Embry Hills neighborhood and shopping early days

The September 11, 1969 Homes section of the Atlanta Journal newspaper featured an article about the second phase of the Embry Hills subdivision. The neighborhood is described as one mile east of the Expressway (I-85) and just south of the new perimeter highway at Chamblee-Tucker Road. The I-285 Perimeter was not completed until 1969.  

The neighborhood got its name from the owner-developer, Jack Embry of Embry Realty Company. He was both realtor and home builder. Embry later served as President of the DeKalb Real Estate Board and President of the DeKalb Developer’s Association. He was also Chairman of the Board of the Embry National Bank. (Atlanta Constitution, March 31, 2003)

70 homes in the first phase were already sold and occupied by 1960. The first phase included a range of architectural design including contemporary and traditional. The second phase offered 56 lots. Embry announced there would be a total of 233 homes when the subdivision was complete.

Prices in phase two ranged from $25,000 to $37,500 and lots averaged 100 by 200 feet.

One model home is described as a ranch-style brick home with three bedrooms. Another home is a four-bedroom tri-level brick home.

The neighborhood adjoined the site of Atlanta Baptist College, today’s Mercer University of Atlanta. Since the land that became Mercer was originally owned by the Warren family, it seems like Embry Hills probably was as well.

The 14-acre site right next door to the neighborhood was purchased by the DeKalb County Board of Education from the Warren family for a new elementary school. That became Warren Elementary School..

The Embry Hills Club is mentioned in the 1960 article, where a swimming pool was built on 10 acres for resident member of Embry Hills. The first Girl Scout Brownie troop I was in used to meet at the Embry Hills Club in the mid-1960s.

The developer, Embry, also zoned 22 acres at the highway along Chamblee Tucker Road for a shopping center. The Embry Hills shopping center has evolved many times through the years.

I can’t remember much about the early years of Embry Hills, but there was a dance studio and a fitness center. A little research online told me that the fitness center was My Fair Lady “Beauty retreat and figure salon” in 1971 with two other locations at Cheshire Bridge and Sandy Springs.

Everything about this ad for My Fair Lady screams 1970s. It appeared in a 1971 Atlanta Journal.

Alan Wilson remembers working at the Embry Hills Winn Dixie in 1972 when the Doraville refinery fire occurred. He could see flames and smoke from that vantage point.

Other memories for me include Huddle House and S & S Cafeteria and a dance studio. I believe it was called Barbara Bramble Dance Studio, but that is one of those memories that is a bit vague even though I took classes there!

Lawson General Hospital Dental training, Co. G, MDTS

Glenn H. Curtis

I’m pleased to share the history of Glenn H. Curtis, who spent time training in the MDTS (Medical Department Technicians School) at Lawson General Hospital in Chamblee, Georgia during World War II. Curtis received dental training at Lawson between December 1942 to February 1943.

MDTS began at Lawson General in 1942 and continued into 1945. MDTS started out with 50 people being trained as laboratory technicians, 50 in dental training, 125 in medical training, 125 in surgical training, 50 in x-ray training. The full name of the training program was Medical Department Enlisted Technicians School. In 1943, the numbers had increased in each area, including 106 dental trainees. The website of AMEDD includes history of the Army Medical Department and includes data of the various Medical Department Technician Schools across the US during WWII.

In addition to treating patients at Lawson General Hospital, men (and women with the Red Cross) were being trained to provide medical and dental care to injured soldiers. Lawson reported their students trained through “lectures, demonstration, and by actually performing over and over again the various procedures. Performance of the procedures, under close supervision, is the most important part of their training.”

Glenn Curtis’ son Gary Curtis shared memories and history he has gathered about his father’s WWII service. Glenn was born Jan. 28,1920. His WWII registration card shows he was 21 years old, working as a driver for Hanna Market in Rochester, New York.

