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CAPSULE HISTORY OF
THE CHATTAHOOCHEE POST
2760 Duluth Highway 120, Duluth, Georgia 30096
Not unlike the group of twenty officers credited with
planning the American Legion almost thirty years earlier, twenty-five
veterans of World War II came together in 1948 to plan an American Legion
Post to serve their community.
Their community, Duluth, Georgia, is located in the northwest quadrant
of Gwinnett County, on the border of Fulton County and bound by the Chattahoochee
River.
Georgia legislators created the South’s most dynamic county in 1818
from frontier land, which the Creek Indians had ceded to the state. The
county was named after Button Gwinnett, a fiery patriot and one of Georgia’s
three signers of the Declaration of Independence.
As the state of Georgia was forming the county, it is highly likely that
Evan Howell was planning his move west from Cabarrus County, North Carolina.
In 1821, Evan Howell, the first successful farmer and merchant of what
would become Duluth, Georgia, settled the Cherokee Indian Territory. He
built his home and began working to bring his people into this part of
the country. The community prospered, and with the coming of the railroad
in 1873, the original town of Howell’s Crossroads was officially
renamed Duluth.
Duluth was named as a joke after Duluth, Minnesota, the origin point of
the railroad, when Congressman J. Proctor Knott of Kentucky made fun of
the name. Despite the joking, today there is even a Proctor Square and
Knott Street in town. This tradition of having fun while still providing
a safe and beautiful community is the hallmark of Duluth and the underlying
theme of the American Legion Post to be born.
Our group met in the gymnasium of the Duluth School following a basketball
game. Infused with the atmosphere of excitement and victory still lingering
in the gym, the founding members of our Post each contributed twenty five
dollars ($25.00) and made plans to rent the original Post Home on the
banks of the Chattahoochee River. Thus the American Legion Chattahoochee
Post Number 251 was born. They purchased lumber to build a bar, four cases
of beer, two cases of colas, and some ice; the fun was about to begin.
In November of that year, they hired Roy Moulder as the first bartender,
paying him fifty dollars ($50.00) a week in salary. Not long after that,
while operating on a temporary charter, the Post was experiencing growing
pains. Elmer Ethridge and Joe Barker met with Thurman Green to negotiate
the purchase of just over seven and one half acres of land along Duluth
Highway. The deal was closed with a handshake for one hundred dollars
($100.00) per acre. A week later, Russel McGee, the Post Finance Officer,
issued a check for seven hundred and sixty nine dollars ($769.00).
The Post remained on the river until 1955, at which time construction
of the new Post Home was underway. As soon as the basement was complete,
the Post moved in. It would take until 1959 before the building was complete,
and it is still in use today.
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