We continue on our series on “The Twenties” on the podcast, looking back at the last 100 years of Gwinnett History, Back In The Day!
In 1922, Duluth elected Georgia’s first female mayor Alice Harrell Strickland. She donated 1-acre of land for a “community forest” and began efforts to conserve land for public recreation.
The City of Snellville was incorporated in 1923 with Gladstone Snell (founder Tom Snell’s nephew) as Snellville’s first mayor. In the late 1920s the charter became dormant and remained so until the 1940s at which time W.C. Britt became mayor. During his administration the city limits were extended to one mile from the center of town. After Mr. Britt’s term of office the charter again become dormant and remained so until after World War II. When the charter was activated in 1947, Arthur Stancil became mayor.
1924: Gwinnett gets its first paved road: “the Lawrenceville-Decatur road,” current day U.S. 29/Ga. 8. Us locals call it 29 Highway.
Dacula had a weird decade with the plot points of a Netflix series. From finding a pot of gold, to discovering oil in a well, to a gruesome murder case.
Also, a Dacula native, Gid Tanner rose to popularity in this decade. His group the Skillett Lickers still play on today. In addition, Levi Lowrey, his great-great grandson continues on the tradition of a local-musical genius influencing country and americana music today. Gid Tanner, sold over a million records was an extremely popular talent for his day, and has forever left his finger prints on both Gwinnett County, Dacula, and country music forever.
Also, in this episode we cover a snap shot into local education in the 1920s and reveal a bit of history on just how Old Fountain Road got its name. (Not to mention a pretty funny snowball fight!)
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ABOUT THE PODCAST:
GWINNETT HISTORY: BACK IN THE DAY is hosted by Nathan McGill, an award-winning filmmaker, writer and storyteller at The Guide to Gwinnett and Gwinnett Magazine. Subscribe and follow along as Nathan leads us through compelling stories about Gwinnett.
