Northlake's Henderson Mill Elementary Has Guide Dog

(borrowed from DeKalb School News Advisory, 11/18/09)

Guide Dog in Training Teaches & Learns at Henderson Mill ES

When Nike enters Ms. Kosik’s classroom at Henderson Mill Elementary; he is there to learn. He takes a seat, is quiet and waits for instruction. But Nike isn’t like the other fifth graders around him; he has four feet, a furry tail, and he already knows for sure what he is going to be when he grows up. In fact, he’s already landed a job.

Nike is a black Labrador retriever who belongs to the Guide Dog Foundation and in a few months, he will be a guide dog for the blind. In the meantime, he’s in ‘guide school’; and being a member of Henderson Mill’s family is all a part of his training.

“The foundation was so excited that Nike could come to school because mostly, the folks that have the time to raise these puppies don’t have young children. Then you have cases where the dogs are not exposed to young children and they’re afraid of them. This pup has been used to 400 kids loving on him from day one,” said Judith Kosik, a Henderson Mill teacher in the school’s Deaf and Hard of Hearing Program.

Born in New York on January 23, 2009, Nike began coming to Henderson Mill when he was only seven weeks old and nine pounds in size. Back then, Ms. Kosik was just beginning her involvement with the Guide Dog Foundation after accepting an appeal that came via email from an advocacy group for blind children.

Nike is raised by Ms. Kosik on weekends. Her job is to take Nike into public places so he can get used to large numbers of people, different noises and different situations where he will likely guide his blind owner. The nine and a half-month old pup comes to school each Monday and visits with different classes.

Tuesday to Friday, Nike is raised by the women of the Metro State prison who participate in the Vision Project. They provide care and training for ten or 12 dog puppies each year. In return, the women earn college credit from Middle Georgia College and have employment skills and certification as veterinary technicians when they leave jail. Fifty women have participated in the program so far, with 15 finding work in the field later. There have been no repeat offenders among these women. A similar program will open at the men’s jail in Macon in June.

Kosik explains that since many guide dogs do not get the chance to be around young children during their training, it is the number one reason they do not make the “final cut” for guide dog training. Thus, Henderson Mill is helping Nike become a better guide dog.

“He truly is an affectionate little guy and he really loves being here…Nike goes to restaurants and stores and banks and post offices—he goes everywhere I go on the weekends, but this is clearly his favorite place to be,” said Kosik.

Henderson loves Nike’s time at the school just as much as Nike, but at the idea of him coming to school Principal Rebecca Jackson admits there was a tiny ounce of hesitation.

“I grilled her,” she laughs recalling Ms. Kosik’s proposal. But Principal Jackson’s end-all response was, ‘Bring the puppy and let’s see how it goes.’

“You have to think what benefits the children. There’s always that question. You know the benefit for the dogs, but you have to ask, ‘what’s the benefit for the students?’ and I think they have benefited,” said Jackson.

Benefited, they have. Nike is helping Henderson Mill by providing some inspiration for standards-based lessons, and for providing ongoing behavior incentives for special needs students. He also provides a willing audience for the school’s struggling or very young readers. Last year, he even helped one fifth grader get over her fear of dogs.

Nike helped bring life to a third grade reading series book about a guide dog and was also interviewed by hearing impaired third graders so that they could better understand how dogs like Nike are raised.

As tempting as it is, Nike’s classmates know not to pet him when he’s working (when he’s donning his yellow cape), but there are special occasions when the students are allowed to cuddle up to the Labrador and show their affection.

When he graduates from ‘puppy school’ as Ms. Kosik calls it, there will be guaranteed tears from the Henderson Mill family, but Nike will return to the Guide Dog Foundation’s New York campus well prepared thanks to the students and staff at the DeKalb elementary school. From there, he will undergo four to five months of very intensive training on their campus and in and out of New York city in order to get acclimated to the transit system of which blind persons often use for mobility. Nike will also be trained with blind clients to see with whom he best fits. There is also the possibility that Nike may become a service dog for disabled veterans.

Fortunately for Ms. Kosik, the day Nike departs, she will begin taking care of a new 7wk to 10wk old pup. Until then, the school is savoring every second it has with Nike. He’s been an exemplary student, a great friend and whether sleeping or moseying around the cafeteria with Ms. Kosik, one thing for sure is Nike makes Monday mornings at Henderson Mill a joy!

