By the 1920s, the old school was in dire shape, and black community leaders petitioned the Henry County School Board for a new building. In 1931, both the black and white communities raised money, which, combined with public funding from the Georgia Equalization Fund and a cash donation from the Julius Rosenwald Fund, enabled the construction of the Unity Grove Rosenwald School. Like all other Rosenwald schools, the community had to dig a well for water and build two sanitary privies for the students, in addition to the two-classroom schoolhouse. The first day of classes was November 2, 1931. Originally constructed on two acres, the community came together in 1932 to purchase an additional acre of land at a cost of $12.50, to provide a playground.

The school operated through the spring semester of 1954. After that, students were bused to another black elementary school in Locust Grove, and the school board sold the building to a private individual in 1955. Henry County would eventually desegregate its schools in 1968.

The school remained in private hands for nearly 90 years. It was occasionally used for storage, but was mostly neglected and was not maintained. Theft of original classroom furnishings and materials occurred over time. Renewed interest in the school began in 2010, by (now former) Henry County Commissioner Warren Holder, who inspired others to join together to try and save the school–the sole remaining Rosenwald school in the county. Commissioner Johnny Wilson and former Commissioner June Wood, with a diverse array of business leaders, elected officials, the NAACP, administrators and educators from the Henry County Schools, formed the Henry County Arts and Culture Alliance. The goals of this non-profit 501(c)(3) corporation are to preserve and promote diverse arts and culture in the community.

On April 1, 2023, Henry County Commissioner Johnny Wilson and June Wood, Chair of the Henry County Arts & Culture Alliance, completed the final purchase of the Unity Grove Rosenwald School from its owners. The school building now is the property of the Henry County Arts & Culture Alliance. The building has been secured, and it remains in its original location until sufficient funds can be raised to move it. Laura Drummond has documented the Unity Grove’s history, its building materials and construction methodologies, and has written a Preservation Plan for the school.

The plan required Level 1 and 2 surveys of historic buildings, a campus history, a summary of the historic context in which the campus developed, and evaluations of the University’s historic buildings.  Laura took all the photographs and surveyed the campus.  She wrote the historic context and campus history sections* of the plan, and produced more than ten maps of the campus, its historic buildings, structures, exterior artwork, and landscapes, and the national and locally designated historic buildings and districts in the area.  She created a master database of all the historic structures and produced GIS files for the University. [*Note: Stantec in conjunction with GSU’s Facilities Management Department published the document (without notifying Laura) before the history sections were completed. As published, both are woefully incomplete and an embarrassment to the author, who had entire sections on Civil Rights, the Vietnam War, etc., which do not appear in the published report. When she unexpectedly received via email a copy of the “final” report, no recourse was available to insert the omitted sections.]

The survey team was led by Laura Drummond of APPS, and included Morrison Design, Karen Huebner, and Jean Spencer.  The team conducted preliminary research into the area to identify historic contexts, patterns of development, and significant historic properties.  A parcel-by-parcel investigation of the area was conducted, and each qualifying property was photographed, documented, and entered into GNAHRGIS, the online database of the Georgia SHPO.  Also included in the survey were public art, public parks, signage, and parking structures.  Laura Drummond created the survey spreadsheet, from which she produced a database for input into ArcGIS.  All survey properties were documented in APPS-produced tables and maps according to a variety of criteria, including age, current building use, building type, architectural style, and local and federal historic building and district designations.

In July 2012, the Chickamauga City Council and Historic Preservation Commission contracted with APPS to conduct a Phase 1 survey of the historic resources in the City.  The purpose of the survey was for city planning purposes, to assist preservation activities, and to augment the Georgia Historic Resources Survey.  The survey area comprised 439 properties, of which 356 resources met the survey criterion of being constructed prior to 1972.  Each of these was digitally photographed, documented, and entered into GNAHRGIS, the online database of the Georgia Historic Preservation Division.  The final report included maps, tables, a developmental history of the area, architectural analysis, potential National Register eligibility assessments, and recommendations for preservation.

Bill Drummond directed development of the greenspace plan, in coordination with the other two plans and the citizen’s advisory group.  The greenspace plan focused on creation of new parks, greenways, and conservation areas.  Part one of the plan was a community assessment that discovered that the City had less than three acres of parkland per 1,000 population, less than half of the adopted minimum standard.

Part two was a community agenda shaped by the advisory committee, public meetings, and Internet input.  The central goal of the community agenda was a doubling of public parkland.

Part three, final recommendations, included GIS analysis of park accessibility and recommended creation of two new community parks in the central portion of the city, three small riverfront parks, and the expansion of two existing parks.  The plan also recommended construction of a greenway network to take advantage of the city’s natural amenities.

The City of Winder commissioned a Historic Resource Survey for its locally-designated historic district from Keystone Preservation Associates in 2009.  At that time Laura Drummond was a founding partner of Keystone.  The locally-designated historic district, which includes within its border three National Register districts, was surveyed, and the data entered into a spreadsheet created by Laura, which allowed data entry only in the format prescribed by the State of Georgia’s online natural, archaeological, and historic resources database.

Laura took district photographs, entered all the survey data into the database, edited the final report, and produced the project outputs, including survey inventory sheets, district spreadsheets, archival photographs, and a series of Geographic Information System (GIS) maps.  She created database files to be compatible with Barrow County’s GIS system.

In February 2009, the contract for a Historic Resources Survey of the entire city was awarded to Keystone Preservation Associates and Morrison Design.  At that time, Laura Drummond was a founding partner at Keystone.  Her knowledge of Geographic Information System (GIS) software enabled her to create a survey spreadsheet that permitted entry only of data in the formats prescribed by the State of Georgia’s online natural, archaeological and historic resources database (GNAHRGIS).

Laura took the lead in completing the photographic documentation of the city properties, as well as the entry of survey data.  She single-handedly created all the formatted outputs, including inventory sheets, spreadsheets, archival photographs, and a series of more than 30 GIS maps of the city, the historic districts, and city neighborhoods.  She produced a database of the surveyed properties compatible with city’s GIS files.

Bill Drummond directed this work and coordinated public input through ten meetings of an active citizens’ advisory committee.  Development of the plan began with demographic analysis of the current population and projections of future population.  GIS was then used to identify major destinations including schools, parks, shopping areas, population concentrations, and important cultural resource and natural amenity areas.

The destinations were then linked by a careful selection of gravel roads, sidepaths along arterials, and overland greenways.  Among the trails a crucial core network was identified, priorities among the trails were established, comprehensive funding estimates developed, and a detailed set of trail design guidelines was crafted.

Laura completed the historic resource survey, photographing properties and creating inventory sheets.  She produced the GIS maps for the proposed landmark district showing district borders and subdivisions, updated building footprints, corrected addresses and tax identification numbers, and generated the status for each parcel.  She also wrote the legal boundaries description for the district, and used the database to to generate the multiple mailings to all property owners required by the city for the creation of the new landmark district.