A blog by Valerie Biggerstaff
According to ancestry.com. Greenville Henderson was born in South Carolina in 1792.. He married Nancy Ann Barnett in 1813 in Morgan County, Georgia. He was also known as Major Greenville Henderson, having fought in the War of 1812. His father fought in the Revolutionary War.
The land of Greenville Henderson extended from the area of Henderson Mill Road and Henderson Road to where Northlake Mall and other commercial businesses are located. He is said to have accumulated 2000 acres.
Read moreClint Daniel and Carlton Renfroe, who grew up nearby, shared with me what they remember about Lawson a few years ago.
Carlton Renfroe was always a great source of local history. He was happy to share his stories and tell me all he remembered about Dunwoody and Chamblee from his childhood. Sadly, he died in September of 2021 at the age of 89.
Renfroe’s family moved from downtown Atlanta to Dunwoody in 1941. His father was hired as a plumber at Lawson General Hospital. Renfroe remembers that during World War II it was difficult to find and buy candy, but his Dad was able to buy some at the PX at Lawson and bring it home to his children.
Read moreI haven’t thought much about the history of Waffle House until recently, but the first one opened in Avondale, DeKalb County, Georgia on Labor Day weekend of 1955. The founders of the iconic restaurant were Tom Forkner and Joe Rogers, Sr.
Waffle House history is included in DeKalb History Center’s exhibit to commemorate 200 years for DeKalb County. There was also a Waffle House menu in the 1997 time capsule opened at the celebration on August 25, 2022. The bicentennial exhibit is open Monday through Friday 10 am to 4 pm and Saturdays from 10 am to 2 pm in the historic courthouse at 101 East Court Square in Decatur, Georgia.
Read moreThis past week a new exhibit opened at the DeKalb History Center to celebrate 200 years for DeKalb County. I was fortunate to attend the opening night event, a “Birthday Bash” for DeKalb County complete with birthday cake and the opening of a 1997 time capsule held at the DHC home in the historic DeKalb Courthouse at 101 E. Court Square in Decatur.
The bicentennial exhibit, as well as other exhibits, are open Monday through Friday 10:00 am until 4:00 pm and Saturdays 10:00 am until 2:00 pm.
Read moreThe 1924 home of Elon and Lizzie Jordon sat on Spalding Drive just west of where Georgia 400 is today. When traveling on Spalding Drive from Roberts Drive towards Roswell Road the home was on the right side of the road. Larry Jordon, grandson of Elon and Lizzie shared this history several years ago.
Read moreThe first Dunwoody library was not in the same location as the current Dunwoody library. It was at 5064 Nandina Lane, where the offices of the Dunwoody Crier newspaper were once located and where Ernie’s Barbershop, Moondog Growlers and other businesses are located today.
Read moreDeKalb History Center archives includes history on several elementary schools from the county, including Evansdale Elementary on Evans Woods Drive in Doraville. Jim Cherry, Superintendent of DeKalb County Schools from 1947 until 1972 requested a brief history of the schools he supervised and the Evansdale one is in the archive.
According to the school history of Evansdale Elementary, it opened in September of 1967 with an enrollment of 650. The following year enrollment was 720 and in 1969 enrollment grew to 788.
Read moreIn the 1930s, Frances Virginia Tea Room moved to the corner of Ellis and Peachtree Street as more space was needed. This building was called Collier building, named for early settler George Collier and is where the silhouette of Frances Virginia’s face is remembered as hanging next to the restaurant sign over Peachtree. “For almost four decades her portrait reigned in neon over Atlanta’s famous Peachtree Street.”
Read moreJuly 20, 2022 marked the 53rd anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing with astronauts Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins and Buzz Aldrin. As Neil Armstrong took his first step on the moon and said the words, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind,” those who watched remember where they were on that historic day.
In 2019, the year of the fiftieth anniversary I asked readers of the Dunwoody Crier newspaper about their memories of the Apollo Moon Landing.
Read more“Germans Sign Armistice, World War Comes to End.” This was the Atlanta Constitution headline on November 11, 1918 and the good news was celebrated all over Atlanta and in the surrounding communities.
Teachers led school children in patriotic songs and then dismissed them early. Boys from Tech High School marched through town as they celebrated and cheered. Atlanta city offices were ordered closed by Mayor Asa Candler. Students of the Southern Shorthand and Business School on Whitehall Street in downtown Atlanta gathered in the street and sang “America.”
Read moreIn 2011, I had the pleasure of speaking with Wilma Paris about her career as a Chesnut Elementary teacher. I had recently written about the school and stated the age as fifty years. Wilma Paris called the Dunwoody Crier newspaper to let them know that was incorrect. She was there for the first day of classes at Chesnut was December 10, 1969, as a first grade teacher and remembered the day well. At that point, the school was 42 years old and 2019 marked the 50th anniversary.
