Kennesaw 1985, Before Town Center

[@echelon_]

Wow, this is amazing to see! I've seen so much change to Kennesaw and Acworth since the early 90's, but it pales in comparison to this. It's almost surreal to see so many trees along Cobb Parkway and houses in place of the Olive Garden and shopping center directly across from the mall. Thanks so much for sharing this!

[@ArtHoward]

Brandon Thomas Yeah, I'm really glad Dad had the foresight to tape all of that! I wish we'd taped even more of old Kennesaw, but we didn't think of it as anything exceptional back then, it was just home.

[@Lynnea_Metabasis]

I grew up here, I really enjoyed seeing this. I don't know why he taped it, but I'm grateful.

[@specialoperator8902]

Was a freshman at Etowah the year TC opened. Skipped that day and went to the mall, like every other teenager around. Lol. Still love you Pam.

[@DavidJones-ib3zy]

Yea Man I moved up from NW Atlanta when I was 13 ( Summer of 1984 ) & still live on BellsFerry at the Cobb Cherokee Line , In 85 I was a freshman at Sprayberry but had a-lot of Friends that went to Etowah. Recall "1'000 Acres " budbogg pit's behind yr old school ? Now Towne Lake ? WOW!

[@chaelodoul9401]

@SpecialOperator Holy Shit!!!! Dawson, is that you???????? Bro, it’s Tyler from Etowah! Damn man, do you know how long I’ve been looking for you!!! No one knew what happened to you after HS. Well I knew you joined the Marines, but I never heard if you were KIA somewhere or what. Where did you disappear to? Do you have any social media? If you see this, please leave a email or something so I can reach out, man I’d love to catch up. Also, they are finally planning a class reunion for us this year. 33 years later. Damn it man, it’s good to finally find you. Please reach back asap brother. We can share some beers and war stories. I heard you were injured in Somalia, hope you’re doing ok. SemperFi brother. ✌🏼

[@rikumaru2]

Dawson, don't leave the man hanging

[@malbowz1257]

Wow! To see Barrett Pkwy before all of the development is crazy. A developer's gold mine!

[@DavidJones-ib3zy]

Million & Millions were made .

[@saullocke6341]

Imwished it still looked like that

[@faithparrigin2743]

I remeber this and when first opened

[@lifeofspite]

Whoa, a car driving more than 10 mph on Barrett Parkway.

[@cjbona1]

fragments of unicorns ha true

[@gilgameshofsumer7375]

if you stay out there for a few days you may find one doing 11 mph

[@helloiamunderthewater890]

Ha funny these days there’s so much traffic

[@IrishPotato86]

Hahahahaha!!!!!

[@shanebly4295]

So true nowadays

[@Bendito2006]

My family moved to Kennesaw around this time and I was just a tyke... it is wonderful to see the beauty before it became built up and the change that brought me many happy memories. Thank you for sharing!

[@laylalair7115]

I went to the Mall there when it opened. It was literally out in the middle of what felt like no where. I was amazed and couldn't believe how fast that area built up.

[@christfollower7315]

You have to go onto the other side of Lake Allatoona, about fifteen miles up the road to around Emerson to get the same feeling of Kennesaw of the mid 80s.

[@mrmallwalker]

Incredible video. A real documentarian at work in the mid 80s. Nice work.

[@sandigoodell5354]

Wanna know how old I am ? The road at the time had just been re-named Barrett Pky...but before that, it was Roberts Rd. ...and even before that, East Piedmont. (circa 1970)

[@ArtHoward]

+Sandi Goodell We always called it Roberts Road, too. It was the road over to my cousins' who lived in the Sprayberry area - and his name was Robert. Only when the mall came in did I hear of Barrett. I guess this is like the Sears Tower turning into the Willis Tower.

[@zachadams8768]

I remember going to Town Center Mall when it opened. I also remember the area east of 75 being totally rural, before the Uptons complex. What a walk back in time! A lot of my teenage years in that area. Love that southern accent...

[@ArtHoward]

Zach Adams Yep, I remember that Friday night every kid from North Cobb/McEachern/Sprayberry was crammed in there! My parents grew up on the north side of Chattanooga, thus their accents! You never hear that particular kind of sound anymore. A shame.

[@christfollower7315]

You still hear southern accents, but they're less pronounced and there's fewer of them.

[@bairdfamily5]

I bet I totally saw you. I hung out there all the time 😂. In my Laura Ashley and my Madonna-like outfits.

[@skylerb.1796]

This is forbidden knowledge and amazing to see, thanks for sharing!!!

[@kevron007]

I absolutely love this video! It's surreal to look back in time

[@AdvertentLurker]

Notice at around the 3:53 minute mark, there is no southbound access onto I-575. If you wanted to go south, you had to go north on I-575 get off at Chastain turn around and go back south; either that or you had to turn around on Barrett and go back to to I-75. Even more, the exit ramp to get off I-575 at Barrett parkway coming north wasn't built until a few years after the southbound side ramp was made. If you were headed north on I-75 and you wanted to go to Barrett Parkway you had to stay on I-75 or turn around on Chastain I-575.

