Old Fourth Ward | |
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| Nickname: O4W | |
 Old Fourth Ward and Eastside neighborhoods | |
| Coordinates:33°45′58″N84°22′19″W / 33.766°N 84.372°W /33.766; -84.372 | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Georgia |
| County | Fulton County |
| City | City of Atlanta |
| NPU | M |
| Population (2010) | |
• Total | 10,505 |
| Source: 2010 U.S. census figures as tabulated byWalkScore | |
| Website | O4W Business Association |
TheOld Fourth Ward, often abbreviatedO4W, is a historicintown neighborhood on theeastside ofAtlanta, Georgia, United States. The neighborhood is best known as the location of theMartin Luther King Jr. historic site.
The Old Fourth Ward's borders:
The exception is the area west ofBoulevard and south ofFreedom Parkway which, although historically part of Atlanta's Fourth Ward (seeAtlanta annexations and wards), is considered a separate recognized neighborhood calledSweet Auburn.
The neighborhood can be divided into three areas, with Freedom Parkway and Boulevard serving as dividing lines.
The area north of Freedom Parkway and east of Boulevard is home to the 2.1 million sq. ft.Ponce City Market, amixed-use development, andHistoric Fourth Ward Park, a product of the BeltLine project. In the 2010s, many newmulti-family developments have been built bordering the park, including BOHO4W, AMLI Ponce Park, and 755 North.[1] The BeltLineEastside Trail is the eastern border of this area.
The area west of Boulevard and north of Freedom Parkway was once calledBedford Pine, and, prior to the 1960s, it was a slum calledButtermilk Bottom. In the 1960s, slum housing gave way to massive urban renewal and the construction of large projects, such as theAtlanta Civic Center, theGeorgia Power headquarters, and public housing projects. Bedford Pine was officially absorbed into the Old Fourth Ward neighborhood, whose boundaries officially extend west to Piedmont Avenue.
Boulevard itself, in the 1890s described as "one of the most desirable residence streets in the city,"[2] has for decades been notorious citywide as a center of crime and drug activity, as well as the highest concentration of Section 8 housing in the Southeastern United States. However, in January 2012, City CouncilmanKwanza Hall revealed a seven-point "Year of Boulevard" strategy to revitalize the corridor.[3]
The largest concentration of single family homes are found south of Freedom Parkway, especially south of Irwin Street, and the area is perhaps the most eclectic part of O4W. Auburn Avenue and Old Wheat Streets are in character extensions of the historic African-American business and residential district,Sweet Auburn, and of theMartin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site.
The Ward’s entertainment options in the southeast section of the neighborhood are primarily on Edgewood Avenue and Decatur Street, where there is a concentration of bars and restaurants.[4]
The eastern border is theBeltLineEastside Trail, lined with repurposed industrial buildings such as Studioplex, now used for residential and retail use.
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What is now the Old Fourth Ward is a smaller version of the historicFourth Ward political area in place until the 1950s when the city changed to a district system. It is one of the oldest sections of the city, with the westernmost blocks developing soon after the Civil War.[5] Different parts of the ward were, at different times, considered white, black, or mixed-race areas. From the 1910s onward, as Atlanta politicians moved to institutionalize racially segregated residential areas, Old Fourth Ward continued as a patchwork of whites living as close neighbors with blacks.
The Ward was home to the spectrum of races but also socioeconomic classes: the foremost thoroughfare in today's Old Fourth Ward,Boulevard, was in the 1890s called one of the most desirable residential streets in the city,[2] even as theButtermilk Bottom slum festered less than half a mile west. However, after theGreat Atlanta fire of 1917, Boulevard's grand houses were destroyed and replaced by brick apartment buildings.
As with most ofIntown Atlanta, the Old Fourth Ward declined precipitously during the 1950s and 1960s as wealthier residents moved further out from central neighborhoods. Streets, houses and businesses that sat upon the land that is nowFreedom Parkway were also razed to make way for a freeway that wasnever built. What was once a consistent and dense grid pattern of streets is now difficult to recognize, with Freedom Parkway occupying what had once been multiple city blocks.
Boulevard in particular witnessed a steady decline. The road was lined with apartment buildings constructed after theGreat Atlanta fire of 1917, most of which weresection 8 housing. Boulevard became infamous throughout Atlanta and beyond as a haven for blight, littering, drug activity, homeless encampments, prostitution, and violent gangs, a reputation that endured into the 2010s, despite revitalization efforts growing in the area. However, as more Section 8 housing was demolished and investors moved into the neighborhood, the area's amenities, demand, reputation, and public safety significantly improved.[6][7]
Gentrification of the Old Fourth Ward began in the 1980s, and continued at a more rapid pace since the 2000s. New apartment and condo complexes with ground-floor retail sprung up, particularly along theBeltLine, Ponce de Leon Avenue, North Avenue, Highland Avenue, and Boulevard. The area, which was majority Black for many decades, has seen a huge influx of diversity in recent decades. As of December 2025,Niche estimated Old Fourth Ward is 53% White, 33% Black, 5% Hispanic, 4% Asian, and 3% Other/Multi-Racial.[8]
Two of the city's iconic walking and biking trails intersect in the neighborhood:
Historic Fourth Ward Park and Skate Park opened in phases starting in 2011 and includes an attractive retention pond. The area around the park has since mushroomed with large apartment buildings.[9]
Other parks include:
The Old Fourth Ward is one of Atlanta's best neighborhoods for viewing street art.[10] Some of the best locations to view street art in the Old Fourth Ward include Decatur St., Edgewood Ave. and on and around the Eastside Trail of theAtlanta Beltline. TheOuterspace Project is responsible for bringing many works of street art to the Old Fourth Ward. Several examples of street art in the Old Fourth Ward are found on theAtlanta Street Art Map.[11]
TheMARTA Green Line runs east-west at the south end of the neighborhood, although there is no station in O4W itself.King Memorial station is to the west andInman Park / Reynoldstown station is to the east. TheAtlanta Streetcar line starts just west of the neighborhood. SeveralMARTA bus lines serve the neighborhood. Relay providesbike share.[14]
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