Georgia Natural Wonder #255 - S. Peachtree Creek - Mason Mill - DeKalb Co. (Part 5)

[Top Row Dawg]

Georgia Natural Wonder #255 - South Peachtree Creek - Mason Mill

The 3.6-mile South Peachtree Creek Trail, which connects Mason Mill and Medlock Park in Decatur, allows hikers, bikers and walkers to explore some of the city’s most verdant paths. This trail, including the new parts, features miles of Boardwalk through a forest and over a wetland with seating areas to watch the wildlife or frequent trains on the nearby track. 


Two miles of Boardwalk in this spectacular system of trails.

My TRD Scrolling Nugget today features Dave Mason for Mason Mill. His heady days with Traffic. A Rock Standard copied by many bands.



The trail features scenic nature-scapes, leading explorers through shady woodland, along peaceful creeks and through forested railway corridors. It also offers plenty of seating areas that allow nature-lovers to take in local wildlife.


I downloaded this map image on my phone and tried to hike all the Boardwalk portions.

Parking and Trail Access

Parking for the South Peachtree Creek Trail is available at Medlock Park on Scott Circle and Mason Mill Park on McConnell Drive.

Atlanta Trails

Recent reviews for South Peachtree Creek Path Trail in Decatur, Georgia, highlight well-maintained paved and Boardwalk paths that provide a pleasant experience for walkers, runners, and cyclists. Conditions are reported as clean with plenty of shade; however, some areas of the Boardwalk can be slippery. Typically in September, expect dry weather with mild temperatures, making it a great time for outdoor activities.


Internet images.

While it’s not the longest running trail in Atlanta, the South Peachtree Creek Trail does rack up major points for scenic beauty. 


Atlanta Trails images.

The trail explores a particularly beautiful creek valley in Decatur at Mason Mill Park, exploring woodlands by way of paved trails and raised wooden Boardwalks, winding through the forest’s treetops beside a tumbling creek. 


Engineering Feat.

And a newly completed extension, opened in June 2017, expanded the trail’s length from a single mile to 1.8 miles (each way), offering an even longer venue for a great run. 


Old Decatur Waterworks.

The trail connects Mason Mill Park and Medlock Park in Decatur, crossing only a single, quiet neighborhood road.

South Peachtree Creek Trail

The South Peachtree Creek Trail is a short greenway linking four recreational amenities in DeKalb County. On the east end, Medlock Park features baseball and softball diamonds, tennis courts, a playground, pool and open space. In the west, Mason Mill Park offers a tennis center, recreation center and picnic area on the site of the former Decatur Waterworks. The boardwalk trail between the parks winds through woodlands behind suburban homes. 


I started at Medlock Park. The rest of these 93 images were made by TRD on his hike today.

I walked a paved level stretch past the ball fields of Medlock Park. Watch for Home runs on that part of trail. The trail crosses a neighborhood road at just a quarter mile, running the rest of the way on this wonderful Boardwalk.


You go a couple 100 yards on Boardwalk till you cross Willivee Drive at Scott Circle, and then the Boardwalk just goes and goes.

The trail meets the creek at .6 miles, and the trail’s surface turns to a wooden boardwalk. The trail runs through the forest on its raised wooden platform, catching shade beneath the forest canopy and skirting the backyards of nearby neighborhoods.


The Creek is down on your right and you have little pull offs and can see the backyards of homes as you cross the bridge to the other side of the Creek.


Crossing South Peachtree Creek in DeKalb County Georgia. And look, it was wheelchair friendly.


Looking down on Creek from this beautifully elevated Boardwalk.


Boardwalk keeps going downstream by South Peachtree Creek.


Had to replace some parts where trees fell. Trees fall across Creek too. It was a real engineering feat, but you ain't seen nothing yet.


I doubled back to Medlock Park when the Boardwalk ended at 3/4ths mile. Noticed the old growth trees and the Medlock Park Painted Rock Snake.

