[This is an expansion and republication of an evergreen article we first published in July of 2017, when the Courier’s web traffic was about a tenth of our current readership.]
On Nov. 18, 1954, an article in the Atlanta Constitution opened with the following paragraph. “The Belmont Hills Shopping Center, planned as the largest center in the Southeast, will hold its grand opening on Thursday, with Georgia’s Miss Neva Jane Langley, Miss America of 1953, and Seventh Dist. Rep. Henderson Lanham leading ceremonies.”
The article described the grand pageantry planned for opening day…