The Atlanta Chamber of Commerce founded the magazine "City Builder" in 1916 which ran until 1960.[6] It was succeeded by Atlanta, founded in 1961[7] under the editorship of Jim Townsend.[3] It was sold in 1970,[3] and changed hands several times over the next two decades.[8]Metrocorp bought the magazine in 1987,[9] and in 1989 sold it to American Express for an estimated $8 million.[8] Emmis Publishing, a subsidiary of Emmis Communications, bought the magazine from American Express in August 1993.[8]Atlanta won the National Magazine Awards' feature writing award in 2008.[10]
Since 2005, the magazine has also been hosting an annual Awards segment commemorating the success of Atlanta. The "Best of Atlanta" award shines a light on the best Cityscape, Restaurant, Poet, Oral Pleasures amongst other categories from Atlanta.[11] On March 1, 2017, Emmis Publishing announced that it has sold four of its magazines, including Atlanta, to Hour Media Group, LLC for $6.5 million.[12]