East Point Centennial Quilt
A History Lesson in Needlework
In 1987, as part of the Centennial Celebration of East Point’s founding, members of the East Point Woman’s Club created a Quilt to illustrate the history of East Point and its historic landmarks and prominent businesses. The Quilt features 49 squares that were embroidered or appliquéd by hand by 26 members of the Woman’s Club. The Quilt is currently on display at the East Point Historical Society.
Club members spent 1200 hours at quilting bees piecing together and quilting this needlework version of the history of East Point. A sampling of the squares includes the old City Hall, EPHS Headquarters, Buggy Works, Southern Saw Company, Connally Mill and the Old Library.
Long-time EPHS member, Mildred Finnell, who was chairman of the Woman’s Club art department at the time, designed many of the squares and oversaw the production process. In a 2011 interview, Mrs. Finnell said she called on Club members to identify personal recollections of East Point history and then transform those ideas into the individual squares that make up the Quilt. She said that it was a team effort and represents so much history. And that they had a great time doing it!
For the Centennial, the Quilt was loaned to the City of East Point and hung in the foyer of East Point’s City Auditorium. In October of 2011 the East Point Preservation Alliance and the East Point Historical Society stepped in to request the Quilt’s placement at the EPHS, as the City Auditorium was closed due to its deteriorated state. The EPHS assumed responsibility for its safekeeping and display, in memory of Steven Bramblett, the long-time curator at the EPHS who died in 2011. In 2012, the Woman’s Club officially gave the Quilt to the Historical Society.
Written by Carole Griffith
Holly Keyes, photography
November 2021
SQUARE GUIDE
Square #1 – United States Flag
In 1777, the Continental Congress specified that the national flag be 13 red and white alternating stripes for the 13 original states and, to represent the union, 13 stars on a blue field. The flag was last modified in 1959 when Hawaii became a state.
Square #2 – Buggy Works
In 1908, B.M. Blount opened a second factory, after the successful White Hickory Wagon Company nearby. The factory was for the production of horse-drawn carriages and buggies.
Today, this building is known as the Buggy Works.
Square #3 – Tower Clock
The Tower Clock and the East Point MARTA station were both dedicated on August 16, 1986, and timed to celebrate the 99th anniversary of East Point’s incorporation. The Tower Clock was envisioned as a landmark for downtown and an image for
East Point’s move into its second century and its continuing associations with different forms of transportation.
Square #4 – East Point Centennial
East Point was incorporated by act of the legislature on August 10, 1887. Farming, industrialization and business services were already well underway and continued well into the 20th century. The railroad grew from 1847. The aviation and trucking industries formed in the 1950s. With MARTA opening the East Point station in 1986, transportation had come full circle. The 1987 Centennial celebrations included T-shirts, a parade, and concert. The end of year event in the City Auditorium included a birthday cake.
Square #5 – Recreation
Among East Point’s earliest parks was the tennis complex built in 1926 at the site of the Cold Springs Cue Club, now the location of the East Point Historical Society. A full-time city recreation director was appointed in 1950.
Square #6 – Atlanta and West Point Railroad Engine
The town that was to be known as East Point was the result of a strategic location where two railroad lines intersected. In 1847, the Georgia legislature chartered what was later named the Atlanta and West Point Railroad. East Point was the name given to its eastern terminus, where it met the Central of Georgia line that ran between Atlanta and Macon. The A and WP Depot was where the MARTA station is now.
Square #7 – National Archives
The National Archives was established in 1934 to centralize federal government record keeping. The building that housed the Archives’ Southeast Records Center was built in 1955 in East Point’s Colonial Hills neighborhood. The regional office of the Archives was moved to Morrow, Georgia, in the early 2000s.
Square #8 – South Fulton Hospital
As early as 1955, plans were underway for establishing a hospital to serve the tri-cities area. Over $1,250,000 was raised through individual and business contributions to qualify for a Hill-Burton grant, authorized in 1946 for improving hospital services nationwide. It began operation in 1963 and merged with the Atlanta Medical Center in 2013. The hospital was built on the site of Union Baptist Church, a Gothic-inspired structure built there in 1884. Union Baptist is East Point’s oldest African American congregation, dating back to 1866. Dr. Martin Luther King, Sr. (Daddy King) served this congregation in 1918 as he was beginning his ministerial career.
