Population grew rapidly during the 1920s along the Peachtree Road corridor, which was considered the north of the city at that time, and the census tract of Buckhead increased from 2,603 in 1920 to 10,356 in 1930.
North Fulton was the first and for a number of years the only high school serving the urban and predominantly affluent Peachtree Road corridor.
Jim Alexander, the president of the Parent Teacher Student Association of the school and a parent of a pupil, felt inspired by Atlanta winning the bid to host the 1996 Summer Olympics to start a campaign to save the school by asking Georgia officials to make North Fulton High exempt from the QBE requirement.
[6] Nehl Horton of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution wrote that North Fulton High "draws heavily from" the 287-unit Piedmont Court and East Wesley Apartments, known for hosting various waves of refugees, including from the Cuban Revolution, the Vietnam War, and the Soviet–Afghan War; accordingly it at the time had "a well-developed and successful program for international students.
[7] The Eating Club, also nicknamed "The Golden Girls of North Fulton", were a group of alumnae who regularly met at restaurants.