Before there was a Rich’s Pink Pig, the traditional “Lighting of the Great Tree” took place at the downtown Rich’s Department Store in Atlanta for the first time in 1948. A 70-foot live tree was placed on the roof of the store that year and the lighting took place on Thanksgiving night.

William Akers and Ida King Akers built a country home along Spalding Drive in what was considered Dunwoody around 1935. The name Idalakers evolved from Ida Akers name and from the idea of many “idle acres” surrounding the home. The property included forty-five acres on a hill with lovely views of hills and valleys all around.

The building was a store and post office. It was first the location of the Nash Store and later became Thompson’s Grocery. The door on the left led into the post office. The middle and right door led to the grocery store. Mrs. Thompson, known by the locals as Miss Lottie, would ring up the sales on the cash register.

There were several dairies in north DeKalb County in the 1930s and 1940s, including Chamblee, Dunwoody, and Brookhaven, but the C. S. Webb Dairy began when Cliff and Clara Webb came to Sandy Springs in 1924. The dairy was located where Aberdeen Forest subdivision is now located, at the intersection of Johnson Ferry Road and Glenridge Drive.

J. W. Warren (1857-1940) and Emily Francis Stanton Warren (1860-1925) moved from Conyers, Georgia to Chamblee, purchasing land on Chamblee Tucker Road. Warren Elementary School was built on land that the family owned and of course the school carries their family name. Later they sold property to Atlanta Baptist College, which is now Mercer University.

A couple of years ago Dunwoody was given the temporary nickname of Bankwoody. It was during a time when branch banks were constantly being built and old bank buildings remained but under new names. This has slowed down recently, but the community still has many banks. As usual, I like to think of what used to be in these locations and often wish the old landmarks could return.

Mr. W. T. Donaldson was born in Dunwoody on July 1, 1921. He was born in the family home on North Shallowford Road across from where Emory Hospital was later located, with Dunwoody’s Dr. Puckett attending. W. T. Donaldson’s parents were Mattie Azilee Eison Donaldson and James W. Donaldso

On May 31, 2008, I was honored to be invited to a reunion of people who attended Dunwoody School between 1928 and 1955. Carlton Renfroe, Jeff Porter, and Margaret Henderson Jenkins planned the reunion. Looking back on this opportunity, I wish I had an audio or video recording of the event. However, I was new to the group and wanted to get to know them first, so I listened and took note

Daniel McBride, who parachuted from a C-47 in 1944 was among the veterans who returned to Normandy to commemorate the momentous day in 2019. A few months before the trip, I spoke with Mr. McBride, who was living in New Mexico.

In November of 2018, I had the honor of meeting ninety-two year old World War II veteran George Grant. Richard Adams, born along what is now Dunwoody Club Drive in 1933, introduced me to his friend George Grant of Hollywood, Georgia. Grant shared his experiences in Italy during the final months of the war. Mr. Grant died January 30, 2020 at the age of 93.

Fred Donaldson remembers that after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, he and other young men gathered at a small local store called Nash’s in Dunwoody,, Georgia to talk about the tragic event. In June of 1942, he enlisted and began a journey that would take him across the United States and across the world.

World War II veteran and Dachau liberator Hilbert Margol shared his experiences with me in February of 2021. It was an honor to meet Hilbert Margol, World War II veteran who has lived in Dunwoody since 1984, thanks to a Zoom call arranged by Jan Slimming and the Churchill Society-Atlanta Chapter. He shared with the group the story of how he and his brother came to be at Dachau on April 29, 1945-liberation day.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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”)