Square #9 – State Bird
The Governor proclaimed the brown thrasher as the state bird of Georgia in 1935. It was formally so designated by the state legislature in 1970. The brown thrasher, an impressive songbird, is a year-round resident of Georgia.
Square #10 – Farmer
East Point’s settlers farmed and developed industries related to agriculture (farm machinery, lumber, fertilizer) from the early 1800s through the early 1900s.
Square #11 – East Point Historical Society
In 1979, the East Point Woman’s Club urged the formation of the East Point Historical Society to collect and preserve East Point’s history. The Society has an extensive collection of artifacts, photographs, maps and records that document East Point’s long and varied history.
Square #12 – Telephones
East Point’s first telephone was installed in 1884 at the Furman Farm Improvement plant. This was East Point’s first industry, started in 1880.
In 1900, Southern Bell granted a telephone franchise for the East Point vicinity.
Square #13 – Water Works
The first water mains were built in 1909. A reservoir and pumping structure were built and operations began in 1944 at the new plant at 2001 Headland Drive.
Square #14 – Victory Park
Built in 1970, this park is dedicated to East Point’s service men and women killed in war. The name comes from the USS East Point Victory, a cargo ship launched in 1945, honoring East Point’s success in World War II loan drives and Red Cross activity.
The ship was decommissioned in 1969.
Plaques removed from the ship were placed in the park along with a 1919 Howitzer machine gun and tributes to the war dead.
Square #15 –Wagon Works
The White Hickory Wagon Company was one of East Point’s first industrial enterprises. Established in 1884 by B.M. Blount, it supplied 15,000 wagons a year for farming communities throughout the Southeast until 1930 when motorized vehicles became predominant. One of the original buildings survives today as the Wagon Works.
The Couch brothers established their factory close by in 1902 and complemented the wagon works by producing horse collars, among the 15 patents they held for farm products and processes. The site was later occupied by the William Armstrong Smith Company, a manufacturer of road marking paint.
Square #16 – Z Trucking
J. N. Zellner and Son Transfer Company operated its family-based trucking company from the 1930s until well into the 1980s at its location near East Point’s railroad industrial complex.
J.N. Zellner was also the freight agent at the Central of Georgia depot for many years.
Square #17 – Old City Hall
The Old City Hall and City Auditorium were dedicated in 1931. A former city hall nearby on Cleveland Avenue dated from 1912.
The new City Hall was dedicated in April 2019.
Squares #18/19 – East Point Woman’s Club
The East Point Woman’s Club was founded in 1910. In 1912, they joined the national General Federation of Women’s Clubs.
The Woman’s Club championed a variety of projects such as health ser- vices, town beautification, and World Wars I and II efforts.
A headquarters building was built in 1966 on DeLowe Drive and later sold to the Sigma Zeta Foundation, a service organization.
Square #20 – State Flower
The Cherokee Rose became the state flower in 1916 as a result of the state legislature’s resolution and the governor’s signature. The Cherokee Rose represents the removal of the Cherokee from Georgia in 1838. The white petals signify the Cherokee clan and the yellow centers represent the gold for which the land was taken. It can be seen along Georgia’s roads and highways.
Square #21 – Georgia State Flag
When the Centennial Quilt was made in 1987, this was the design of the state flag, in effect from 1956 to 2001.
The current state flag was authorized in 2003.
Square #22 – City Seal
Farming, and industry related to it, grew around the railroad terminus. After the Civil War, East Point experienced a rapid growth in industry and housing for factory workers. Atlanta’s demand for suburban development spilled over into East Point as well. By 1887, this expansion warranted East Point’s incorporation by act of the Georgia Legislature. This design of the city seal features East Point’s City Hall, its industrial base and housing opportunities.
