A Railroad Town Unincorporated

Mentioning the Main Street of any town is like discussing the diamond in the center of a vastly gilded ring: it simply cannot be avoided. Even major theme parks from Orlando, Florida to Anaheim, California have declared the very center of business under this common title. It is amongst the ranks of Martin Luther King Boulevards and Peachtree Streets in commonality.

Traveling through any major city would prove that Main Street is simply another term that defines the center of a vastly burgeoning industry called economic growth; finding it on a map would help identify just where that township had laid its foundation.

But in Tucker, Main Street means much more. It is correct that Main Street is the center of Tucker. While some may argue that the Browning Courthouse on LaVista defines the true center, it is Main Street that traces a line through history. Or rather, it is what traces a line through Main Street that defines its role as a center for Tucker history.

As the tracks splitting Main Street Tucker in two indicate, the town began as a one of many designations along the Seaboard Air Line Railroad, which in 1967 changed its name to the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad, whose purpose was hauling freight along the South.

This name may not be familiar to those unaware of railroad history; however, there is a name that is attached to this rail that any Tucker resident will be familiar with, whether consciously or not. This is the name of the Cofer Brothers. The line brought in freight to the Cofer Brothers, who, in turn, used these goods to build Tucker into a town that would grow and eventually become the place many residents call home. These two brothers, Kelley and Reid, began with the essential business of supply and demand with crafting a General Store. From there it boomed from a typical, generic place to buy amenities and household items to a store that could rival Ace Hardware or the former Handy Hardware in the shopping center named after the brothers.

Even today the effects of the rail line speak volumes about its history. Upon being questioned about whether the town seems like a railroad town, Kari Masters, resident of Dunwoody, says that "[I] can believe it. A lot of the stuff along main street has that railroad feel." She refers to the design and décor of the location, and how easy it is to get lost amongst the architecture that reminds her of the days when railroads were more common than automobiles. 

"Especially the area around Tucker High School," she continues, "the buildings are kind of positioned for that. I mean, look at the way the buildings stand. It's as if buildings are …built to take in deliveries from the [railroad] tracks."

But as recently as 1997, that idea could have changed. Tucker stood poised on the idea of becoming incorporated into DeKalb County. If that had happened, Tucker would have grown to be at least as large as Dunwoody, in size if not population. Incorporated Tucker would only have the Tucker Day Parade to celebrate the years when it wasn't part of a larger identity.

As Masters claims, "I think [the railroad tracks running through town] provides a kind of nice little place. It's far enough away to seem like a railroad town… not rustic, but traditional. Most of the stuff in the town, the older [buildings] I mean, seems centered around the railroad tracks, all the modern sprawl even seems to reflect that. If it was part of some larger community like DeKalb, half the identity of the railroad town wouldn't be there anymore."

Tucker has always had a personality, with such locations as the Browning Courthouse which is as old as the town, and sprawling monuments to education such as Tucker High School. The attribution is that Tucker is distinct. While a place like Main Street only serves to remind the township where it came from, the railroad tracks supply history and an eminence all its own.