Downtown East point
EPMSA
East Point Main Street Association, Inc. – PO Box 91274, East Point, GA 30344
EPMSA
Donate Now
Main Street Board
EPMSA Projects
EPMSA Programs
Photo Gallery
Main Street Events
Main Street Businesses
Business of the Month
Business Owner Resources
Commercial Property
Downtown History & Facts
Flashback Feature
Contacts
Neighborhood Participation
Media, Press & News
Downtown Nesletter


Mission
To preserve and enhance the downtown area as the heart of
East Point, communicating a sense of place, community pride and heritage, while providing for a successful business and
residential environment.

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.

East Point’s Centennial Quilt : A History Lesson in Needlework, Part Two:
Industry & Manufacturing, Part One

Quilt Connally Mill
Horse Collar Saw Blade
Top Left: East Point’s Centennial Quilt, on display at the East Point Historical Society
Top Right: Connally Mill, 1873
Bottom Left: Wagon Works, 1884; Couch Brothers, 1902
Bottom Right: Southern Saw, 1890

In 1987, members of the East Point Woman’s Club stitched together a quilt to commemorate East Point’s Centennial. Each of the 49 squares helps tell the story of East Point’s history. The quilt is on display at the East Point Historical Society. This is the second in a series of East Point history lessons, as reflected in a sampling of the quilt’s squares.

Many of East Point’s early industries were related to agricultural products that supported farming, the primary economic foundation after the Civil War. From the mid to the early 20th century, manufacturing expanded from on site farm locations to over a dozen factories along the railroad lines. This fragile agricultural economy fell victim to changes in transportation and industry and did not survive the depression era of the 1930s.

The Connally Mill was part of an extensive plantation that was first established by three brothers in the 1830s. Located along Connally Road, the farming operation included a grist mill and dam, the ruins of which still exist.

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, a nicely renovated office building. The structure is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

The Couch brothers established their manufacturing 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.

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.

-Carole Griffith

» Read related Flashback Feature about the East Point Centennial Quilt

 

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