G. F. Willis, a man with a plan, moved from New York to Georgia in the 1920s. He had visited the region a number of times and became enamored with the climate. He was rich and he was ambitious.
Avondale Estates resulted from his intellect. He envisioned a community like no other: a beautiful lake, a picturesque swimming pool, riding stables, athletic fields, playgrounds, educational facilities, parks, large nurseries, scores of beautiful homes, and a flourishing business district. As well as nine miles of streets and transportation and accessibility to Atlanta and adjacent to a golf course.
The project was intended to be a prototype for other communities to replicate. It was the first for using the word Estates as descriptive for small homes.
There is a strip of land dividing Avondale Estates from Decatur, where General William Tecumseh Sherman bivouacked before his march to the sea in 1864.
During the last century a trolley transported passengers from Five Points in Atlanta to Avondale Estates. The area was a magnet, attracting people traveling on the main Stone Mountain Line, the trip taking just 30 minutes.
An urban development plan was underway along College Avenue but got caught in the economic meltdown. The program is now in stasis, awaiting some kind of resuscitation. Some old businesses have closed including the General Store, the old drug store on the corner of College Avenue and North Clarendon Avenue.
When the lots were first on the market they were advertised "A Dollar a Day will buy Your Home Site." Many of them were sold within one year. The project was a success even with the 1929 stock market crash and the burgeoning Great Depression.
The development boasted a bathing casino with locker spaces for 200; a boat house, real Venetian gondolas and motorboats were purchased for the project long before the grand opening.
Driving through the residential part of Avondale Estates today will carry you back nostalgically to less worrisome times. I felt less urgency to hurry.
The population of the city was 2,858 in 2009. I wondered how many people lived there when Avondale Estates was chartered in 1928 but had no luck finding that information.
Bonnie Kallenberg, a long-time resident of Avondale Estates, recognized the potential for growth when she purchased Finders Keepers, a consignment shop operated by Reba Craft Brown, one of the first consignment stores in DeKalb County. Kallenberg has since built a larger store, opened a consignment furniture store, also on College Avenue, and another Finders Keepers for designer apparel on North Decatur Road.
Having visited cities noted for magnificent plantings of flowers and flowering shrubbery: Portland, Key West, Victoria and others, I see no reason why smaller communities could not utilize the same techniques for enticing tourism, and attracting new business.
G. F. Willis isn't around anymore but hopefully there will be others to come with as much ambition. At least one Atlanta suburb seems to be moving in a positive direction and that's Lilburn. I'll be watching its progress.
Bill York has lived in Stone Mountain for 35 years. Reach him at sioux2222@gmail.com.
