Joel Hurt

Born 1850 in Hurtsboro, Alabama, Hurt was an Atlanta visionary whose accomplishments included: Surveys of the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad (from Albuquerque westward in 1871); revival of the Atlanta Building and Loan Association (1879); establishment of the Atlanta Home Insurance (1882) and East Atlanta Land Companies (1886); construction of the world's first first financially successful electric street railway, the Atlanta and Edgewood Street Railway Company (1886); development of Atlanta's first suburb, Inman Park (1888); President of the American Street Railway Association (1890s); construction of Atlanta's first power company; building the South's first fireproof office building (the Equitable Building); incorporated the Trust Company of Georgia (1893); organization of the Kirkwood Land Company (1902) to develop Druid Hills (engaging Frederick Law Olmstead to landscape it); construction of the Hurt Building (1912).

In 1876, Hurt married Annie Bright Woodruff, daughter of George W. and Virginia Lindsay Woodruff. Shortly after moving from Columbus that same year, Joel and Annie Bright settled in Atlanta. By 1884, they had three children. In 1887 they moved to Inman Park. Joel Hurt died in 1926. Photograph courtesy of Atlanta Historical Society

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