Vista Yoga Joins Vista Dance at Vista Grove

That’s a lot of “Vistas”. The Vista Grove Shopping Center (y’know, Quinnie’s home cooking) has a new neighborhood-owned wellness shop to go with long-standing Vista Dance (Dance Atlanta). Yoga guru Marti Yura starts realizing her dream of teaching at her own studio at this Saturday’s (November 14) grand opening of Vista Yoga. Local families will recognize (Mrs.) Marti and her husband (Mr.) Marty from over 20 years in schools, athletic leagues and other community activities. The married business partners combine Mr. Marty’s commitment to helping people “discover possibilities for themselves that they weren't able to see before”, and “classes that are infused with (Mrs. Marti’s)…nurturing spirit and a sense of humor”, according to the studio’s website.

Vista Yoga is at the back of the shopping center, so it can have its own parking and adds comfort in anonymity to folks in workout cloths. Before you think the lack of visibility will hurt the business, you have to consider business manager (Mr.) Marty’s ideas about “visibility”—lots of people knowing lots of people in Northlake (Lakeside) neighborhoods. “Mr. Marty” says, “this community is cool”, explaining, “we know what we have in common: school, stability, longevity and we don’t have to drive far”.

“We’ll be e-mailing to the world”, Marty, the business manager says. The studio has a Facebook page that is covered with Facebook “fans”, confirming what Marty says is a hallmark of Northlake neighborhoods, “expressing our support for each other.” A long-standing list of clients from “Mrs.” Marti’s days at N.E. Athletic Club and years of practice as a physical trainer will no doubt be an immediate source of revenue. Vista Yoga's website profile's about a dozen instructors.

To symbolize the Yura’s attention on community service and a focus on the area’s education complex, teachers will get the same typical discounts as students and seniors.

I’ve known the Yura’s for a long time, from my kid’s schools, swim leagues and soccer programs—even catching Mr. Marty for coffee occasionally. The Yura’s youngest; Adam currently plays on Lakeside High’s champion school soccer team. Man and wife have always been extremely gracious and made you feel like you are the only person in the room.

So check out Vista Yoga starting with the Grand Opening this Saturday.

Cravey/Briarmoor History--A 12-year old's Treasure

Check this out--written by a Northlake area elementary school student in 1987!


WHAT IS THE HISTORY OF MY NEIGHBORHOOD?
By Damon Remigailo. December 14, 1987

note, August 2006: Damon was born in Atlanta in 1975, the son of Alice & Richard and brother of Richard, Jr. His family then and now resides on Silver Lace Ct. He graduated from Hawthorne Elementary, Lakeside High, and UNC, Chapel Hill. He and his wife, Heidi are expecting their first child in September 2006. They live and work in the inner city of Memphis, TN, he a youth minister, she a nurse practitioner.


Outline

What is the History of My Neighborhood?
I. Introduction

II. History of the Land
a. Indians
b. Families
c. Mills
d. Civil War
e. Farming

III. State Game Preserve
a. Quail
b. Zack D. Cravey as commissioner

IV. Development of the neighborhood
a. Lilian Grovenstein
b. John Taylor, Jr. and Sr.
c. John Honea
d. Margery Cravey Taylor Gambrell

V. Neighborhood growth
a. Hawthorne School and Lakeside High School
b. Neighborhood Pool
c. Northlake Mall

VI. Future of the Neighborhood

VII. Conclusion


The purpose of this project is to learn about the history of the land where my family lives. It is also to learn about who owned the property before us, how the land was used and how the neighborhood developed.

A piece of property has a street address and a legal description. I live at 2531 Silver Lace Court in Atlanta, Georgia. The property 'deed says that it is lot 18, Block J, Briarmoor Manor Subdivision, land lot 247, district 18, DeKalb County. My parents bought it from Peachtree Development Corporation in June of 1979 and the deed was registered at the DeKalb County Courthouse.

