A couple of years ago Dunwoody was given the temporary nickname of Bankwoody. It was during a time when branch banks were constantly being built and old bank buildings remained but under new names. This has slowed down recently, but the community still has many banks. As usual, I like to think of what used to be in these locations and often wish the old landmarks could return.
Cicero Carpenter owned the land where Bank of America is located at 2454 Jett Ferry Road. The Carpenter families once owned the property on both sides of Mt. Vernon Road going beyond Tilly Mill Road. Bank of America is one of the older banks of Dunwoody.
The land where Sun Trust Bank sits at 5506 Chamblee Dunwoody Road is still remembered by many as home to Hickory House Restaurant. This was not only a delicious barbeque and breakfast restaurant, but also a place where many community meetings were held. Paul and Elmira Heath lived on this land before Hickory House was built.
Between Sun Trust Bank on Chamblee Dunwoody Road and Chase Bank on the same road sits another bank-Synovus. This bank was formerly a Boston Market Restaurant and before that two historic railroad section houses sat on this land. In 1994, the houses were suddenly demolished. This was the impetus for the beginning of Dunwoody Preservation Trust, founded by Lynne Byrd and Joyce Amacher. Thankfully, one railroad section house remains, the only reminder that the Roswell Railroad went from Chamblee, through Dunwoody, to just south of Roswell for forty years (1881-1921).
The last of three railroad section houses still standing on Chamblee Dunwoody Road.
Chase Bank in Dunwoody is located at 5540 Chamblee Dunwoody Road, where there was previously a gas station and long before that the location of Dunwoody Baptist Church. There were a few small homes just north along Chamblee Dunwoody Road.
Dunwoody Baptist Church 1948
Dunwoody has another Chase Bank at 2526 Mt. Vernon Road. For many years this was the Copeland home and dairy farm. More recently, it was the location of a Blockbuster Video, a place I frequented in the 1990s.
Regions Bank is located at the intersection of Mt. Vernon Road and Chamblee Dunwoody Road and a farmhouse once stood there. The water tower behind the bank was built while the old farmhouse still stood. The family sold antiques and vegetables on their property at 1457 Mt. Vernon Road according to memories of locals.