Neighborhoods - What was Atlanta Dairies?

A look back at the art deco building’s history before it’s repurposed into a mixed-use playground

Jwrquub
Photo credit: Photo Courtesy Georgia Archives - Vanishing Georgia Collection
ATLANTA DAIRIES
The history of the Atlanta Dairies, the Art Deco building on Memorial Drive with the iconic milk carton sign and industrial property, stretches back to the 1940s. According to Hiriam Stubbs and Forrest Davenport, the Atlanta Dairies Co-operative started operating the plant on July 26, 1945, adding yet another thriving business along the blue-collar corridor. Paces Properties, the firm that plans to redevelop the property, says H.F. Ross Laundry Company of Greenville, South Carolina, operated on the property. The co-operative continued adding buildings, such as a soft ice cream store and office building. Atlanta Dairies’ served Atlanta schools and its milkmen transported fresh milk every week to Atlantans’ porches. This year, Paces, the company behind nearby Krog Street Market, plans to redevelop the property into a mixed-use center with retail, restaurants, offices, a music venue, and a nod to the dairies’ past.