ANSLEY PARK
Profile
Tommy Tift was born in 1927, the same year the house he grew up in was built, at
235 The Prado. He moved to Ansley Park when he was two years old, and as he grew up
here, Tommy experienced a seemingly idyllic childhood of the kind now only seen in nostalgic Hollywood movies. There were lots of children in the neighborhood, and many dogs
who explored alongside them. It was a gentle time in Ansley Park. There were few automobiles on the streets, so the children could wander with impunity. This area was then in
the suburbs of the city and boasted huge trees, creeks, and magnificent woods nearby.
Tommy was a part of a group of 15 boys
from Ansley Park who attended Spring Street Elementary School, O’Keefe Junior High, and
Boys High School, which is now Grady. He fondly recalls the education that he received in all
three schools was excellent and more than adequately prepared him for college.
The boys loved sports of all kinds—baseball, kickball, football, street hockey—and they
found on the neighborhood streets perfect spots for a pick-up game of any kind. The large
island at the corner of Inman Circle and The Prado was a favorite, but if they wanted a larger
space, they migrated to The Dell. When they played street hockey, they went to Inman Circle,
donned their roller skates, cut a limb with a curved end from a tree, and gathered a pile of
tin cans for pucks. Competition was fierce. Their main access to all parts of Ansley Park was
the alleys. In these hidden green spaces they could play cops and robbers, hide and seek,
explorers, and could even practice jumping from garage to garage.
On Saturdays whoever was available walked to the Tenth Street Movie Theater, where 25
cents covered the ticket, bag of popcorn, and drink. Tenth Street was a magical place for the
boys because it was a village filled with stores and restaurants that served all the residential
communities surrounding it.
Ann and Tommy Tift
Tommy loved to explore, and Collier Woods, which lay behind his house, was a perfect venue for this young Livingston. He spent
hours racing sticks through the currents of the two creeks which meandered through the trees. He searched the Confederate breastworks—low earthen walls that dotted the area—for belt buckles, shells, and buttons from the Battle of Atlanta. He sometimes even
found arrowheads. Mr. Collier’s house was the only structure on the property. The Boy Scout hut was located at the corner of what is now
Robin Hood and Montgomery Ferry and provided easy access for more fun on the Ansley Golf Club greens.
The Depression gave the adolescent Tommy the opportunity to meet some interesting people who began to frequent the woods. The
train tracks ran through Collier Woods, and the train slowed down each day at the same place just before it reached the station. This
gave the hoboes time to get off or on the train, and a small camp grew up there consisting of a few lean-tos and a fire pit. The travelers
were eager to share a can of peas hung over the fire on a coat hanger with a boy who so clearly enjoyed being with them. They regaled
him with their stories, and he talked to them about the things he had found in the woods and the history the area held.
When Governor Eugene Talmadge lived in the Governor’s mansion, which was on the corner of The Prado and Montgomery Ferry,
Tommy found his way there and thoroughly enjoyed visiting the goats that the governor housed on the tennis courts.
When he was hungry, Tommy would ride his bike to a friend’s house and share breakfast with the family, sometimes consuming two or
three meals at different homes during the course of the morning. Doors were never locked, and neighborhood children were welcome at
all times.
Tommy attended Georgia Tech then the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, and he served in the Navy at sea on destroyers.
When he left the service in the mid-1950s, he embarked on a successful career in real estate development, with various properties in
Georgia and Florida. His signature project is the office and warehouse complex Atlanta Air Center, near the airport. At a time of life when
he has earned the right to take it easy, he still maintains a rigorous work schedule. The lessons he absorbed in childhood seeing those hit
hardest by the Depression—the values of hard work, thrift, and discipline—have served him well.
Tommy’s family continued to live in the house on The Prado for almost sixty years until his mother died in 1984 and his father died
four years later at age 98. When Tommy and Ann Tift were married in 1989, they decided they would move into the house. They began a
restoration project that took five years, and now the house has become another gem among the historical jewels of Ansley Park.
Now as Tommy and Ann walk the neighborhood, he loves to tell her the stories of the exploits of his band of 15 merry men, the
houses they lived in, and most importantly why he loves Ansley Park, which he says is just the friendliest place he’s ever known!
— Jane Price Harmon
Ansley’s Alleys
SOLD
OUT!
Sunday, October 7 ✮ 4:30 to 6:30 p.m.
Those of you who have already signed up and paid $10, here are the details: We will take a walking tour
through a selection of historical alleys in Ansley Park. With Ward Seymour as our guide, we will learn when they
were created, why they are here, and why we still have them. Be ready to walk for about 1½ hours, finishing up
with a well-deserved glass of wine at a home on one of the alleys.
The tour begins at the driveway of Nancy and Charles Harrison, 81 Peachtree Circle. We will leave PROMPTLY
at 4:30 p.m.
For those of you who were not able to get into this limited event, we will be doing another walk in the spring.
A N S L E Y P H I L E O C TO B E R 20 1 2 www.ansleypark.org
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