The first people to own this land were the Creek Indians. By the eighteenth century there were around twenty thousand Creek Indians in Georgia and Alabama. White settlers moved into Creek Indian Territory, and Andrew Jackson defeated the Creeks in 1814 at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend in Alabama. The Creek land was divided into five Georgia counties which were distributed by a lottery in land lots of two hundred two and a half acres each. Among these lands was the property where my family lives. It is in land lot 247 in DeKalb County which was originally granted to John E. Gilbert on December 18, 1821 for the grant fee of nineteen dollars.

Archibald Darrough bought land lot 247 for one hundred dollars on March 9, 1822 and sold it to John Blake for "two hundred dollars on July 24, 1822 •. John Blake operated Blake's Mill on the north fork of Peachtree Creek until his death in 1854. An. historical marker now stands on the site on Shallowford Road.

John Blake was also a farmer and owned twenty-three slaves. In his will he listed land lots 265, 266, 249: 264, 284, 232, 231, 283, 282 and 247, but land lot 247 was the most valuable because Peachtree Creek went through the property and was the source of power to run the mill. John Blake had three sons who lived in Randolph County, Alabama.

William W. McElroy bought land lot 247 for three thousand two hundred dollars on October 3, 1862. He was a farmer who fought in the Civil War. He married Margaret Tilly McElroy in 1840. They were founding members of the Doraville Associate Reform Presbyterian Church and were opposed to slavery. They are both buried in the Prospect Cemetery on North Peachtree Road in Chamblee. The church is now used as an antique shop and-the McElroy’s graves are behind the church.

When William died, the land was passed to J. W. F. Tilly and then to Stephen T. McElroy on February 18, 1868. S. T. McElroy was one of three children and was raised on the McElroy farm in Norcross. There is now a McElroy Road which runs south from Buford Highway in Doraville.

Stephen T. McElroy was born in 1845 and fought in the Civil War at Baker's Creek, Mississippi, where he was wounded in the left leg on November 18, 1862. His leg was amputated and he was given a disability discharge in 1863.

Stephen McElroy owned land lot 247 until he sold it to the Clark Stewart Company of Fulton County on February 3, 1921. The John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Company foreclosed on the property on September 1, 1931, during the great depression. Lum C. Pitts bought it from the John Hancock Company on January 29, 1936.

On February 1, 1936 the Georgia Commissioner of Game and Fish, Zack D. Cravey leased land lot 247 from L. C. Pitts to be used for a game preserve. Pitts reserved the right to quarry any rock and granite for one year and to cut standing timber for two years.

For five years the game farm was used to breed and raise Georgia Native Bobwhite Quail, Asiatic Chukar Partridges, wild turkey and deer.

The quail hatchery was located where Hawthorne Drive divides into Hawthorne and Caladium Drives. The stone house which you can see today on Briarcliff Road near Hawthorne Drive was where the manager of the game farm lived. His first name was Barney.

The property lease was not renewed because the Atlanta climate was not appropriate for raising Quail.

Zack D. Cravey bought the land from Lum C. Pitts for himself and his family on January 11, 1944. He built a lake for fishing where the quarry had been. He built a cabin and stable. When Cravey Lake was being built, there was a rock crusher left from the quarry.

Briarcliff Road was already a state road from Atlanta to Tucker. It had been paved to Cravey Drive by Scott Candler, the Commissioner of DeKalb County, when the game farm was operating. Georgia Power Company built electric lines and the county extended the water system to the game farm. Cravey Drive was a dirt road then.

In 1950, John L. Taylor Sr., Zack Cravey’s son-in-law, built a house at the corner of Cravey Drive and Briarcliff Road and lived there until 1953.

Zack D. Cravey sold land lot•247 to his two sons and John L. Taylor, Sr. They formed the Peachtree Development Corporation to develop the land into lots for houses. They named the subdivision Briarmoor Manor. In 1954 Peachtree Development Corporation built the streets Cravey Drive, Briarmoor Manor Road, Sylvan Ramble and Hawthorne Drive. By 1961 Caladium Drive, Cosmos Court, Cosmos Drive and Hawthorne Place were developed. Some of the builders who built houses on these streets were :Fred Jones, Frances Milam and Joe Honea. In the 1970' s and 80' s Cravey Drive and Hawthorne Drive were extended and Canna Ridge Circle, Jasmine Court, Cravey Trail, Silver Lace Court and Hawthorne Cove were built. Joe Honea is now building on the last vacant land.