[@davidweaver279]

I live down here in Beaufort S.C. now this is my home town but Kennesaw is where I was raised and will always be part of my life all of the good times ant not so good times that are woven into the fabric of our lives.

[@SpiritualRoyality]

I was 5 y/o when I moved to Kennesaw in 1992...and I seen kennesaw blow up construction all these years 2020...I remember KSU was Kennesaw College and had one building.

[@DavidJones-ib3zy]

Yep with that big field right off Fry where we played football & I met one of my best friends . Also there was only 1 Apt complex that ran right up beside the college ( Not Green house patio ) but that was there by 1990 ill guess .

[@SpiritualRoyality]

@@DavidJones-ib3zy yes sir you were there..man i some what miss those times

[@Astrovite]

The only feeling I ever got close to this was watching Swift Cantrell being built. As a kid we'd pass by and my grandparents would tell me scary stories about a guy that lived in the woods that became Swift. Something about how he collected the shoes of people who wandered into his woods. And then they tore all the woods down and put a park there. They had a wooden skate ramp there that was my first ever experience with skating on anything other than the ground. And then even later they tore that down and started construction on the concrete park. I remember my eyes would be glued to that construction site every time we passed by it. Eventually it was finished and opening day was wild. There were so many people packed into that park that day. I'd argue it's one of the best skate parks in the state. Also the Target on 41 that used to be home to the flea market. I remember always looking for the radio tower to know when we were there.

[@itchitrigger1]

My old high school stomping grounds. Thanks for sharing dude..

[@glitzby]

wow what high school did u go to?

[@itchitrigger1]

@@glitzby Sprayberry

[@SpiritualRoyality]

North Cobb in the house!

[@TheTechOwl]

Rest in peace Town Center Mall. Thanks for serving Kennesaw throughout the 35 years!

[@levithecat748]

It’s still there

[@notfamousprepper7369]

It was a good mall. It served its purpose well. It changed the course of Northwest Cobb forever.

[@randyposs6281]

@@levithecat748 yesterday in 2023 it was sold and new owner probably tear it down and put apartments or condos

[@synocope]

This is AMAZING! Thank you so much for uploading this.

[@ArtHoward]

My pleasure!

[@Brian.Gardner]

Wow, reminds me of my childhood. Thanks for sharing!

[@BermudaBrian]

Great video. You had the foresight to know the area would blow up w construction one day. I miss the undeveloped look ....

[@cyndydickersoncourtdepayen8241]

Let's really date ourselves, I remember when 75 ended at the north loop and you went up 41 thru Kennesaw to Cartersville to get back on 75. Back then few people knew where Kennesaw was

[@cyndydickersoncourtdepayen8241]

YEAH AND IT STARTED BACK UP IN CARTERSVILLE MAIN STREET. DO YOU REMEMBER WHEN THE OLANE LANDED ON THE NORTH LOOP RAMP BEFORE IT WAS OPEN.

[@DavidJones-ib3zy]

Before my time but I have old maps that show the detour you speak of .

[@espiritualidadc7365]

10 months later, I was walking around in that mall. Memories…….

[@Spooky851]

There wasn't anything to Kennesaw back in 1985, either Commercially or Residentially, but here in 2018, it has sprouted like a weed.

[@notfamousprepper7369]

Thank you for this! What a treasure.

[@Mechadenzilla]

Great video. I remember when it was like this. I had just started my senior year at Campbell high school in Smyrna. I own a business in the area now.

[@doublezero2001]

I love this. It’s like looking back in time

[@michaelcollins6387]

Very cool! Thanks for sharing!

[@KennethBrownga]

Thanks for sharing this!

[@bairdfamily5]

All the years of hanging out. Eating at Ruby Tuesday’s and feeling fancy. Lol. Buying my Bongo jeans, crazy belts and fluorescent shirts. With my mile high bangs 😂😂😂😭

[@DavidJones-ib3zy]

Was Ruby Tuesdays right at the bottom of the food court across from that other nicer restaurant ? Where most teens took their dates during prom or other special occasions? Or where i'd wait for my Mom or somebody else's parents to pick us up after a mall hangout .?

[@notfamousprepper7369]

Yes it was. You are correct.

[@neomerge]

This is crazy. I moved here late 93 and a lot has changed sense then but everything is so gradual that its kinda hard to remember how things looked.

[@Brian.Gardner]

Late 93, you missed a hell of a snow storm that year.

[@BobBridgesbob]

Very interesting! Now Town Center is probably going to close.

[@b_Wtv14]

Weird to see what the area looked like when I was dead

[@autocosm]

Even 30 years ago, Cobbers were terrified and confused by the right lane.

[@jwgreek8606]

Reminds me of the mall on Back to the Future. It was also farmland toom

[@UnbiasedSaiyan]

Everything about this reminds me of Back to the Future - plus it’s filmed in August 1985.

