Buttermilk Bottom

Mrs Sarah Lena Echols Malone places a face on the segregated community of Buttermilk Bottom Community of Old Fourth Ward in downtown Atlanta in the 1930's.
Despite harsh conditions imposed by segregation, Buttermilk Bottom was a vibrant community with African American run schools, churches and businesses. It was akin to a village. Homes had no electricity and telephones. The inhabitants used kerosene lamps and communicated by yelling out the windows to their neighbors. They rarely used their household's skeleton keys to lock their doors, they had no pit bull guard dogs or installed any window burglar bars. They had nothing of value to steal. Family, friends, and businesses were in convenient walking distance on the non-traffic unpaved dirt roads. Unfortunally, lamps had to be dimmed the nights when armed "hood"lums in pick up trucks would race through center of the community. Buttermilk Bottom's bulldozing under "urban renewal" during the 1960's damaged community structures throughout Atlanta.

Atlanta's Civic Center on Piedmont Avenue, and it's parking lot were the ground zero land area of Buttermilk Bottom Community's footprint.. It was said that the community received its name because of the downward slope of the land's sewers' not retaining water backups causing a buttermilk smell. Humorists also call another black community, "lightening." So "white" milk would be a fitting name for the "Bottom."

The Malone's lived at 267 Pine Place, Apt #3. with their cousins William Huff's family to make ends meet. Most families were members of Church of God in Christ on Buchanan Street, near Currier Street. Elder Henry Ingram's Sunday Church services could be heard all across Buttermilk Bottom. School Street like many others doesn't exist anymore. Forrest Avenue is now Ralph McGill Boulevard. Buchanan Street is gone. Mrs Malone died in 1959.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Tasha
• Sare
• Buttermilk
• Bottom
• Atlanta
• 1960's
• Music
• Spirit
• of
• Buddah
• Records