There were many dairies in DeKalb County in the 1930s and 1940s and a large portion of those were in Chamblee. According to A Century in North DeKalb: The Story of the First Baptist Church of Chamblee, there were 200 dairies in DeKalb County. DeKalb County was the largest producer of Grade A milk in the south and had more dairies than any other Georgia county.
A map of Chamblee dairies in 1939 shows thirty-three dairies. The Pierce Certified Dairy, W. O. Pierce Dairy, and P. E. Pierce Dairy were located on both sides of North Peachtree Road, between North Shallowford Road and Peachtree Industrial Boulevard. Irvindale (previously P. E. Hyde Dairy) and Chatham Dairies were located across from the railroad tracks. A dairy on Hardee Avenue is identified as Camp Gordon Dairy. Many of the people of Chamblee were employed as dairy hands and dairy truck drivers and the milk products were delivered to Atlanta.
This 1939 map appears in “A Century in North DeKalb,” a book about the history of First Baptist Church of Chamblee.
Chamblee Mayor “Dub” Brown worked at his family’s dairy farm. The Brown family dairies were located along Buford Highway. Brown’s parents, two sisters, and two brothers all worked on the dairy farm. He said among the many dairies that existed in Chamblee, when he returned from service in WWII, only Pierce, Irvindale, and Tuggle Dairies were still in business. Brown went on to own Brown Auto Service in Chamblee for sixty-two years and was mayor of Chamblee for eighteen years. (DeKalb History Center Archives, oral history recorded 1987).
Wright Dairy was located along Briarwood Road, between today’s North Druid Hills Road and Buford Highway. Paul Wright was born in a house on Clairmont Road in 1908. His parents, Daniel M. and Myrtis Wright, later moved to property on what is now Briarwood Road where they farmed and started the dairy. The family started with twelve cows and grew that number to twenty-six over the years. Milking was done by hand at Wright Dairy and everyone in the family helped with the work. It was a seven day a week job. (DeKalb History Center Archives, Willig’s Story of Brookhaven)
The Wright family started out with twelve cows, growing that number over the years to twenty-six. Everyone in the family helped run the dairy, which meant working seven days a week. All the milking was done by hand.
In Dunwoody the Copeland Dairy was located where Jett Ferry Road and Dunwoody Club Drive meet today. Another dairy was owned by the Kirby family and sat on their property along Chamblee Dunwoody Road where the Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage is located today. Sue Kirby Jameson wrote in her memoirs that the dairy business saved the family during the years of The Great Depression.
James W. and Mattie Azilee Eison Donaldson owned a dairy farm along what is now N. Shallowford Road, across from Pernoshal Park in Dunwoody. Their son, W. T. Donaldson shared the story of the family dairy several years ago. The Donaldsons delivered their milk to Atlanta, because everyone living nearby had their own cow. When Mr. Donaldson was old enough to drive, he delivered milk in a Chevrolet pickup truck. He woke up early enough to make his deliveries before attending Chamblee High School. Later, W. T. Donaldson served in the Pacific during World War II.