Spalding Drive is an approximately 12-mile east–west road connecting four suburban cities in north

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

Sandy Springs Sandy Springs is a city in northern Fulton County, Georgia and an inner ring suburb of Atlanta. The city's population was 108,080 at the 2020 census, making it Georgia's seventh-largest city. It is the site of several corporate headquarters, i ...

Dunwoody Dunwoody is a city located in DeKalb County, Georgia, United States. As a northern suburb of Atlanta, Dunwoody is part of the Atlanta metropolitan area. It was incorporated as a city on December 1, 2008 but its area establishment dates back to ...

Peachtree Corners Peachtree Corners is a city in Gwinnett County, Georgia, United States. It is part of the Atlanta metropolitan area, and is the largest city in Gwinnett County with a population of 42,243 as of the 2020 US Census. Peachtree Corners is the only ...

, and Norcross. For most of its length, which roughly parallels the

Chattahoochee River The Chattahoochee River forms the southern half of the Alabama and Georgia border, as well as a portion of the Florida - Georgia border. It is a tributary of the Apalachicola River, a relatively short river formed by the confluence of the Chatta ...

, it is lined on both sides with residential neighborhoods and private homes. Spalding Drive traverses a hilly topography and is subject to dangerous curves at many points.Teacher, father eulogize crash victim
Thecrier.net. Retrieved July 2011 However, after crossing Peachtree Corners Circle, the road becomes flatter and more commercialized, passing by many office parks, and the Peachtree Corners post office and library.

Norcross High School Norcross High School is a public high school in Norcross, Georgia, United States, part of the Gwinnett County School System, and serving the cities of Norcross and Peachtree Corners. The school's mascot is the Blue Devil. The school is also th ...

is located just before the road's eastern terminus within the Norcross city limits.

History

Spalding Drive likely evolved from an Indian trail.Perimeter Mall area was once Airfield
24 July 2004, thecrier.net. Retrieved July 2011 The road, which traverses an area adjacent to the Chattahoochee River, was once considered a farther-out alternative to

Buckhead Buckhead is the uptown commercial and residential district of the city of Atlanta, Georgia, comprising approximately the northernmost fifth of the city. Buckhead is the third largest business district within the Atlanta city limits, behind Downt ...

Pace's Ferry Through much of the 19th century, Pace's Ferry was an important ferry across the Chattahoochee River near Atlanta. Started in the early 1830s near Peachtree Creek, it was run by Hardy Pace, one of the city's founders. It was an important transpor ...

for the summer vacation homes of wealthy Atlantans, including Winship Nunnally, owner of the Nunnally Candy Company;

General Lucius Clay General Lucius Dubignon Clay (April 23, 1898 – April 16, 1978) was a senior officer of the United States Army who was known for his administration of occupied Germany after World War II. He served as the deputy to General of the Army Dwight D ...

, a World War II and Cold War general known for his involvement in the

Berlin air lift The Berlin Blockade (24 June 1948 – 12 May 1949) was one of the first major international crises of the Cold War. During the multinational occupation of post–World War II Germany, the Soviet Union blocked the Western Allies' railway, road ...

; Baxter Maddox, founder of the

First National Bank of Atlanta Wachovia was a diversified financial services company based in Charlotte, North Carolina. Before its acquisition by Wells Fargo and Company in 2008, Wachovia was the fourth-largest bank holding company in the United States, based on total asse ...

(later

Wachovia Wachovia was a diversified financial services company based in Charlotte, North Carolina. Before its acquisition by Wells Fargo and Company in 2008, Wachovia was the fourth-largest bank holding company in the United States, based on total asse ...

and now

Wells Fargo Wells Fargo & Company is an American multinational financial services company with corporate headquarters in San Francisco, California; operational headquarters in Manhattan; and managerial offices throughout the United States and intern ...

); and Frank Neely, CEO of Rich's (now Macy's).

Name

The road was named after the Spalding family, who owned a large amount of land in Sandy Springs. The original name of Spalding Drive west of Roberts Drive and east of its terminus at

Roswell Road State Route 9 (SR 9), (known locally as Highway 9) is an north–south state highway in the northern part of the U.S. state of Georgia. It travels from Atlanta to Turners Corner, north-northeast of Dahlonega. It is concurrent with ...

was Old Roswell Road. This portion was located in what was then

Milton County Milton County was a county of the U.S. state of Georgia from to . It was created on December 18, 1857, from parts of northeastern Cobb, southeastern Cherokee, and southwestern Forsyth counties. The county was named for John Milton, Secretary ...

. It was renamed to Spalding Drive in 1929. The original name of Spalding Drive east of Roberts Drive and west of Winters Chapel Road was Jett Ferry Road, named after the Jett Ferry of the

that it provided access to. This section, which travels through what is now the Dunwoody Panhandle of Sandy Springs, was located in what was then

DeKalb County DeKalb County may refer to one of several counties in the United States, all of which were named for Baron Johan DeKalb: * DeKalb County, Alabama * DeKalb County, Georgia * DeKalb County, Illinois * DeKalb County, Indiana * DeKalb County, Missouri ...

. After Milton County merged with Fulton County in 1932, the Dunwoody Panhandle was ceded to Fulton County, and the road was renamed Spalding Drive. The original name of Spalding Drive east of Winters Chapel Road and west of its terminus at Medlock Bridge Road (it continues straight as South Old Peachtree Road) in Gwinnett County, was Lawrenceville Road.

References

{{Coord, 33, 58, 5.3, N, 84, 15, 29.5, W, display=title Roads in Atlanta Peachtree Corners, Georgia