Margaret Mitchell House and Museum facts for kids
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Crescent Apartments (Margaret Mitchell House)
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Margaret Mitchell House
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| Location | Atlanta, Georgia |
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| Built | 1899 |
| Architect | Denning, Mr. |
| Architectural style | Tudor Revival |
| NRHP reference No. | 96000649 |
Quick facts for kids Significant dates |
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| Added to NRHP | June 21, 1996 |
The Margaret Mitchell House is a special historic house museum in Atlanta, Georgia. This building was once the home of famous author Margaret Mitchell. She lived here in the early 1900s. You can find it in the Midtown area of Atlanta, at 979 Crescent Avenue.
The house was first built in 1899 as a single-family home. It was later changed into an apartment building called the Crescent Apartments. Margaret Mitchell and her husband lived in Apartment 1 from 1925 to 1932. While living in this very apartment, Mitchell wrote most of her famous novel, Gone with the Wind. This book later won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.
Today, the Margaret Mitchell House is recognized as an important historic place. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The City of Atlanta also calls it a historic building. It is now part of the Atlanta History Center. It has exhibits that tell the story of the building and its past.
Contents
The House's Story
The Margaret Mitchell House began as a large home in 1899. At first, it was in a fancy part of Peachtree Street. But over time, more businesses started to appear in the area. The first family living there moved out in 1907.
Changes Over Time
The house was sold many times. In 1913, it was actually moved to a new spot on the same property. It was placed on a new basement. The building then got a new address on Crescent Avenue. In 1919, it was changed into an apartment building with ten units. It was named the Crescent Apartments.
Margaret Mitchell and her husband, John Marsh, moved into the Crescent Apartments in July 1925. Their apartment was on the ground floor. It was a good location because it was close to trolley lines and her parents' house.
Challenges and Moves
The apartment building faced some tough times. Its owner had money problems, and the building was sold in 1926. The next owner also had financial difficulties, especially after the stock market crashed in 1929. Because of this, the building was not kept up very well. Margaret Mitchell even called their apartment "the Dump." By 1931, only two apartments were rented, including the Marshes'. They moved to a bigger apartment nearby in the spring of 1932.
After they moved, a new owner took over. The Crescent Apartments became popular again for a while. But by the 1950s, the building was in bad shape and mostly empty. Some businesses used parts of it, and Georgia Tech students sometimes rented the old apartments. In 1964, the building was fixed up and renamed the Windsor House Apartments.
Fires and Restoration
In 1977, the last renters moved out. The building was boarded up because a new owner planned to rebuild the area. But these plans did not work out. The old Crescent Apartments continued to fall apart.
In the late 1980s, a fire started in one corner of the building. It caused some damage. In 1989, the mayor of Atlanta, Andrew Young, helped make sure the house would be saved. He officially named it a city landmark. When people decided to fix the house, they made sure to restore it carefully. The front of the house looks like it did in 1899. The back of the house looks like it did when Margaret Mitchell lived there.
Sadly, another fire, thought to be set on purpose, badly damaged the building in September 1994. After this, a German car company, Daimler-Benz, gave $4.5 million to help restore the house. They also bought the block around it. They hoped to use the house for events during the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta.
In May 1996, just 40 days before the Olympics began, the house was set on fire again. This happened when the restoration was almost finished. All parts of the building except Margaret Mitchell's apartment were damaged or destroyed.
After the 1996 fire, $2 million from insurance helped continue the repairs. The Margaret Mitchell House was officially opened on May 16, 1997. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1996.
See also
Images for kids
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Rear of the Margaret Mitchell House
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Atlanta History Center marker
