Name: George W. Adair Elementary School
Location: 141 Catherine Street, Atlanta, GA
George W. Adair Elementary School, located in the historic Adair Pair neighborhood, sits abandoned yet still maintains it’s architectural glory. Upon further inspection, onlookers are treated beautiful architectural design by one of Atlanta’s leading architects of the time, Edward Dougherty. In addition to Adair Elementary, Mr. Dougherty went on to design other notable structures in Atlanta such as Druid Hills Baptist Church on Ponce de Leon, Druid Hills Golf Club, Imperial Hotel in 1911 and the Highland School which has now been converted to luxury lofts. November 18, 1911, the Mackle – Crawford Construction Company was awarded the contract to build the new George W. Adair School in the “tenth ward” for a $34,000; this total would equal at least $843,191.55 in today’s inflation rate. The George W. Adair School officially opened its doors on September 9, 1912.
George W. Adair school was named for slave dealer turned real estate tycoon Col. George W. Adair. As of 2017, there has been a lot of controversies surrounding the rehabilitation of the Adair School since it now located in a prominently African-American neighborhood. Adair’s ties with the Ku Klux Klan has made some argue that the school should not reopen with the same name, as its namesake wasn’t exactly a part of a business that was deemed friendly to African American’s.
George W. Adair Elementary and the neighborhood that holds the same name wasn’t always a welcoming or friendly place for African-American’s to live and attend school. Compared to other established Atlanta suburbs, Adair Park was mediocre at best. The neighborhood housed thin land lots and modest homes. Residents were typically working class with a sprinkling of middle-class residents. According to the book “White Flight” by Kevin M. Kruse residents complained of the loud, crass behaviors of their neighbors, adding that they can’t enjoy a fresh breeze on their front lawn without the “fighting across the street….and the police running over there two or three times a week” (pg 94).
The school itself has an interesting past. Students gardened, held athletic events (field day), and even hosted a Chinese missionary in 1918. In 1914, two basketball courts were built for boys and girls who attended Adair elementary school. Students helped plant trees and were regularly featured in The Atlanta Constitution for perfect attendance and excellent grades.
March of 1937, Adair Elementary’s celebrated its 25th anniversary by adding an annex to its existing building; the school’s student body remained mostly white as well. Due to an increase in the residents of the area, the elementary school enjoyed an expansion to accommodate the student body growth, costing a total of $40,000, roughly $689,805.71 in today’s dollars.
With the desegregation of public schools across the country picking up steam, African-American residents began to slowly move into Adair Park around the mid-1950’s. This drastically changed the demographics of George W. Adair elementary school as white residents refused to participate in school desegregation as well as refusal to sell their homes to potential homeowners of color. By the late 1950’s, racial tensions had reached a boiling point. White residents proudly protested the newly found diversity of Adair Pair, proclaiming that they’d wish for Adair Park to remain for whites only. Some residents even threatened to burn the houses of black residents to the ground ( White Flight, pg 96). By the 1960’s Adair Park elementary and the surrounding neighborhood had transitioned to a mostly all-African American community. Noticeably absent in the local newspapers is the constant write ups of the Adair Elementary school. One can’t help but wonder if the changing hue of the student body affected the interest of local journalists.
Sources:
- https://thegeorgianrevival.wordpress.com/2011/09/22/dougherty-and-robinson-native-arhitects-who-designed-atlanta-landmarks/
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Emmett_Dougherty
- “Adair School Contract Is Let By the Board.” The Atlanta Georgian and News (Atlanta), November 18, 1911, 4th ed. Accessed April 10, 2017. http://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/atlnewspapers/id:aga1911-5562.
- Reeves, Alexis Scott. 1976. “When White Fear Turned to Flight.” The Atlanta Constitution (1946-1984), Jun 06, 1. http://ezproxy.gsu.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.gsu.edu/docview/1612082185?accountid=11226.
Atlanta's Past Revisted 
Stunning qujest there. What happened after? Thanks!
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I feel that is among the suc a lot significant information for me.
And i’m happy reading your article. Howeever wanna observation on few general things, Thhe web site taste iis
great, the articles is really great : D. Good activity, cheers
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My father was stationed at Ft. MacPherson when I attended Adair from 1st to 4th grade. My mother would drive my brother and me to the post-motor pool and we would ride an Army bus, chaperoned by an M.P., to school. I have good memories of the experience, especially the park across the street where we would have recess. I recently acquired two school desks of the old wood and cast iron type that I sat on at Adair. I have a grandchild using one as I type this. I’m surprised to see it still standing 70 years on.
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Hello Keen! Thank you for sharing such a rich and meaningful experience. Comments such as yours are one of the reasons I started this project. I love hearing stories of Atlanta’s past.
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Thank you for this message. This Adair Park school has been renovated, and it is beautiful. I drove past this school today (February 17, 2021) as a matter of fact. I actually parked my car in front of the park that you mentioned, and I FELT so much history while sitting and looking at the scenery.
Thank you for helping me to make my decision!
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You are most welcome Ruth! I’m currently working on migrating this information over to a more comprehensive site: https://aps-forgotten.com/
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I went all the way through adair i would love to see the inside today happy memories
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I have very fond memories of Adair Elementary. I started school there and spent many a day at the park. It closed at the end of y 4th grade year. The one thing I remember the most was the smell that met you when you walked in. It was the best smell ever and I have never found that smell anywhere else. I think it was the smell of bread. I’ve been out of school for 42 years and still think of Adair as home.
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Wow, thank you for sharing your memories Michelle! I love hearing about the experiences of APS attendees. It makes me wonder, did they bake fresh bread for lunch? I wonder where the smell came from.
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What sweet memories I have of the Adair park community. It was a beautiful place to raise your children. I often tell my children about the park and what fun we had year round. Always activities in the little red building, tennis courts, baseball fields and slides and swings. I actually attended Adair park Elementary School kindergarten thru 7th grade. My class was the last one to complete all grades in 1973. Mrs. Scott was my kindergarten teacher. The smell was definitely bread baking for lunch, also remember the smell of cinnamon rolls baking when we had soup for lunch.
Teresa
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Wow! What an amazing story, thank you so much for sharing. I truly love hearing stories from former students.
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Hi Teresa,
I came across your reply to this when looking into this school. My grandmother was Lou Groover, who was a resource teacher at Adair. Unfortunately, she was killed in the car park one early morning when accessing the school, and they never found out who did it. This was in June of 1972. Would you happen to remember this or her?
Thanks,
Allison
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Thank you so much for this article! I work as a Clubkeep (periodic cleaning and customer service) at Switchyards coworking club, which as of Sept 2025 has a location in the former auditorium of Adair Elementary! I just did my first shift here and it’s so gorgeous that I had to Google it. I don’t know what the rest of the building is used for right now, but it does seem to be in use and revitalized for various purposes at the very least! Such an interesting way to engage with history, and so happy to see the school live on, even with a different take on life.
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Awesome, thank you for sharing Kelly! I’m happy to hear that the school is being renovating or repurposed rather than torn down for cookie-cutter, run of the mill modern structures!
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