Carroll and Effie McGaughey announced a house-warming party at their new summer home on Spruill Road in Dunwoody in 1939. The Dec. 30, 1939, Atlanta Constitution Society Events column included the announcement, using the alternate spelling of Spruell Road. The gathering was also in honor of their debutante daughter, Mary McGaughey. The couple would later make the Dunwoody home their primary home.
Carroll McGaughey was an electrical engineer and owner of McGaughey Electrical Company. Effie McGaughey operated an antique shop called Backdoor Studios out of their Atlanta home on Lombardy Way. The McGaughey’s had two sons, Carroll Jr. and Carrick, in addition to their daughter Mary.
When the United States entered World War II and Lawson General Hospital opened in nearby Chamblee, Effie McGaughey began thinking of ways to help recovering soldiers. The McGaugheys turned their home from a social gathering spot to a place for relaxation and recreation for injured soldiers, the Serviceman’s Shelter.
Ethel Spruill and Elizabeth Davis describe the McGaughey place in their book The Story of Dunwoody. “Using a rustic building on the McGaughey property and colorful festive lanterns, church groups, community clubs, and Atlanta groups took turns at entertaining the boys and furnishing food and dance partners.”
This 1945 photo of patients from Lawson General Hospital at the McGaughey home appears in The Story of Dunwoody, by Elizabeth L. Davis and Ethel W. Spruill.
By 1944 a group of Atlanta women including Effie McGaughey had organized a committee to plan parties for convalescing soldiers at various homes around Atlanta. An article in the July 12, 1944 issue of The Atlanta Constitution titled Many Parties are Planned for Convalescent Officers describes the upcoming schedule of parties. The following Friday evening a barbeque supper would be held at the home of Carroll and Effie McGaughey. The guests would be entertained with swimming, music by the Tech band, and a movie shown on an outdoor screen.
The schedule for the next two weeks includes parties on Habersham Road and another on Tuxedo Road in Atlanta, followed by a gathering at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Ryburn Clay on their Chattahoochee River country place known as Lazy River Farm. The Clay summer estate was on what is now Clay Drive off Spalding Drive.
The McGaugheys place was for the enjoyment of all recovering soldiers. One soldier from Lawson General Hospital who lost the use of his legs often got a ride to their home courtesy of the Red Cross. Upon arrival, he would enjoy swimming in the pool.
The Serviceman’s Shelter and use of the McGaughey’s swimming pool continued into 1946. In August of that year they hosted veterans of both World War I and World War II, arranged by Veterans Hospital Number 48 in Brookhaven and financed by the Elks Club. (The Atlanta Constitution, August 16, 1946, Veterans Feted by Elks Group)
Effie McGaughey also helped during World War II by donating a movable kitchen in 1942. The kitchen was operated by the Atlanta Red Cross Canteen Corps and was able to serve two thousand meals and forty thousand cups of hot coffee per day.