Mozley Park lakes

From the air

Mozley Park's swimming lake was drained between 1949 and 1955 and sat empty for about 20 years before becoming today's lawn and pool.

First seen

The main lake is already full in the 1940 aerial; a second, smaller pond is first clearly seen in 1949.

Gone

The swimming lake was drained by 1955 and was a lawn with a pool by 1981. The second pond was probably still full in 1955 and was gone by 1968.

Low water and drawdowns

• Between 1949 and 1955: The 1949 lake is dark and full, with docks and a rope line across its narrow middle. In 1955 the same curbed basin is pale and empty. It stays empty in 1968 and 1972, so this was a permanent draining, not a seasonal drawdown.

Read from aerial photos taken between 1940 and 2026 and from USGS 3DEP lidar, then checked by a second reading. How the photos were read.

History

In 1922 neighbors asked Atlanta to buy Dr. Hiram Mozley's estate, described as 38 wooded acres with a colonial house and 'two artificial lakes.' Until the end of World War II the park hosted baptisms in the lake, boating competitions and a tropical pageant with over 200 dancers. It was designated for whites until 1954, when it was opened to Black use. Around 1975 the swimming lake was filled and replaced by a new pool, later named for Herbert S. Powell. The second lake's fate is not documented, and no builder or dig date was found. 12

Who built it

The record does not say who dug the lakes or when. They belonged to the estate of Dr. Hiram Mozley (1844-1902), a Confederate veteran and Lemon Elixir maker described as primary landowner of Battle Hill. They existed by 1922, when residents asked City Council to buy the estate and cited 'two artificial lakes.' No source names the stream or spring that fed them. 1

Timeline

1. July 28, 1864Battle of Ezra Church fought near the later park ground. Union XV Corps lines faced Confederate attacks; casualties totaled about 3,642. A HMDB marker places the church site in Mozley Park. 134
2. 1900Mozley's original Neoclassical mansion dates to 1900, per the park history. Mozley died in 1902. 1
3. 1922Residents ask City Council to buy the Mozley estate for a recreation area, citing 38 wooded acres, a colonial house suited to a community house, and two artificial lakes. The purchase date is not stated. 12
4. After 1922Wikipedia says a park was developed with roadways, landscaped areas, lakes, a swimming pool and a bathhouse. It gives no dates or sources here, so treat details as likely. Likely 2
5. Park opening to 1945The park history says that from its opening through the end of World War II it hosted baptisms in the lake, boating competitions and a tropical pageant with over 200 dancers. The opening year is not given. 1
6. 1937A Black physician buys three lots in the neighborhood but abandons building plans after work crews are threatened (Wikipedia, no source shown). Likely 2
7. 1948William A. Scott Jr., an African American and son of the Atlanta Daily World's founder, builds a home on the corner of Mozley Place and Chappell Road (Wikipedia). Likely 2
8. February 1949Rev. W. W. Weatherspool buys a house on Mozley Place, and over 200 white residents gather in what the park history calls a 'near riot.' 1
9. 1949Some white residents form the Mozley Park Home Owners' Protective Association to stem the expansion of Black residents (Wikipedia). Likely 2
10. September 1951Black real estate agents advertise a mass listing of Mozley Park homes in the Atlanta Daily World (Wikipedia). Likely 2
11. 1954Mozley City Park, originally specified for white use only, is officially designated for use by Black residents. Wikipedia says the mayor agreed to the transfer. 12
12. 1958Georgia Historical Commission erects the Site of Ezra Church marker (060-143) in Mozley Park. HMDB reports it missing, though it was confirmed standing in 2003. 4
13. 1960-1963Interstate 20 is built through Atlanta and Mozley Park. 1
14. 1964The Atlanta Inquirer lists problems including windows broken for years, rotted boards on the pool deck and untended grounds. The 1900 mansion is damaged beyond repair by fire. 1
15. 1966C. A. Scott Recreation Center is built on the mansion's foundations. 1
16. c. 1975The swimming lake is filled in and replaced with a new swimming pool, later named for Herbert S. Powell. The page gives no citation. Likely 1
17. August 11, 1995Mozley Park historic district is added to the National Register of Historic Places. 12
18. 2018 and 2021Friends of Mozley Park forms in 2018 and later opens an off-leash dog park, described as the Westside's first. 1

