Atlanta Zero Mile Post, Railroad terminus marker in Downtown Atlanta, US
The Atlanta Zero Mile Post is a stone marker placed at the location where the Western and Atlantic Railroad had its southern terminus point. The original sits in a museum exhibition, while a replica marks the initial spot beneath Central Avenue.
A stone marker from 1842 marked the southern end of the railroad line after a landowner donated property for the station site. From this point, the settlement grew from a place called Terminus into Marthasville and eventually became the city of Atlanta.
The Zero Mile Post served as the symbolic center of the early city and appears in stories locals share about Atlanta's origins when talking about how the city began. Visitors standing at the location recognize it as the starting point for all the city's streets and measurements.
The original marker is housed in a museum exhibition, so visiting there requires planning ahead to view it. A publicly accessible replica beneath Central Avenue is easier to reach and shows where the historic spot was located.
The post determined not just where the city was located, but also its first boundary, which extended exactly one mile in each direction from the depot. This early surveying measurement shaped the street layout of the city for decades.
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