Currently the many stories of historic Buckhead are not highlighted and made accessible to visitors, though Buckhead is teeming with a wealth of history and cultural heritage that is ideal for the fastest growing tourism segment: cultural and heritage tourism. It’s not just about seeing historical buildings or watching reenactments of epic battles anymore. Instead, heritage tourism is based on the notion that communities have their own stories, culture and histories that transcend simple placards that mark a place of importance.

The Buckhead Master Interpretive Plan is an outgrowth of the 2010-2011 Buckhead Greenspace Action Plan. Championed by City Councilman Howard Shook, the Greenspace Action Plan was precipitated by a need to identify strategic ways to add greenspace to Atlanta City Council District 7, which had been identified as the lowest parked district in the City of Atlanta. The result was a vision – known as the Buckhead Collection—for an interconnected network of parks, trails, plazas and greenspaces serving the social, economic, mobility, and environmental needs of Buckhead residents, workers, and visitors. During the process, Buckhead Heritage worked to create a database of identified historic resources in the community, which included those buildings listed on the National Register of Historic Places or those designated as local Landmark buildings as well as sites commemorated by Georgia Historical Markers. This endeavor made it clear that a more comprehensive historic resources survey was necessary to genuinely understand the community’s built environment and how it reflects the history and historical development of Buckhead.

Why create an interpretive program? Interpretation tells the story of a place, conveying a fuller appreciation and understanding of its cultural landscape and its history. Rather than being based on academic structures, historic interpretation is generally presented in non-traditional ways outside of classrooms, within the cultural landscape of a place.

The  experience goals are defined in three categories, known as the “A B-C’s” of planning:

• AFFECTIVE – What the experience makes visitors feel during and after their visit
• BEHAVIORAL – What actions the experience inspires visitors to take during and after their visit
• COGNITIVE – What messages the experience presents to visitors for their interpretation

The Interpretative Mater Plan will guide Buckhead Heritage, Livable Buckhead and our partner organizations in integrating historic interpretation at sites throughout Buckhead’s green space system over the next 5 to 7 years. Having this cohesive plan as a foundation will ultimately make interpretative efforts throughout the community more effective. The interpretive program will ultimately bring significant benefits to the community and the visitor groups who interact with the interpretive program.

The Buckhead Heritage Society is a 501c3 non-profit that was established in 2005 to sustain the quality of life in Buckhead by identifying, preserving, and promoting its historic resources. The organization endeavors to foster a conscious respect within the community for its rich and diverse history, ensuring that Buckhead’s historic resources are accommodated in future growth and secured for the benefit of the community.