Valerie Biggerstaff Valerie Biggerstaff

Books, bookmobiles, and libraries in DeKalb County

According to history at dekalblibrary.org, the bookmobile first came about around 1940 as part of Roosevelt’s Work Progress Administration (WPA). Maud Burrus put books in the back of her car and visited readers in small towns and farms throughout the county. Louise Trotti followed in Maud Burrus footsteps and became the first supervisor of bookmobile services.

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Valerie Biggerstaff Valerie Biggerstaff

Getting Distracted by a Farmhouse on Covington Highway

They always had a big garden and lots of fresh green beans, sweet potatoes, and corn every summer. Sometimes we helped pick vegetables from the garden. At dinner time, which is also known as lunch, or supper time, which some people call dinner, my cousins and I would devour multiple ears of corn.

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Valerie Biggerstaff Valerie Biggerstaff

Cheek/Spruill House Also Home to Church family

The historic home at the intersection of Chamblee Dunwoody Road and Mount Vernon Road is known as the Cheek/Spruill Farmhouse, however another family lived there between the Cheek and Spruill owners and that was the Church family.

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Valerie Biggerstaff Valerie Biggerstaff

Tolleson Kirby's Dunwoody Mail Route

Originating at the post office in Dunwoody, the route went north on Chamblee Dunwoody Road, Pitts Road and Roswell Road as far north as John Sullivan’s store (today Northridge Road). From there it went south to the Morgan Falls power plant, to Sandy Springs, to the area of Chastain Park, continuing on Roswell Road to the area known as Poletown; then back in a northerly direction on Mount Vernon Road to complete the circle back to the beginning. With the possible exception of Roswell Road, none of these roads had names at the time.

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Valerie Biggerstaff Valerie Biggerstaff

Lawson General Hospital Used for Georgia Tech Housing Post WWII

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.

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