[@jwgreek8606]

@@UnbiasedSaiyan same ghwew

[@jriley1992]

How much has changed from 1985 to 2017.

[@tigerlilly573]

jriley1992 Really??? If You cant see it you must be blind,lol

[@Maine307]

N Cobb class of 93! my old home - Wade Green road- Waffle House and Wal Mart and a Win Dixie- i miss my high school days! i worked at Del Taco in that mall, my 10th grade year! used to hang out at the mall Friday and sat nights! lmao early 90s.

[@DillyDogSays]

I remember going to the mall on opening day...1986

[@DavidJones-ib3zy]

I recall going to Gwinnett Place, opining day in 83 or 84 , & have not been there since lol BTW I lived in NW Atl then & moved up here in Summer 1984 , but missed TC opining day ??? I must have been Skate Boarding or Burning one insterd .LOL

[@levithecat748]

Scritti Politti - Perfect Way was released only one day before this was recorded

[@mistermoonJB]

Long before they even started the mall, we used to go underage drinking on some roads on the current mall site that were cut for a subdivision that never got built. There also used to be a lake near the Home Depot we sneak in and fish without permission. My miss-spent and mildly delinquent youth....

[@christfollower7315]

I remember that even in the early 90s (90-93) teens used to drag race on Barrett Parkway between I-75 and Cobb Parkway. Development pretty much ended once you got past the Cobb Marketfair (Uptons) shopping center until you got to the Burger King, K-Mart area by Cobb Parkway.. They didn't extend Barrett Parkway to connect with the East West Connector until the late 90s, I think.

[@notfamousprepper7369]

Yes in the 90’s street racing was big deal Fri / Sat night on Barrett. Everyone park in the Baskin Robbins parking lot (where David’s Bridal is now). Epic memories!

[@crb4059]

you should a split screen 1985 and 2017

[@jwgreek8606]

Yea so I can get a general idea of where I am. I barely recognize the area!

[@stuartfarndon5269]

Things actually looked far cooler back then.

[@itchitrigger1]

Damn, I was still working at Locheed. lol

[@techguyMD]

I believe I was working at Generals Chicken across 41 by McD's at that time. =)

[@techguyMD]

No wait.. I already quit and was working for Allied Electric in Marietta...

[@RonKris]

Yeah, Ernest Barrett Pkwy was known as Roberts road before Barrett, a Cobb county com. bought a bunch of the property where the mall was to be built. Later the new com. named the road after him. The Roberts family was not happy.

[@jwgreek8606]

I don't blame them!

[@DavidJones-ib3zy]

Yea Roberts still has the smaller area where the office parks are .

[@phoenixmistertwo8815]

wow...that's barrette pkw...so much change..

[@gitrdonegit]

Amazing!

[@Mechadenzilla]

The part that really got me was when he pointed the camera towards I -575 and said no buildings yet. That's definitely not true anymore. I just wish he would have rode up to the service station and shopping center that's still at the corner of Bells Ferry and Barrett. That's where my business is and it would have been neat to see how it looked then.

[@Mechadenzilla]

As a matter of fact a customer told me about this video.

[@Authenticinteractions]

That McDonald's is still there

[@amunago080]

makes me think of Cobb center mall, grow up in that place. if anyone has video of the inside please show me

[@nicole67price]

So cool!

[@KBradAdams]

You have any old KSU videos?

[@jwgreek8606]

Wow! I barely recognize the area! This is James Greek from Cobb County Grown. I found the video in the group and tried tagging you but it looks like you left the troup.

[@ArtHoward]

No, I'm definitely still in the group.

[@jwgreek8606]

I got put out of there Sunday for saying fuck the police and especially Cobb County's.

[@jwgreek8606]

@@ArtHoward well Icould not tag you. I got tossed out of there for saying the F word. Harsh! I got hacked and created another page. and rejoined.

[@bryanlee9960]

Crazy!!!

[@jeffdom123]

would you rather live in 2019 Kennenesaw or 1985?

[@jwgreek8606]

1985

[@DavidJones-ib3zy]

1985 , I am a Civil War Relic hunter & cry at all the relic I missed & that were covered by development over the years , I've dug lot's of stuff from between sites around the Mall Old 41 -to Barrett up to the Airport ,along Bellsferry , & other places shown in the video . I moved up in Summer 1984 to BellsFerry at the Cobb Cherokee Co line ( Thornwood Sub )but I was 13 . Good & Bad times but hey I'm still kickin.

[@bairdfamily5]

I remember.

[@iSpyCars]

Wowww

[@pashedmotatos]

Simpler days

[@IrishPotato86]

Omg!!! It looks nothing like that now!!!!

[@denaysantiago1136]

Crazy

[@beastmode3870]

now it’s a Democratic area

[@microbios8586]

It was ugly then and is ugly now. Kennesaw is suburban sprawl at its worst.