Downtown Flashback Feature

Each month, EPMSA will dig through the East Point Historical Society's archives to provide you with that month's "Flashback Feature". Each feature will highlight a photo and/or article from East Point's vibrant history. The photos/articles will give you a brief look at East Point back then . . . more information about East Point's history is available at the East Point Historical Society located at 1685 Norman Berry Drive, East Point, GA 30344. You can contact them at (404) 767-4656 or visit www.eastpoinths.org. All "Flashback Features" will be archived on the website and can be accessed at any time.

Early Schools of East Point

East Point’s first public school,
the Central School, built in 1895.

In his Historic Sketch of East Point: Pioneer Days, Mr. S. N. Thompson, who moved to East Point in 1868 at the age of five, reminisces that “Our first school house was located on old Newnan Road, now Church Street, where the handsome First Methodist Church, south, now stands, …and was an old shanty once upon a time, or a pre-war one-room dwelling…. School at this time was not free… $2 to $3 per month tuition.”

It wouldn’t be until 1895 that East Point would provide its families with a free public school. As noted in the “Centennial Chronology of East Point History: 1887- 1987,” in 1895, “East Point held its first bond issue, assuming a $7,000 debt to build and equip the Central School.” This school stood on the southwest corner of East Point and W. Cleveland streets, the site of our current City Hall building. Enrollment in 1898 included 135 students who were residents of East Point and 11 who were non-residents. And by 1899, the school had expanded to go up through the 10th grade.

African-American school children of East Point
with their teacher, circa 1920.

African-American children were not allowed to attend the Central School. According to Herman “Skip” Mason, Jr., in Black America Series: East Point, Georgia, “Before the 1900s and during the early part of the century, African-American children attended schools in several churches in East Point such as Union Baptist Church in the old Grabball community” (site of South Fulton Medical Center). East Point’s first public school for African- American children was built on Randall Street in 1916. Per Mason, “by 1920, there were 225 African-American students attending school in the building.” The Randall Street School burned in 1926 and was rebuilt on Bayard Street (Bayard Street Elementary) in 1928. These schools were operated by the East Point City Council until 1927 when Fulton County took over the administration of both East Point and College Park schools after a referendum was approved by voters

– Marguerite Murray

Sources: Pictorial History of East Point, Georgia, published by East Point Historical Society, Inc., 1982, reprinted 2004; Black America Series: East Point, Georgia, Herman “Skip” Mason, Jr., published by Arcadia Publishing, 2001; Historic Sketch of East Point: Pioneer Days, S. N. Thompson, published by East Point Historical Society, Inc. ; “Centennial Chronology of East Point History: 1887-1987, by Anne S. Larcom, 1987; http://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/sanborn/Year/EastPoint1911/, “Sanborn® Fire Insurance Maps for Georgia Towns and Cities, 1884-1922” web site; Black America Series: East Point, Georgia and Pictorial History of East Point, Georgia are both available for purchase at the East Point Historical Society.

Be sure to visit the East Point Historical Society at 1685 Norman Berry Drive to learn more about our city’s history. Museum & Archives - Free Admission
- Thursdays 1 - 4 p.m., Saturdays 11 a.m. - 3 p.m.
- Phone: 404-767-4656