Names

Battle Hill

Name of the land Dr. Hiram Mozley owned, tied to the 1864 Battle of Ezra Church. It names the land, not the lakes. 1

Mozley estate lakes / Mozley Park swimming lake

Descriptive labels only. The 1922 petition text says 'two artificial lakes'; the park history calls the surviving water body 'the swimming lake.' No formal lake names turned up. 1

The dam

No dam record found. No National Inventory of Dams entry was checked or found, and no source mentions a dam, spillway or engineering for either lake. They are described only as 'artificial,' so whether they were dammed ponds or excavated basins is not stated.

Around the lake

Water

No stream or watershed was named in any source found. Not sourced.

Civil War

Mozley Park lies on the Battle of Ezra Church field of July 28, 1864. Two 1958 HMDB markers are in the park: Site of Ezra Church and The Federal Salient at Laurel Ave and Archer St SW, a salient in Logan's XV Corps line. Both are reported missing or altered.

Segregation

The park was specified for white use only and was designated for Black use in 1954, after the neighborhood's contested racial change that began around 1948 to 1949. The park history says the 1964 Atlanta Inquirer listed neglected conditions.

Before 1861

Ezra Church stood on a half-acre deeded by James and Nancy Coursey to its trustees on Oct. 31, 1853. No mills were found for this site.

Visiting

Getting there

City of Atlanta park with the C. A. Scott Recreation Center, a pool and an off-leash dog park, per the park history. Current hours, pool operations and trail connections were not confirmed; the city parks page could not be fetched.

What you can see

No lake survives. The recreation center stands on the old mansion foundations and the Powell pool replaced the swimming lake. The Ezra Church marker is reported missing, and the Federal Salient marker post now carries a different marker.

Look, don’t dig. Parks, cemeteries and preserves are off limits to digging and collecting, and private land needs the owner’s permission to enter.

Open questions

• Where exactly did the two lakes lie in the park, and which stream fed them?
• Who dug them, and when? Was it Mozley before 1902 or an earlier owner?
• What happened to the second lake, and when?
• Was the pool deck noted in 1964 an earlier pool, or was the c. 1975 pool built on a different footprint?
• Did the swimming lake have a dam, and was it ever inspected?
• When did the city complete the purchase and open the park? Exact filling date? The park history says 'around 1975' with no citation.

Know something? Write to hello@historyunderfoot.org. Family papers, photos and deeds often settle these.

Where to look next

• Atlanta Journal 1922 articles on the petition and city purchase of the Mozley estate (Atlanta Journal 1922; Kenan Research Center, Atlanta History Center; Georgia Historic Newspapers)
• Atlanta Inquirer 1964 report on park conditions (Atlanta Inquirer, university or library holdings)
• Kevin M. Kruse, White Flight (Princeton, 2005), Mozley Park section (University press; library copies)
• NRHP nomination for Mozley Park Historic District (listed 1995) (National Archives NRHP database or Georgia Historic Preservation Division)
• Historic aerials: GSU 1949 Atlanta and Fulton aerials, plus USGS topo editions, to see the lakes before filling (Georgia State University Library aerial collection; USGS topoView)
• Atlanta parks department annual reports and park plans for Mozley Park, 1920s-1970s (Atlanta History Center; Atlanta city archives)
• Sanborn insurance maps of west Atlanta for the estate footprint (Library of Congress or Digital Library of Georgia)

Sources

1. History - Friends of Mozley Park Friends of Mozley Park
2. Mozley Park - Wikipedia Wikipedia
3. Battle of Ezra Church - Wikipedia Wikipedia
4. Site of Ezra Church (marker 060-143) Historical Marker Database