After World War II ended, there was a serious shortage of housing for returning veterans across the United States. In the Atlanta area, solutions included families living in military tents on rented land or in trailer parks set up for the purpose of housing veterans with families.

The classic movie The Best Years of Our Lives tells the story of three World War II soldiers returning to their hometown after the war ends. One of the soldiers was played by Harold Russell, a World War II veteran who lost both hands in a training accident and ended up at Lawson General Hospital in Chamblee, Georgia. There he received treatment, which included prosthetic hands and training on how to use them in his daily life.

In 1989, thirty acres of land were for sale on Roswell Road and advertised as the perfect spot for another car dealership. Thankfully, John Ripley Forbes wanted to save this land. He recognized that there were many large historic trees on the property.

Fred Donaldson was born at Donaldson Farm in 1925 (today known as Donaldson-Bannister Farm) at the corner of Vermack Road and Chamblee Dunwoody Road in Dunwoody. One of the wash pots from the farm is still in the family at his daughter Freda’s home and Donaldson recalls how it was used by his grandmother and his parents.

The first Lynwood Park School was built in 1942. J. C. Lynn, administrator of the Cates estate, arranged for a fifty by one hundred fifty-foot lot from the Cates estate to be donated for the purpose of building a school. It was a one-room school constructed on Mae Avenue, with no running water and heat provided by a wood-burning stove.

In my research, the earliest reference to a school in Cross Keys appears in the 1879 Georgia Gazetteer, where towns throughout Georgia are listed.

The Gazetteer describes Cross Keys as a place with a railroad stop known as Goodwin’s, nine miles west of Decatur and 12 and ½ miles north of Atlanta. It further describes the community as having a Methodist and Baptist Church, along with a common school. It also lists a few key residents, such as C. C. Hart, physician and J. H. Polk, teacher.

Dr. Moore arrived at Lawson General Hospital in January of 1945. “I was reamputating soldiers coming from the Battle of the Bulge and the European Theatre,” recalls Dr. Moore. “I had a ward of thirty-four beds kept full. We had five or six surgeons at Lawson.” He performed surgeries ever day of the week, usually with only Saturday and Sunday off.

Ralph Glaze was born in 1943 at Chamblee Hospital, run by Dr. Mendenhall. His parents had moved from Stone Mountain to property along Peeler Road and Cherry Hill Lane just a few years earlier. They opened a small store at this location. A few years later, they purchased property where Tilly Mill Road meets Winters Chapel and opened H. T. Glaze Groceries.

Donaldson-Bannister Farm is celebrating its sesquicentennial this year and to commemorate the occasion I am sharing the stories of the six families who lived there. The last family to live at Donaldson-Bannister Farm was the Chesnuts, who moved there in 1975.

Editor’s note: The pioneering developer of the residential and commercial centers of Dunwoody has been eager to tell his story of how what is now Perimeter Mall almost became a corridor of apartments resembling Buford Highway. We were happy he spent some time with our reporter.

Dunwoody, Chamblee, Doraville, Sandy Springs, Roswell, and Brookhaven.  These neighboring communities north of Atlanta each have a unique story (or stories) for how their names came about. 

Following the bombing of Pearl Harbor December 7, 1941, stars of Hollywood traveled around the United States to promote the sale of war bonds. One of those stars was actress Dorothy Lamour, who came to Decatur and Atlanta in May of 1942 for bond rally events.

This is the story of two soldiers stationed at Camp Gordon in Chamblee, Georgia during World War I. They are Julius Lombardi of New York City and Edward Mauney of Blairsville, Georgia. Thank you to their families for sharing this history.

Julius Lombardi’s granddaughter shared his journey. He first came to New York City from San Marino with his family in 1907, at the age of fourteen. Ten years later, he was drafted and sent to New York’s Camp Upton and soon after to Camp Gordon.

Frank and Hortense Smith, along with their children Frank, Jr. and Bonnie moved into the 1870 home at the corner of Vermack Road and Chamblee Dunwoody Road in Dunwoody in 1956. Bonnie Smith Nichols has returned to the home and property in recent years to share her memories of the family’s time there. 

William R. Wallace and his two brothers came to DeKalb County not long after the Civil War. They were all Confederate veterans and they all built mills in the county. Wallace bought his land along what is now Chamblee Dunwoody Road, along Nancy Creek and including where Chamblee United Methodist Church, The Preserve at Fischer Mansion and D’Youville Condimiums are located today.

What do Dr. C. C. Hart, Dr. J. Cheston King, Veterans Hospital #48, DeKalb Services Center and Brookhaven Park all have in common? At one time or another, they all were located on the southwest corner of Peachtree Road and Osborne Road. DeKalb Services Center and Brookhaven Park are located there today.

When World War II came to an end, Henry Ogden wanted to experience country and farm life, so he purchased a farm in Dunwoody, Georgia.  Leila Harris Ogden was less enthusiastic about this adventure into country life.  The farm was at 4831 Chamblee Dunwoody Road and is now Donaldson-Bannister Farm, a Dunwoody Park, owned by the city of Dunwoody and rehabilitated and managed by Dunwoody Preservation Trust. 

Men between the ages of twenty-one and thirty-one across the United States registered at their local draft board on June 5, 1917 and those who turned twenty-one after the first draft registered on June 5, 1918. Mabry Lunceford, a farmer from Camp Hill, Alabama turned twenty-one December 8, 1917.

George Shevenock was part of Company C, 326th Infantry, 82nd Division.  From Camp Dix he was sent to Camp Gordon and on March 15, 1918 he was promoted to Corporal.  He departed the U. S. along with the 326th on April 29, 1918 from New York headed to Southampton, England and then to LeHavre, France and eventually Toul, France on June 25, 1918.

One of the summer homes along Spalding Drive was that of Judge Samuel D. Hewlett, Sr.  Hewlett Road is named for him and the lodge he built on the Chattahoochee River is headquarters for the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area, located within Island Ford Park.

On September 29, 1918, The Atlanta Constitution reported that 1,893 cases of Spanish Flu had been reported at Camp Gordon. 962 soldiers were sent to the camp hospital.