09/03/2026
Did you know that during Prohibition in the 1920s, the spaces beneath Underground Atlanta became some of Atlanta's most notorious speakeasies? π€
When the city built the viaducts and raised street level by a story and a half, the original storefronts went underground, completely hidden from the new street above. Bootleggers and proprietors turned them into clandestine bars and juke joints where the music never stopped, even when the law said it should.
Blues legend Bessie Smith even wrote about it:
"Down in Atlanta G.A., underneath the viaduct one day, drinking corn and hollerin' hoo-ray, piano playin' till the break of day."
Atlanta went dry. Underground didn't.
Those same walls are still down here today. Come find them.
π Underground Atlanta, 50 Upper Alabama St.
π Take MARTA to Five Points
π·: Georgia State University Library