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on Cherokee Street and walk
home.”
Retired Juvenile Court Judge
Jim Morris, a local historian
and resident of the Cherokee
Heights, said things were
hunky-dory in the new neighborhood
during its first half-decade
or so.
“This place was a booming
place during the ’20s, until the
Depression came along,” he
said. “And then (Frank McNeel
and Welborn Venable) pretty
much went bust. In the beginning
… they had the real estate
practice. They sold insurance.
They had a lumber yard up on
Canton Road, and they would
build your house and provide
the materials for your house.
They had insurance, they had
loans, they had a bank started
so they made loans. They had
just this conglomerate going on
here, then comes the Depression.
Everything collapsed.”
Development only slowly
started back in the 1930s, not
really getting back into gear
until World War II, Morris said.
New Cherokee Heights
residents are likely to get a
visit from Judge Morris. The
acknowledged neighborhood
historian, Morris has compiled
well over 400 pages of Cherokee
Heights history, down to individual
houses and families.
Morris said his work started
as a way to pass the time in his
retirement but has evolved into
a passion project.
“I’ve given a copy to (Kennesaw
State University history
professor emeritus) Tom Scott
to hold for me for when I
croak, and I gave one to Cobb
Landmarks to just sit on,” he
said. “And one of these days, it
could be a book, except it would
cost too much to buy and only
like 70 customers (would) care
about it. But it has, I think, a
bunch of good stories. And I
hope to fascinate people and
make them consider their home
to be important.”
Some of those stories involve
big names in city history.
Though the neighborhood only
has about 70 homes, at least
eight mayors have lived there
since its creation, including
current Mayor Steve Tumlin.
You can still see the future
mayor’s baby footprint in the
concrete in front of his childhood
home.
“I was fortunate to be raised
on Freyer Drive,” Tumlin said.
“It was a great neighborhood;
we really enjoyed it. My father
built that house, probably about
1948. It was a great experience.
There were lots of neighborhood
kids, a great place to grow
up in.”
A home on Freyer Drive. — Staff
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