Then I got back in the van and drove to Mason Mill Park off Clairmont Road, McConnell Drive. I Phone took me down Desmond Drive to Clairmont.


Came out past my old condo back in 1988 -89. Always liked the High Rise life. Wife stands on balcony pregnant with son 1989. View toward now Emory Dorm tower.

South Peachtree Creek Trail at Mason Mill Park

The trail departs its western trailhead near the park’s tennis center.



And the trail’s new northern extension runs creekside along Burnt Fork Creek, crossing scenic boardwalks as it meanders northbound to N Druid Hills Road.



The trail’s first half mile is moderately challenging, descending into a railway corridor and then rolling through a hilly forest.

 

The trail’s second half levels, traversing a raised boardwalk that meanders through the forest’s shady hardwood trees.



The new 1.2-mile spur now leads from Mason Mill north to Spring Valley, the back entrance to Oak Grove neighborhood and winds along Burnt Fork Creek on elevated boardwalks.



While it’s not an overly long hike, it’s a stunningly scenic one, with scenic treetop views and historic structures dotting the suburban landscape.

 



I hiked until the Boardwalk ended Then came back.



On way back, I noticed the wetlands better. I noticed the proximity to the rail road tracks. Having lived here, I know they pass multiple times a day.



I then went the other way down a paved trail to a trestle bridge over an active rail line.



The trail crosses the bridge, pivoting twice to descend elevation on a boardwalk to the ruins of the Decatur Waterworks, now covered in colorful graffiti.



It was really something looking out and down at the old growth trees. You are in the canopy.



Unpaved side trails depart the paved trail, visiting South Peachtree Creek and its tributaries, and offer a chance to explore.


Let's not forget about South Peachtree Creek, our actual NATURAL WONDER for today.

Another mile-long new spur peels off left just after the train trestle on right and winds out past senior towers to Emory University crossing under Clairmont Road.

 
You come down from the Mason Mill Parking lot and the left trail goes to Clairmont Road and Lullwater Preserve while the right trail goes over trestle to Boardwalk down to Waterworks.


Go under the train trestle on the left trail.

Today, the South Peachtree Creek offers a trail network spanning just over 3 miles that is perfect for commuters and connects to the trails at Lullwater Park on the Emory University campus. (GNW #254)


Yet another Boardwalk taking you to Lullwater Park west of Clairmont.


Old growth trees between train track and Boardwalk.

Mason Mill Wikipedia

Mason Mill was a flour mill built by Ezekiel Mason before the Civil War in the 1850s, and located east of Atlanta on the bank of the south fork of Peachtree Creek close to its merger with Burnt Fork Creek near Decatur. Mason Mill Road meets Clairmont Road near this point.


Under another train trestle I found exploring South Peachtree Creek and some concrete remains (Not Mason Mill).

Went up creek and found what I believe is the location of Mason Mill.


There are steps and a stone path across South Peachtree Creek.


Looking downstream and upstream and across stream at what looks to be the only remnants of Mason Mill in the embankment.

Built by slaves, the sluice or flume for the mill ran back to Clairmont Lake.

 
This is the run off from Clairmont Lake at Clairmont Place where any flume would have ran to the lake. I looked all over for a flume. V.A. Hospital in distance across lake.


You can see where the Burnt Fork Creek (Left) and the South Fork of Peachtree Creek (Right) merge together. Giant trees all around.

In 1906 the property was sold to the City of Decatur, and Mason Mill became a part of the Decatur Waterworks, a complex system supplying drinking water to the City until 1947.

Decatur Waterworks

I did a tangent on the Decatur Waterworks with recent post on Olmsted Linear Parks (GNW #253), and I present a re-post with some TRD addendum images.

The Decatur Waterworks was a facility that obtained drinking water for the city of Decatur, Georgia, from the local Peachtree Creek and Burnt Fork Creek. Completed in 1907 and abandoned since the 1940s, the Waterworks have fallen into disrepair and are covered with graffiti. The Decatur Waterworks are in Mason Mill Park, near the city of Decatur.



