Cumming Visitor Center Nears Completion

You wouldn't know it by looking at it today, but the newly refurbished Sinclair filling station next to Dairy Queen on Atlanta Road in the heart of Cumming has seen a lot of history.

No one knows when the old station was built for sure. City officials, many of whom were mere school boys at the time, say some time in the 1930s. Nostalgia and fond childhood memories as much as anything else may have been the reason they decided to clean it up, give it a fresh coat of paint, replace the old gas pumps and turn it into a functioning visitor center.

If the old walls could talk, they would tell a story of the Great Depression and how hard it was for those who struggled through it. They would tell you about the folks who gathered for an occasional game of checkers, to argue politics or complain about how the price of everything had shot up.

For example, at the start of the 1930s, gasoline had skyrocketed to 10 cents a gallon. If you wanted one, and could afford it, a new car could set you back as much as $700 and a new house would cost on average $7,145.

As the Depression drew closer and hard times hit, prices declined. The average price of a new home was about $3,800. But it hardly mattered. Very few had a job.

The City of Cumming purchased the property where the old station sits for $730,000 and had it restored for a little more than $100,000.

Mayor Ford Gravitt and City Administrator Gerald Blackburn say it was worth it to save the old building from demolition and it certainly has improved the appearance of the site. Both men say city residents have been excited to see the project undertaken.

The old bay area where mechanics would service cars that, some say, hauled a certain type of liquid refreshment from the moonshine capital in Dawsonville to Atlanta and even further west.

That bay area has been turned into a conference room. The lobby area will house the visitor center where volunteers will hand out literature and answer questions about the city.

City Manager Gerald Blackburn said the center should be open in a couple of weeks. "We're excited about it. "I think everyone is looking forward to it."