Harts Mill Road Named for Christopher Columbus Hart
Harts Mill Road is named for Dr. C. C. Hart-physician, landowner, and mill owner. The road runs between Chamblee Dunwoody Road and Ashford Dunwoody Road. A section of Harts Mill Road serves as the line between the two cities of Chamblee and Brookhaven. The same road was previously called Sexton Road, named for the Sexton family.
Kenstone Cottage: One of the Summer Homes of Sandy Springs
Update: Katherine Geffcken was recently interviewed by Victoria Lemos on her December 3, 2021 podcast, Archive Atlanta. The summer home in Dunwoody which I write about below is briefly mentioned and it is nice to hear Ms. Geffcken talk about growing up in Atlanta and her experience at Girls High School, Agnes Scott College, and Bryn Mawr College.
A home on West Peachtree Road and a summer cottage off Spalding Drive may sound strange today, but it was not unusual in the 1920’s and 1930’s. The historic house at 8059 Kenstone Court was just such a cottage and there were several others in the area along Chamblee Dunwoody Road and Spalding Drive.
Katherine Geffcken, one of Dr. William and Elizabeth Geffcken’s daughters, shared her memories of the home and area when she visited her former home.
1969-a year of memorable moments
Several major events occurred in the U. S. in the year 1969. That was the year of the Apollo 11 moon landing and walk. It was also the year of Woodstock and the first Boeing 747 flight. Richard Nixon was President and the Vietnam War continued.
Atlanta was changing quite a bit in the year 1969.
Stephen Martin family and historic cemetery in Dunwoody
Many families came to Georgia at that time from South Carolina and other states in search of land. Stephen and Elizabeth Martin and their children were one of those families. The Stephen Martin Cemetery in Dunwoody is named for this early pioneer who traveled from South Carolina to Dunwoody around 1830. The cemetery is located between Hammond Drive and I-285, behind a shopping center. Dunwoody Preservation Trust has been caring for the cemetery for several years, including keeping the grass cut and maintaining a kiosk with information and a guest log book.
Annie Houze Cook Kindergarten of Sandy Springs
Beginning in 1923, Annie Houze Cook taught first grade at Hammond Elementary School in Sandy Springs and continued until Fulton County said she had to retire in 1948. When she retired, she immediately announced the opening of her kindergarten. Classes were held at what was then known as Providence Baptist Church.
Lois Bannister Hires Architect Francis Palmer Smith
Aside from his own work, Smith taught some of the most well-known architects of the South in the early twentieth century, including Phillip Shutze, Preston Stevens, Flippen Burge, Ed Ivey and Lewis Crook, Jr. Philip Shutze’s work includes the Swan House and Glenn Memorial Church, Burge and Stevens designed the Capital City Country Club in Brookhaven, Ivey and Crooke designed Lullwater House at Emory University and First Baptist Church of Decatur. These are just examples of each of their extensive work.
Cheek Mill Tragedy of 1920
Wednesday November 21, 1920, the day before Thanksgiving, was a sad day for the community of Dunwoody, Georgia. A boiler explosion caused the death of three Dunwoody men that day. The boiler was located at the Cheek mills on the southeast corner of the Mount Vernon Road and Chamblee Dunwoody intersection. In the small farming community, everyone was affected by the loss.
WAVES, SPARS and the Parrott Lounge of Atlanta during WW2
In early 1943, 500 WAVES were brought to Atlanta, first training downtown and staying at the Biltmore Hotel while barracks were built to house them at Naval Air Station Atlanta. The station was not physically located in Atlanta, but in Chamblee, Georgia. It was on land that is now DeKalb Peachtree Airport. (Atlanta Constitution, January 31, 1943, “WAVES Begin Trainer School Tomorrow with Class of 500”)
Milo Burglund is actually Nils Berglund: 325th Infantry at Norcross Rifle Range 1917
The new search resulted in his World War I draft registration card, completed under the name of Nils Edwin Burton Berglund. He worked as a pattern maker at a shoe factory. A quick search of shoe factories in Brockton, Massachusetts around the time of WWI shows that the town was known for its shoe manufacturing companies. He was born May 15, 1896. This was slightly off from my usual guess of 1895 for the birth year of WWI soldiers.
Then I hit the jackpot on newspapers.com! I came across the small piece below about Berglund written in April of 1919. Note how the spelling of his name is once again an issue.