In an early plat my cul-de-sac, Silver Lace Court, was drawn as a through street named Begonia Way, I think the change was made because there was too much rock to continue the street.

The streets were named for flowers and trees by Margery Cravey Taylor, now Margery Gambrell, who is Zack Cravey's daughter. The land for Briarmoor Manor Recreation Club was donated by Peachtree Development Corporation which also gave the land for Hawthorne Elementary School.

Hawthorne School was opened in 1960. Its architect was John Portman who designed the Hyatt Regency, Peachtree Plaza and Marriott Marquis Hotels in downtown Atlanta. His architectural firm was called Edwards and Portman at that time.

At one time there were almost one thousand students at Hawthorne. That is why Henderson Mill and Heritage Schools were built.

Hawthorne School has had five principals. Their names are Bob Rowlet, Bill Strain, Norman Dasinger, Tedd Briggs, and Gary Durham. Now Hawthorne School has fewer than four hundred students.

Northlake Mall was built on the Cash, Priest and Weed family properties. Zack Cravey wanted his sons to buy the land where Northlake Mall is today but they said they already owned too much •land.

Before the shopping center was built, the land was used for farming cotton and soybeans. Briarcliff Road was just a dirt road east of Cravey Drive. The WSB radio tower has been a landmark on La Vista Road since about 1935.

John Henry Honea, Joe Honea's grandfather, was one of the first people to live in this area. In about 1898 he bought a large farm south of the present Briarcliff Road from about Hawthorne Drive to Briarlake Road. His farmhouse was at the corner which is now Briarcliff and Payton Roads.

Lilian Grovenstein has lived on Briarmoor Road since 1956 when she and her husband, Erling, were two of the first residents of Briarmoor Manor. John Taylor, Sr., built her house and several others on the street. The Westbrooks have also lived there for over thirty years.

One of the people who lived on Briarcliff Road during the 1950's was Mr. Armstrong, a football coach who lived at Shallowford and Briarcliff Roads. Dr. Gaines and Sally Richardson lived in stone houses on Briarcliff Road. The white house across from Echo Lake was where Dr. Pruit lived. Margerite Stedman, who worked for the Atlanta Journal and Constitution, lived on •Briarcliff Road across from Hawthorne Drive.

In the 1950[‘s, there was a poor country family, named Pugh, who lived on Briarcliff Road, east of Cravey Drive. They lived in a wooden shack with no plumbing. Their two sons were named Rupert and Dean. The family lived on the food they could find or catch. Before Neal Pope built his house on Briarcliff Road in 1980, another family lived on the more than ten-acre property for many years. They built the stone foundation and gateposts for a house. They moved into the foundation and were going to wait until prices went down to finish building the house. Eventually they added a small frame upper level. After her husband died, the lady sold the property to Mr. Pope. She continued to live in her house and his house was built behind it. In 1987 the small house was torn down and the foundation was made into a greenhouse.

Varner Drive was named for a policeman in DeKalb County who fought in World War II. He gambled with other military men on his ship and sent the money he won home to his wife. He used the money to buy the property along what is now Varner Drive.

Shallow Ford Trail and Briarcliff Road

Shallowford Road was part of the old Shallow Ford Indian Trail which went from the present Decatur Courthouse to the Chattahoochee River where Roswell Road• now crosses it. The trail went north on Clairmont Road to La Vista, east to Oak Grove Road and north to Briarcliff Road where Lakeside High School stands now. The trail turned eastward again to the present Shallowford Road where it turned to the north. The shallow ford, for which the trail was named, is two miles south of the town of Roswell.

Briarcliff Road follows the ridge of the hills. That is why there are so many curves in the road. The ridge also•serves as the watershed for the area. Water which falls on the west side flows toward the Gulf of Mexico and water on the east side works its way to the Atlanta Ocean.

Briarcliff Road was straightened a little and moved to the north when it was paved in about 1938. Before then, it followed what is now Payton Road which was called old Briarcliff Road between about 1938 and 1960. Payton Road was given its current name in about 1960 when it was paved.

