In 1963, when North Indian Creek Road in Clarkston was a two-lane highway through rural fields, there was great excitement about the construction of a new college campus there. The visionary school superintendent Dr. Jim Cherry had a bold plan for the DeKalb County Board of Education to operate a two-year college—the only one in Georgia with that type of sponsorship. Christened as DeKalb College, it is today known as Georgia Perimeter College.
The federal Junior College Act of 1958 had established a priority in meeting the critical need for more higher education in America. Community colleges, as they came to be known, were affordable and accessible. A democratic feature that DeKalb College pioneered was open admission; any resident of the DeKalb County school District holding a high school diploma could be admitted to the College.
After President Kennedy’s assassination in November 1963, Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society passed a series of reforms that aided education and Civil Rights, and the new college in Clarkston would become a kind of legacy for such measures. A short time before DeKalb College opened its doors in 1964 for the Fall term, Congress passed a broad, sweeping Civil Rights Act prohibiting discrimination on the basis of “race, color, creed, sex, or national origin.” There would be no segregation at the new college in Clarkston.
Dr. Paul Hudson, award-winning historian at Georgia Perimeter College, writes stories on Nearby History in the Times.

The Tucker Business Association (TBA) welcomed its newest member, the Movie Tavern, to the Tucker area for its grand opening and ribbon cutting celebration in the Northlake Festival Shopping Center at 4083 LaVista Road.
Beth O’Neill, president of TBA, says Movie Tavern has already proven to be a responsible community partner which will benefit the community at large.
“Before they had even signed up, Movie Tavern was asking us how they could contribute to the Tucker High School scholarship fund,” O’Neill said. “It’s that type of investment into the community that illustrates a true partnership.” The Movie Tavern contributed by donating the proceeds from drink sales the night of its Grand Opening, May 15, to the fund.
Movie Tavern is a cinema eatery, combining the first-run movie viewing experience with true American-meal fare, all in the comfort of state-of-the-art, comfortable auditoriums. The Tucker location represents Movie Tavern’s first Georgia flagship counter-service location. The Movie Tavern retrofitted the old movie theatre next to Toys-R-Us in Northlake Festival, bringing class to the theatre, both inside and out.

    Historic Inman Park, Atlanta’s first suburb and built in the late nineteenth century, is known for its stunning array of fine Victorian homes. Perhaps the flashiest of the “painted ladies” is in the Queen Anne style, which Inman Park has in good measure.
The picturesque Beath-Dickey home, built about 1898 on Euclid Avenue, is Queen Anne style all the way; meaning it is elaborate, eccentric, romantic and somehow (arguably depending on one’s point of view) beautifully feminine. As one looks at the home, it presents an asymmetrical appearance—there is a steep gabled wing on the right, somewhat balanced with a belvedere and a turret on the left. There are porches on every floor. The chimney stacks are high and the home’s mixed materials of wood shingles, granite, brick, marble and slate add to the overall eclectic effect.
The fifteen-room home, which is on the national Register of Historic Places, is significant in another sense—it was interior designer Robert Griggs’ talented efforts back in 1969 to preserve this fine Queen Anne building that led to the very happy development of the restoration of Inman Park.
Dr. Paul Hudson, award winning historian at Georgia Perimeter College, writes stories of Living History for the Ponce Press.

One of Atlanta’s greatest Independence Day traditions is the Peachtree Road Race, a ten kilometer (6.2 mile) run from Lenox Square to the area around Piedmont Park. Today “The Peachtree,” as it is commonly called, with an estimated 55,000 runners, is the largest ten-kilometer running event in the world. It has featured a Wheelchair race since 1982 and, in recent years, has had a special division for soldiers stationed in the Middle East.
The Atlanta Track Club started the first Peachtree Road Race, sponsored by the Carling Brewery, back in 1970. The original race, with 110 runners, began near the old Sears store (no longer there) in the heart of Buckhead and ended at Woodruff Park in downtown Atlanta. The next year, 198 runners competed and there was enough sponsorship money to have T-shirts, for which The Peachtree would become famous.
The Peachtree grew exponentially, and in 1976 the Atlanta Journal-Constitution assumed sponsorship of the race, in which 2300 runners competed. In 1978 the race had about 12,000 runners in a course that went from Lenox Square to Piedmont Park. Since 1998, “The Peachtree” has been limited to 55,000 contestants, which range from Olympic athletes to neighborhood elite, to joggers and walkers at the back. More than 150,000 spectators lining the race course give the event a festive air. Indeed, “The Peachtree,” though always run in Atlanta’s heat and humidity, represents the city at its best.
Dr. Paul Hudson, longtime resident of the Brookhaven area and historian at Georgia Perimeter College and veteran of “The Peachtree” since 1978, writes stories for the Buzz.

