Howell Station Historic District
Also known as: Knight Park Historic District
Why it's listed
Howell Station is a blue-collar neighborhood northwest of downtown Atlanta, platted in a grid in the early 1890s by developers S.D. Niles and W.B. Goldsmith. It grew around the Western and Atlantic Railroad, which reached the area in 1843, and the light industry along Marietta Street. Early residents worked for railroad companies, followed by workers in nearby industry. The district contains 210 contributing buildings, mostly modest houses such as shotgun, Georgian cottage, bungalow, gabled-ell and Hall-Parlor types, in Craftsman and Folk Victorian styles. Four historic churches, a few brick commercial buildings on West Marietta Street, and Knight Park with its community building serve as community landmarks. Black and white residents lived in separate sections, and the surviving Black section on Herndon Street allows the two groups' housing to be compared. Tree-lined streets, granite retaining walls and informal front yards set the neighborhood apart from the surrounding industry. It was recognized for architecture, planning, landscape and ethnic heritage, with a period of significance of 1890 to 1947.
Significance in brief: The district is argued to be of statewide significance in architecture, community planning and development, and landscape architecture. It is presented as a rare, intact blue-collar railroad and light-industry neighborhood with period house types, community landmark buildings and a park-like landscape. The listing was amended to add Ethnic Heritage (Black), because the district has housing built for both Black and white workers that can be compared directly.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 97000352, listed April 17, 1997. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | Roughly bounded by W. Marietta, Rice, Baylor, and Herndon Sts., Niles Cir., and Longley Ave., Atlanta |
|---|---|
| County | Fulton County |
| Listed | April 17, 1997 |
| Reference number | 97000352 |
| Resource type | District |
| Period of significance | 1890-1947 |
| Architect / builder | Unknown |
| Architectural style | Neo-Classical Revival, Colonial Revival, Bungalow/Craftsman, Folk Victorian, Gabled Ell Cottage, Shotgun, Georgian Cottage |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Architecture, Community Planning and Development, Landscape Architecture |
| Level of significance | State |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Still largely residential with single and multiple dwellings, a department store use, and churches. The Knight Park community building closed to the public in the mid-1980s and is used for storage. About half of the original neighborhood was lost to the Mead Packaging expansion and the Fulton County Jail. |
| Acreage | 224 |
| Coordinates | 33.78501, -84.41965 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
This is a historic district. Buildings within its boundary are either contributing (they add to the district's significance) or non-contributing. Owners of contributing income-producing buildings can claim the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit; homeowners should look at state credits. National Register districts impose no design review by themselves; a local historic district ordinance, if one exists, does (the difference explained).
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 97000352.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q6422259
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.