Square #23– Southern Saw Works
From 1890, Southern Saw Works made specialty saws for the prosperous lumber business in Georgia but, by the early 1950s, converted to “Snappin’ Turtle” mowers to serve the growing home lawn care industry of the suburbs. With numerous innovations for design and safety and through several mergers and reorganizations, Southern Saw was incorporated into McDonough Power Equipment, now Snapper, Inc.
Square #24 – Early Settlers
Some of East Point’s earliest settlers before the Civil War: Connally, Wethington, Baxter, Stone, Peacock. The land that was to be known as East Point was first in Henry County in 1821, then DeKalb in 1822, finally Fulton in 1853.
Square #25 Post Office
In 1851, East Point gained official recognition with the establishment of a U.S. Post Office. The 1935 post office building still stands. The current post office was built in 1966.
Square #26 – East Point Historical Society Historical House
The East Point Historical Society was formed in 1979. At first, the Society worked out of the City Hall Annex (at that time, the old Post Office on Main Street). In 1988, the Society moved to its present location on the former site of the Spring Street Pool, and before that, the Cold Springs Cue Grounds. The historic Morgan House was moved from East Point Street to this location in the centennial year of 1987 and has served as the Society’s headquarters ever since.
Square #27 – Boy Scouts
The Boy Scouts of America was founded in 1910. East Point’s BSA Troop 6 was organized in 1915. Including the scout master, there were 13 members. In July 2021, BSA Troop 54 painted the historic engine and caboose on the grounds of the East Point Historical Society.
Square #28– Connally Mill
The Connally Mill was part of an extensive plantation that was first established by three brothers in the 1830s. Located along what is now Connally Road, the farming operation included a grist mill and dam, the ruins of which still exist.
Square #29 – Trolley
In 1899 Georgia Railway and Power Co. (now Georgia Power Company) sought to extend its electric streetcar line from Atlanta to East Point. Service began in 1901 with a 5-cent fare.
In 1937, overhead lines for trackless trolleys were installed. Bus service was eventually implemented and is now incorporated into MARTA’s regional rapid rail and bus system.
Square #30 – The Velodrome
East Point has been a destination for cycling enthusiasts since the 1890s. Inspired by the 1972 Munich Olympics, the Dick Lane Velodrome was built in 1974 and was used during the 1996 Atlanta Olympics as a training facility. It features a green space and oak tree in the center. It continues to serve cycling, racing and youth programs.
Dick Lane was a long-time director of East Point’s recreation department and a state representative.
Square #31– Police
The police department was established in 1907.
Parking and speeding ordinances were created in 1921 and the first three-stop signs were installed in 1927.
Square #32 – The Fairfax
The Fairfax was one of three theaters in downtown East Point built beginning in the 1920s and reflecting the popularity of film entertainment. The Fairfax (Main Street) and the East Point Theater (Church Street) were demolished in the 1950s. The Russell Theater (Jefferson Avenue), later renamed the East Point Theater, operated into the 1960s.
Square #33 – First Settlers
The land that East Point now occupies was Creek Indian territory until 1821 when the Treaty of Indian Springs transferred ownership to the
U.S. government. A land lottery distributed property available through the 1821 Treaty to individuals. Georgia had eight land lotteries to distribute land, the first in 1805 and the last in 1833.
Square #34 – Terra Cotta Company
The Atlanta Terra Cotta Company was founded in the early 1900s at the current site of Woodward Academy’s bus parking facility, formerly Tri- Cities Shopping Center. Utilizing nearby natural springs, the factory made terra cotta pipes, tiles and decorative building trim until 1943 when the demand for building materials changed to glass and steel.
One surviving example of their work is the façade of downtown Atlanta’s Eiseman building that was incorporated into the Five Points MARTA Station.
Square #35 – Rose Garden
After several years in design work and fundraising, the Keep America Beautiful Rose Garden was dedicated in August 1986. It was part of a nationwide beautification program that continues today through Keep East Point Beautiful. A variety of roses were planted and are maintained and nurtured by volunteers, local businesses and the city parks department.
Square #36 – Continental Gin
The production of cotton was a major part of the economy in early East Point. To remove seeds from the cotton fibers, cotton gins were predominant throughout the early landscape of Georgia. Baugh, Connally, Redwine, Kimberly and Trimble were some of the gins that operated in East Point.
