The History of Pinckneyville, Peachtree Corners

Where did they get the name "Pinckneyville"? 

Pinckneyville Middle School was named for a rural farming community that was founded in the early 1800's. It developed along old Peachtree Road next to an ancient Indian trail. Reportedly, the area was first known as Turkey Gizzard, then Buzzard's Roost. The name was later changed to honor a visiting dignitary, Charles Pinckney, an early statesman from South Carolina. 

The community of Pinckneyville was on the stagecoach line between Augusta and Alabama. Two of the oldest known buildings were a post office and an inn which served as a rest stop for travelers. Mt. Carmel United Methodist Church, which still stands on Spalding Drive, was the first established church in the community built in about 1826. Washington Academy, at the present-day site of Shiloh Baptist Church on Spalding Drive, was the first school in the area. A second school, Crabapple Academy, was built near the present site of Pinckneyville Middle School. The land that Pinckneyville sits on was an apple orchard owned by a prominent family in the community, the Westbrooks. 

Pinckneyville is located near Technology Park in Norcross, Georgia at 5440 West Jones Bridge Road. Construction on Pinckneyville Middle began in May 1984 and was completed in the fall of 1985. It opened with 40 classrooms and an enrollment of 828 students. Since its opening in 1985, Pinckneyville has experienced steady growth in enrollment. In 1987, six new classrooms were added with another six completed in the fall of 1989. In 1996, a two-story addition of 17 new classrooms and a second gym were added to the facility and the latest addition of eight new classrooms was completed in the fall of 2000. Pinckneyville is part of the Norcross High School cluster. Peachtree, Simpson, and Stripling are the elementary feeder schools for Pinckneyville. 

Pinckneyville has received many awards and recognition. In 1992, Pinckneyville was named a Georgia School of Excellence and a National Blue Ribbon School, and for six years Pinckneyville earned the State Department of Education Pay for Performance Grant. Pinckneyville students continually earn top honors in academic and fine arts competitions. 

Pinckneyville Middle School is a microcosm of the increasingly diverse student population evident throughout the state of Georgia. Pinckneyville also boasts one of the highest gifted student populations in Gwinnett County. In order to provide a rigorous academic curriculum and to take advantage of the rich mixture of cultures, Pinckneyville began implementing the International Baccalaureate Program in 2004 and was awarded full program participation status in 2008. Pinckneyville students have the unique opportunity to take three years of a foreign language in middle school while developing skills to prepare them to be citizens in a global society.