As far as his time at Lawson General Hospital in Georgia, he didn’t share much about his service. He did talk a little about Georgia Tech and could sing the school fight song. He said he enjoyed his time in school in Georgia and at Jefferson Barracks, MO, where he was sent next.

The dental training he received would eventually be used to identify victims in aircraft training crashes in the U.S. I can only imagine that this would be difficult and stressful work, with a lot of sadness and emotions.

Dental section, Day class, MDTS Lawson General Hospital February 1943

Loren Brown, a childhood friend of Glenn Curtis from Rochester, New York was also in the MDTS program at Lawson. Brown’s fiance Lois Howell and Curtis’ girlfriend and later wife, Mildred, and Curtis’ sister Joyce Curtis visited the two men in Chamblee. They stayed in a cottage at the nearby W. O. Pierce Dairy. Visitors to patients and staff of Lawson General Hospital and trainees of MDTS usually stayed in nearby homes. There were no hotels in Chamblee at the time.

Lois Howell facing camera and Mildred Curtis facing the cottage at Pierce Dairy Farm, where they stayed on a visit to Lawson General Hospital in Chamblee during WWII.

Loren Brown stands in front of the W. O Pierce Dairy Farm in Chamblee. Brown and his friend from Rochester Glenn Curtis were in the medical training program at Lawson General Hospital.

Glenn Curtis and Mildred became engaged during her visit and they went to a jeweler on Peachtree Street in Atlanta for a ring.

While at Jefferson Barracks, MO, Glenn Curtis was injured playing baseball. Baseball teams were popular at bases across the country. Curtis is documented as being at O’Reilly Hospital during the last part of 1943 and his son believes this may have been a result of the injury.

Glenn Curtis and his brother Robert registered on the same day in Rochester, New York in January 1942. Robert Curtis served with the Army in France. Glenn would like to have served overseas, but either due to his injury or the timing of his training, he remained in the U.S. Every person who served either in the states or overseas was crucial to the cause.

After the war, Curtis opened an Amoco gasoline station near his home in Rochester. He later worked for the post office, retiring after 17 years. He also operated an antique store with his wife.

Below is the timeline of Glenn Curtis’ service:

Army Air Forces Technical Training Command St. Petersburg, Florida, Nov. through Dec. 1942

Lawson General Hospital, Chamblee, GA, Co. G, MDTS, dental, Dec. 42 to Feb. 1943

Army Air Forces Station Hospital Chicago, IL, March to June 1943

25th Training Group Squad C, Jefferson Barracks, MO, July to Oct. 1943

O’Reilly Hospital, Springfield, MO, end of 1943

Return to 25th Training Group, Jefferson Barracks

18th Replacement Wing, Salt Lake City, Utah, Feb. 1944

Walker Army Air Force base in Victoria Kansas, where his wife may have joined him until he moved on.

Worked at Pressed Steel Car Company, McKees Rocks, PA, a rail car manufacturing company that produced tanks during WW2.

3706 Army Air Forces Squad H. Sheppard Field TX, July 1945 to Sept. 1945

1060 Army Air Forces Squad E Sept thru Jan or Feb 1946

Thank you to Gary Curtis, who reached out and shared this history and amazing photos of his Dad and his time at Lawson General Hospital.

Antioch School, first Chamblee school 1905

A one-room school was built in Chamblee in 1905. Prior to that, some families sent their children to school in Roswell. Ida Wallace of Chamblee rode the Roswell Railroad from Chamblee to Roswell each week to attend school. She stayed in Roswell until the end of each week, then returned to her family in Chamblee. (“A History of the Community and the City of Chamblee,”1983 by Vivian Price)

The location of Antioch School is now 5295 New Peachtree Road. The school site was next to the First Baptist Church of Chamblee Cemetery and for many years was the location of Interactive College of Technology. Today 5295 New Peachtree Road is home to the International Pentecostal Church of God.