Historical designation

On March 15, 2006, the Decatur Waterworks was added to the National Register of Historic Places. 



It was due to its former industrial significance as a water works, its political importance as Works Progress Administration (WPA) project, and its use as a public park.

History of the Decatur Water Works

Near Decatur Georgia, before the Civil War, in the 1850s, Ezekiel Mason built a flour mill on the bank of the south fork of Peachtree Creek. This is the mill from which Mason Mill Road and Mason Mill Park derive their names. After the deaths of Mr. Mason and his wife in the late 19th century the land was transferred to J. A. Mason, relationship unknown. The provenance of the property becomes unclear at that point as the DeKalb Historical Society notes show that the J. A. Mason sold the property to the City of Decatur, but Decatur City Council Minutes refer to the property as the "Tallery property", and an option was exercised with C. H. Talley for the purchase of land in October 1906. In any case, records show that a waterworks construction project was completed on the property by December 1907.




TRD explorations.

By 1939, the Decatur Water Works consisted of two aeration and solid removal tanks. 

 

 
TRD found these Tank foundations.

There were two storage tanks, an office building and two dams, one dam on South Peachtree Creek and one on Burnt Fork Creek. The remains of all of these structures can still be seen today and are often referred as ‘the old Decatur Water Works’.




TRD found this broken dam. 2nd photo has far box structure in foreground all painted as image shot from other side.

The Decatur Water Works supplied water to the city until the 1940s. Its use as a public park began in the 1930s when a Works Progress Administration (WPA) project built a number of recreational amenities on the site. These amenities included granite benches, cooking grills, tables and a stone bridge over Burnt Fork Creek. These things also can be seen today. 



The stone bridge is part of the new trail that has been recently constructed in the park. 


TRD images.

The WPA also built a stacked stone fountain that remains and can be seen very near the stone bridge.




Found the fountain and park stairs.

By 1941 it was apparent the 1.8 million US gallons of water per day produced by the water works was no longer enough to satisfy the growing needs of Decatur. The property was leased to DeKalb County, which operated the water works and sold the water to Decatur. DeKalb used revenue from the facility to fund a county-wide treatment plant in the Dunwoody area that uses water from the Chattahoochee River. Initially called the Laurel Plant, it is now called the Scott Candler Plant after the county commissioner who led the development process.




During World War II the Decatur Water Works was used as the exclusive water supply for the Naval Air Station that is now Peachtree DeKalb Airport and an Army Hospital in the area. The property was declared off limits for civilian use and was not used for any recreational purpose or as a civilian water supply during the war. At the end of the war the water works land was returned to the City of Decatur and continued to be operated and maintained by the county as a backup for the new water system. The park area was not maintained and was not used by the public.



For a time the office building at the water works was used for storage by the county. In 1951 a bond issue to finance development of the land was voted down. The water works fell into disuse and disrepair. By the mid-1960s the lakes had begun to fill with silt and there were complaints of flooding from local residents who lived in the adjacent neighborhoods that were built in the 1950s and 1960s. In about 1965 the dams were dynamited and the reservoirs drained.Decatur Waterworks served the City of Decatur for nearly fifty years, first as a city water station, and later as a city park. The landscape created by the Decatur Waterworks is a good example of the relationship between human society and the natural world, shaped by the function that the facility served.

Present day

In 1988 the county worked with local resident groups to make a development plan for Mason Mill Park that included the water works land, but the plan was never funded.

 
These are all TRD images.

In 2006 the Decatur Water Works was declared a historic site.



A second plan was developed in 2008 and, with partial funding from the PATH Foundation, is being implemented.

Rollins Student Ambassadors

Warmer days are upon us and so are some adventures in Decatur! Graduate School is busy and I often find myself missing out on being outdoors with the excuse that I do not have enough time. Well, guess what? There is a place right here in Decatur that isn’t too far and can still grant you that sense of excitement that comes from trying something new and exploring nature!



