Comments on: Three Time Capsules Unearthed at 5th Avenue School Site

By: CSD Mom

CSD Mom — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 12:33:20 +0000

Finally, a little more information: http://www.decaturnewsonline.com/news/article_29ab7de8-9eae-11df-95fd-001cc4c002e0.html

By: L Sanford

L Sanford — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 16:25:53 +0000

I put the time capsules in the wall in 1988. It was funded with a Mini Grant I got from the Dekalb Junior League. An article about it will soon be posted on Decatur News Online http://www.decaturnewsonline.com. Scott got a Mini Grant that year, too. I’m so glad he remembered about the capsules. I was going to call CSD this year about them. I hadn’t realized that Fifth Avenue was going to be razed. The project was a lot of work, but I really enjoyed doing it. I can’t wait to open the capsules.

By: Jack Kittle

Jack Kittle — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 14:35:29 +0000

Do you have any pictures of the streetcar line in the median of Oakview Rd? I’ve always wondered how it looked.

By: decatur mom

decatur mom — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 12:40:11 +0000

I think that is Coach O in the yellow shirt!

By: Grey beard

Grey beard — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 04:48:39 +0000

Yes karass, we were all white – segregated then. I graduated from Decatur High in 1965 and the schools were still segredated. 1966 is the year the high school you know as Decatur High opened and it was interated. The black high school was Trinity High where the police station is now.
When I returned to Decatur 39 years later – all that remained of my high school was the “old gym and the stadium”. Now the only thing that remains in the “wall” that runs down the center of campus. And yes Decatur was a June Cleaverish and Donna Reidish place. Smitty, the Decatur police officer of our day would honk his horn – and wave his arm – to tell us to slow down or he would tell our parents. Our side of town “we knew as Eastlake – now know as Oakhurst” was the blue collar side of town. My dad was a transit worker and ran the streetcar that ran down the median of Oakview Road. I have a piece of the rail that was removed from that railway. Decatur was a special place then as it is now. Please treasure it.

By: karass

karass — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 03:21:01 +0000

Wow! Tell us about it. Was Fifth Avenue an all-white segregated school then? When was it integrated? What was the neighborhood like? Middle class, single family homes? Working class? June Cleaverish? Donna Reidish?

By: just cranky

just cranky — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 01:39:30 +0000

College Heights and Westchester are “sister” schools, built around the same time (1950s) during the baby boom. Fifth Ave is much older.

By: Grey beard

Grey beard — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 00:28:54 +0000

I went to first grade at Fifth Avenue in 1953 – my older sister went there five years before I did. I’m pretty sure this capsule is a little after our time there. But Fifth Avenue goes back a few years so mid 50′s or early sixties would be a good guess.

P.S. I would love a glance inside the old school before they take it down. I can still remember how tall those steps were for a first grader and I remember looking out those huge windows on a spring afternoon as a seventh grader. It was a great place to grow up. I’m glad you folks have found it. Use it well.