Livingston Mims

Livingston Mims (1833– March 4, 1906) was an American politician who served as the 37th Mayor of Atlanta, Georgia during the early 20th century.

Born in Edgefield, South Carolina, he later moved to Mississippi and represented Hinds County in the state legislature from 1859 to 1861. He was the only child of Henry Mims and Susan Burr Read of Edgefield, South Carolina.

During the United States Civil War, Major Mims served under General John C. Pemberton and saw action in the Battle of Jackson, Champion Hill and Vicksburg Campaign. Shortly after those losses, he joined Joseph E. Johnston's staff and shared a friendship and business interests until Johnston's death in 1891.

After the war, he became southern manager of the New York Life Insurance Company (since 1868) and he was charter member and served 20 years as president of the Capital City Club. Following his death in 1906, he was buried in Westview Cemetery. In observance of his death, Atlanta's City Hall was closed for one half day, and free carriage rides were offered from City Hall to the Westview Cemetery.

I do not know exactly the church to which I owe allegiance, as I am a contributor to several. My wife is a Christian Scientist, my daughter is an Episcopalian, my father was a Baptist, my mother was a Presbyterian, and I am a confederate Veteran with inclinations to the Salvation Army.

Livingston Mims, Campaign Speech (1900)

Politically he was an old school Democrat and he was elected mayor of Atlanta in October 1900. The election came in the midst of Atlanta's streetcar war; he was supported by Joel Hurt (Atlanta Consolidated Street Railway Company) and opposed by Henry M. Atkinson (Georgia Electric Light Company).

On October 9, 1901 he rode in the inaugural streetcar over the Peachtree-Whitehall viaduct– before then it was a dangerous at-grade crossing of many busy railroad tracks.

His two-story residence was on the northeast corner of Peachtree St and Ponce de Leon Ave (current location of the Georgian Terrace Hotel).

Legacy

Livingston's onetime Atlanta home became the site of a restaurant by Gary Mennie in 2009. The restaurant is named "Livingston" after the former mayor.