Decatur Water Works, more commonly known as “The Ruins” is a historic site located in Mason Mill Park right off Clairmont Road. The Ruins was once home to a water treatment facility that was completed in 1907 but has been abandoned since then and has become a hub for the local Atlanta graffiti culture.



The facility was responsible for providing water to the city until the 1940’s with the surrounding area utilized as a public park beginning in the 1930’s. The Works Progress Administration (WPA as a part of the New Deal) project created the park and added many amenities including grills, tables, and a stone bridge over Burnt Fork Creek which are still seen today. Due to its historic and industrial significance, the area was added to the National Register of Historic Places.



The abandoned brick walls and old water plant buildings serve as a great backdrop for a photo session with your friends or if you need a fun area to practice some of your photography skills. Be mindful of the brush as the landscape in the Ruins is not maintained (it’s quite literally in “ruins”).



Mason Mill Park has a park pavilion and picnic area where you can relax and rest after completing your hike and getting some great pictures! Seating areas are available through the park (and also along the trail) for quick breaks. The park also has a small convenience store where you can purchase snacks and drinks.


There is a pyramid grandstand where you can watch multiple tennis games at once.

DeKalb County (Part 5)

What a spot for DeKalb County, right? Get out of the house and explore your own neighborhood right here in the Atlanta area. Continuing our tangent on DeKalb County, we return to the National Register of Historic Places.

Emory University District

Instead of going overboard on Emory, just click the Link (Emory University).



I will discuss the historic significance and designation. Emory University, founded in 1915 in Atlanta as an outgrowth of Emory College at Oxford, was designed in plan by Henry Hornbostel, who also designed the original buildings. Although several other architects including the New York library specialist, Edward Tilton and the Atlanta firm of Hentz-Adler-Shulze contributed in later years to the building designs of the Emory Campus, it is the Hornbostel Emory campus plan, discriminately set in the Olmsted-influenced Druid Hills area landscape that had and still has a predominating effect on the Emory campus environment. It has been the Hornbostel plan, as shown on the enclosed drawing, that has largely determined the manner of later 20th century growth.



The Druid Hills property that Asa Griggs Candler donated for Emory University was situated in a wooded residential community north of Atlanta, planned by Frederick L. Olmsted. In essence, Hornbostel carved out of these wooded, rolling hills a plan not only for those buildings to be immediately constructed but a comprehensive scheme for the entire university campus. On a plateau between two ravines he divided the central core of the University buildings, a major quadrangle with the law school, theology school, and a centrally located library with connecting arcades that was never built as designed.



Around another semi-circular arched layout across one ravine was planned several dormitories along with the physiology and anatomy buildings. Numerous other buildings including faculty residences, a power house, railroad lines, bridges and roads were planned, some of which were built in accordance with Hornbostel's plan, some with substituted designs and some that were never built at all as a result of the University's growth and changing needs. No obvious landscape architecture, no formal gardens, were planned, but rather the natural growth of dogwoods and pines was allowed to shape the campus surroundings.



The major Henry Hornbostel buildings within Kilgore Circle on the Emory Campus are the Lamar School of Law and the Candler School of Theology, built in 1916. 


Law and Theology.

Other major Hornbostel designs on the Emory Campus, but not within the district are the John P. Scott Laboratory of Anatomy, the T. T. Fishburne Laboratory - of Physiology of 1917, and two dormitories, Dobbs Hall and Winship Hall, completed in 1917.


Scott Lab - Dobbs Hall - Winship Hall.


Train Station where Yankee parents dropped off their kids for Emory. Greek Row and The CDC across the way.

Neville and Helen Farmer Lustron House

The Neville and Helen Farmer Lustron House is a historic enameled steel prefabricated Lustron house in Decatur, Georgia. Designed and constructed by the Lustron Corporation, this example is one of two confirmed to have been built in Decatur.



