About Atlanta's old system...

[PeachtreeSirens]

Thanks for the advice. Given my (soon to be former...) metropolitan area, where the crime rate is as high as that in many areas at a fraction of the population...sounds familiar!

[freebrickproductions]

Thanks for the advice. Given my (soon to be former...) metropolitan area, where the crime rate is as high as that in many areas at a fraction of the population...sounds familiar!

Not trying to derail the thread further, but where are ya moving to?

Also, that SD-10 is a cool find. Not every day you see an abandoned siren still standing.

[PeachtreeSirens]

Watch my map thread for more details about the move, as I have a project waiting in the weeds related to it. But let's just say...

You're going to think it's just peachy.

Anyway...

I wasn't able to find the Aarons Building Altec when I poked around on street view recently. Is it visible at all from there, or would I have to make a field visit to see it?

[Brendan W]

Watch my map thread for more details about the move, as I have a project waiting in the weeds related to it. But let's just say...

You're going to think it's just peachy.

Anyway...

I wasn't able to find the Aarons Building Altec when I poked around on street view recently. Is it visible at all from there, or would I have to make a field visit to see it?

I believe it is visible from streetview. Let me look and see if I can find it.

EDIT: here is the best view I can get of it.

[Brendan W]

Alright, I got some information from a friend of mine who lives in DeKalb near Clarkston. He and I talked shop about sirens since he used to do work for DeKalb Co's Tbolts and other sirens when they were still up. Here is what he told me:

Contractor: The contractor hired for the Atlanta and DeKalb siren jobs (and maybe even the two 4/5s Tbolts in marietta) was Atlanta Electric Co. The sirens were all paid for by Civil Defense and then installed by AECo.

Years: He gave me approximate years on the sirens going in. He told me the Atlanta MD's went in shortly before the Korean War (started June 1950). In the 50's sometime, he mentioned a small number of Thunderbolts. I suspect these to be the two formerly in Marietta. In the 60s, that is when the DeKalb Siren job happened; Between 1962 and 1963 according to various pole dates I've seen on siren poles in the county. Atlanta got several Tbolts and SD-10s to replace Mobil-Directos in the 60s and 70s. I told him about the siren Will and I discovered on Holly St. He said that went in around 1965 if he remembered correctly. The last AECo siren jobs happened in 1978 and 1981. Federal building 1003 installation and relocation of Stone Mountain's Thunderbolt respectively. He told me by the time of the fall of the wall (Nov. 1989), all sirens were either dead or removed, or both. He told me the first siren to be removed was the Noland Building siren, which was removed when the building came down in 1979-1980.

Locations: He said all Atlanta sirens were at schools, fire stations, and government buildings, with a few going to residental areas and industrial parks. He told me that there were sirens in Carey Park, South Atlanta's now deserted industrial centers, at Hartsfield Jackson, the area near Kimberly and Cascade roads (He suspects this one was a Thunderbolt). Lastly, he told me there should be a siren or two left in the East Point-Hapeville area. He told me around 1999 he drove through the area and recalled seeing a siren on a factory. From the description he gave, it sounds like maybe a Model 5.

[bobcat418]

Wow this is some great info! I would try to get pictures, but it sounds like any of the sirens that might be left are in pretty bad areas. I will definitely be looking for that Model 5 on Google Earth, and I will look for sirens in other parts of the city as well. On a small side note, here is a picture that I got of the Aarons building Altec siren:

[Brendan W]

Awesome picture, bobcat! I'll do some looking on google earth and see if anything turns up in the areas my contact described.

EDIT: Nothing came up. The areas he described where a siren may be but are not limited to are:
The area surrounding the Cut Rate Box Co. building
One of the abandoned schools in the area
South of Turner field
East Atlanta near L5P (Doubt this since there was a DeKalb tbolt very close by)

[rwf]

Hello, what an interesting board!
I have always been interested in old infrastructure, especially this stuff.

I used to see that Noland building all the time. Hard to believe it went away in the early 80's. I thought I remembered it much later. In all those years I never noticed that siren though!

I grew up in Marietta and remember the old Thunderbolts. One was in the lot next door to the Southern Bell central office on Powder Springs street and the other was at the American Legion post behind Sears. I remember them going off Thursdays at 1 or 2 PM from my elementary school days.

There were others too I recall. One was at the elementary school by Indian Hills in East Cobb and I would swear it was one (Tbolt) as well. I worked for the school system and saw it often.

But what I really wanted to say was that if you look at the post from April 21st, 2013, 2:23 pm there are those 4 model A's on a lamp post. I remember them and have never ever found anyone else who did.

When I was a kid of about 13-14 (around 1969) I would ride the bus to Atlanta and visit places. One place was Olson Electronics on Peachtree, just North of the Regency Hyatt House Hotel (blue dome). In the little V area by Peachtree and Baker stood that pole. I never noticed it until one day something happened to the leased phone line that triggered those sirens and they went off for about an hour. They were so high pitched and loud! No one could figure out how to stop them. Then they just stopped.

I was telling my Son about them the other day. He's now a mechanical Engineer and loves this stuff as much as I do.

[Brendan W]

Welcome to the club rwf. Thanks for the information! I think the Indian Hills siren may be an SD-10. I think Marietta had a small handful of those alongside the Tbolts up until the 80s-90s

[Brendan W]

I know this is a stupidly old thread but I have found the Marietta St. D setup. It still exists sans one siren:
https://goo.gl/maps/Ga5t1Etm2VF2

Also the Altec Lansing in Buckhead was removed last November.