Tuggle Dairy and farmhouse
I have written about Tuggle Dairy previously, but in my search to learn more, I discovered the family home was once located at the corner of Briarcliff and N. Druid Hills Road. The white frame house was built in the late 1800s and remained until 1985. A 1984 article in the DeKalb News/Sun titled “Fate of Old Dairy Still Up in the Air” indicates a developer had purchased the 16-acre property.
In the memoir of Joe Greear, “Growing Up on the Edges,” he shows the Tuggle home was located across N. Druid Hills Road from where the Chick Fil A is today. Greear’s family home was nearby, close to where I-85 was constructed.
John Tuggle and Emma Paden Tuggle started Tuggle Dairy in 1885 and it continued through the decades, run by their descendants.
In 1984, there was discussion of the home possibly being moved. I have not found any record to verify that actually happened.
This image of the Tuggle home is from a 1980s issue of the DeKalb News Sun. (DeKalb History Center)
The Tuggle family sold their dairy business to Pet Dairy in 1960 and Pet leased the dairy plant equipment until 1983.
An article in the June 10, 1960 Atlanta Journal reported, “The C. C. (Clyde C.) Tuggle Dairy Farms at 2534 Briarcliff Road had been leased by its owners to Pet Dairy Products.” C. C. Tuggle took over the dairy business from his father John Tuggle. The dairy continued to be run by members of the family over the years. Tuggle Dairy operated 14 delivery trucks at one time. They sold 18,000 gallons of milk each day to around 3,000 customers.
Tuggle Dairy Farm was a large operation with several buildings and trucks. Photo contributed by the Matson family, who lived nearby.
When Briarcliff High School was built and opened in 1958, it was on former Tuggle family property. The school was built to alleviate overcrowding at Druid Hills High School.
If you have memories of the Tuggle family dairy farm or the old home place, please write to me at pasttensega@gmail.com. This location was along a path I took many times in the late 1970s, but unfortunately I was not on the lookout for old houses or dairies at the time.
All sources in this article were found in the archives of DeKalb History Center, unless otherwise noted.