The Perkerson neighborhood (formerly called Perkerson Park) is located in Southwest

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

, in NPU-X (Neighborhood Planning Unit). The name change was made at the request of residents and members of the Perkerson Civic Association (PCA) in order to keep people from confusing the neighborhood with Perkerson Park, the large 49-acre park that serves the area.

Boundaries

The neighborhood is surrounded by the

Downtown Connector In Downtown Atlanta, the Downtown Connector or 75/85 (pronounced "seventy-five eighty-five") is the concurrent section of Interstate 75 and Interstate 85 through the core of the city. Beginning at the I-85/ Langford Parkway interchang ...

and

I-75 Interstate 75 (I-75) is a major north–south Interstate Highway System, Interstate Highway in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes and Southeastern United States, Southeastern regions of the United States. As with most Interstates that end ...

to the east, SR 166 to the north, the Atlanta- East Point city limits to the west, and Cleveland Avenue to the south.

History

The area that now encompasses the Perkerson neighborhood was originally owned by Jeremiah S. Gilbert (a farmer), who purchased the land from his father, the first doctor in Fulton County. Gilbert was married to Mathilda Perkerson, the daughter of Thomas Jefferson Perkerson, who was the second sheriff of Fulton County, who originated from another pioneer family of Fulton County. The Perkerson neighborhood developed on the land of Thomas J. Perkerson and Jeremiah S. Gilbert. They purchased 500 acres (2.0 km²) from his father's holdings. The land was not developed fully until the 1950s. Thomas J. Perkerson settled in Land Lots 103 and 104 (Perkerson Park and Sylvan Hills) with his family in the mid-1830s. His home stood for over a hundred years on Perkerson Road (Old Rough and Ready Road) before its demolition for construction of a grocery store. Thomas Perkerson was the second sheriff of Fulton County. His land was subdivided into Perkerson Park and Sylvan Hills in 1944 after the death of Lizzie Perkerson Butler, who was the last family member to live in their house, which had survived General Sherman's burning of Atlanta. The family refused to leave the house as Matilda Perkerson Gilbert was too sick to be moved. Plunkett Town was located at the southern edge of what is now Perkerson, around the current location of the

Cleveland Avenue interchange.

Neighboring communities in NPU-X

Capitol View and Sylvan Hills are to the north, but they are at least a mile apart. Hammond Park is located on the south side of Cleveland Avenue and extends down to the Hapeville city limits.

Housing

Places of interest

* Jeremiah S. Gilbert House at Avery Park and the Jeremiah S. Gilbert State Memorial Site *Roseland Cemetery

Education

Perkerson residents are zoned to schools in the

Atlanta Public Schools Atlanta Public Schools (APS) is a school district based in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It is run by the Atlanta Board of Education with Superintendent Dr. Bryan Johnson. The system has an active enrollment of 54,956 students, attending ...

Elementary schools

* Perkerson Elementary School (for students who live north of Pegg Road) * Emma Hutchinson Elementary School (for students who live south of Pegg Road)

Middle schools

* Sylvan Hills Middle School * Crawford W. Long Middle School

High school

South Atlanta High School # School of Engineering # School of Health and Medical Science # School of Law and Government # School of Leadership & Economics {{Coord, 33.69, -84.41, region:US-GA, display=title Neighborhoods in Atlanta