Another movie theater, Perimeter Mall opens 1973
I-285 was completed in 1969, Perimeter Mall opened August 11, 1971, and the Perimeter Mall General Cinema triplex opened in December of 1973. The theater held 1,700 people. (Atlanta Constitution, Dec. 23, 1973, “Perimeter Mall Gets 3 Theaters”)
Drive-in theaters of Chamblee, Doraville
The Peachtree Drive-In Theatre was on Peachtree Industrial Boulevard in Chamblee, across from where Chamblee Plaza would later open. On July 14, 1950, a grand opening was held at the drive-in.
Early fire fighting began with volunteers
The DeKalb County Fire Department began in 1934 as the Druid Hills Fire Department. This was a subscription service for the Druid Hills neighborhoods. A 1934 fire engine that was known by the name Old Maude was purchased by J. V. Draughn, the owner of this private fire service.
Wylie H. Chamblee
While looking through newspaper articles about Camp Gordon, Michael Hitt read a 1917 Atlanta Constitution article which included the history of the name Chamblee. The article is confirmation that the town was named for Wylie H. Chamblee, a Black man who was one of the petitioners for the post office.
Brookhaven business history found through vintage yearbooks
By 1963, Frito-Lay joins as an advertiser. The plant was located where Lowe’s home improvement store is today at 4950 Peachtree Boulevard, Chamblee. Another pharmacy in addition to Brookhaven Pharmacy is Oglethorpe Pharmacy on Johnson Ferry Road.
Chamblee and Wiley (Wylie) School, 1916 DeKalb school surveys
Another DeKalb County school described in the book is Wiley. Since I was not familiar with Wiley School, I started out by researching the location only to discover I had written about this school before, but under the spelling Wylie.
“Scream in the Dark” and other vintage Halloween events
In 1973, the abandoned Veterans Hospital #48 in Brookhaven was the setting for a haunted house. The Peachtree and Osborne Road location became home to a veterans hospital in 1919, and before that it was Cheston King Sanitarium.
Horses and Mules arrive at World War I Camp Gordon
By September of 1917, plans were announced for a Remount Station, near Johnson Ferry Road and north of Peachtree Road on one hundred and fifty acres. Today this is the location of a Lowe’s home improvement store. Prior to Lowe’s, the property was the location of a Frito-Lay plant.
Starbucks chimney was part of tenant house
When the Starbucks was set to be built on the site in 2013, the fate of the old chimney was in question. Local citizens and preservationists, including Dunwoody Preservation Trust, asked that the chimney be saved. Starbucks agreed to incorporate it into their new store.