Present Day Milledge Avenue
Many of Athen’s occupants view Milledge as a social street, intended for the University’s greek affiliations. What many people do not know, is how much the street has deveioped to accommodate for these social insitutions. As many of the estates became too expensive for families to own, the street’s gradual shift to a more sociable location became more obstrusive. From the fire insurance map created in 1888 to this current map, Milledge Avenue has seen many other transformations allowing for such expansion. An important addition to Milledge was the creation of Athens High School, which was later renamed Clarke Central High School, in 1952. The school developed alongside Milledge by going from an all white school to becoming completely desegregated in 1970. In 1953, The Varsity was built in the middle of Milledge. This was not the first time Athens residents had been introduced to this famous restaurant. The original Varsity in Athens was created in 1932 but was quickly shut down after the plaement of one on Milledge. The University of Georgia and Athens grew hand and hand with Milledge Avenue and the development of the city can be seen by the changing infastructure and socioeconomic factors of this prominent street.
Milledge has helped play an important role in the development of the entire city of Athens with the introduction of the streetcar line. Originally introfuced in 1888, the line was led by mule pulled cars. This transit system was inaffective with bad weather and was very unorganized. As technology improved electric cars took over, which decreased the desire for a public transportaion system. Around 1970, public transportation was brought back to life with the use of coaches. Passenger Boardings averaged about 900 people per day. The University of Gerogia created their own bussing system that is still intact today. The students at the University are the target for any transportaion system. Students use this system as a way to get on and off campus during the school day and to locations downtown. As Milledge Avenue became more populated by UGA students, the transportion system dedicated an entire bus to Milledge Avenue which provides many students easy access to this bussing system. The current transit system serves a population of 100,000 people. Nineteen busses operate in the morning covering over fourty miles of Athens through eighteen different routes. As the population and development of Athens grew, the transit system needed to accomadate. Even as the University grew, the transit system transitioned to prioritizing student’s needs and desired transportation routes on and off of campus.