Heritage

Heritage of Sundial Plumbing

The spirit and direction of Sundial is founded upon and reflected in our heritage. Historical and cultural foundations should be preserved and shared as a part of our life today. It is important to know what happened in the past to create a successful future.

Our Story

The Dan and Mattie Smith Family consisted of 8 children ranging from 16 to 32 years of age in the spring of 1922. The family inherited land that Dan’s Great Grandfather had settled and succeeding generations had transformed into a working farm in 1825 in Haralson County, Georgia. Times had been difficult, crops had failed and Dan had been forced to obtain a mortgage on the farm. In 1923, Dan suddenly passed away, leaving Mattie with a mortgaged farm and 8 children.

Within 2 years the 3 oldest children left the farm to establish lives in the city of Atlanta. The oldest son, Hoke, was apprenticed to the plumbing trade and by 1926 was a Master Plumber.

The remaining children worked diligently and by 1926, they had paid the mortgage on Mattie’s Farm. The next 2 oldest children, Roy and George then moved to Atlanta, lived with Hoke and apprenticed to the plumbing trade. By 1940, both Roy and George were Master Plumbers, but soon again, major changes were coming.

World War II imposed changes on almost every person in the United States. People were relocating to fill the jobs of the mighty industrial complex being created. Roy and George found themselves in Charleston, SC installing plumbing into the massive war ships being constructed at the Charleston Naval Yard.

Roy and George returned to Haralson County at the wars end. It is hard to comprehend the magnitude of changes the war had spawned. Rural Haralson County and the entire south had been or were being electrified by the rural electric co-ops. Most southerners, for the first time, had cash money. This meant that many of the drudgeries of life were now being made easier by pumps for wells, electric lighting, oil and gas heating systems, indoor bathrooms, kitchen appliances such as refrigeration, electric/gas stoves/ovens, etc.

Roy and George decided to become part of this and in 1945 opened “Smith Brothers Plumbing Company” in Bremen, GA. It is interesting to note that even though Bremen was a bustling small town of approximately 5,000 inhabitants; their new phone number of 15 meant there could only be 100 phones in the entire town.

George’s son, Jack, recalls as a small child the joy those old farmers felt having water magically pumped into their kitchens and bathrooms. Soon, everyone wanted the magic of indoor plumbing that the “Smith Brothers” provided.

By 1950 the Smith brothers had succeeded in providing indoor plumbing to the majority of the farms around Bremen/Buchanan, Georgia. The economy was thriving in Atlanta and Plumbers were highly sought. Both Roy and George were offered the unheard of salaries of $100.00 each per week. (The average weekly salary at that time would have been around $30 per week).

George spent the next 22 years working as a Master Plumber until his death in 1972. Roy became DeKalb counties’ Plumbing inspector until his retirement in 1980. Roy’s son, Max Smith, became a Master Plumber and started a plumbing company in 1968, which he operates today.

George’s son, Jack Smith, became and aircraft engineer at Lockheed and switched to a plumbing career in 1973. Jack founded and ran a fairly large and successful plumbing company until 1997.

In 1999, Jack with his daughter, Mitzi Moore, founded Sundial Plumbing Services. Today, Mitzi Moore is the President and Owner of Sundial Plumbing Services.

To date, the passion for plumbing has been an influence on the Smith Family for 3 generations encompassing almost 90 years. Through the generations the family has been devoted to providing maintenance of health through safe and comfortable plumbing systems.

Call 770-427-1998 to see for yourself – we’re a different kind of plumbing company!