If you’ve been in Atlanta for even fifteen minutes, you’ve probably driving on a street named some iteration of the word “Peachtree.” It might be confusing at first, with your GPS constantly telling you to turn onto Peachtree, continue onto Peachtree, and so on, but Atlantans sure love their Peachtree streets.
So the big question: how many streets in Atlanta are named Peachtree Street?
71. Yeah, that’s right, according to the Atlanta history center, seventy-one streets in Atlanta are named with some form of the word “Peachtree” in it. The most famous Peachtree on the list is of course, Peachtree Street–or, as some refer to it, Atlanta’s Main Street. Peachtree Street runs from Five Points in downtown Atlanta through Midtown and ends just a few blocks after entering Buckhead. The street is one of the longest in Atlanta, running 6.2 miles.
So why is every street named Peachtree Street?
You might be thinking: oh, easy. We’re the peach state! And that’s true, yes, but there’s more to it than that. The City of Atlanta was built on Indigenous land, which belongs to the Muskogee peoples (traditionally known as Creek). And according to Atlanta History Center, the Muskogee “had a settlement at the convergence of Peachtree Creek and the Chattahoochee River. The Muscogee word for the site is Pakanahuili, which translates into English as ‘Standing Peach Tree.’”
One of the first roads ever named Peachtree was actually a little-used road which followed the path of a Muskogee trail. So basically, the idea to name streets after peach trees go all the way back to before Atlanta even existed.
Maybe you’ll think a little more about Peachtree Street’s history next time you’re stuck on it in rush hour traffic!
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