"We've gotten this place to this point over a hundred years of additions," Atlanta History Center President and CEO Sheffield Hale told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution in January. "Now it's time to tie a bow on it and open up the present for Atlanta."
Nine months later, much of the bow is tied and some of it isn't. For the households of Tuxedo Park, whose closest cultural institution is the campus at 130 West Paces Ferry Road NW, the largest change of the centennial year is still unfinished. The Civil War galleries were rebuilt in phases, and the second phase sits behind a door with no posted opening date. Along with a second exhibition that is also still listed as upcoming, it means the campus will look most different after the celebration calendar has wound down.
A Year Planned as a Sequence
The Atlanta Historical Society was founded in 1926. Walter McElreath, an Atlanta attorney who served in the state Legislature, organized it, and the Atlanta Constitution announced it on April 11 of that year. WABE reported that the society's first acquisitions were bulletins from Spelman College's early years, and those documents are still in the collection.
The centennial plan the AJC described in January went well beyond a single anniversary event. It called for overhauling about one-third of the gallery footprint to replace the permanent Civil War exhibition, a commemorative coffee-table book, a touring exhibition of founding documents from the National Archives, a sports makeover for the Goizueta Children's Experience, and an exhibition on Georgia's Trail of Tears.
Those pieces have opened one at a time:
- Freedom Plane, the founding-documents exhibition, ran March 27 to April 12.
- Atlanta in 100 Objects opened April 25 as a campus-wide exhibition tied to the book. Its range runs from the first map of Atlanta used during Sherman's 1864 siege to 1950s couture gowns by Atlanta native Ann Moore. The Swan House itself counts as one of the hundred.
- The Goizueta Children's Experience, which first opened in January 2025, was rethemed around Atlanta sports, according to Rough Draft Atlanta, working with the Braves, Hawks, Falcons, Atlanta United and Atlanta Dream.
- More Perfect Union: The American Civil War Era opened Friday, July 10.
The fourth item is the one the rest of the year still depends on.
Half the Civil War Floor Is Open
More Perfect Union opened in the fully renovated DuBose Gallery, and Rough Draft Atlanta reported that it is the first of two phases. It replaced "Turning Point: The American Civil War," which ran for nearly 30 years.
The size of the change explains why the work was split. Once both new galleries are open, they will hold more than 15,400 square feet of interpretive space, almost double the footprint of Turning Point. Counted with the existing Cyclorama, the Center's Civil War offerings will cover more than 30,000 square feet, which the press release cited by Rough Draft says makes it one of the largest Civil War presentations in the country.
The open half begins with an immersive media room. Photographs, headlines and political cartoons flash across multiple screens while period voices argue over one another. From there the exhibition moves beyond the battlefield, tracing the war from the founding era through its effects on the present. The Center says many of the artifacts have never been shown publicly. Among them:
- An original copy of Frederick Douglass' speech "What to a Slave is the Fourth of July?"
- The Confederate flag that flew over Atlanta when the city surrendered
- The battle flag of the 127th U.S. Colored Troops, bearing the words "We will prove ourselves men"
- Major General William T. Sherman's personal copy of "Photographic Views of Sherman's Campaign"
- A hand-painted bass drum carried by William A. McKinzie of the 78th Illinois Infantry during the Atlanta Campaign
What Is Still Listed as Coming
The second phase is "The Hard Hand of War: Soldiers, Weapons, and Mass Production," planned for the Goldstein Gallery. The Center describes it as an armory-style installation about the battlefield experience, with weapons, uniforms, military gear and personal items. It will also look at how the war's advances in weapons technology had lasting consequences around the world.
The other centennial exhibition still listed as upcoming is "Exile from Georgia: The Cherokee and Muscogee Trails of Tears." Rough Draft reported in March that the museum developed it with representatives of the two nations.
The published timelines for these two don't match each other:
| Exhibition | Location | What the sources say |
|---|---|---|
| The Hard Hand of War | Goldstein Gallery | The Center's own page says "Opening Fall 2026" and gives no date. Rough Draft's July 10 report said it would open "this winter." |
| Exile from Georgia | Not specified | Rough Draft reported a fall opening in March. The Center's exhibitions page lists it as upcoming with no date. |
As of mid-October, neither one has a date. The Hard Hand of War page still says "More information coming soon!" and offers an email sign-up for updates. If the Goldstein Gallery opens in winter, the Civil War floor will finally be complete just as the anniversary year turns over.
The One Exhibition Built From Outside the Archive
Every other centennial exhibition draws on what the Center already holds. "Joy to the City: Atlanta Smiles at the Camera" also takes contributions. It opened this month as a centennial exhibition from the Center's historic photography collection, focused on moments of joy around the city, and runs from October 2026 to summer 2027.
Submissions are open now for a digital display inside the exhibition. The Center asks for candids, styled shoots or anything in between that shows people in Atlanta and the surrounding metro in moments of joy. The submission guidelines on the Center's exhibition page are specific. Submit only photos you own or created. You must be 18 or older, so younger contributors need a parent or guardian to submit for them. Submitted material is deeded to the Center with a non-exclusive license for public use, display and publication, and contributors keep the right to use their images elsewhere.
With a run into summer 2027, this exhibition will outlast the anniversary year as well.
The Remaining Calendar
Two dates remain on the Center's centennial event list, after Spring Fest on March 22, Juneteenth on June 19 and Fall Fest on September 19.
- Wednesday, November 11, 11 a.m. A free Veterans Day ceremony at Veterans Park on the campus, followed by more programming that includes Civil War tours of More Perfect Union.
- Saturday, December 5, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Winter Fest, with Santa photos, crafts, seasonal garden activities and programming in the historic houses. The Goizueta Children's Experience will offer seasonal hands-on crafts.
What a Return Visit Costs
Because the work keeps arriving in pieces, the campus rewards repeat visits more than a single afternoon. The ticket prices bear that out.
The Buckhead campus is open Tuesday through Sunday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The historic houses open at 11 a.m., and onsite parking is free. Adult admission is $31 on weekdays and $35 on weekends. Youth tickets are $27 and $31, children 3 and under are free, and buying online saves $2 per ticket.
An Individual membership costs $80, Dual $110 and Family $145, and each includes free campus admission. Two adults visiting on a weekend pay $70 at the door, so a Dual membership pays for itself on the second weekend visit. A single adult paying the weekday online price of $29 passes the $80 Individual rate on the third visit. The membership page also lists access to the Goizueta Children's Experience and the Center's signature holiday events among the benefits, each with conditions noted on the page.
The year has a reasonable order of visits. More Perfect Union and Joy to the City are open now, the Veterans Day tours offer a guided way through the new gallery, and a later visit will show whether the Goldstein Gallery is open.
Tuxedo Park's homes and the Center's campus share a stretch of West Paces Ferry and many of the same stories, from the Swan House to the estates around it. If your own house has a history you want told well when the time comes, Sonny Jones brings the same care for provenance and presentation to every listing. Request a private consultation.