When the Camp Gordon World War I encampment was built in Chamblee, it took over a large portion of the town, including Antioch School. A new school was planned for Chamblee and the two-story brick school was completed and opened in 1919.

The new Chamblee School housed both the grammar school and high school. The Atlanta Constitution proclaimed the school to be one of the finest schools in the state, calling it “beautiful and modern in every respect and contains every feature of the up-to-date school house.” The final cost of the new school was $30,000.

The old Antioch School was moved to the new property and was used for the Home Economics program.

This may not seem like a great deal of historical information about Antioch School. I agree! I’ll continue to be on the lookout for more history and this blog post will be updated when and if I locate more history.

During the time that World War I Camp Gordon took over Chamblee, the school was part of the camp’s property. After the war, it was moved to the new site for the school, which is the same location as Chamblee High School today. The old Antioch School building was used as the Home Economics building. This 1940 photo also shows the cannery on the right and students forming the letters CHS in front of the school. (Photo from “A History of the Community and the City of Chamblee,”1983 by Vivian Price)

This 1938 yearbook page shows students standing in front of the Home Economics building, the former Antioch School.

Chamblee High School photo 1928

This week, I’m sharing a 1928 photo of Chamblee High School graduates. Kathryne Carpenter is in the center of the back row and the photo was shared with me by the Anderson family, descendants of the Carpenters. The Carpenter family lived in Dunwoody, but Chamblee was the only high school in north DeKalb County at the time. Students living in Dunwoody, Doraville, Brookhaven and Chamblee attended Chamblee High School.

Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season. I’ll return with a new history post next week.

If you have a relative in this photo send me a message!

Icehouses in Chamblee and Doraville

New posts every Monday.

This post was updated on December 18, 2023 with additional information about Goree Ice Company.

5441 Peachtree Road in Chamblee was once the local icehouse. Today, it is home to the Chamblee location of AR Workshop, the DIY business begun by Maureen Anders and Adria Ruff.

Chamblee’s historic icehouse is now home to AR Workshop. Next door is the Frosty Caboose ice cream store and behind the former icehouse is the railroad and MARTA.

I haven’t found much history in my research of Chamblee’s icehouse. I’m sure having an icehouse nearby was helpful to the many dairies in the area. Chamblee had 33 dairies in 1939, plus there were dairies in nearby Doraville, Dunwoody and Brookhaven.

The Pierce Certified Dairy, W. O. Pierce Dairy, and P. E. Pierce Dairy were located on both sides of North Peachtree Road, between North Shallowford Road and Peachtree Industrial Boulevard. Irvindale (previously P. E. Hyde Dairy) and Chatham Dairies were located across from the railroad tracks.  A dairy on Hardee Avenue served WWI Camp Gordon and was known as Camp Gordon Dairy. 

The Wright Dairy was located along Briarwood Road near Buford Highway and N. Druid Hills. Ice was delivered every day to the dairy, likely from the Chamblee icehouse.

This photo of the icehouse appears in “Chamblee, GA-A Centennial Portrait, 1908-2008” and indicates the icehouse is still standing in 2008. However, the photo itself is not dated.

The Goree Ice Company of Doraville opened on Buford Highway in 1946. In 1967, in addition to an ice store, Goree’s was a convenience store, gas station, and bait and fishing supply store known as Angler’s Corner. The ice plant sold block ice to restaurants and hotels for ice carvings. The plant was nonautomated and produced 17 tons of ice every two days.(“Images of America: Doraville” by Bob Kelley)

An article was written in the July 26, 1983 Atlanta Constitution about Goree’s titled“The coolest guys are on the block.”. In 1983, the business supplied ice to Allied Concrete to cool its mortar, but it also did a good business selling crushed and snow ice to afternoon picnickers. It was the only block ice business in metro Atlanta in 1983.

If you have memories of the Chamblee Icehouse or of Goree Ice Company, write to me at pasttensega@gmail.com so I can share these memories in a later blog post.