General ,Sherman's Union Soldiers March Nearby

There are two historical markers in my neighborhood which tell about General William T. Sherman's troops who marched through here on their way to Atlanta. One is on Shallowford Road in front of Thriftown Shopping Center. The other is on the west side of Briarcliff Road, just north of Shallowford Road.

On July 18, 1864, Blair's 17th A. C. of McPherson's Army of the Tennessee camped at the site of Blake's Mill where Thriftown now stands. The next day Blair's troops marched down the old Shallow Ford Road and east on what is now Briarcliff Road to join Logan's 15th A.C. at the present Midway Church at Henderson Mill Road. The two corps of federal soldiers were on their way to Stone Mountain to destroy the Georgia Railroad.

On July 19th, Dodge's 16th A. C. also marched south on the old Shallow Ford Road. They followed the indian trail to Decatur to report to General James B. McPherson, who was killed three days later by a Confederate soldier.

John Taylor Jr, and the Elephant Bone

When John Taylor Jr. was a boy living on Briarcliff Road in the early 1950's, he heard a story about a circus which had come to town years before. One of the elephants had died•and needed to be buried. This area was country then and so it was chosen for the grave.

John was playing in the woods one day when he found the elephant's leg bone. He dragged it back to his house. He used it as a bench in the yard and would sit on it and wave to people as they went by.

The Legend of Whitey

The land west of Briarcliff Road, between Shallowford•and Henderson Mill Roads was inhabited by wild animals before it was developed in the 1950's. There were stories about a monster which lived in the forest but they were never proven.

The so-called monster made lots of noise. It was probably nothing but the great white owl which the people called Whitey.

Whitey passed away in about 1960.



My study of the history of my neighborhood has taught me the answers to several questions and how to look for answers to my questions. I learned how to find the record of a transfer of deed at the courthouse. I learned how to plan and do interviews and how to look up family histories at the historical society. In my neighborhood, I looked for historical makers and for old gravestones.

I found out how the land was used before I lived here. My project also taught me how much the land and people have changed over the years. I enjoyed learning to know my neighbors better. Several of them shared their time and stories with me.

I hope people in the future care for this land as well as the people in the past. I would like them to remember the indians, the miller, the soldiers, the farmers, the animals, the developers, and builders and the homeowners. I like to think about the indians and the animals who once lived where my family and my neighbors live now.



Bibliography

The Collections of the DeKalb Historical: Society, Volume 1, The Year Book—1952. Decatur, Georgia: Bowen Press, 1952.

Cravey, Zack .D. “Game Farm in DeKalb,” The Atlanta Journal, 1936

Davis, Elizabeth L. and Ethel W. Spruil. The Story of Dunwoody. Atlanta, Georgia: Williams Printing Company, 1975.

DeKalb County Courthouse, Real estate documents section,• October 21, 1987.

"DeKalb County Elementary Schools: Ten Year Self Study”, 1982-1984, “Hawthorne.”

DeKalb Historical Society Archives, November 4, 1987 and November 9, 1987.

Margery Cravey Taylor Gambrell, personal interview, November 6, 1987.

Lilian Grovenstein, personal interview, November 5, 1987.

Joe Honea, personal interview, October 27, 1987.

Hudgins, Carl T. "Mills and Other DeKalb County Industries and Their Owners." Read at the November, 1951, meeting of the DeKalb Historical Society.

Prospect Cemetery, United Methodist Church, Chamblee, Georgia, November 11, 1987.

John Taylor, personal interview, October 27, 1987.

Vanishing DeKalb. DeKalb Historical Society, 1985.



Special. Credits

Thank you:
Marie Brown, teacher
Gary Durham, principal of Hawthorne School
Delia Gilliland, DeKalb Historical Society archivist and genealogist
Lilian Grovenstein, neighbor• and early resident
Joe Honea, builder of many homes in my neighborhood
Alice Remigailo, mother
Richard Remigailo, father
John Taylor, Jr., neighbor and grandson of Zack D. Cravey
Margery Cravey Taylor Gambrell, daughter of Zack D. Cravey

Lakeside High Debate Team Wins

Don't Debate Them!