The original owners who purchased the house from a Lustron Corporation franchise were Neville and Helen Farmer. It is one of ten built in the Atlanta area. Lustron houses were only produced during a two-year period, with 2,495 known to have been made. Only roughly 2,000 of these are still in existence. Many of those that do remain have been altered significantly.

Dr. Luther C. and Lucy Hurt Fischer House

PDF File not downloaded. But we did see that Philip Trammell Shutze was the Architect.


The address is 4146 Chamblee Dunwoody Rd.


The obituary. Founder of Crawford Long Hospital in Atlanta, where Julia Roberts was born.

Mary Gay House

The Mary Gay House is a historic house at 716 West Trinity Place in downtown Decatur, Georgia. It was the home of Mary Ann Harris Gay, who moved there with her mother and sister about 1850. She and her sister lived there during the American Civil War and afterwards. We know from earlier post that she was a writer and poet from Decatur, Georgia, known for her memoir Life in Dixie During the War (1897) about her life in Atlanta during the American Civil War. The house was built approximately 1850 (though the Junior League of Decatur claims it was built about 1820) and is one of the few extant pre-Civil War buildings in the area. The house was entered into the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) on May 6, 1975. It is now named "716 West" and is used as a wedding/event venue.



History

The house has been moved at least twice. In the early twentieth century, it was moved eastward and oriented to face Marshall Street. While still at this location (524 Marshall St.), it was listed on the NRHP.



In the late 1970s development in Decatur threatened the structure. While it originally was located on "several acres" of land, by 1979 the house was on a 100 foot by 200 foot lot, bordered mostly by businesses and accessible only by a narrow street with no nearby parking.



The Junior League of DeKalb County preserved the structure by arranging to have it moved to its current location at 716 West Trinity Place. This location was less than a mile away in Adair Park and immediately adjacent to the historic Swanton House (which had also been moved). The group also successfully petitioned the NRHP for the Gay house to retain its historic status after the move.



Since restoration, the basement of the house has been used as the headquarters for the Junior League. The house is operated as an event facility for receptions, parties, weddings, and similar events. In 2022, because Mary Gay is considered a "Confederate heroine" the Junior League voted to rename their headquarters and wedding venue "716 West"

William T. Gentry House

The William T. Gentry House was built between 1913 and 1914 in the newly developed East Lake community, at the time a separate town, now a part of Atlanta. The William T. Gentry House is a large, two-story, yellow-brick house, with a basement, built in the Neoclassical style. It features a full-width, pedimented front portico supported by four wooden Doric columns. The house also has a gabled roof covered in metal which has been painted silver.



The house is situated atop a slight hill, thus adding to its imposing nature. The front facade contains three bays separated by pilasters corresponding to the columns. The portico floor is red, white, and black hexagonal ceramic tile and the ceiling is coffered. On the first floor, centered in the three bays, are French doors with simple detailing.



It is significant also as a work of P. Thornton Marye (1872 - 1935), a Virginia born and trained architect who came to Atlanta in 1904 to design Terminal Station. His firm did major work in Atlanta and Birmingham and is best known for the Fox Theater.



Pictures of the Gentry House were used in the newspaper in 1914 to promote development of the area.



William.Thomas Gentry (1854-1925) worked his way up through the company to become president of Southern Bell Telephone in 1909. At that time it covered seven states and employed 6,000 people. He stressed public-relations for the firm. He was also simultaneously president of several other telephone companies in North Carolina and Virginia. Gentry was a member of Atlanta's most prestigious social clubs and was president of the Capital City Club in 1914 at the time he built this house. Tradition has it that Mr. Gentry entertained Alexander Graham Bell at his home in 1916. W. T. Gentry was also an inventor and owned the patents to several items including the automatic coin device on the pay telephone.

