In the 1930s, Frances Virginia Tea Room moved to the corner of Ellis and Peachtree Street as more space was needed. This building was called Collier building, named for early settler George Collier and is where the silhouette of Frances Virginia’s face is remembered as hanging next to the restaurant sign over Peachtree. “For almost four decades her portrait reigned in neon over Atlanta’s famous Peachtree Street.”

July 20, 2022 marked the 53rd anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing with astronauts Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins and Buzz Aldrin. As Neil Armstrong took his first step on the moon and said the words, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind,” those who watched remember where they were on that historic day.

In 2019, the year of the fiftieth anniversary I asked readers of the Dunwoody Crier newspaper about their memories of the Apollo Moon Landing.

“Germans Sign Armistice, World War Comes to End.” This was the Atlanta Constitution headline on November 11, 1918 and the good news was celebrated all over Atlanta and in the surrounding communities.

Teachers led school children in patriotic songs and then dismissed them early. Boys from Tech High School marched through town as they celebrated and cheered. Atlanta city offices were ordered closed by Mayor Asa Candler. Students of the Southern Shorthand and Business School on Whitehall Street in downtown Atlanta gathered in the street and sang “America.”

In 2011, I had the pleasure of speaking with Wilma Paris about her career as a Chesnut Elementary teacher. I had recently written about the school and stated the age as fifty years. Wilma Paris called the Dunwoody Crier newspaper to let them know that was incorrect. She was there for the first day of classes at Chesnut was December 10, 1969, as a first grade teacher and remembered the day well. At that point, the school was 42 years old and 2019 marked the 50th anniversary.

Mims recalls, “Brookhaven Supply at intersection of North Druid Hills and Peachtree Road, Buice Sinclair was next, Bagley Electric, laundry, Brookhaven Pharmacy, gasoline station with fire station behind it, and the A&P just to start. The Brookhaven Picture Show was across from the Drug store and was run by Mr and Mrs Tittle.” He remembers there were many more stores along Peachtree Road.

In the early part of the twentieth century, there was a school at the intersection of Jett Ferry Road and Spalding Drive. It sat up on a hill and was known as Chestnut Ridge School. This Chestnut school is spelled with a “t”, unlike Chesnut Elementary on North Peachtree Road.

When I first wrote about the Doraville Triangle Refinery fire that began on April 6, 1972 for the Dunwoody Crier newspaper, I received an email from Todd Drummond of Dunwoody. He shared the story of living on Doral Circle, the street adjacent to the refinery, when the tragic fire took place. The family home was closest house to the fire, but miraculously did not burn. He was five years old at the time.

Since I grew up in Georgia, finding and enjoying Georgia peaches is a tradition in my family which I am happy to continue. When I was young, one of my aunts lived off Highway 155 in Stockbridge, Georgia and had a peach orchard behind their house. My mom, grandmother, aunts, cousins and I would make a day of going to their farm to pick peaches. Following this outing, Mom and my grandmother would freeze peaches so we could continue to enjoy them well after summer.