The name of the historic district comes from a previous name for Peachtree Street, one of the main roads in Atlanta.[2] Since early in the city's history, this corridor of Whitehall Street was considered a major retail center,[3] with the Atlanta Preservation Center calling it "Atlanta's commercial and retail core."[2] In the Antebellum era, the area was also the site of the city's slave market.[3] In 1907, the M. Rich Building was completed,[3] and during the early 1900s, many notable companies operated in this district, including Rich's, H. L. Green, Kress, and McCrory's.[2] The district is also notable for the sit-ins that occurred there during the civil rights movement of the 1960s.[2]
^ abcLee, Conor (March 15, 2014). "The M. Rich Building". History Atlanta. Archived from the original on September 25, 2020. Retrieved August 13, 2020.