Ask a current or former Athenian to name their favorite places in Athens, and Prince Avenue is guaranteed to be on the list. The stately Greek Revival and Victorian homes, flowering dogwoods, deep-set lawns, mature trees, street-front commercial buildings, and neighborhood character of this busy historic corridor combine to lend a distinctive presence that few streets can emulate. Originally the Federal Road to the Indian Territory, Prince Avenue’s earliest existing homes date to the 1840s. Some of Athens’ and the state of Georgia’s most influential citizens lived here—among them Joseph Lumpkin, Henry Grady and Monroe “Pink” Morton. Home to architecturally-significant institutions like the State Normal School (1862), Emmanuel Episcopal Church (1899), and Fire Hall No. 2 (1901), Prince Avenue is also home to beloved Normaltown, one of Athens’ few true neighborhood business districts. A victim of the urban renewal mentality that swept through Athens in the 1950s and 60s, local history books are filled with photographs of the grand homes that are now gone. In the 1970s, students, artists, musicians and young professionals who craved the inexpensive rent, historic ambience and character of the Prince Avenue neighborhoods, moved in. A large number of them eventually bought homes there and have lent Prince Avenue an eclectic yet authentic new character that gracefully blends with the historic. This tour will last approximately 2 hours.Your tour guide:Amy Andrews has lived in the Prince Avenue area for more than 25 years. Born in Akron, Ohio, she first came to Athens as a child to spend summers with her father and grew to love the architecture, culture and sense of place that imbued the city. She received her bachelor’s degree in French from the University of Georgia and became a realtor long enough to learn and explore the nooks and crannies of Athens, which only increased her appreciation of its historic neighborhoods. She is an administrative specialist in Finance and Administration at the University of Georgia, where she has worked for the last 17 years. She is a graduate of Leadership Athens and serves as co-chair of Citizens for Healthy Neighborhoods, a Normaltown citizens group. She is finishing her second term as a trustee of the Athens-Clarke Heritage Foundation and is a member of the Education Committee.←→
