Atlanta Beltline Westside Trail

This guide to the Atlanta Beltline's Westside Trail centers on Heman Perry, a Black millionaire who in 1919 gave away six and a half acres of land at a time when the city's public playgrounds and pools were closed to Black residents. It follows how that gift grew into Washington Park, with its pool, dance hall, and tennis courts, and the neighborhood children, including a young Martin Luther King and Maynard Jackson, who spent afternoons there. You'll also hear about the abandoned freight line the trail itself now follows, once hauling cotton and coal through six historic neighborhoods. Look toward the park's green space as you pass to picture what stood there before the pavement.