Q: I understand there was once a Mooney’s Lake in the Atlanta area. Where was it and what’s in its place?
—Vernan Waddel, Decatur
A: Mooney's Lake holds cherished memories for many Atlantans (most of the native variety), who grew up when it was a popular summer spot.
The lake was way out in the sticks when it existed. Or at least it seemed that way at a time when parts of Piedmont Road were unpaved and Buckhead was considered in the country. The area that once encompassed Mooney’s Lake now is a part of the daily commute for thousands of folks who drive past Lindbergh Plaza and the mass of roads where Piedmont, Sidney Marcus Boulevard, Ga. 400 and Interstate 85 come together.
Deuward S. Mooney turned the lake into a summertime escape in the 1920s, a place where you could do much more than swim. There was horseback riding, canoeing, miniature golf, a zip line over the water and a small train for children to ride, evidenced by a couple of photos I’ve seen. There was a pavilion, a concession stand and by many accounts, a jukebox for teens and parents.
“(My) mom remembers taking us for a ride on a little train that circled the lake in the mid-50s,” Buckhead native Beth Powell wrote in an email. “It was an amusement park and the thing to do then.”
The pavilion area burned in the 1950s and tons of dirt soon replaced the water as the lake was filled in. All in the name of progress, of course. Shopping replaced swimming as Broadview Plaza, which featured the iconic Great Southeast Music Hall (I wrote about that iconic place last June), and parts of many current roads were built on the land. Mooney’s Lake soon became a memory. Lenox Square opened in 1959 and “eclipsed everything else,” Powell wrote.
If you have any stories about Mooney’s Lake, let me know.
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