new 23,000-square-foot home for the painting, the diorama, and The Texas locomotive.
During the construction, the painting was carefully restored. Parts of the painting that had been removed a long time ago were even put back! After the new building was finished, the painting and diorama were moved. Restoration work continued there, sometimes even while visitors watched. The old Cyclorama building in Grant Park was given to Zoo Atlanta. The zoo plans to use it for offices and events, and possibly for a new area for their African elephant habitat.
The total cost to move and restore the Cyclorama was about $35.78 million. The restored cyclorama finally reopened to the public in April 2019, ready for new generations to enjoy!