Piedmont Heights is Atlanta’s oldest community, settled in 1822 by Benjamin Plaster. This was two years before Archibald Holland bought a tract where Terminus, now Atlanta, was founded in 1837. Plaster built a bridge over Peachtree Creek and the trail to it later became Piedmont Road.

In 1956, the Piedmont Heights Civic Club was formed to halt the commercial re-zonings which were shrinking the residential area and in 1957 Gotham Way Park was created as a buffer. In 1964 Ansley Mall shopping center opened on Monroe Drive, bringing many more businesses to the community. The Civic Club evolved as well and became the Piedmont Heights Civic Association (PHCA).

In 2005 the Atlanta BeltLine was created and proposed public transit in the old railroad corridor. PHCA formed a planning committee to mitigate its impact and in 2012 produced the “Greater Piedmont Heights Master Framework Plan” which won an Award of Merit from the Urban Design Commission and was cited by the Georgia Planning Association for “good, practical solutions” to the traffic problems.

The non-profit Piedmont Heights Community Improvement Foundation (PHCIF) was formed in 2013 to raise money for neighborhood improvements and implement the master plan.

In 2014 the Greater Piedmont Heights Business Alliance was formed as a committee of the Piedmont Heights Civic Association.  It's purpose was to organize local businesses and give a voice in PHCA and to preserve and enhance the mixed-use character of the neighborhood.

Today Piedmont Heights honors the rich heritage of its roots in old Easton and takes great pride in characterizing itself, quite aptly, as a “small town in the big city.”

Today, over 2,000 households make up Piedmont Heights neighborhood by the City of Atlanta and NPU-F. Currently, the neighborhood borders are Piedmont Avenue/Road (east), the no longer in use Norfolk Southern railroad bed (west), and I-85 (north).