Starbucks chimney was part of tenant house

This week I have been dealing with some technical difficulties for pasttensega.com, so I apologize for not posting on my usual schedule. Most weeks I share a new local history article on Mondays. Thanks for visiting the website!

The stone chimney at the Ashford Dunwoody Starbucks, across the road from Perimeter Mall, not only looks old but is old. It was once part of a Spruill tenant house along the same road.

Stephen Spruill owned one thousand acres in DeKalb and Fulton County. A good deal of it was along what is now known as Ashford Dunwoody Road. He was born in a log cabin along that road in 1870. His grandfather and grandmother, James and Millie Adams Spruill moved to Dunwoody from Sandy Springs.

Fifty or more workers and tenants were employed on Stephen Spruill’s farms. There were tenant houses on his property and he ran a commissary near his house. The commissary was for employees to buy supplies that could not be grown on the land.

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.

In order to confirm the story of the chimney, I called Kathleen Spruill Miers. She was a granddaughter of Stephen Spruill and the daughter of Euil Spruill (known as Red) and Georgia Womack Spruill.  Miers confirmed that the chimney was part of a circa 1900 Spruill tenant house that later burned.  When the Ravinia Crowne Plaza was built, the chimney was crated up and moved to a location in front of the hotel. Later, this became the site for Starbucks.

Hugh Sentell had previously shared his memories of the chimney. He was born in 1904 in one of the small homes that once sat where Perimeter Mall is located.  His history was recorded by the Sandy Springs Foundation, where he said, “For several years a lonely chimney stood on a grassy hill at the intersection of Ashford Dunwoody Road and Interstate 285.  More recently, the property was being developed for commercial use.  Fortunately, the developer recognized its historical value and relocated the chimney several hundred yards northward.  As part of the move the chimney was sturdily rebuilt for preservation.”

Tom Reilly has lived in the Brookhaven/Dunwoody area since the 1950’s and he remembers the chimney being crated up, moved and reconstructed at the new site at the Ravinia before it became part of the Starbucks location.

This old chimney from a tenant house was incorporated into the Ashford Dunwoody Starbucks. Photo by Valerie Biggerstaff.

In 2022, the Starbucks chimney was included in the Hidden Perimeter tour. The tour included various historic sites and trivia about the Perimeter area and was presented by Perimeter Connects.