DeKalb County, Georgia Thunderbolts
Posted: Sat Nov 01, 2014 7:13 pm
Well, as I have blurted out countless times, DeKalb County, GA had a system of Thunderbolts up until 1989, when they dismantled (at least) most of them. Based on some of the things I have found out (Mainly from staring at the siren poles and that half of one in the trees near Decatur), I think I may be on to something, like some sort of historical thing.
Before I begin, I must say I am mainly operating off of what I have discovered. I could be mistaken on some parts of it, so therefore I do not proclaim this to be 100% accurate.
The county allegedly had 28 Thunderbolts (They were sold to Cobb in 1989, which had 2 thunderbolts to begin with. In 1991, they had 30, so in between '89 and '91, they installed the 28 (or 27.5) from DeKalb, making 30). I believe they were installed mainly in the early 1960s, judging by the manufacture dates on the base of the poles (I found a date of 1963 on the pole at Oak Grove Elementary in Decatur (Which is the .5 of a thunderbolt left)). I have a theory that the sirens were more concentrated in the northern part of the county (AKA everything above I-20) due to the fact that I have only discovered two siren locations in the boonies south of I-20. It is to my understanding (from an old ARS post), that there was a misfire of the system in 1980, causing the sirens to run nonstop for about 5 or 10 minutes before the county figured out the problem and corrected it. Now, this is unrelated to the siren misfire, but something makes me think that after the 1980 misfire, some sirens were re-installed. An example of this is the fact that the old siren pole at Stone Mountain's old train station was made in 1981, and the blower pipe is mounted differently than the rest. What the motive for doing this is still a mystery to me, but my guess would be to expand coverage, since aside from that, the closest siren was about 2 miles to the S/SW. Now, after that, about 7 or 8 years later, the siren system, along with the county Civil Defense branch was disbanded because let's face it, in 1989, the Soviets weren't much of a threat, and Communism in europe was getting buried in a lead coffin basically, and they got sent to Cobb County to expand upon their siren system, and I think certain people all know what happened afterwards (coughIancough). During the removal, it seems they only cared for the siren bits, so as a result, Ridiculously tall poles with yellow pipes were left. I have been able to find most of them, but some seem to be a bit of a challenge to find.
With that last sentence, here are all of the Locations I have found, and in parenthesis, if anything is left:
I-85 and Chamblee Tucker Rd. (Nothing left)
Downtown Stone Mountain train station (Pole and blower pipe left)
Exchange Ave. and Ponce De Leon Ave. (Pole left)
US-29 at Harcourt Dr. (Pole and blower pipe left)
Medlock Rd. next to the (now gone) Suburban Plaza shopping center (Pole and pipe left)
Lavista Rd. and Briarcliff Rd. (Nothing left)
Fishburne Hall (Emory university, nothing left)
Atlanta Fire Station 12 (Station is in DeKalb, and the siren was in turn also owned by DeKalb, the pole is left. I have found a 1988 photo that shows the siren, It will be posted below)
Gresham Park Elementary School (Pole Left)
Snapfinger Rd. near GA-155 (Nothing left)
US-278 at Glenwood Rd. (Nothing left)
(Now closed) Avondale Estates High School (Pole and Blower Pipe left)
Dunham Park Rd. at Kensington Rd. (Former DeKalb Public Works office, pole and blower pipe left)
Wadsworth Magnet School (Pole and Blower Pipe left)
Decatur Fire Station #1 (Was on the station's hose tower, only roof mounted one in the county to my understanding, nothing is left)
Lewis Rd. and Litton Dr. (Pole and Blower Pipe left)
Ashford Dunwoody Rd. and Johnson Ferry Rd. (Pole and Blower pipe is left)
Oak Grove Elementary School (Half of a thunderbolt is left, Guess which part...)
Market St. and Church St in downtown Clarkston (Nothing is left)
Rockbridge Rd. and Hairston Way (Pole and blower pipe is left)
Library on Chamblee Dunwoody Rd. (Was once an elementary school, Pole and blower pipe is left)
Redan Rd. and Young Rd. (Pole and blower pipe left)
Swift St. in downtown Lithonia (Pole and blower pipe left)
How I got interested in this whole thing is actually a bit of a coincidence and a funny story. I frequently visit Stone Mountain because my dad has friends that run an antique store at 2nd and Mountain sts., and one day, this old guy who I cannot remember his name off hand was talking to my mom (Who lived in DeKalb her whole life pretty much), about an "air raid horn" that was up the road from his house. I overheard the conversation, and I got into questioning him about it, and he said that the sirens were all over the place pretty much, and he told me "I figure there is a pole left of that thing" (That later turned out to be the pole at Rockbridge Rd. and Hairston way.), and after that, my dad and I were outside basically taking in the sunset of that warm early august day in 2012, and I told him that I was going to the train station because something caught my eye there (The station is about a block from the shop), and I looked at it with a suspicion that a siren was once there. I posted it to the facebook group, and someone verified that it was a siren pole, and that he said there were more around the county. Since that, it sort of escalated into this jumble...
I mentioned that there is half of a Thunderbolt left at Oak Grove Elementary. The part that remains is the head of it, The RCM and Blower are long gone. What happened to them is beyond me. if I were to take a blunt guess, I would assume they got mixed in with the parts that went to Cobb County. Here is said siren:
I also mentioned that there is a photo I found of the Atlanta FS #12 siren from 1988 (or 1987), Here is that photo, siren is on the far left:
I also have some photos of some of the old thunderbolt poles, but I don't feel I should post them here unless some rebel rouser starts up a fuss with people chanting "WE WANT THE PHOTOS! WE WANT THE PHOTOS!", which is pretty much a slim to none chance of that happening. In the end, this is what I was able to slap together after about 2 years of researching DeKalb's siren system, and just to think, this whole thing started from me looking at one siren pole in an area I visit frequently but never noticed until the summer of 2012.