Cora Beck Hampton Schoolhouse and House



The Hampton Schoolhouse and House meets National Register Criterion A because it is associated with events contributing to the broad patterns of American History. This would be in its role for a decade, 1892-1902, as one of five privately-run schools within the city of Decatur. 


Front of main residence, schoolhouse is in back.

It is the only remaining schoolhouse in Decatur from the era before the city created a public school system and built new school buildings. The one-room schoolhouse was the major type of school building in the era before larger public schools were created. The teacher, Mrs. Hampton, a widow, chose one of the few occupations open to single women, or women at all. She taught approximately 30 students, boys and girls, all white, all the subjects for the grades roughly considered elementary/grammar school, or pre-high school in later years. 


Some rooms in the residence.

This schoolhouse thus represents one of the basic early elements of Georgia's educational system. The schoolhouse is one of the few remaining one-room schoolhouses in Georgia, one of the very few which remain at its original location and is restored, and one of the very few urban schoolhouses to remain.

Inman Park–Moreland Historic District

This is almost all in Fulton County, and I plan a deep dive on this, "Atlanta's First Suburb", when we get to Atlanta and Fulton County.

Kirkwood Historic District

The Kirkwood Historic District, in the Kirkwood neighborhood of Atlanta, Georgia, is a large historic district which was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2009. The district included 1788 contributing buildings, a contributing structure, and three contributing sites on 850 acres.



It includes the Kirkwood School (1906), designed by Bruce, Everett and Hayes, which is separately listed on the National Register next in this post.


Howard House.

Prior to the Civil War, the most prominent landholders in early Kirkwood were the Kirkpatrick, Dunwoody, and Clay families. The name Kirkwood was likely derived from a blending of the Kirkpatrick and Dunwoody family names.


Kirkwood listing.



There are 5 Kirkwood Historic Markers placed by the Georgia Historical Commission detailing major events during the Battle of Atlanta during the Civil War and examining what a pivotal role the area played in the events that unfolded.


The Marker "Unexpected Clash" at the intersection of Clifton Street and Memorial Drive, details a surprise encounter sparking some of the first shots fired in the battle of Atlanta.


Marker on grounds of Alonzo Crim High School. Murphy High School referenced on marker.


The Marker "Battle of Atlanta Began Here" located near the intersection of Memorial Drive and Clay Streets marks the first two brigades of the North and South that would set off the battle that would leave countless soldiers and civilians dead and lead to the burning of Atlanta.


Looking West on Memorial Drive and Clay Street.

The Craftsman Bungalow, the most prominent architectural home style in Kirkwood reflects the areas growth throughout the community's early 20th century as a streetcar suburb of bustling Atlanta. The style was renowned for its simple lines and down-to-earth functionality, a clear departure from the grandeur of earlier Victorian homes of the late 19th century. Local Architect Frank Ruggles, a Boston-born transplant to turn of the 20th century Kirkwood exercised the craftsman influence in many of his unique designs throughout the neighborhood. Many of the Ruggles-designed homes can still be seen along Warlick Avenue and along much of Howard Street NE. Urban pioneers revered the essence of these simpler times and today the community's craftsman homes are highly sought after, fetching a premium on resale.



Middle class subdivisions, like Kirkwood, attempted to emulate the Olmstead suburban movement of large park-like neighborhoods with upscale amenities. In Kirkwood, this less costly version of the Olmstead neighborhood had narrow lots, straight streets, parks and open spaces within the neighborhood. 



The sidewalks and open spaces encouraged a close community atmosphere. In the rare instance where fencing was used, it was for ornamental rather than for privacy purposes.

 

The district is roughly bounded by Memorial Dr., Montgomery St., Hosea Williams Dr., Rogers St., CSX RR., & city limits.

 

It includes Queen Anne, Colonial Revival, and Classical Revival architecture, and includes residential and commercial and government buildings.



Kirkwood is also significant in the area of industry for its intact industrial area located on the north near the railroad. Railroads were the major transportation system in Georgia until the mid- 20th century. The Georgia Railroad provided Kirkwood with a link for industry to receive and transport products. 


