West End/Atlanta University Center

From colleges to historic homes

The Atlanta University Center Consortium, the world’s oldest and largest consortium of historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs), is located near the Atlanta’s West End – a historic Atlanta neighborhood.

Atlanta University Center is composed of Morehouse College, Spelman College, Clark Atlanta University and Morehouse School of Medicine. Visit to explore the concentration of HBCUs and understand the role of the colleges in the fabric of Atlanta’s culture.

The historic community of West End – founded in the 1830s at the height of railway construction – features fully restored period homes and Victorian cottages. The neighborhood is located on the MARTA line and is – you guessed it – just west of downtown Atlanta.

The Wren’s Nest, located in West End, is the former home of Joel Chandler Harris – author of the Brer Rabbit stories. On Saturdays, the Queen Anne Victorian house is open for tours and live storytelling sessions led by professional storytellers.

Another neighborhood treasure is the Hammonds House Museum, home to a permanent collection of more than 450 works dating from the mid-19th century by artists from America, Africa and the Caribbean. Highlights of the collection include works by Romare Bearden and the oldest known painting by acclaimed landscape artist Robert S. Duncanson. More artists whose work you can see at Hammonds House are Benny Andrews, Elizabeth Catlett, Sam Gilliam, Richard Hunt, Jacob Lawrence, P.H. Polk, Hale Woodruff and James Van Der Zee.

See more art at the Clark Atlanta University Art Museum the Spelman College Museum of Fine Art. Clark Atlanta offers programs and exhibits focusing on African and African diaspora art. The Spelman museum is the only museum in the nation emphasizing art by women of the African Diaspora. Both art galleries are open to the public with special lectures and performances year-round.

Want to go?

Location: West End/AUC is located 2.5 miles southeast of Peachtree Street in downtown Atlanta.
Getting there: Take the MARTA red or gold lines to the West End station.

Did you know…

Southwest Atlanta is home to Alfred “Tup” Holmes Golf Course, which was named in honor of the golfer whose actions led to the desegregation of all public golf courses in America.
West End was the initial test pilot for the Atlanta BeltLine and a model mile was completed in 2008.
The Wren’s Nest got its name from the Harris children who discovered a wren had built a home in the family mailbox. Instead of removing the nest, they built a new mailbox.
Cascade Heights, also located in Southwest Atlanta, is the residential epicenter of Atlanta’s black elite and powerful. Notable residents include: former Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin, baseball legend Hank Aaron, former UN Ambassador and Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young; civil rights leader and congressman John Lewis and Benjamin Mays, Ph.D. (1894-1984).