Lockridge Forest, Winters Chapel and other names

Jeremiah Winter came to an area north of Atlanta in the late 1860s and saw the need for a church. Winters Chapel Methodist Church began in a grove and then Winter decided they could cut logs from the property, “have them sawed and hull us up a church.” The church and road are named for him. (winterschapel.org)

This Winters Chapel church sign and glimpse of the church behind the sign is part of the Doraville archives at DeKalb History Center.

Ralph Glaze shared his memories of the beginnings of Lockridge Forest subdivision along Winters Chapel Road in a 2017 video recording with Dunwoody Preservation Trust. Glaze’s father Herman Glaze owned a store at the corner of Peeler Road and Winters Chapel Road. Herman Glaze bought land from W. Y. Womack, Pink Womack, and Ida Morgan, accumulating about 100 acres at one point. The land purchased from Ida Morgan was where the store was built and is today the location of Auto Zone. Glaze Road is located off Peeler Road

Later Ralph Glaze moved to Lockridge Forest, a neighborhood that is partially in DeKalb County and part is in Gwinnett County. Glaze recalls that a man named Lockridge bought the land to develop from brothers Pink Womack and W. Y. (Young) Womack. Some of the street names can be directly attributed to the Womack family. There is a Womack Road and Womack Court.

There is also a Womack Drive off Winter’s Chapel Road, further toward where Winter’s Chapel Road meets Highway 141.

One of Pink Womack’s children was Geraldine, and Geraldine Court is named for her. She married Buck Kinnard and Kinnard Drive was named for him.

Glaze recalls two sawmills along Winters Chapel Road, one just south of the entrance to Winters Chapel United Methodist Church and cemetery and the other further north, at the entrance of Lockridge Forest today. The sawmills were still there in the 1940s and 1950s. One sawmill was owned by Mr. Tanner from Stone Mountain, who leased the land from Pink Womack.

Glaze believes the Womacks along Winters Chapel Road were third or fourth cousins to the Womacks who owned land at Tilly Mill Road and Womack Road, where Georgia State University Dunwoody campus to today.

There are other names in Lockridge Forest that remain a mystery, Arrie Way, Abby Court, Tilton Lane, and Sumac Court.

Icehouses in Chamblee and Doraville

New posts every Monday.

This post was updated on December 18, 2023 with additional information about Goree Ice Company.

5441 Peachtree Road in Chamblee was once the local icehouse. Today, it is home to the Chamblee location of AR Workshop, the DIY business begun by Maureen Anders and Adria Ruff.

Chamblee’s historic icehouse is now home to AR Workshop. Next door is the Frosty Caboose ice cream store and behind the former icehouse is the railroad and MARTA.

I haven’t found much history in my research of Chamblee’s icehouse. I’m sure having an icehouse nearby was helpful to the many dairies in the area. Chamblee had 33 dairies in 1939, plus there were dairies in nearby Doraville, Dunwoody and Brookhaven.

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 served WWI Camp Gordon and was known as Camp Gordon Dairy. 

The Wright Dairy was located along Briarwood Road near Buford Highway and N. Druid Hills. Ice was delivered every day to the dairy, likely from the Chamblee icehouse.

This photo of the icehouse appears in “Chamblee, GA-A Centennial Portrait, 1908-2008” and indicates the icehouse is still standing in 2008. However, the photo itself is not dated.

The Goree Ice Company of Doraville opened on Buford Highway in 1946. In 1967, in addition to an ice store, Goree’s was a convenience store, gas station, and bait and fishing supply store known as Angler’s Corner. The ice plant sold block ice to restaurants and hotels for ice carvings. The plant was nonautomated and produced 17 tons of ice every two days.(“Images of America: Doraville” by Bob Kelley)

An article was written in the July 26, 1983 Atlanta Constitution about Goree’s titled“The coolest guys are on the block.”. In 1983, the business supplied ice to Allied Concrete to cool its mortar, but it also did a good business selling crushed and snow ice to afternoon picnickers. It was the only block ice business in metro Atlanta in 1983.

If you have memories of the Chamblee Icehouse or of Goree Ice Company, write to me at pasttensega@gmail.com so I can share these memories in a later blog post.

General Motors among Doraville history, DeKalb History Center Archives

Today I’m focusing on photos and documents related to the General Motors assembly plant in Doraville. On opening day, June 15, 1948, assembly line workers had a big surprise when a 1909 Buick came down the line. Jesse Lee Smith of Lawrenceville drove the vintage car that had been bought by his father and was still running just fine. Smith was a new employee of the plant, working in the chassis department. (The Eagle, Tucker Federal newsletter, March-April 1984)

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General Motors Assembly Plant of Doraville

The Buick, Oldsmobile, Pontiac Assembly Plant in Doraville was built on a former cow pasture. The site was initially 386 acres, but some of those acres were later sold for a housing development, Chevrolet parts warehouse, and other industrial development and highway and access road construction.

