Roads Like Powers Ferry Tell Of Atlanta’s Link To Chattahoochee

Listen to Michael Kahn discuss how the Chattahoochee shaped the Atlanta region we know today.

Atlanta may not have the same connection to its nearby river, the Chattahoochee, as other urban areas with bodies of water passing through them.

But, according to Curbed Atlanta’s Michael Kahn, the Chattahoochee River has been, as he puts it, “a major piece of the puzzle in shaping the Atlanta we know today.”

He says to understand the river’s legacy, we just have to look at the names of streets and places around our region — think of Powers Ferry Road, Island Ford Parkway and Jones Ferry Road. According to Kahn, these names tell of a river-based economy that once connected Atlanta to then-far-flung northern settlements, like Roswell.