Square #37 – Nellie’s Chapel
East Point’s first church was built in 1873 as a memorial to Nellie Thompson, the seven year old daughter of Dr. J.D. Thompson, one of East Point’s early founders. It served as the meeting place for many other congregations until their church buildings could be erected. The building originally faced Main Street but was later moved to face East Point Street. Additions were made and repairs made after a major fire and, before it was recently sold, it was known as East Point Avenue United Methodist Church.
Square #38 – Fire Truck
A volunteer fire department was created in 1909 and in 1912 East Point’s first fire truck was purchased.
An early fire engine is located at Fire Station #2.
Square #39 – U.S. Distillery
John L Conley operated a corn and malt mill in what is now open land at the intersection of Montrose and Semmes Streets. Downstream was the U.S. Distillery that the mill served.
Square #40 – Ford
The Ford Motor Company produced the original Model A in 1903. By 1909, the “model year” designation was in effect for the Model T, considered the first affordable automobile that made transportation more accessible throughout America. A Ford dealership was established in East Point in 1925, thought to be East Point’s first automobile dealership.
Square #41 – Atlanta Utility Works
From peach baskets, to fertilizer and cotton oil machinery, to manhole covers, the Atlanta Utility Works manufactured products that reflected changing industrial needs. The structure that housed the Atlanta Utility Works survives and can be seen along Martin Street, south of the MARTA station.
Square #42 – Bottle Factory
By 1872 the East Point Glass Works was operating. A 1974 excavation uncovered a bottle there with the marking “East Point Glass Works.” East Point’s early businesses included a broad range of services such as department stores, groceries, hardware stores, pharmacies, service stations and banks.
Square #43 – Confederate Battle Flag
The flag that is now known as the Confederate Battle Flag was first used in the early days of the Civil War to distinguish it from the official United States and Confederacy national flags that were very similar, especially on the battlefield. Many different flags were used on the battlefield to identify the different Confederate forces. The Confederacy’s national flag incorporated this symbol in 1863.
Square #44 – Atlanta Christian College
Founded by Judge Thomas Hathcock and his wife Nora Head Hathcock in 1937, the college was located on farmland donated by Mrs. Hathcock. In 2011, the name was changed to Point University and the main campus moved to West Point, GA.
Square #45– Schoolhouse
In 1845 at the Connally Plantation, a private school was established and operated there until 1867. In 1891, public schools were created and in 1895 Central School was built on the site of the old City Hall. In 1915, three new elementary schools were authorized: Harris Street and Church Street for white children and Randall Street for African American children, who up to this time, had received most of their education in churches.
Square #46 – Newspapers
Reflecting East Point’s agrarian-based industries, The Plow Boy was first published in 1886 to influence national and state farm policies. In the early 1900s, the East Point News (later the South Fulton News Herald) was adopted as the official newspaper for the city and the Suburban Reporter began as a weekly publication. In 1967, the Southside Sun issued its first edition.
Square #47 – Clean Community System
This department was created in 1977 to encourage litter prevention, recycling and community beautification.
It is now known as Keep East Point Beautiful and is affiliated with the national Keep America Beautiful program.
Square #48 – Public Library
Completing the block of early city buildings in downtown East Point, the old East Point Library was dedicated in 1939. The Federal Revival style structure was constructed as part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Federal Emergency Administration of Public Works (FEAPW). This library served East Point residents until the mid-1990s when it merged with the Atlanta Fulton County system. William H. Howell was the first librarian and remained in that position until his retirement in 1974. The new East Point Library was opened in 1996.
Square #49 – Hearse
A.C. Hemperley & Sons Funeral Home was founded in East Point in 1904 and Howard L. Carmichael & Sons relocated their business to East Point in 1922. In 2000 these two, family-owned and operated businesses, merged. Gus Thornhill, East Point’s first African American police officer in 1965, founded his funeral home in East Point’s East Washington neighborhood. As a child he washed hearses for the Walker Funeral Home, organized in 1938, East Point’s second oldest funeral home that served the black community.