Slabtown (Atlanta)

Slabtown or Slab Town was a red-light district that developed in Atlanta in the 1840s. The neighborhood, which was the site of a railway terminus, was located off present-day Decatur Street. In the 20th, century Grady Memorial Hospital was developed at this site.[1]

The area's structures were built by poor workers and settlers largely with slabs and leftover lumber from pioneer Jonathan Norcross's sawmill.[2] As the railroad terminus grew, this area was associated with brothels, saloons, and gambling.

  1. ^ Garrett, Vol I
  2. ^ Krakow, Kenneth K. (1975). Georgia Place-Names: Their History and Origins (PDF). Macon, GA: Winship Press. p. 207. ISBN 0-915430-00-2.