The Lakeside Debate Team showed their stuff at the Bruce Rogers Speech & Debate Tournament October 23rd -24th in Warner Robbins, GA. Two Lakeside teams shared the Varsity Championship: Vincent Li and partner Jacob Altman with a 3-2 record in 5 rounds and Alex Lotito and partner Casey Williams, with a 4-1 record. Alex, Casey and Vincent also won speaker awards: 3rd, 5th and 6th place respectively.

History Is “In The Making”—Teaching It That Way Requires Sea Change

("Northlake Romance" column dated April, 2004)

I learned Walter Henderson died at age 83 last week—a great-great Grandson of Greenville Henderson, one of this area’s progenitors and historical icons. I met Mr. Henderson (Walter) at the first “Henderson Heritage” meeting held at St. Bede’s Episcopal (focal point of Henderson lands) two years ago—and later, had several delightful conversations. Henderson called himself a “bionic man” (after many surgeries and implants) and had a zillion stories about growing up here and teaching at the old Tucker School. When he “slipped” into discussing political hanky-panky, he’d quickly extricate himself, to keep things light. Walter Henderson and recently deceased DeKalb County Historian Walter McCurdy (Smoke Rise) reminded us that people and families are part of the public infrastructure—assets to be called on—in life and death. Story tellers inevitably become part of the story.

Time marches on, so if History (as taught in public school) is only a series of events, then teachers are doomed to endlessly add more stuff to a box. Tomorrow, we will add today’s events to the timeline of recorded (and deduced) history. If time has always “lengthened” history, then technology has sped the delivery and dramatically increased the amount of information available. Think printing press, TV, later satellite transmission, the internet and future “compression” by continuous use of digital images. Clearly, the world of historical “content” is now unlimited and as such, has become a greater part of everyone’s BEING. As examples of the changing and expanding "availability" of historical data: is enhanced information delivery one reason President Bush faces “9-11” skepticism (history as we are living it)--or even the availability and ease of distribution of information about the days that led up to Pearl Harbor ("more history" about the past)?

I recently spoke about the high school History curriculum changes proposed by State Education Superintendent Kathy Cox with Northlake’s William Bradley (Brad) Bryant. Bryant, a former Chairman of the DeKalb Board of Education and now a Governor’s appointee to the state board, says that the big difference between teaching History now and when he was at Henderson High School (Class of 1971) are the resources available outside of school and the expanded variety of mediums in a total education. Bryant asks, “What is a more appropriate role for a K-12 curriculum in an era where people cognitively view everything they do as a part of education?”

Content without “context” is not education. Today, tough choices must be made to remove “tired required” data and make room for greater inquiry. Reading syndicated opinions in a daily newspaper continually brings me to terms with the inadequacy of my own “history” education. My schooling didn’t lack for information (data). I just wasn’t taught to ask “what does this mean to me”, “what is the small and big picture” and “why is history written by the winners”. Perhaps that was reasonable, because in 1975 (my senior year of high school) “The Information Age” was embryonic. Today’s communication resources have paradoxically freed students to pursue knowledge, instead of information—and question everything they are “taught”.

Today, should schools offer lessons “representative democracy” as a “form” of government or as a process? The “form” demands that we teach what, when, where of The American Revolution and the US Constitution—the “process” suggests a critical review of CSPAN proceedings. Which is more relevant and instructive in terms of training citizenship and responsibility—and possibly inviting a review of The Constitution (on one’s own time)?

History is always in the making. Continuing to add more information (content) to the current curriculum certainly would be a change, while teaching students to REASON (context) would be a “sea” change. Maybe our high schools can dissect the current public debate over curriculum changes as a good “history” lesson.

You can make your own local history—Attend Tucker Celebration on Main Street on Saturday, May 8.

Tom Doolittle wrote about the Northlake area and local community-building under the "Northlake Romance" byline from 2001 to 2004.

State Senator, WWII Navigator and Citizen Joe Burton Passes Away at 86

Joe Burton served the Briarcliff/Lavista/Henderson communities in the State Legislature for 30 years. I was "persuaded" by Joe to volunteer to ring bells for the Salvation Army for 6 years, where Joe had had each of five doors at Northlake Mall covered for 20 or so years, saving the "Army" 1,000 man-hours for the 6 weeks each year around Christmas season. Every time I saw him, he would give me an update on the status of the get-togethers of his bomber group from North Africa during WWII. He knew I was keenly interested as he had navigated one of General Jimmy Doolittle's 12th Air Force B-25s at the age of 18.