Before I begin, I must say I am mainly operating off of what I have discovered. I could be mistaken on some parts of it, so therefore I do not proclaim this to be 100% accurate.
The county allegedly had 28 Thunderbolts (They were sold to Cobb in 1989, which had 2 thunderbolts to begin with. In 1991, they had 30, so in between '89 and '91, they installed the 28 (or 27.5) from DeKalb, making 30). I believe they were installed mainly in the early 1960s, judging by the manufacture dates on the base of the poles (I found a date of 1963 on the pole at Oak Grove Elementary in Decatur (Which is the .5 of a thunderbolt left)). I have a theory that the sirens were more concentrated in the northern part of the county (AKA everything above I-20) due to the fact that I have only discovered two siren locations in the boonies south of I-20. It is to my understanding (from an old ARS post), that there was a misfire of the system in 1980, causing the sirens to run nonstop for about 5 or 10 minutes before the county figured out the problem and corrected it. Now, this is unrelated to the siren misfire, but something makes me think that after the 1980 misfire, some sirens were re-installed. An example of this is the fact that the old siren pole at Stone Mountain's old train station was made in 1981, and the blower pipe is mounted differently than the rest. What the motive for doing this is still a mystery to me, but my guess would be to expand coverage, since aside from that, the closest siren was about 2 miles to the S/SW. Now, after that, about 7 or 8 years later, the siren system, along with the county Civil Defense branch was disbanded because let's face it, in 1989, the Soviets weren't much of a threat, and Communism in europe was getting buried in a lead coffin basically, and they got sent to Cobb County to expand upon their siren system, and I think certain people all know what happened afterwards (coughIancough). During the removal, it seems they only cared for the siren bits, so as a result, Ridiculously tall poles with yellow pipes were left. I have been able to find most of them, but some seem to be a bit of a challenge to find.
With that last sentence, here are all of the Locations I have found, and in parenthesis, if anything is left:
I-85 and Chamblee Tucker Rd. (Nothing left)
Downtown Stone Mountain train station (Pole and blower pipe left)
Exchange Ave. and Ponce De Leon Ave. (Pole left)
US-29 at Harcourt Dr. (Pole and blower pipe left)
Medlock Rd. next to the (now gone) Suburban Plaza shopping center (Pole and pipe left)
Lavista Rd. and Briarcliff Rd. (Nothing left)
Fishburne Hall (Emory university, nothing left)
Atlanta Fire Station 12 (Station is in DeKalb, and the siren was in turn also owned by DeKalb, the pole is left. I have found a 1988 photo that shows the siren, It will be posted below)
Gresham Park Elementary School (Pole Left)
Snapfinger Rd. near GA-155 (Nothing left)
US-278 at Glenwood Rd. (Nothing left)
(Now closed) Avondale Estates High School (Pole and Blower Pipe left)
Dunham Park Rd. at Kensington Rd. (Former DeKalb Public Works office, pole and blower pipe left)
Wadsworth Magnet School (Pole and Blower Pipe left)
Decatur Fire Station #1 (Was on the station's hose tower, only roof mounted one in the county to my understanding, nothing is left)
Lewis Rd. and Litton Dr. (Pole and Blower Pipe left)
Ashford Dunwoody Rd. and Johnson Ferry Rd. (Pole and Blower pipe is left)
Oak Grove Elementary School (Half of a thunderbolt is left, Guess which part...)
Market St. and Church St in downtown Clarkston (Nothing is left)
Rockbridge Rd. and Hairston Way (Pole and blower pipe is left)
Library on Chamblee Dunwoody Rd. (Was once an elementary school, Pole and blower pipe is left)
Redan Rd. and Young Rd. (Pole and blower pipe left)
Swift St. in downtown Lithonia (Pole and blower pipe left)
How I got interested in this whole thing is actually a bit of a coincidence and a funny story. I frequently visit Stone Mountain because my dad has friends that run an antique store at 2nd and Mountain sts., and one day, this old guy who I cannot remember his name off hand was talking to my mom (Who lived in DeKalb her whole life pretty much), about an "air raid horn" that was up the road from his house. I overheard the conversation, and I got into questioning him about it, and he said that the sirens were all over the place pretty much, and he told me "I figure there is a pole left of that thing" (That later turned out to be the pole at Rockbridge Rd. and Hairston way.), and after that, my dad and I were outside basically taking in the sunset of that warm early august day in 2012, and I told him that I was going to the train station because something caught my eye there (The station is about a block from the shop), and I looked at it with a suspicion that a siren was once there. I posted it to the facebook group, and someone verified that it was a siren pole, and that he said there were more around the county. Since that, it sort of escalated into this jumble...
I mentioned that there is half of a Thunderbolt left at Oak Grove Elementary. The part that remains is the head of it, The RCM and Blower are long gone. What happened to them is beyond me. if I were to take a blunt guess, I would assume they got mixed in with the parts that went to Cobb County. Here is said siren:
I also mentioned that there is a photo I found of the Atlanta FS #12 siren from 1988 (or 1987), Here is that photo, siren is on the far left:
I also have some photos of some of the old thunderbolt poles, but I don't feel I should post them here unless some rebel rouser starts up a fuss with people chanting "WE WANT THE PHOTOS! WE WANT THE PHOTOS!", which is pretty much a slim to none chance of that happening. In the end, this is what I was able to slap together after about 2 years of researching DeKalb's siren system, and just to think, this whole thing started from me looking at one siren pole in an area I visit frequently but never noticed until the summer of 2012.
