We got a really nice email recently from Marsha, who used to live in the neighborhood (and who teaches AND used to work in a library!). I haven't had a chance to email her back, but below is an excerpt from her email. Marsha, I will reply soon! Thanks for writing!
...I have been keeping up with your blog because my husband, children and I lived on Dauphine St. from 75-80. I can't remember the address, but it was 3rd from the corner and was the original farmhouse before the neighborhood was built. It was a casualty of Marta. It had a lot of quirks! Our next door neighborwas Mrs. G-- and she had lived there all her life. She died right before we moved at 90 something with no children (she had outlived 3 husbands--the first one made furniture and we still have a kitchen table and chairs we bought from her). She worked at the Methodist Church on Main St. as a secretary for years and years. I thought that might be a good source for tracking down pictures and info on people who lived there. I know all the churches had directories. ... Good luck with the renovating. I really enjoy reading your blog--I found it from the Westview Bungalow site--I grew up there.
Showing posts with label history. Show all posts
Showing posts with label history. Show all posts
10 January 2008
29 December 2007
atlanta telephone history
More than you might ever want to know about the history of telephone service in Atlanta. I couldn't find out what the D might have meant, or whether it was even a phone number in 1938, but I did learn about East Point's "FAirfax" and its later conversion to "POplar 7" in 1955 (hence the number that appears as 767 and later as PO7--its the same thing).
http://home.speedfactory.net/cardwell/
Info on the history of the East Point office can be found here: http://home.speedfactory.net/cardwell/offices_atlanta.html#EASTPOINT
http://home.speedfactory.net/cardwell/
Info on the history of the East Point office can be found here: http://home.speedfactory.net/cardwell/offices_atlanta.html#EASTPOINT
28 December 2007
visit to the historical society
After reading a post on ThirteenEleven's blog about checking the old city directories for the names of previous owners and residents, I slapped myself on the forehead for not thinking of it myself. All those times I had to go to Special Collections and look up names and streets for library reference by email, and it didn't even occur to me to check for our own house!
So yesterday, B and I finally headed over to the East Point Historical Society. They had lots of great photos and mementos of old East Point, showing it to have once been a much more happening place. We discovered that when MARTA was added, Main St. was widened and took out several houses. In other parts of East Point, there were lots of photos of gorgeous old Victorians demolished in the name of progress.
The very helpful gentleman at the Historical Society helped us find our our street address before the numbering system changed in 1961. Our house was number 126 at one point, and the whole street was known as -- Ave...now it seems to be half St. and half Ave. He showed us the Sanborn fire maps from 1925 to the 1940s (one map book, with additions pasted in over the years) and it looks like our house was originally on one piece of property that also included the houses on either side of us. Not sure if that just means they were owned by one person and later divided with new property lines as they were sold off, or if members of one family lived in all three to begin with, but that seems unlikely. We also saw the plat drawings and advertisements for lots in Colonial Hills, which were in the $500-800 range.
I've posted the rest of the info we found in a box in the right column named "Bungalow Timeline." They didn't have a complete collection of Atlanta Suburban City Directories, so I hope to find more information next time I go to the Decatur Library (assuming they have Suburban and not just City directories...).
So yesterday, B and I finally headed over to the East Point Historical Society. They had lots of great photos and mementos of old East Point, showing it to have once been a much more happening place. We discovered that when MARTA was added, Main St. was widened and took out several houses. In other parts of East Point, there were lots of photos of gorgeous old Victorians demolished in the name of progress.
The very helpful gentleman at the Historical Society helped us find our our street address before the numbering system changed in 1961. Our house was number 126 at one point, and the whole street was known as -- Ave...now it seems to be half St. and half Ave. He showed us the Sanborn fire maps from 1925 to the 1940s (one map book, with additions pasted in over the years) and it looks like our house was originally on one piece of property that also included the houses on either side of us. Not sure if that just means they were owned by one person and later divided with new property lines as they were sold off, or if members of one family lived in all three to begin with, but that seems unlikely. We also saw the plat drawings and advertisements for lots in Colonial Hills, which were in the $500-800 range.
I've posted the rest of the info we found in a box in the right column named "Bungalow Timeline." They didn't have a complete collection of Atlanta Suburban City Directories, so I hope to find more information next time I go to the Decatur Library (assuming they have Suburban and not just City directories...).
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