The evidence I have found of early Brookhaven schools is bits and pieces from different sources. During the 1800’s and early 1900’s, until the Brookhaven Country Club (later Capital City Country Club) and Brookhaven Heights was developed, the area was known as Cross Keys. In my research, the earliest reference to a school in Cross Keys appears in the 1879 Georgia Gazetteer, where towns throughout Georgia are listed.
The Gazetteer describes Cross Keys as a place with a railroad stop known as Goodwin’s, nine miles west of Decatur and 12 and ½ miles north of Atlanta. It further describes the community as having a Methodist and Baptist Church, along with a common school. It also lists a few key residents, such as C. C. Hart, physician and J. H. Polk, teacher.
The 1880 census for Cross Keys lists James H Polk, however his occupation is shown as grocer. During this time, it was common to wear many hats in the community. Polk most likely was a grocer and a teacher.
In the archives of DeKalb History Center, a Brookhaven history written by Ruby Mabry Evans is on file. Evans wrote the history for a presentation to a women’s group-the Mabry Road Woman’s Club. The history was read aloud to the group by Essie Vermont on March 15, 1960.
Evans begins by describing how her parents came to DeKalb County in 1899 and lived at what is now the 3100 block of Mabry Road. She says the road at that time as a winding cow and wagon road. She tells us that very few children were living in Cross Keys at the time.
The school around the turn of the century was a one-room log house on Osborne Road, donated by early settler of the community Justinian Evans (or Evins).
An Atlanta Constitution article from August of 1929 references meetings of the Cross Keys Baptist Church taking place at Cross Keys schoolhouse located between Oglethorpe and Brookhaven.
In the 1920’s, new residents to the community of Brookhaven saw the need for a school in the area. These residents had bought property on the east side of Peachtree Road. Lots were first developed before World War I and became available for sale after the war. Z. W. and Margaret Jones bought a couple of lots on Standard Drive in 1922.
At first, they taught their two daughters in their home. Both Z. W. and Margaret had education backgrounds. Z. W. Jones had been Superintendent of schools in Lafayette, Georgia and Margaret Jones was a high school teacher.
Soon, other families moved into this part of Cross Keys and asked if the Jones would also teach their children. When their home could not accommodate the local students, they rented a home with four rooms across the road. They taught sixty children in this home. In the first year of this makeshift school, they did not charge any fees to the families.
As the school continued to grow, it moved to a larger home on Pine Grove Avenue. There were eighty children in the school at that time. A small salary was paid to Margaret Jones and an additional teacher, Mrs. McClain.
Although the community initially opposed school bond funds for the purpose of constructing a new school, it was eventually successful. Four lots were purchased on Fernwood Drive. The Brookhaven School was a brick building with six classrooms, an auditorium, an office, and bathrooms.
The school opened in 1924 with over two hundred students. The history tells that students came to Brookhaven School from the Pine Grove Avenue school established by the Jones, as well as children who had been attending school at the Brookhaven Baptist and Methodist churches.
As with schools throughout Georgia and the south, schools were segregated and none of the schools mentioned above included black students in the area. A school was built in 1942 for the black children of Cross Keys, located on Mae Avenue in the community of Lynwood Park. More on the history of Lynwood Park School in the next Past Tense.