East Atlanta History Lesson

[notofsunnybrook]

We are starting a new feature on the EACA website: East Atlanta History Lesson.  Neighborhood historians Ralph Green and Henry Bryant have provided some photos and brief stories to get us rolling.  If you'd like to submit an entry, please email newsletter@eaca.net.  We'd love to hear from you!

The latest lesson will always be on the home page, but older lessons (once we have one) will be located in the About East Atlanta/History section of the site.  Also, the History page is a great primer on the history of our 'hood from the early Native American settlement to today.

This week: Grocery Stores.  Who knew at one time we had 2 grocery stores in the village?!?

[Cap'n Ken]

I heartily endorse this feature! Will you take requests for topics we'd like explored?

[notofsunnybrook]

Yes, we will gladly take requests!

[Cap'n Ken]

OK, how's this?

I love this image:



I have a print of it hanging in my foyer, in fact (those images are actually quite large if you figure out how to get them big). It is the Flat Shoals Service Station and the photo page says it's at Flat Shoals and May, the picture is from 1934 and it was taken by an Elijah S Clarke, whose car is at the far right.

I have a really hard time trying to orient the photo. It seems like this is the place where the red brick car wash thing is at now, so it seems like it's taken from across Flat Shoals and the dudes on the left are right up at the point of the triangle of May / Flat Shoals. But it also seems like the two houses visible on May aren't there anymore - the one toward the left looks like it would be on one of the vacant lots there. And if you look at the lot now, there are what seem like former gas-pump islands, but they don't seem to match up with the layout of the station in the photo.

But it's a fantastic picture and snapshot of the times. And Spanish / mission architecture? Nice!

So do we know anything about this place? Did it evolve into another gas station in the building that's there now? One of my older GPS systems still tells me there's a Texaco there - so until when was this a gas station? Are the houses we see here significant?

Here's the info page on the photo:
http://cdm.sos.state.ga.us/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/vg2&CISOPTR=4794&CISOBOX=1&REC=3

[dsnation]

OK, how's this?


I have a really hard time trying to orient the photo. It seems like this is the place where the red brick car wash thing is at now, so it seems like it's taken from across Flat Shoals and the dudes on the left are right up at the point of the triangle of May / Flat Shoals. But it also seems like the two houses visible on May aren't there anymore - the one toward the left looks like it would be on one of the vacant lots there. And if you look at the lot now, there are what seem like former gas-pump islands, but they don't seem to match up with the layout of the station in the photo.

Thanks for sharing that photo, it's pretty incredible.  Orientation-wise, I think it might be on the other corner - where the Chiropractor/Body-shop thing next to Midway is.  I'm basing that on what appears to be a less-sharp curve than the triangle, but it really is hard to tell.

[Cap'n Ken]

OK, how's this?


I have a really hard time trying to orient the photo. It seems like this is the place where the red brick car wash thing is at now, so it seems like it's taken from across Flat Shoals and the dudes on the left are right up at the point of the triangle of May / Flat Shoals. But it also seems like the two houses visible on May aren't there anymore - the one toward the left looks like it would be on one of the vacant lots there. And if you look at the lot now, there are what seem like former gas-pump islands, but they don't seem to match up with the layout of the station in the photo.

Thanks for sharing that photo, it's pretty incredible.  Orientation-wise, I think it might be on the other corner - where the Chiropractor/Body-shop thing next to Midway is.  I'm basing that on what appears to be a less-sharp curve than the triangle, but it really is hard to tell.

I don't think there's a sharp enough point on the other side, but like you say it's hard to tell. I'm going on the assumption that the white house in the back right is up on May (and that the whitish strip you see up there is the street), because that's the only thing that seems to make sense when I try to orient it. There has to be a street in front of and behind the gas station, right?

[Flower Lady]

Super! I would like to know more about the original memorial at the corner of Flat Shoals and Glenwood, and about Denises aunt's icecream store!!!

[smiley]

I'll have to dig through some old photos at my parents.  My grandparents lived off Florida, grandmother was a teller at East Atlanta Bank, (Currently Flatiron), when she was 15 or 16. My uncle went to Whitefoord Elementary and I think he has pictures of the graduating class.  There should be a couple old photos of the village somewhere in there...

[Cap'n Ken]

I'll have to dig through some old photos at my parents.  My grandparents lived off Florida, grandmother was a teller at East Atlanta Bank, (Currently Flatiron), when she was 15 or 16. My uncle went to Whitefoord Elementary and I think he has pictures of the graduating class.  There should be a couple old photos of the village somewhere in there...

That's awesome. Places with a history need all the historical photos that can be found.

