Valerie Biggerstaff Valerie Biggerstaff

Video rental business, here and gone

Whatever community you lived in, there was a Blockbuster, Hollywood Video or perhaps a smaller chain or independent video store. Other competitors in the Atlanta area included All Star Video, The Movie Store, National Video, and West Coast Videos. Record stores also entered the video rental business.

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Valerie Biggerstaff Valerie Biggerstaff

Dachau liberated 80 years ago, April 29, 1945

To commemorate 80 years since the liberation of Dachua, I wanted to return to the history shared with me by Hilbert Margol in 2021. World War II veteran Hilbert Margol and his brother Howard Margol were there to liberate Dachau on April 29, 1945 as part of the 42nd Infantry.

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Valerie Biggerstaff Valerie Biggerstaff

Peachtree Industrial Blvd. 1958, Peachtree Blvd. 2008

The October 26, 1958 Atlanta Journal newspaper printed an article titled, “Peachtree leads new south to shiny industrial future.” The article announced a new four-lane highway called Peachtree Industrial Boulevard. “North of Atlanta, slashed across the flat red plain of the Piedmont, a vibrant symbol of the new south flourishes.”

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Valerie Biggerstaff Valerie Biggerstaff

Sandy Springs DeWald’s Alley and the memories of Shirley Peters Pruitt

Residents of DeWald’s Alley rented from Clyde and Susie DeWald, who lived nearby on Spruill Road, later known as Meadow Lane Road. Susie DeWald would go door to door collecting rent each month. The houses of DeWald’s Alley had outhouses, no electricity, and well water. Pumps were eventually installed.

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Valerie Biggerstaff Valerie Biggerstaff

Atlanta flocks to Flowerland

In 1932, he sold the dairy farm and bought 138 acres in Chamblee. He and wife Lucy Hurt Fischer built a home with elaborate gardens, calling it Flowerland. The home was designed by Phillip Trammel Shutze.

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