The groundbreaking took place in 1945 and in 1947 the first automobiles were produced and shipped from the plant. The assembly plant would later become the General Motors Assembly Plant. It was 980,000 square feet, eventually expanding to about 1.5 million square feet. By 1948, there were 1,363 employees. (“History of Doraville GM Plant”, DeKalb History Center archives)  

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Firefighters remember Doraville fire 1972

In 2022 I had the opportunity to speak directly with some of the firefighters who were at the Doraville Triangle fire in 1972. Lieutenant J. D. Boozer took a great deal of time to share his personal recollections and explain anything that I didn’t understand, and there was a lot that needed further explanation for me.

Lt. Boozer was working at DeKalb County fire station #1 in 1972 when the Doraville Triangle Refinery fire took place and had been with the department for ten years. He arrived on the first day of the fire and stayed through until the end of the fire, three days later.

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Doraville refinery fire of 1972

In 2022, I researched the Triangle Refinery fire in Doraville. The fire began with an overfilled storage tank. Vapors from the overfilled tank reached nearby homes on Doral Circle and ignited a pilot light at one of the homes causing an explosion. The explosion then set three storage tanks on fire. (Atlanta Constitution, April 7, 1972, “Killer gasoline fire rages into 2nd day”)

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Drummond family narrowly escapes Doraville Triangle Refinery fire of 1972

When I first wrote about the Doraville Triangle Refinery fire that began on April 6, 1972 for the Dunwoody Crier newspaper, I received an email from Todd Drummond of Dunwoody. He shared the story of living on Doral Circle, the street adjacent to the refinery, when the tragic fire took place. The family home was closest house to the fire, but miraculously did not burn. He was five years old at the time.

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Mathis Dairy and Rosebud-Rainbow Drive, Decatur

R. L. Mathis started the dairy back in 1917. According to his obituary in the April 13, 1992 Atlanta Constitution, he started with five cows and a horse and buggy. In a March 13,1980 Atlanta Constitution article, “Country Fresh-Raw Milk and Rosebud,” Mathis told of visiting his uncles’ dairy when he was about 13 or 14 and not loving the work. However, when his father died a few years later Mathis went into the dairy business out of necessity.

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Prosperity Presbyterian Cemetery, Prospect Methodist Church and Corinth Baptist Church, more photos

In the January 28, 2021 issue of the Dunwoody Crier newspaper, I wrote about Prospect Methodist Church and Prosperity Presbyerian Church in One stretch of road, three Chamblee churches. The following week, February 3, 2021 was about Corinth Church and is titled Prosperity, Prospect and now Corinth Church.

All three of these early Chamblee churches began on a small stretch of Peachtree Road. See additional photos below and read the articles on the Dunwoody Crier website by following the links above.

Today, the former Prospect Methodist Church building is home to The Bunny Hive, City of Chamblee Planning and Development, and one additional office space.

Today, the former Prospect Methodist Church building is home to The Bunny Hive, City of Chamblee Planning and Development, and one additional office space.

Prospect Methodist Cemetery is visible behind the old church building, but accessible from North Peachtree Road.

Prospect Methodist Cemetery is visible behind the old church building, but accessible from North Peachtree Road.

Before the recent remodel of the church, Biggar’s Antiques operated out of the building for several years. They moved to bigger warehouse space due to their large prop business for the Atlanta area film and television industry.

Before the recent remodel of the church, Biggar’s Antiques operated out of the building for several years. They moved to bigger warehouse space due to their large prop business for the Atlanta area film and television industry.

Properity Cemetery was next door to Prosperity Presbyterian Church. The marker at the gate of the cemetery gives a timeline of the church.

Properity Cemetery was next door to Prosperity Presbyterian Church. The marker at the gate of the cemetery gives a timeline of the church.

This is the view of Prosperity Presbyterian Cemetery from inside the gate.

This is the view of Prosperity Presbyterian Cemetery from inside the gate.

Monument at Corinth Baptist Church cemetery.

Monument at Corinth Baptist Church cemetery.

Just past Prosperity Cemetery is the border for Doraville, Georgia. Railroad and Marta tracks are on the right side of the road.

Just past Prosperity Cemetery is the border for Doraville, Georgia. Railroad and Marta tracks are on the right side of the road.

Corinth Baptist Church timeline, marker at the cemetery at interesection of New Peachtree Road and Hood Avenue.

Corinth Baptist Church timeline, marker at the cemetery at interesection of New Peachtree Road and Hood Avenue.