I was proud to have been able to meet and know Joe Burton--the finest of men and citizens. He exemplified the "strong bones" which built this sturdy NE DeKalb area in the 1950's and 1960's. He and they set the tone for future generations of volunteers, voters and neighbors. Joe remained conservative and frugal with everything but his time, commitment and compassion.

Please read the following funeral announcment:

SENATOR JOE BURTON was 5th District Senator of DeKalb County which included portions of DeKalb and Gwinnett Counties, in the Georgia State Senate. He was first elected to the Senate in 1982 after serving 10 years in the state House of Representatives. Senator Burton, a Republican, was vice chairman of the Special Judiciary Committee and serves on the powerful Appropriations, Ethics, Natural Resources, and Rules Committees. Senator Burton initiated a Senate Study on the education of preschool children with special needs which became part of the national survey which led to federal legislation requiring states to address the problem. He passed legislation to ensure educators were prepared to serve special needs students, including the requirement that Georgia teachers, principals and counselors take a course on how to identify and educate special needs children. Another of Senator Burton's long list of legislative achievements ensuring the safety of children included his work to assure their safety in difficult custody battles. Senator Burton was active in legislation to help the physically and mentally disabled. He successfully passed legislation in the House and the Senate to require barrier free access to public buildings, including designated handicapped parking and curb cuts. Senator Burton initiated legislation to reduce arrest warrant process time thereby freeing police officers to do their job of fighting crime on the streets rather than on paperwork. He planned to introduce legislation to broaden applications of high technology in specific crime fighting areas including uninsured motorists and insurance fraud. Senator Burton was honored by the Association of Handicapped Student Service Programs in Post-Secondary Education, the Easter Seal Society, and Birthright International for his legislative efforts and community service. He was a member of Goodwill Industries Advisory Board, the Salvation Army Advisory Board, and he was a Board Member of Friends of Disabled Adults, which gives free wheel chairs to disabled citizens. Born August 30, 1923 in Atlanta, Senator Burton earned his BSIM degree from Georgia Tech March 2001.

The Atlanta Journal Constitution provided an interesting obituary:
http://www.ajc.com/news/joe-burton-86-of-152147.html

Henderson’s Mill Site “Preserved” but not dedicated

November 25, 2003
(Originally published in Community Review Newspaper, Decatur)


By Tom Doolittle

This is Installment 3 of the The Parks of Northlake, a continuing series.  This installment explores a popular historic icon that has not attracted formal preservation support. Such examples added to existing parks and school properties, make up a growing “system” of recreational property envisioned by various advocates in the 25 square miles around Northlake Mall.

Last year, travelers along Northlake’s Henderson Mill Road were confronted by a hand-made sign across from the St. Bede’s Episcopal Church lower parking lot and the well-known civil war marker there. It presumptuously read, “Want a Park?” and pointed to the former location of Greenville Henderson’s (grist) Mill. The mill was the historic epicenter of Henderson’s vast domain, ultimately lending its name to a significant Northlake arterial road, a public school and countless other privately owned enterprises. The name “Henderson’s Mill” was always iconic, as it may have had an earlier owner and changed hands several times before it burned down in 1911.

The mill stood where 9.1 acres is still owned by descendants of Robert E. Bolton, until recently by Bolton’s daughter, Lucille (married name Chamblee). The 1915 county map (DeKalb History Center) shows R.E. Bolton owning over 70 acres around the mill—what are now St. Bede’s Episcopal Church, the Full Gospel Atlanta Church, the Henderson Creek and Glenrose subdivisions. Lucille B. Chamblee passed away last year at age 95 according to her daughter, a local resident inheriting the property with her brother.

Efforts to engage Mrs. Chamblee in community discussions about Henderson’s Mill had been unsuccessful in recent years. “She had been approached by hundreds of developers and just got to the point where she wouldn’t talk to any visitors,” her daughter says. Born 1938, the younger Chamblee says she never thought about the mill, but remembers playing under a bridge where Old Henderson Mill Road (now the Chamblee property entrance) crossed the creek. “We called the road the Old Mill Cut.” Walter Henderson (one of Greenville’s great-great grandsons), taught Chamblee’s daughter at Tucker’s first public school. Henderson, who has lived his entire 82 years on Chamblee-Tucker Road, most vividly remembers a big millstone lying on the Chamblee’s property and the dam for the mill pond, where a concrete structure remains today.


