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.