Brookhaven business history found through vintage yearbooks
In 1952, the North DeKalb Record newspaper included an ad for Brookhaven Restaurant. A 75 cent meal included 1/4 fried chicken, two vegetables and a drink. This one bit of information about a 1952 meal in Brookhaven led me in search of more information about the restaurant. I suppose it wasn’t on the scale of advertising in the Atlanta newspapers because a quick search revealed nothing.
This business district photograph of Brookhaven in the 1940s includes Brookhaven Grill and Restaurant on the left. The photograph is part of the Georgia State University archives and appears in the book Rebecca Chase Williams and I wrote titled, “Images of American: Brookhaven.”
Then, I remembered seeing advertisements in old Yamacraw yearbooks in the archives of the Philip Weltner Library at the university several years ago. The name Yamacraw comes from the Native American people who settled near the Savannah River. Between my notes and photos from that visit and additional online searches of old Yamacraw yearbooks, I found more history of local businesses near the college beginning with 1948 and up to 1966.
The first Oglethorpe University was issued in 1920 and dedicated to the founder and first president of the new campus in Brookhaven, Thornwell Jacobs. Oglethorpe’s first campus was located in Midway, Georgia. It was destroyed during the Civil War.
The 1948 Yamacraw includes local grocery store McElroy’s Super Market located at 4005 Peachtree Road, with a phone number of CH9229 or CH5857. At the time, telephone numbers began with letter exchanges and the CH stood for Cherokee.
Some of the businesses advertised are located in downtown Atlanta. There is Olds, delicious ice cream at 325 Capitol Avenue, The Peoples Bank on Marietta Street and Harry Sommers Chrysler Plymouth at Spring Street and Hunnicutt. At the time, downtown Atlanta was a trolley ride away from Oglethorpe University. Nu-Grape Soda is advertised on Forrest Road in Northeast Atlanta.
Brookhaven Pharmacy and Brookhaven Restaurant are advertised in the 1953 Yamacraw, but there is no photograph. The restaurant advertises an address of 4109 Peachtree Road.
Jumping to 1957, Colonial Grocery Store and Underwood Peachtree Garden Texaco both advertise in the Oglethorpe yearbook. Also, Pierce Dairy of Chamblee whose ad includes the fact that they provide dairy products to the university. DeKalb National Bank placed an ad that year, located at 4050 Peachtree Road. Brookhaven Pharmacy invites students to visit their location at 4003 Peachtree Road.
The older business district of Brookhaven on Peachtree Road was demolished in 1971 to straighten out a curvy road that was considered dangerous. I have to assume there had been multiple accidents along that curve.
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.
Advertisements from the 1966 Yamacraw include Pepsi-Cola, Frito-Lay, The Lovable Company, and Kelly’s Hamburgers.
By 1966, when local resident Tom Reilly was at Oglethorpe, the ads included Kelly’s Hamburgers on Peachtree Road and John’s Sandwich Stop at 3436 Sexton Woods Drive at Peachtree Industrial Boulevard. Waffle House at 4274 Peachtree Road is also represented in the yearbook.
