Cox Corporate Headquarters Strand of Forest and Walking Trails
High Street Atlanta is located a quarter of a mile from traffic-choked I-285, ever-busy Ashford-Dunwoody Road, and borders Hammond Drive and Perimeter Center Parkway West, two four-lane thoroughfares that see a steady stream of cars all day long.
Furthermore, one might view the Perimeter Area as a cement city, a sea of car-filled mall and shopping center parking lots cut off from nature. You would be wrong though because far-sighted developers dotted their new commercial properties with lots of trees and bushes.
A half-century later, a canopy has formed. The early plantings have matured into clusters of large, handsome trees that spread branches and leaves everywhere.
High Street Atlanta has lined its streets with trees and plants too. If one dies, it is quickly replaced. The other linked retail and residential islands forming the Perimeter district benefitted from smart planting too.
But it’s the Cox Corporate Headquarters strand of forest with walking trails just over the boundary line in Sandy Springs parallel to High Street Atlanta that makes the Perimeter Area much greener.
Aerial view of surprising Perimeter Center canopy.
I live at the end of Middle Street in the sixth-floor apartment with the blue umbrella. My terrace overlooks the long lush strand that lends a delicious connection to nature daily.
I discovered the Cox property and its walking trails after I moved in mid-March 2024. I considered the strand a big bonus for an already good residential choice.
A ridge and a stream run through the strand creating a green oasis in the middle of the biggest commercial real estate market in the Southeastern US, larger than downtown Atlanta and Buckhead combined.
Cox’s warning about wildlife and snakes should be heeded. My son Sasha and I daily observe a pack of deer leaving the strand and entering a meadow to chew on grasses. We estimate that perhaps seven deer are living in the strand along with a dozen species of birds that have been identified.
The strand of trees stretches from Hammond Drive on High Streets’ south side and Central Park Drive on its north side. The following shows the stretch from Hammond to Middle Street.
Photo of strand stretching northward to Central Park Drive.
The entrance to the Cox corporate property is at the end of Middle Street. Access is currently very difficult for High Street residents must either exit the basement garage at the end of the dog park and must walk back carefully for a hundred yards. Others access from the Phase 2 back meadow which is easier but not kosher and some just hop the fence which is prohibited.
The other side of the strand is accessed via Central Park Drive, a bypass between Peachtree-Dunwoody and Crestline Road.
The source of the stream crossing the strand and running along the back of the High Street boundary starts at the Cox pond, crosses the campus, and creeps under Central Park Drive to cross the strand.
The trail on the Central Park Drive side is a wide, crushed-stone walkway that is easily traversed. The trail takes a visitor to the central ridge and then down the other side to Middle Street.
Cox and three other corporations sponsor bee colonies to increase the domestic bee population. A well-marked trail to the bee colonies facilities is to the left.
The Stephen Martin & Spruill and Moore Families Plots
I am a cyclist and like to ride my e-bike all over the Perimeter area. While exploring the space between the huge State Farm complex and the new Campus 244 development, I stumbled upon a tiny family cemetery nestled behind the Best Buy shopping cemetery and the two complexes.
I am a retired social studies teacher, taught history, and deeply appreciated discovering this treasure trove of local history.
A young man received Eagle Scout status for restoring the cemetery and constructing the information box. I am grateful for his efforts.
The gravestone marked “Homer” below belongs to Dunwoody’s famous Spruill family who once owned much of the current city’s land.
T. F. Spruill’s grave is the one with the small American flag. When he was buried, only a few of Atlanta families could afford to escape Atlanta’s hot summers for Dunwoody then known for being flush with trees, streams, and a few lakes.
The Edward Moore Family group of gravestones follows.
A third possible local treasure is in the development stage. A segment of the multi-use trail running from Brook Run Park through Pernoshal, Georgetown, and Two Bridges Parks and up to Perimeter Mall and across Hammond is under construction. Eventually, cyclists will be able to bike from Brook Run to Sandy Springs and beyond on a twelve- foot-wide trail.
