Prospect Methodist and Prosperity Presbyterian Churches in Chamblee

Three churches were established in the 1800s in a small area along Peachtree Road in Chamblee.  The building that was once Prospect Methodist Church, built in 1885, still stands at 5576 Peachtree Road.  All three churches evolved and moved through the years, two churches finding homes in new communities.  Their first locations were close to where the Native American trails known as Peachtree and Shallow Ford Trail (also known as Hightower Trail) met and near the boundary between Chamblee and Doraville.  Each had church cemeteries which remain today.

According to Vivian Price Saffold’s History of DeKalb County, the congregation of Prospect Methodist Church gathered in a log building located behind the existing church as early as 1827.  The 1885 church was originally built with two entrances, one for women and one for men, which was common at that time.  The church remained in use until the congregation voted in 1963 to build a new church on Chamblee Dunwoody Road.  This church was called Chamblee Methodist and is still active today as Chamblee First United Methodist Church. 

The 1885 church building became home to Cagle Auction house, followed by Biggar’s Antiques.  In 2019, the building was renovated, and the central portion became home to the City of Chamblee Planning and Development. As of 2024, the building is being used as commercial space, but not by the City of Chamblee.

Photo from A Century in North DeKalb

The history of Prosperity Presbyterian Church begins with members meeting at the home of Samuel McElroy in 1836.  In 1849, Joseph Stewart, one of the founding members, gave land for a church to be built.  That church was located along what is now Peachtree Road, just north of Prospect Methodist.  Although the church is gone, Prosperity Cemetery is well maintained and identified with a plaque identifying the church timeline.   

The second sanctuary was built in the same location.  According to History of Doraville Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church, by Flora McElroy Miller, the church had a wood stove which was used not only by worshippers on Sunday, but by those traveling in covered wagons and needing a place to spend the night.  Prosperity Presbyterian also played a role in the organization of New Hope Presbyterian in Dunwoody and Antioch Presbyterian near Embry Hills.

In 1871, the church moved to Doraville and began meeting at Doraville School at the intersection of Central Avenue and Church Street.  The name was changed to Doraville Associate Reform Presbyterian Church in 1890.  In 2000, the church moved to 5918 Spalding Drive and became Peachtree Corners Presbyterian Church. 

Corinth Baptist Church is another early Chamblee Church. Corinth Baptist became Chamblee Baptist Church, then First Baptist Church of Chamblee, and eventually Johns Creek Baptist Church. More on Corinth Baptist Church coming soon.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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