Remembering the old Brookhaven business district
Donald Mims remembers Brookhaven Pharmacy and other businesses that used to be located along Peachtree Road in Brookhaven. He and his four brothers all attended Brookhaven Elementary. His three older brothers went to Chamblee High School, while Donald Mims and his younger brother went to Cross Keys.
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.
This photo from the Georgia State University archives shows a bit of Woolworth’s to the left and on the far right is one of the drug stores Donald Mims remembers.
He recalls two drug stores, Brookhaven Pharmacy and Peachtree Drug further north on Peachtree Road. His two older brothers worked at the soda fountains of the two pharmacies.
Marc Hayes remembers the old Brookhaven Pharmacy on the west side of Peachtree Road in the mid-1960s. His memory is of it as a small store. There was a soda fountain with a few small tables and chairs.
Another photo of Brookhaven business district before Peachtree Road was straightened. A dangerous curve was located in the area where many businesses sat. Georgia State University Library helped me obtain copies of these photos when I co-wrote “Images of America: Brookhaven” with Rebecca Chase Williams a few years ago.
Hayes and his wife lived in the Peachtree Gardens Apartments from 1966 until 1968. This is now the location of Town Brookhaven. He rode the #23 Oglethorpe bus to downtown Atlanta.
One of Hayes memories is a Greek restaurant with Greek dancing and music entertainment. The restaurant and the VFW were accessible from Apple Valley Road. He also remembers a Brookhaven BBQ joint.The BBQ restaurant was in a concrete block building and had Coca-Colas sitting on ice.
He recalls when Brookhaven had a Woolworth’s until the late 1950s. Many changes occurred to make way for MARTA (Metro Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority). Hayes tells, “That whole North Druid Hills Road and Peachtree Road intersection doesn’t look anything like it did then, primarily due to the underpass work at both Dresden and North Druid Hills.”
Joe Greear has written a memoir about life at his family home on North Druid Hills Road, near I-85. His parents bought a home on two acres in an area that went from woods and farms to commercial development and office buildings. His memoir is titled “Growing up on the Edges, A Memoir of Growing up in DeKalb County.”
Greear and his brother would go to the downtown Brookhaven area. He remembers, “Just past the railroad tracks was the Brookhaven Building Supply, located on a small parcel of land between the railroad tracks and Peachtree Street. I recall it as one long loading dock with an order counter and a warehouse behind. There was minimal product on display but I remember seeing large bags of livestock feed stacked on the floor. When shopping at Brookhaven Building Supply, my dad would order his lumber and supplies at the front counter and the employees would load the order into our 1940s Willys Overland.”
“A random collection of stores and buildings ran along Peachtree Street from North Druid and the Brookhaven Building Supply to Dresden Drive. At the corner of Dresden and Peachtree Street was the A&P grocery which became our first family grocery store. The A&P building was pretty old and I remember that it had a stamped tin ceiling, a few aisles of shelves and glass cases which displayed meat and poultry. There were no ‘self serve’ freezers or coolers. Customers were helped by staff that stood behind the glass cases. My mom’s weekly routine was to call the A&P from work with her grocery list which was packed in paper bags and waiting for my parents to pick up on their way home.”
Greear remembers the post office and movie theater across Peachtree Street. He saw his first scary movie at the Brookhaven Theatre-”The Fly” starring Vincent Price. “The Brookhaven Theatre was not an elaborate movie house like the Fox, it had only a few embellishments but despite its simplicity, it was a nice place to watch a movie and I always loved the smell of the popcorn in the lobby.”
Just down the road was Oglethorpe University. “In the 1960s,” recalls Greear, “a strip mall, Cherokee Plaza, was built a half mile south of old Brookhaven. The A & P and the post office moved in to become the anchor stores and several of the small shops and restaurants joined them.”