This is a street-level, northwesterly view up Decatur Street and into Five Points from approximaely the intersection with Loyd Street, known nowadays as Central Avenue. At the time the picture was taken, Pryor Street did not cross Decatur and span across the Railroad Gulch; North Pryor began on the left side of the picture between the Atheneum and the Trout House; South Pryor began on Alabama Street.

All of these buildings were destroyed not long after this photograph was taken in November 1864.

Today, the buildings on the left, or north side of the street - the Empire House (see "Mysteries" section), the Masonic Hall, the Trout House, F. Corra's Fancy Grocery, the Atheneum and T.M. Clarke's Hardware store - have in their place, respectively, two clothing stores, the Natural Science Center of Georgia State University and the Thornton Building (1932), now known as 10 Park Place and part of the GSU campus.

Most of the southern side of Decatur Street was empty, except for one or two buildings at the southeastern corner of Peachtree Street (Peachtree began at the Decatur Street intersection) and that corner is now filled by GSU's College of Education. In 1864, most of the south side of Decatur was fronted by the City Park, which extended behind and beside the Atlanta Hotel and then out to Lloyd Street. The Park, laid out in 1850 by architect William Gabbitt, was by the time this picture was taken, filled with small shacks built by Federal troops (View Five.) But even before that some Confederate troops had lived in the space, reducing what had once been "one of the greenest spots in Atlanta" to tatters.

Now, on to the annotations:

Inset A is a closeup of the pediment of a frame structure located to the right of the Masonic Hall. I believe this sign says "Empire House" although the Empire House hotel was, according to contempory sources, on Whitehall Street. I explore that discrepancy in greater detail in the "Mysteries" section. Here, have highlighted lettering on the pediment. Heree can be seen a partial E, a complete M, a possible partial P, a comple I and what may be a partial R. It is clear that the word "House" appears underneath these arced letters.

Inset B is a closeup of the walkway underneath the balcony of the Trout House. On the right is a closer and more legible view of the sign for W. Rodgers' tailor shop, which apparently was located in the right corner of the hotel's ground floor. Further back, and highlighted and circled, is a gas lamp over the front door of the hotel. This lamp, the row of gas jets over the doors of the Masonic Hall (View 5) and the street lamps on Whitehall Street are the only examples of outdoor lighting I have found in Barnard's photographs.

It is worth noting that neither the Trout House or the Empire House had been actual hotels for some time. Both had been converted into hospitals by the Confederate Army and had served that purpose until shortly before the occupation. Afterwards, the Trout House, at least, provided residences and/or offices for Federal officers.

Inset C is yet another sign: this one a street-level sign for the Atheneum. The lower floors of this building provided a warehouse for J.C. Williams, who built the theatre and leased it to W.H. Crisp, who managed it for his acting troupe. When this photo was taken, however, the Atheneum had not produced a play for some time. It had been closed down due to rowdy behavior by soldiers and layabouts who made it impossible for women to attend. Instead its stage had long since been given over to slave and other auctions. However, all that changed during he occupation, as is discussed in the "Mysteries" section.

Across from the Atheneum, on the southern side of Decatur Street, is a building replaced in modern times by GSU's College of Education. I have not been able to identify this building, but 1864 advertisements in the Daily Intelligencer mention a watchmaking and jewelry shop run by Hiram T. Jones as being "opposite the Atheneum" and A. Ponce's tobacco and cigar shop was said to be "on Decatur Street" "near the Atheneum."

Somewhere on Decatur Street, possibly within this photograph, was a drinking establishment known as the Senate Saloon, co-owned by Col. George Washington Lee, the provost marshal (military overseer) of Atlanta.

Finally, Inset D is the best view we have of the ruins of the three-story brick building Johnathan Norcross built in 1858 to replace the former frame grocery store he built when he first bought the corner lot that thereafter was known as "Norcross' Corner." In additon to his grocery, Norcross' building was also a commercial building and housed the offices of Neal and Pittman, attorneys, and the W.G. and A.B. Forsyth shoe factory, which turned out 75 pairs of gentlemen's and ladies' shoes per day.

Seen behind the ruin of Norcross' building is what I believe was the warehouse and store of L.J. Parr, established in 1856 and identified as "one door above" Norcross'. Parr was the original owner of Markham's "Iron Front" building at the southwest corner of Alabama and Whitehall streets, seen in Picture V3-1a.