Marietta Square, SE Corner, c1924

It says of the back:

“The Marietta Square seen from the southeast corner, c. 1924.”

My father would have been 13 years old then. By things he said, I think at that age he hung around the Square the Square a lot about the time period this picture was taken. I hung out a lot around the Square when I was 13 years old.

The picture looks as though it was probably taken through a second story window in Groover’s Hardware. It is too high to be street level and too low to be on top of the building – but even with the window you can only see part of across Atlanta Street at Allen’s Drug Store.

By the time I came along Allen Drugstore had changed to Reynolds and Ferrell Drug Store.

On Sundays, nothing but the drugstores were opened on the Square. I think there were five drug stores there: Atherton’s and Williams’ on West Park Square; Hodges and Jones’ on North Park Square; and Reynolds & Ferrell on South Park Square.

On Sundays, sometimes, we as a family for entertainment would drive to the Square, walk inside Reynolds & Ferrell Drug Store – I remember you had to walk up about 2 or 3 steps, and each in the family get an ice cream cone . Then we sat in the car outside and ate our ice cream and watched people. They did have little ice cream parlor table and chairs but that wasn’t our style.

We watched people come and go. They would walk into the drug store and leave eating their ice cream. That was our entertainment. A lot of people had on their fancy Sunday duds and some did not. Some men walked ahead of their wives and some walked behind their wives… kids were in tow. It was sort of like a common watering hole, or Pete’s Pond, for all walks – rich and poor and all races.

We were innocent voyeurs.

Also, take note of Glover Park across the street – it changes looks ever-so-often, just like everything thing else.