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A brief history of Dunson School

For almost 50 years, Dunson School served as the springboard for success for youngsters growing up in the Dunson Mill village. Now a DASH apartment complex serving seniors entering their twilight years, the former school has a rich history.

For almost half a century, Dunson School on Barnard Avenue in LaGrange served as the springboard for success for youngsters growing up in the Dunson Mill village. Now, with the completion of a $3.2 million DASH project, the former elementary school serves as housing for seniors entering their twilight years, including several who attended the community school or worked at the mill.

Dunson School originated in 1912 in a four-room house on Thornton Avenue and moved to a brick school building on Cary Street the following year. The school was financed by Dunson Mill, the textile factory where the students’ parents worked. Eventually, land was purchased from Dunson Mills for $100, and the new school opened in 1939 at 9 South Barnard Avenue. For the next 47 years, the brick school building, a handsome structure designed by the famed Ivey and Crook architects of Atlanta, was a happy place for play and learning for children of the mill village.

The nucleus of the neighborhood, Dunson School was a magnet for the children of mill employees who lived in hundreds of tidy homes that dotted the close-knit neighborhood. Children walked to school to greet teachers who knew each student by name—as well as their family members. A hub of activity for parents as well, the school was the place to be for plays, choral concerts and P.T.A. meetings where parents supported their children’s education and mingled with friends. On Saturday afternoons, families gathered in the lot behind the school to play or watch neighborhood baseball games.

In 1986, the LaGrange Board of Education closed Dunson School. Elizabeth Harris, a Dunson Mill village native and wife of then-Gov. Joe Frank Harris, spoke at the school’s closing ceremonies. The day marked the end of an era; for the first time in 74 years, there was no school operating in the Dunson community. For the next several years, the school building was utilized by the LaGrange School System for storage and maintenance. In the 1990s, it was home to the Alpha Multipurpose Center, a youth-oriented service organization headed by Oliver Greene, Dunson School’s last principal and a man who deeply appreciates what DASH did to resurrect the deteriorating building.

“Dunson School was a vital part of the community,” says Greene. “I am glad to see it being utilized again.”

The old Dunson School reopened as The Richard W. Wolfe Apartments at Dunson School in September 2007. Seniors 62 years and older reside in 28 apartments there.

The mission of DASH is to revitalize and make sustainable LaGrange's once vibrant neighborhoods by eliminating substandard housing, creating socio-economic diversity, encouraging home ownership, inviting economic development and engaging residents in active community leadership. For additional information about DASH or its initiatives, contact us at (706) 298-0221 or visit online at http://www.dashlagrange.com.

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