The Pullman Company purchased property in 1926 for repair and maintenance of its railway cars.

Kirkwood School

The Kirkwood School, at 138 Kirkwood Rd. in the DeKalb County portion of Atlanta, Georgia, USA, is a complex which was a school until 1996, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002. The listing included four contributing buildings on 2.9 acres. It has also been known as Kirkwood Elementary School. It is included in the Kirkwood Historic District.

 

The original school, built in 1906, was designed by the architects Bruce, Everett and Hayes. The largest building in the campus is the main school building (1922) which was expanded in 1924 and 1928. The campus also includes a cafeteria building (1950) and a library building (1964).

 

The main Kirkwood school building is a two-story, H-shaped building in the Colonial Revival style, designed by John F. Downing and completed in 1922.



The 1928 expansion added eight classrooms to the north side of the main building, and was designed by G. Lloyd Preacher. It continued the main building's "double-loaded corridor with flanking classrooms" in compatible Colonial Revival style.



Desegregation of the school began in 1965. All eighteen teachers and nearly all of the 500 white students transferred out. In 1967, the Kirkwood neighborhood area became predominantly African American. Apartments now.

Klondike Historic District

The Klondike Historic District is a small crossroads community located in southeast DeKalb County three miles south of Lithonia. Houses are interspersed with wooded lots on both sides of Klondike and South Goddard roads, the principal streets in the T-shaped historic district. A stone commercial building constructed c.1900 is located at the crossroads. The oldest houses in the district were built in the late 19th century and conform to common Georgia house types, such as the center-hall, Queen Anne, gabled-wing, and New South house types. Many houses in the district were built as farm houses and include agricultural outbuildings such as single, double, and transverse crib barns. Agriculture is no longer practiced in Klondike or DeKalb County. After World War II, residents subdivided their property and built American Small Houses and ranch houses.



The Klondike Historic District is a rare surviving example of a rural crossroads community in suburban DeKalb County, Georgia. It contains some of the oldest houses in the county. 


Many of the buildings in the historic district were built with granite quarried from nearby Arabia Mountain.

Agnes Lee Chapter House of the United Daughters of the Confederacy

The Agnes Lee Chapter House is significant in architecture as a good example of the use of the Colonial Revival style for a functionally designed meeting house that also is in keeping with its surrounding residential neighborhood. Elements of the Colonial Revival style include the accentuated front door with elaborate pediment/porch supported by slender columns and a symmetrically balanced facade with balanced windows and a centered doorway. "Its design also embodies the historic character of the group for which it was built, and the grounds include a magnolia tree, symbolic of the "Old. South". 



The house is also important as an early work of Wilson A. Gosnell, architect, who worked for several prominent architects in Atlanta and later practiced out of state. 


Don't see Magnolia.

The house is also significant in social/humanitarian history for being the meeting place for a local chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, a membership club, whose goals are to commemorate history, help educate, provide patriotic and commemorative services, and especially to honor those who served the Confederate States of America. The organization also sought to preserve the memories of the role of women in the War Between the States and its aftermath. 


The UDC statewide, as well as each local chapter, has for many decades had a major influence in activities related to "The War."

My goodness that was a lot. I lived for 3 years right here and never went down to this park. All the boardwalks were built since the 2000's. No trails that I knew of down to the jungles of the Decatur Water Works. Anyway, this is a good cutoff point with 180 plus images. I still have 22 National Register of Historic Places listings in DeKalb County, and all the Historical markers, Communities, and Notable People. 7 Wonders we found so far and 7 to go including the Battle of Atlanta as a Wonder by itself. I guess we should have down some DeKalb County Tangents with Stone Mountain and Arabia Mountain but it looks like we will be be deep in to DeKalb County all through this football season. (2024) Today's GNW Gal's are Masons, in keeping with our Mason Mill theme.



Chicks Laying Bricks.