Last week I had the opportunity to tour one of the oldest farms in DeKalb County, Lyon Farm, located at 4431 Lyons Road in Stonecrest, Georgia. The tour was a DeKalb Traveler program, made available to members of the DeKalb History Center and presented by staff from Arabia Mountain National Heritage Alliance.

This photograph of Rehoboth School, constructed of granite in 1937, was taken that same year. The new school was one of those built by the Works Progress Administration or WPA.

An August 5, 1956 Atlanta Journal newspaper article announced, “Shop Center Being Built on LaVista.” W. C. (Clyde) Shepherd, developer of the center said it would be open in September of 1956. For half a million dollars, 30,000 square feet of retail space was planned, including 800 parking spaces on ten acres.

Redan School is described as a standard school in the 1916 publication “Educational Surveys of DeKalb County and Union County, Georgia.” The book defines a standard school as having a good teacher, good order and management, an accurate school register, a daily program posted in the classroom and a teacher’s manual on the desk.

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.

Redan School and Shady Grove Schools are included in the 1916 book, “Educational Surveys of DeKalb County and Union County, Georgia.” I am slowly working my way through the schools in this book.