Sandy Springs despite having very few buildings and homes that go really far back has some history that spans over hundreds of years. Enjoy the timeline of some historical Sandy Springs events.
1500s-The Creek Nation inhabit the area south of the Chattahoochee while the Cherokees live north of the river. The Historic Sandy Springs exists in an area shared by both nations for hunting and fishing.
1821- The Treaty of Indian Spring is signed wherein Native Americans living in Georgia cede their land to the U.S. government. Ceded land, including the area surrounding the Historic Springs, is divided by land lottery of 202 ½ acres per parcel. Each parcel was $19.
1830s-The Wagon Stop House, still located near the intersection of Glenridge Drive and Johnson Ferry Road, serves as a traveler’s rest stop and circuit courthouse.
1842-The Austin-Johnson House is built. The oldest unaltered house in Sandy Springs, the home is still located on Johnson-Ferry Road near Abernathy Road.
1851- Wilson Spruill donates five acres for the founding of the Sandy Springs United Methodist Church. The first building, a one room log cabin, is soon replaced by “The Red Brick Church” where summer camp meetings were held each summer.
1853-Sandy Springs becomes part of the newly created Fulton County.
1860s-James Isom operates Isom Ferry, which crossed the Chattahoochee at the mouth of Sope Creek. John Heard took over operation in 1868 and renamed the ferry Heards Ferry which operated until 1890.
1861-1865-The Civil War-Historic markers throughout Sandy Springs recount wartime activities in the area, particularly during the Battle of Atlanta. Key sites mark the crossing of the Chattahoochee by Union troops near Sope Creek, and troop movement along present-day Mt. Vernon Highway.
1869-Walter Jerome Williams builds a home from timber cleared from his land at the present day location of Mt. Vernon Highway and Ga. 400. His home would later become known as the Williams-Payne House Museum.
1880-1920s-Ike Roberts operates a railroad from Chamblee to the Chattahoochee River near present-day Sandy Springs/Dunwoody.
1889-The Georgia General Assembly prohibits the sale of alcohol in a one and half mile radius around the Sandy Springs United Methodist Church.
1905-Hammond School is built at Johnson Ferry Road and Mt. Vernon Highway and continues operation until 1976.
1920s-Several wealthy Atlantans build second homes here. The T.K. Glen family builds Glenridge Hall which still serves as a private residence today. Late in the decade, the brush arbor of the Sandy Springs Methodist Church where camp meetings were held burned to the ground and was rebuilt.
1939-Major and Marie Payne purchase the home Jerome Williams built and remodel it into a charming country cottage.
1945-World War II ends and Sandy Springs experiences a rapid increase in residential development which continues today.
1946- Sandy Spring residents Ed Dodd and Tom Hill start the conservationist comic strip Mark Trail.
1958-Sandy Springs High School, the first high school between Rowell and Buckhead, opens.
1967 – The last covered bridge in the area over Sope Creek at Paper Mill Road is destroyed by fire.
1960s-Interstate 285 is completed.