[smiley]

I'll have to dig through some old photos at my parents.  My grandparents lived off Florida, grandmother was a teller at East Atlanta Bank, (Currently Flatiron), when she was 15 or 16. My uncle went to Whitefoord Elementary and I think he has pictures of the graduating class.  There should be a couple old photos of the village somewhere in there...

That's awesome. Places with a history need all the historical photos that can be found.

What's funny is I knew nothing of this until I moved to the village because they thought the area was a place you didn't go nowadays.

[dsnation]

OK, how's this?


I have a really hard time trying to orient the photo. It seems like this is the place where the red brick car wash thing is at now, so it seems like it's taken from across Flat Shoals and the dudes on the left are right up at the point of the triangle of May / Flat Shoals. But it also seems like the two houses visible on May aren't there anymore - the one toward the left looks like it would be on one of the vacant lots there. And if you look at the lot now, there are what seem like former gas-pump islands, but they don't seem to match up with the layout of the station in the photo.

Thanks for sharing that photo, it's pretty incredible.  Orientation-wise, I think it might be on the other corner - where the Chiropractor/Body-shop thing next to Midway is.  I'm basing that on what appears to be a less-sharp curve than the triangle, but it really is hard to tell.

I don't think there's a sharp enough point on the other side, but like you say it's hard to tell. I'm going on the assumption that the white house in the back right is up on May (and that the whitish strip you see up there is the street), because that's the only thing that seems to make sense when I try to orient it. There has to be a street in front of and behind the gas station, right?

But if it's oriented south on Flat Shoals (which I think is what you're saying), shouldn't May go off to the left instead of the right?  Of course, if the lot where the Farmer's Market currently lives used to be a throughway (which is a distinct possibility), then my analysis is wrong.

I do see the white strip you're talking about, so I wonder if the photo isn't actually from Newton facing north towards May.  It really is disorienting trying to figure it out.

[Cap'n Ken]

OK, how's this?


I have a really hard time trying to orient the photo. It seems like this is the place where the red brick car wash thing is at now, so it seems like it's taken from across Flat Shoals and the dudes on the left are right up at the point of the triangle of May / Flat Shoals. But it also seems like the two houses visible on May aren't there anymore - the one toward the left looks like it would be on one of the vacant lots there. And if you look at the lot now, there are what seem like former gas-pump islands, but they don't seem to match up with the layout of the station in the photo.

Thanks for sharing that photo, it's pretty incredible.  Orientation-wise, I think it might be on the other corner - where the Chiropractor/Body-shop thing next to Midway is.  I'm basing that on what appears to be a less-sharp curve than the triangle, but it really is hard to tell.

I don't think there's a sharp enough point on the other side, but like you say it's hard to tell. I'm going on the assumption that the white house in the back right is up on May (and that the whitish strip you see up there is the street), because that's the only thing that seems to make sense when I try to orient it. There has to be a street in front of and behind the gas station, right?

But if it's oriented south on Flat Shoals (which I think is what you're saying), shouldn't May go off to the left instead of the right?  Of course, if the lot where the Farmer's Market currently lives used to be a throughway (which is a distinct possibility), then my analysis is wrong.

I do see the white strip you're talking about, so I wonder if the photo isn't actually from Newton facing north towards May.  It really is disorienting trying to figure it out.

My thought is what you see in the foreground is Flat Shoals and Mr. Clarke is standing basically at the Farmer's Market lot / "Bakery" building next door (though maybe at somewhat of an odd / non-perpendicular angle). So the Village would be to your left and May is behind the station.

But if I could say any of that with certainty, I'd have figured this out a long time ago.

[JBB]

My thought is what you see in the foreground is Flat Shoals and Mr. Clarke is standing basically at the Farmer's Market lot / "Bakery" building next door (though maybe at somewhat of an odd / non-perpendicular angle). So the Village would be to your left and May is behind the station.

that is my professional opinion.  The old building pictured sat (according to the 1949 aerial photo) closer to the corner and "faced" the corner.  The house behind and to the left of the station sat on the vacant lot next to the I-20 clinic on the north side of May).  We're looking at the side of the house in this pic.  The house on the right would have been up the hill on the right (south) side of May... maybe about where the newer 2-story house is.

[Jack]

I have a print of it hanging in my foyer, in fact (those images are actually quite large if you figure out how to get them big).

So, how do you get them big? At the Georgia's Virtual Vault you linked to, the maximum resolution appears to be 600x420 pixels.

[Clue]

I heartily endorse this feature! Will you take requests for topics we'd like explored?

I knew you would.