       

Standing majestically on the square in downtown Lawrenceville, the venerable Historic Gwinnett County Courthouse has been a landmark since its construction in 1885. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, this Victorian building has an impressive façade that features a Palladian entrance arch portico, a balcony and a gable that reflect a Romanesque Revival style. Its architect, Edmund G. Lind of Baltimore, also designed Central Presbyterian Church in downtown Atlanta.
In 1908, a four story clock tower (unusual for its time in the South) was added to the building, giving it an asymmetrical Queen Anne appearance. In 1935, the WPA renovated the Courthouse and expanded the northern wing. The building was used as a working Courthouse until 1988, when the new Gwinnett Justice Center opened in Lawrenceville.
Today the Historic Courthouse serves as the appropriate home to the Gwinnett County Historical Society, which has impressive research facilities, including a Genealogy Library. The historic building also houses the Gwinnett Veterans Council War Memorial Museum, a tribute to the men and women who helped defend our country from Civil War times to the present.
Dr. Paul Hudson, longtime resident of the Brookhaven area, historian at Georgia Perimeter College, and veteran of “The Peachtree” since 1978, writes stories for Lilburn Living.

Much has been written in recent years about how to start a gift basket business from your home and thereby get rich quick. As many of us know, these offers in magazine and Internet ads should be looked at skeptically. Here in Lilburn, Jimi Taylor of Taylor Made Baskets has been sharing her gift basket making and business expertise for many years while also managing Taylor Made Baskets, 4838 Lawrenceville Highway, Suite A.
At the downtown Atlanta Hilton, from August 7-10, Taylor will be one of about 10 qualified instructors at the Rave Reviews Convention. She and the others will teach people looking to either get into the gift making business, or expand their business. On September 28, Taylor will also offer a day-long 9 to 6 in-house class, detailing all aspects of the gift making business, including the administrative detail that many budding entrepreneurs do not think about.
In addition, Taylor conducts seminars at the Atlanta Gift Mart about four times a year for experienced retailers and even the New York Fancy Food Show for high-end restaurants. For further information, you can call Taylor Made Baskets at 770-935-1602 or visit www.taylormadebaskets.com.
– Bob Rosentreter

Get Coffee, at the corner of Pierce and Peachtree Road in downtown Chamblee, is now open! Owners Mike Cowan and Durenda and Eddie Chapman of Chamblee have turned the 1959 Pure Oil Gas Station into a great place for meeting friends and enjoying a great cup of coffee or tea. As you sip, you can also view a selection of art by local artists from the Chamblee Arts Alliance. Hours are 6:30 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Monday - Friday, 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. on Saturdays, and 7:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on Sundays. Private parties and meetings have already been scheduled in this great little meeting spot! The patio is doggie friendly. And yes, coffee grounds are available for gardeners. Get Coffee is located at 5336 Peachtree Road, Atlanta, GA 30341. For more information call 678-580-2263 or visit www.getcoffee.com.

Growing up in the small towns and suburban commercial centers of the United States in the 1950s and 1960s, a popular past time for many Americans was to shop at what was commonly called the “Dime Store.” The old F.W. Woolworth store off the square in Decatur was a fine example of this familiar American institution.
The store, commonly called Woolworth’s, was a retail company that was one of the original American “five and dime” stores. It sold discounted general merchandise at fixed prices, usually five or ten cents, which typically undercut prices of local merchants. Woolworth’s, which started in Utica, New York in 1878, was one of the first American retailers to put items out for the shopping public to handle and select without the assistance of a sales clerk. Children on allowances loved the prices, access and assortment of goods at the “five and dime” stores.
Another popular feature of Woolworth’s were “lunch counters”, where one could buy meat and vegetable meals for low prices. By the 1970s, Woolworth’s had so many stores (including the one in Decatur) that it was—according to the Guinness Book of World Records— the largest department store chain in the world.
Dr. Paul Hudson, award winning historian at Georgia Perimeter College, writes stories of bygone Decatur in the Dispatch.

This writer had the enviable task of eating lunch at J.R.’s Loghouse Restaurant at its Norcross location. Now celebrating 25 years of southern style breakfasts and pit-cooked barbeque, this J.R.’s is located at 6601 Peachtree Industrial Boulevard, next to the PIB southbound ramp onto Jones Mill Road NW. Indeed, J.R.’s is a loghouse and one that is spacious and comfortable to dine in.
The staff is advertised as being long-term and loyal, not always a given in the restaurant business. At this lunch, the employees were friendly and helpful. This writer sampled the pork barbeque sandwich combo, including cole slaw, Brunswick stew and unsweetened iced tea. J.R.’s claims that almost all its food is made in-house and this writer’s delicious lunch seemed to confirm that claim.
The lunch and dinner menu is loaded and includes ten different platters, soups and salads, stew and barbeque beans. Lunch specials have recently been expanded. The breakfasts are served from scratch and are highlighted by many biscuit selections and platters. J.R.’s also caters and hosts parties. For further information, visit www.jrsloghouse.com or call 770-449-6426. Hours are 7:00am-8:30pm Mondays-Thursdays, 7:00am-9:00pm Fridays-Saturdays and 8:00am-8:30pm Sundays.
– Bob Rosentreter