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The phrase “live, work and play community” is a modern-day creation. In recent years, the phrase has evolved to include “worship” as a component of the important concepts that contribute toward a sense of community. 

Sugar Hill, throughout its history as a community, has had an abundance of all four concepts. Out of the four pillars that hold up a community, “play” is often the most downplayed. Play is, however, equally important in comparison to the other three. Play can include parks, gymnasiums, greenways and the sports-focused activities that are common at outdoor or indoor venues, but it can also include places of social activity and even games like bowling or radio-controlled car racing. 

Sugar Hill was once home to the Duck Pins Bowling Alley and the RC Sugar Bowl Speedway — both places created opportunities for residents to gather and play as a community and are an interesting part of Sugar Hill’s history.

After World War II and the economic boon that began to occur in the late 1940s and early 1950s, Gladston Bailey built and owned Duck Pins Bowling Alley. Venues like the Alley catered to a population with an increasing amount of disposable income. Duckpin bowling is like regular bowling, but the ball and pins are smaller. The ball has no finger holes, unlike a regular bowling ball. The fact that the ball is made of wood, and that the pins are smaller, makes the game more difficult than regular bowling. In duckpin bowling, each player gets three rolls per frame since it is harder to get a strike. Gladston opened Duck Pins Bowling Alley in 1949 with only four lanes. On Fridays and Saturdays, the Alley was open from 4 in the afternoon until midnight for locals to play duckpin bowling. Each lane was manned by a boy who sat at the back of his assigned lane. The pins were manually reset after each throw, and the ball was returned to each thrower. Circles painted on the lane floor indicated the placement of each pin. The boys working at the Alley could be paid as much as 5 cents per full set, according to Curtis Westbrooks, who worked at the establishment in 1954. Duck Pins Bowling Alley had several owners between its opening and closure in 1967, and many residents still have fond memories of playing the game with family and friends.

In 1989, Gladston’s son and daughter-in-law, Shelley and Jan Bailey, opened the RC Sugar Bowl Speedway near the corner of West Broad Street and Cumming Highway. On three different tracks, patrons could race radio-controlled cars. Shelley and Jan constructed an Indy 500, a Daytona and an offroad track — each with a unique design. Radio-controlled race cars are scaled-down models of cars that are controlled remotely by a hand-held device. Shelley, on the site of the Speedway, also operated a store that sold radio-controlled cars and related products. Although not as culturally relevant today, radio-controlled car racing is still popular among hobbyists. The RC Sugar Bowl Speedway closed in 2003, 10 years after hosting a world championship for radio-controlled race cars. The tracks still exist in the woods off Cumming Highway, but the site is overgrown after nearly 20 years of closure.

There are many things that contribute toward and build a sense of community. The Baileys have been an integral part of our community for all our history since Sugar Hill officially became a city in 1939. Even though Duck Pins Bowling Alley and the RC Sugar Bowl Speedway do not exist in modern times, play is still an important part of the social fabric that holds our community together. The stories that we tell and the memories that we share about the people and places in our past are an important part of preserving our history and educating our youth about the importance of community. 

Brandon Hembree is mayor of Sugar Hill. He is a 20-year resident of the city, and he uses his interest in history to detail Sugar Hill’s rich past.

FEATURED PHOTO: Louis Grizzle plays at Duck Pins Bowling Alley in Sugar Hill. The business was open from 1949 to 1967. Photo courtesy of Brandon Hembree. 

Lake Sydney Lanier is a man-made lake that provides drinking water, hydroelectricity and recreation opportunities to residents in nearby cities like Sugar Hill, Gwinnett County and the rest of metro-Atlanta. 

After years of careful planning and strategic property acquisition beginning in 1948 by the federal government, Lake Lanier was officially created in 1957 with the completion of Buford Dam by the Corps of Engineers. Construction of Buford Dam was a massive undertaking, and it took seven years to complete after the official groundbreaking ceremony on March 1, 1950. Nearly 5,000 spectators turned out to hear speeches from individuals like Mayor William Hartsfield and Governor Eugene Talmadge. 

Completion of Buford Dam and Lake Lanier was a significant accomplishment. The project created good paying, but dangerous, jobs for thousands of men. One of these men was a resident of Sugar Hill, Johnnie Callahan, who tragically lost his life in the service of his fellow man. Today, he is remembered as a hero by his family and the community where he is laid to rest.

By 1954, much of the earthen foundation of Buford Dam had been completed. More than 3.7 million cubic yards of earth and rock were used to build the dam. The first focus of construction was to complete the three saddle dike dams, which were constructed to bridge several hilltops. These smaller saddle dike dams were designed to help contain the water that would eventually fill Lake Lanier. The last saddle dike dam to be built was in Gwinnett County, and the first two were in Forsyth County. Bridging two additional hilltops across the Chattahoochee River, the main dam was constructed next. A new channel was then cut to redirect the flow of water from the original channel to the powerhouse. One of the major projects underway in early 1954 was happening in the forebay area of the main dam, where tunnels were being drilled to later house the water intake structures and turbines. Despite frequent checks for loose rocks on the steep granite face on the upstream or Lake Lanier side of Buford, it was dangerous work.

Johnnie Callahan was employed by J.A. Jones Construction Company of Charlotte, North Carolina, and, by 1954, had lived in Sugar Hill for almost two years. He was a family man and the father of four girls and two boys. Johnnie, no doubt, would have appreciated the work even though it was dangerous. He would have felt the same pride of accomplishment as the other workers. They were all contributing toward the construction of an impressive and important structure that would benefit the surrounding community and all of Georgia.

History does not tell us everything that happened on March 16, 1954, but an article from the Atlanta Constitution on the following day provides us with some details regarding the tragic death of Johnnie Callahan. He was one of two individuals injured by falling rocks from a landslide. Leman Stone of Buford would survive with just a broken ankle, but Johnnie, despite wearing a hardhat, would later pass away from head injuries at Cumming Hospital. Both were working at the base of a forebay cut on the Forsyth County side of Buford Dam, where an intake tunnel was being cut into the granite. The article reads, “… the rockslide presumably was caused by vibrations from the lowering of a bucket of concrete down the sheer side of the cut or a loosening of rocks as a result of change in weather conditions.” Some of the rocks, according to the Corps of Engineers, may have weighed as much as 20 pounds.

Johnnie Callahan’s death was tragic. Johnnie risked his life to earn a living for his family, and he risked his life to help build Buford Dam. He was a hero. Generations of his family will benefit from his contributions as a husband and father, and generations of Georgians will reap the benefits of Buford Dam.

— Brandon Hembree

Hope you can attend the opening reception for this collaboritive history and art exhibition, between the Sugar Hill Historic Preservation Society and Arts Commission, honoring the life and legacy of Charlotte Howerton on May 14 at the Sugar Hill History Museum & Art Gallery.

Charlotte Howerton was a WWII WAC, a descendant of one of Sugar Hill’s gold mining families, and an amazing artist. The special history and art exhibit “Charlotte Howerton: This Is My Story, This Is My Song” will run through June 24.

The Sugar Hill Historic Preservation Society presents Lake Lanier. Mark your calendars for this special exhibit exploring the construction of the lake and its myths.