Local Lore Helps Moderns Reach for a Past
Much of what local residents understand about the mill and other Henderson landmarks comes from documents at Henderson Mill Dental Care, located across from Henderson Middle School. The dentist’s entrance foyer has several mill pictures and a picture album is the centerpiece of the lobby. A faux mill serves as the entrance monument of the Henderson Mill Condominiums near Chamblee-Tucker Road and the Embry-North Hills Business Association web site has adopted a mill logo (www.embrynorthhills.com ). Quinn’s Mill Restaurant on Northlake Parkway (closed around 1985) had claimed that its water wheel was Henderson’s.

Paul Graham is a historian who can be reached via the DeKalb History Center to discuss his research on early local landowners and their legacies. His “Browning District” project has implications for popular stories, in essence separating myth from fact. Graham presented new information about the extent of Greenville Henderson’s land holdings at an Embry-North Hills Business Association meeting earlier this year, saying “virtually all of Greenville Henderson’s land was west of what is now I-285”. Also, he says that the mill may never have had a water wheel—records from the 1870’s refer to steam power.

Rosemary Allen has operates the Ruth M. Allen Arts Center at 2638 Henderson Mill Road, in a house that was built by one of Robert Bolton’s sons, abutting the former mill location. Allen is a well-known activist in the Chamblee-Tucker/Embry Hills area and considers the Henderson legacy the key to the area’s identity. Allen has inquired with the National Historic Registry in Savannah about a formally dedicating Henderson’s Mill for historical significance. The arts center’s cultural program is listed on the Northlake Community Alliance web site.

District 54 State Representative Sally Harrell lives within a stone’s throw of the mill location. Harrell says, “You feel like you’re a part of history (living across from Greenville Henderson’s resting place).” Harrell also says she loves looking at the civil war marker near St. Bede’s, but says it won’t be fully appreciated until we have a reason to get out of our cars.


Public, Private or Public/Private Preservation
DeKalb’s History Center has a section dedicated to informing the public about the economic significance of county’s milling past, the 19th century equivalent to current day power centers. The Center publishes a map of 28 former mill locations, some now well known place names, like Flakes Mill and Browns Mill. Mason Mill is a large county park. Sue Ellen Owens, the Center’s Executive Director, spoke about DeKalb’s mills to a group convened at St. Bede’s Church in 2001. The meeting was also attended by county Greenspace program officials. Park and preservation ideas fell flat because the property was not for sale, and still isn’t. But must a property be purchased to dedicate a historic landmark?

The county’s greenspace funding limitations may moot the question within another year. The chief of the county’s Greenspace office, Tina Arbes, estimates that there may be 300 or more properties that the county government would preserve, if the funds existed. “We have purchased 66 individual properties which make up 25 projects and expect to purchase 75 more properties (which include those which county commissioners have requested action),”says Arbes. There are only $18.6 million remaining from bond funds for “new” properties. The county has also successfully negotiated property donations valued at $3.8 million and the county also assembles funds from the Blank Foundation and the Georgia Greenspace Fund.

Neighbor Scott Grosse lives within a few hundred yards of the mill location on Henderson Mill creek. He says, “I’ve always liked the idea that people could have a park within a ten minute walk of their homes.” Although the land is not for sale, Grosse suggests that limited public access to the mill location might be possible, even if homes are developed in the future. “Some kind of public/private arrangement might work if county funds aren’t available—the whole property may not need to be preserved.”


Getting Involved With Greenspace
Honey Vandercreek is Commissioner Elaine Boyer’s appointee to the Citizens Advisory Commission for the Parks Bond Fund. She says she got involved to ensure that taxpayer funds were well managed—and says that they are, under quite hectic circumstances. She wanted everyone to know that the Advisory Commission’s meetings are open to the public. They are held on the 2nd Tuesday of each month in the Maloof Center on Commerce Drive in Decatur.

Next meeting: January 13, 5:30 PM