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Southern Spaces
A journal about real and imagined spaces and places of the US South and their global connections

"Glistening in the newest coat of paint from the platform of the street car terminal station to the big white fence at the back of the toboggan slide; enlarged, improved and filled with all the devices of popular amusements, which will delight grown-ups and children, Ponce de Leon, the playground of Atlanta, will be thrown open to pleasure-loving patrons, Monday May 21. Promptly at noon the mammoth show will begin, and then for nearly six months the park will be the mecca for many pilgrims who will journey there to find relief from the din and confusion of the city, during the long, hot summer. When the gates of the park are opened wide for the thousands of visitors they will find the old playground of Ponce de Leon has passed away, and in its stead a fairyland has been created, studded with multitudinous attractions [midway, skating rink, picnic grounds, etc]; retaining the former amusements, which were the joys of those who hungered and thirsted after pleasure, while new features have been added, which promise in time to become as universally popular as the old… " (Atlanta Journal, May 13, 1906)

Published: 15 January 2008
© 2008 Sarah Toton and Southern Spaces