Lowery was responsible for launching the careers of Ray Stevens, Sonny James, Jerry Reed, Mac Davis, Joe South, Atlanta Rhythm Section, the Tams, Tommy Roe, Bertie Higgins, and Billy Joe Royal.

In Pat Conroy’s “My Reading Life,” he talks about his favorite books and the time in his life that he discovered them. Some of those books come from his association with Norman Berg. He tells the story of Norman Berg inviting him to stay at the cottage on his property, which Berg called Sellanraa.

Cecil Ramsey went to Georgia Tech and worked as a construction engineer. He planned and supervised the construction of his Dunwoody home. The floors were walnut with wood pegs. A lake was dug out on the property and other children would come over to swim. Carlton Renfroe and Keller Henderson Barron grew up nearby and both recall swimming at the Ramsey lake.

According to the story shared by William C. Wardlaw IV, born in 1938 and known as B., his grandfather won a large parcel of land and a shack that stood on that land as the winnings from a poker game in the 1920’s. The long driveway leading to the home began on Mount Vernon Road.

Dr. P. J. Moore, Jr. celebrated his 101st birthday March of this year.

In addition to being a surgeon, Dr. Moore helped soldiers in treatment at WWII Lawson General Hospital see that golf was a sport they could participate in after their recovery.

A 1939 article in the Atlanta Constitution describes Sirron Nurseries as sixteen miles outside of Atlanta and three miles from Chamblee on Chamblee Dunwoody Road. The article states that the 75 acres nursery is owned by Ora Green Norris (Mrs. A. L Norris) and is managed by landscape architect H. K. Shirley. The nursery was particularly known for the shrubbery they grew. There was a small painted white wood building for the nursery with the words Sirron Nurseries across the front. Customers could contact the nursery by calling Cherokee 1922.

Ferries were once the primary way to cross the Chattachoochee River. There were two places to get across the river on foot, where the water was shallow enough for this to be possible. One crossing was at the Shallow Ford, just west of the Roswell Road bridge across the river. The other was the Island Ford, where the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area at Island Ford is today. This article will cover a few ferries, but does not include all the ferries of the Chattahoochee River.

Ebenezer Primitive Baptist Church followed the tradition of Sacred Harp Singing. Also known as Fa, Sol, La singing, no musical instrument were used to accompany the voice. The voice was believed to be the only musical instrument needed. In the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, singing schools were often held at local churches and schools. Ebenezer Primitive Baptist Church sometimes hosted these events, as well as Sacred Harp Singing Festivals.

Michael Hitt pointed out that the history of indigenous people goes much further back, before the Creek and Cherokee were in this area. A Georgia Department of Natural Resources chart shows the Archaic period as 8000 BC to 1000 BC. During this time, people would have used natural shelters, such as the the rock overhangs along the paths of the Island Ford Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area in Sandy Springs.

I recently came across this postcard of a group of soldiers at Norcross Rifle Range and have been researching their names to learn who they were. They are from Company B, 325th Infantry, 82nd Division. I’ll return to this postcard later as more information is discovered, but for now I want to share what I’ve found about three of the men.

Thanks to L. C. Orr, I was able to learn the history of the land where Peachtree Charter Middle School is located on North Peachtree Road. Mr. Orr shared his memories of living in a two story farmhouse on the land between 1943 and 1948

Roberts Drive in Dunwoody and Sandy Springs is named for the engineer of the Roswell Railroad Isaac (Ike) Roberts. He was the engineer for the entire time the railroad operated-1881 until 1921. People that worked with him and those that lived along the railroad called him Cap’n Ike. The railroad ran between Chamblee and Roswell, with stops at Wilson’s Mill, Dunwoody, and Powers Station.

The story of how Dunwoody got its name has been passed down from early families and it goes like this: Major Charles Archibald Alexander Dunwody applied for a post office for the area and an extra “o” was added to the name.

Carlton Renfroe, who has lived along Tilly Mill Road since 1941, has shared that the Tilly Mill was located in the area of the northeast corner at the intersection of Tilly Mill Road and North Peachtree Road. The Tilly home and school were further up Tilly Mill Road, closer to where it meets Peeler Road.

Earl and Vivian Lowrey Smith bought a summer home in Dunwoody, later making it their permanent home. The white painted Cape Cod style home sat among lovely oak trees on Chamblee Dunwoody Road just north of Vermack Road. Vivian Smith filled the home with fine antiques.

Earl Smith worked as a city salesman for Norris Candy, a large and successful candy manufacturer in the first half of the twentieth century.

Benjamin Franklin Burdett built a Colonial style, two story, red brick home in 1900 on the land where Mount Vernon Presbyterian School and Church are located today. The home had eleven rooms, four porches on the ground level, two porches on the second level, and white columns across the front. The bricks for the home were made on the property.

Dr. Thornwell Jacobs was the driving force behind the revival of Oglethorpe University in 1915 at their present location on Peachtree Road in Brookhaven. He first came to Agnes Scott College in 1909 to serve as their Executive Secretary. It was there that he met important contacts that would help him achieve his dream. Atlanta developer Samuel Inman was one of those people.

Beginning around 1915 and until the 1960’s, the land where the Dunwoody campus of Georgia State University is located belonged to the Womack family. William Womack and wife, Victoria Reed Womack, owned fifty acres at the corner of Tilly Mill Road and Womack Road, which was named for their family. The four room wood home sat on the west side of the Georgia Perimeter College campus, near the additional parking area. William and Victoria had three sons; Lester, Elmer and Harvey and three daughters; Georgia, Ola, and Corrie.