Also known as the Lithonia Colored School, the Bruce Street School was opened in 1938 as the first public school for Black children in Lithonia. It was built as a community effort, with granite from local quarries. These ruins are presently the subject of community input for future use.
Arabia Mountain National Heritage Area
The cornerstone notes that the Lithonia Lodge was chartered on 14 October 1849. Like many Masonic lodges, this structure likely also housed businesses on the first floor.
Lithonia Historic District, National Register of Historic Places & Arabia Mountain National Heritage Area
Lithonia First United Methodist Church was established on 14 October 1860 as Lithonia Methodist Episcopal Church, South, with the Reverend Newdaygate B. Ousley serving as first pastor. As with so many Georgia churches, Lithonia UMC began services in a brush arbor and then built a one-room meeting house for services. In 1911, the present structure was dedicated and has served the congregation ever since. It was designed by local born architect John Parks Almand and used local Lithonia granite in its design. Almand left Georgia soon after he designed this church and began his practice in Little Rock, Arkansas. [Interestingly, this church does not appear on most lists of Almand’s work. I don’t know the reason for this oversight.]
Lithonia Historic District, National Register of Historic Places & Arabia Mountain National Heritage Area
Established by a group of Freedmen in 1869, Antioch-Lithonia Missionary Baptist Church [known originally as Antioch Baptist Church] is thought to be the oldest African-American congregation in Lithonia and DeKalb County. The church first met in a brush arbor and built their first permanent structure circa 1871. It was replaced by this structure, clad in local stone, in 1911, and served the congregation until 2004, when a larger facility was built at another location.
Reverend Adam Daniel Williams, the maternal grandfather of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., served the congregation at one time.
Lithonia Historic District, National Register of Historic Places & Arabia Mountain National Heritage Area
The house pictured above originated as a log cabin, built by Joseph Emmanuel Lyon in the 1820s. It was expanded in 1853 and again in 1893, when it took on its present appearance. It is one of the oldest houses in DeKalb County and Lyon family descendants remained on the property until 2007. Slaves from the early days of the farm remained in the area and later established the Flat Rock community nearby.
The house is reminiscent of the Plantation Plain style, but with two bays on one side and one bay on the other, is a bit unusual in its layout.
The gateposts are local granite, as are the boundary stones and flower bed areas.
Grape arbors were common features of many farms; this one was likely added in the 20th century.
The historic smokehouse, thought to be the oldest overall structure on the farm, was recently restored.
Arabia Mountain National Heritage Area
Sandy Greene writes: This was the theatre in Conyers for many years…The Clay Building. It has been purchased by the county and is now the Probate Court.
From the Special Collections Libraries at the University of Georgia, more biographical information on the Clay family: Ernest Paris Clay (1892-1959), son of William Salathial Clay and Ethel Ann Walker, married Katherine Maddox (1905-1941) and they had one child, Martha Ann Clay (1930-1975). Prior to the First World War, Ernest Clay was a professional photograph and after the war he and his brother Cappy (Alvin) opened a theater in Windsor, Ill. Later Ernest purchased a tent show, renaming it Clay’s Comedy Show, and traveled around the United States showing silent films. Ernest’s brother James Eldridge (1903-1962) assisted him with the tent show and later began his own traveling show, Clay’s Cinema Show. Ernest Clay and his family settled in McDonough, Ga. and opened the McDonough Theater. In 1934, James Clay and his family settled in Conyers, Ga. and opened the Conyers Theater.
Conyers Commercial Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
The overall form of this home is unmistakably Georgian Cottage, but the Folk Victorian element is quite dominant. Like many homes throughout the area, it has a yard boundary of local granite or similar stone.
Conyers Residential Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
Vesta was formally established in the late 19th century and had a post office from 1888-1904. According to Kenneth Krakow’s Georgia Place Names: Their History and Origins, it was named for Vesta Johnson, the daughter of a local settler. Darryl James McKoon writes: [This was the] Pass Brothers General Store. The store, general merchandise, a butcher shop, and Gulf branded gasoline, was on the right, storage building on the left. It is now used for community BBQ events.There was an old multiple story wood cotton gin to the right of the store where the residence is now. Back in the day it was quite busy. Belt driven equipment by a three cylinder upright diesel engine with a two cylinder backup.Long gone, across the street to the right of the flag pole, was a large wooden structure that was also a Pass Brothers General Store. The owners were the older generation of the owners across the street.
Both structures date to the 1930s-1940s, from what I’ve been able to locate. They are examples of the use of local granite in construction throughout the area.
Local tradition suggests that this gin was built of Georgia granite to replace an earlier frame structure destroyed by a tornado in the early 1900s, though I am unable to confirm this. It was operational until at least the 1950s and was established by Nathaniel (Nat.) Dowdy Arnold (1859-1928), who was the namesake of this small agricultural community. Arnold’s wife was Annie Susan Callaway (1863-1901), from the Callaway Plantation in Wilkes County.
The original settlement, dating to the 1770s, was established near an important Native American trading route and was known as Cherokee Corner. By 1811, a sawmill, gin, and general store were present in the community. A Presbyterian minister named Safford operated the Cherokee Corner Academy and until at least the 1840s was involved in the cultivation of silkworm cocoons.
In 1894, local merchant Edwin Shaw established a post office and named the village Edwin after himself. In 1896, Nathaniel D. Arnold bought Shaw’s store and his postal rights and the town became Arnoldsville.
This fascinating cemetery is located in the McIntosh Reserve Park, a property associated with Chief William McIntosh and maintained as public land by Carroll County.
The Bowen family were pioneers in this area and likely had some association with Chief McIntosh.
The earliest discernible burial in the cemetery dates to 1830.
Though many names have been lost over time, this cemetery is important not only for its historical connection to early settlers but for its limestone slab [or other local stone?] tombs, which are quite rare today.
It’s a well-preserved example of a family burying ground utilizing materials on hand and offers a fascinating glimpse into the funerary practices of early-19th century rural Georgia