The view from Capitol View (Atlanta: homes, neighborhoods, trees)

[equinox63]

I know Capitol View got its name because you can see the Capitol from the neighborhood. But I've been frequenting Capitol View lately and I have not seen any views of the Capitol building. Could someone post a few views of the Capitol from the Capitol View neighborhood?

[cwkimbro]

It is an excellent question. Truth is, I haven't found them. If anyone ever finds any current or historical photos of this, I would -LOVE- to see them.

But I know when Capital View Manor was developed (and most like Capital View) it was actually a pasture, not a forest.

It is on high ground, so it was likely a great view of the top of the capitol dome from Dill Ave. when the neighborhood was first constructed. That view was used to market the neighborhoods.

I was able to zoom/tilt a google view just over Dill Ave @ Metropolitan (stewart) Ave, so it is just above the trees : https://www.google.com/maps/@33.7167...m1!1e3!5m1!1e4

Sadly, it will only let me face Due north or Due east and it needs to look NNE. But you can see the hill top along metropolitan and the view of the Dome sticking up, if the trees weren't in the way.

Here is the Street view from the same intersection: https://www.google.com/maps/@33.7182...8i6656!5m1!1e4

You can notice it is the high ground in both directions until it slopes back up at the northern end of Adair Park.

[AtlantaIsHot]

When I look at photos of the area from the 1800's, what I see is a startlingly barren landscape. The area was once far less forest covered. It's difficult to imagine today, but it was that way all over North America and the world. The early settlers had no other way to survive. We forget just how recent HVAC, plastics, glass, steel, etc. have been around in major quantities. Before the industrial revolution, people survived by denuding forests for homes, barns, cooking, and heating. Look back at old photos of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. It has been logged down to the dirt about 3 times. It is NOT a "virgin" forest. The forest cover of Atlanta today is relatively recent. Even looking at the Atlanta Time Machine photos, you can see smaller trees and much less greenery than today. Forests can return with amazing rapidity once the cutting stops. I would imagine that at one time, Capitol View had an unblocked view of the dome due to less trees.

It's one of my favorite Atl neighborhoods, especially the park.

[netdragon]

I have an investment property around there. Old neighborhood, and trees probably used to be much shorter many decades ago. Drive around though. You'll see part of the skyline poke through the trees on occasion.