Read moreSometimes life throws you for a loop and some things have to be put on hold. This week is one of those times for me.
I have many subjects I want to pursue. See if one catches your eye and send me a message.
Frances Virginia Tearoom: I don’t remember if I went there or not. It is possible I did as a little girl with my mother or grandmother. I have my mom’s Frances Virginia Tearoom cookbook and treasure it greatly.
Who remembers the putt putt course that was on Shallowford Road between Chamblee Tucker Road and Buford Highway? I went there quite a few times as a teenager, because it was close to our house. I don’t remember it as the type of course that had animals, clown heads, and other unusual designs for putt putt play.
I’ve heard about a drive-in movie theater on Peachtree Industrial Boulevard, near Chamblee Plaza or across the road? I don’t think I ever went there, but would love to hear some memories, such as what movies did you see there. The main drive-in theatre I remember in north DeKalb county was the North I-85 drive-in.
I’ll be back soon with one of these stories or another local history story. Write me to me through the Contact Us button or email pasttensega@gmail.com.
Thanks for reading Past Tense GA! Valerie
Mims recalls, “Brookhaven Supply at intersection of North Druid Hills and Peachtree Road, Buice Sinclair was next, Bagley Electric, laundry, Brookhaven Pharmacy, gasoline station with fire station behind it, and the A&P just to start. The Brookhaven Picture Show was across from the Drug store and was run by Mr and Mrs Tittle.” He remembers there were many more stores along Peachtree Road.
Read moreIn the early part of the twentieth century, there was a school at the intersection of Jett Ferry Road and Spalding Drive. It sat up on a hill and was known as Chestnut Ridge School. This Chestnut school is spelled with a “t”, unlike Chesnut Elementary on North Peachtree Road.
Read moreWhen I first wrote about the Doraville Triangle Refinery fire that began on April 6, 1972 for the Dunwoody Crier newspaper, I received an email from Todd Drummond of Dunwoody. He shared the story of living on Doral Circle, the street adjacent to the refinery, when the tragic fire took place. The family home was closest house to the fire, but miraculously did not burn. He was five years old at the time.
Read moreSince I grew up in Georgia, finding and enjoying Georgia peaches is a tradition in my family which I am happy to continue. When I was young, one of my aunts lived off Highway 155 in Stockbridge, Georgia and had a peach orchard behind their house. My mom, grandmother, aunts, cousins and I would make a day of going to their farm to pick peaches. Following this outing, Mom and my grandmother would freeze peaches so we could continue to enjoy them well after summer.
Read moreThe Air-Line Belle was a commuter train that ran from Atlanta to Toccoa from 1879 until 1931. It began because the people of Norcross wanted a commuter train between their town and Atlanta. The engine was named for Belle Foreacre, wife of G. J. Foreacre, head of Piedmont Airline Railroad. Piedmont Airline Railroad was the predecessor of Southern Railway. (Atlanta and Environs II, Franklin Garrett)
Read moreAbout a month ago, I wrote an article for the Dunwoody Crier about Camp Gordon in the years after World War I ended. You can read the article here.
Since that time, Clint Daniel, grandson of Edward Clinton Daniel, Sr. shared the document below. His grandfather worked as a watchman at Camp Gordon, guarding warehouses near the railroad, beginning in 1920. The letter was sent by Quartermaster T. C. Locke and indicates that Daniel will receive $100 per month for the job. Thank you to Clint Daniel for sharing this historic document.
In 1933, the building committee of the Dunwoody Methodist Church was authorized to begin plans for a new chapel. The decision was made to build the chapel on one acre at the site of the old parsonage, across Mount Vernon Road from the original 1903 chapel. $450 was collected from members to begin construction.
The community came together to help accomplish their goal of a new Methodist chapel. In 1935, Euil Spruill donated the use of his two mules to excavate the land.
Fred and brother Fletcher Donaldson drove to Stone Mountain to pick up granite for the basement, walkway and steps of the church. Their father Will did the stonework around the new building. The old four-square wooden building that sat across the street still held Sunday School and preaching during the construction.
Read moreThe first Dunwoody School sat along Chamblee Dunwoody Road where the Dunwoody Library and Spruill Center for the Arts are located today. The land for the first school in Dunwoody was donated by Zachariah Eidson. The earliest school dates to the 1890s and was a plain wood building. The next school, built in the 1920s was a painted white building with a front porch and a small bell tower. Then, in the 1930s a brick building was constructed.
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