A place once frequented by squatters, this former elementary school was a lively part of Eastern Atlanta, and while it is still lively with nature, I wonder ‘where did the education go?’ Perhaps out one of the many broken windows…
We find ourselves quietly standing among the destruction of a large, once vibrant gymnasium inside the John B. Gordon School. Staring upwards towards gaping holes across the ceiling, a background ambience of passing cars and cluttered yelling carries through the air from streets outside. This school, built in 1909, was named after a brigadier general of the Civil War, and 1886 Governor of Georgia, John Brown Gordon. Originally called the East Atlanta School, somewhere near the year 1925, it took on the revised name, shortly followed by an addition to the building built in 1934.
The town was booming come the arrival of the 1950s, and with an A&W Root Beer drive-in standing directly across the street from school, how could things not be perfect? All the way into the 1960s, shops and restaurants held the attentions of children and adults alike, including a Charlie’s Hamburgers and East Atlanta Pharmacy soda fountain, where you could grab a hot dog for just 10 cents!