If you are an Atlantan, what we
have to share below may be interesting facts and figures with which you may
already be familiar. However, if you are from out-of-town considering the
purchase of my house on Whites Mill, this information will surely interest you.
If you are looking for homes in Atlanta or homes
in Decatur, we
have the perfect home for you!
It will surely interest those who
are planning to purchase property in Atlanta
that Decatur is a city in as well as the county
seat of, DeKalb County,
in Georgia.
With a population of 19,335 in the 2010 census, the city is sometimes assumed
to be larger since multiple zip codes in unincorporated DeKalb
County bear the Decatur name. It is an in-town suburb of Atlanta and part of the Atlanta Metropolitan Area, and its
public transportation is served by three MARTA rail stations which has added to
the prices of homes for sale in Decatur.
Property values typically go up if the property is located near a public
transit railway station such as MARTA.
Decatur's official motto is "A city of homes, schools and places of worship."Prior to 2000, this motto was "A city of homes, schools, and churches."
In 1822, Decatur
was founded at the intersection of two Native American trails: the Sandtown
which led east from the Chattahoochee River at Utoy Creek, and the Shallowford which
follows today's Clairmont Road
and eventually crossed near Roswell.
The town was named for naval hero Stephen Decatur, and its early roads were
named logically but soon after were renamed in a curious manner:
“ Shallowford Road, which led to the
Shallow Ford, has been renamed Clairmont
Avenue, probably because it does not go to, from
or past any place called Clairmont. Covington
Road is now Sycamore Street, probably because it
leads to Covington
and has no Sycamores on it. Nelson's Ferry
Road, named after the local family which ran the
ferry at the Chattahoochee end of the road, has been named Ponce de Leon after
a family prominent before Castro, in Havana,
Cuba.
In the 1830s, the Western and
Atlantic Railroad wanted to make Decatur
the southernmost stop on its line. The citizens of Decatur did not want the noise, pollution and
growth that would come with such a major terminal, so they rejected the
proposal. They were equally concerned about the fact that the cost of homes in Decatur would go down. In
response, the railroad founded a new city to the
west-southwest of Decatur
for the terminal. This town later became the city of Atlanta.
During the American Civil War, Decatur became a strategic site in Sherman's
campaign against Atlanta.
In July 1864, Union general James B. McPherson occupied Decatur
to cut off the Confederates' supply line from Augusta, Georgia.
During the Battle of Atlanta on July 22, Confederate cavalry under Major
General Joseph Wheeler attacked McPherson's supply wagons and the Union troops
left to defend the wagons. A marker at the Decatur courthouse marks the site of this
skirmish.
In the last half of the twentieth
century, the metropolitan area of Atlanta
expanded into unincorporated DeKalb County, eventually surrounding two sides of the
incorporated town of Decatur.
Concurrently, many well-to-do and middle class white Americans fled the area to
more distant suburbs. The 1960s and 1970s witnessed dramatic drops in property
values. However, more recently the city has regained economic vigor, partially
thanks to several long-term downtown development plans that have come to
fruition, making Decatur a trendy small
mixed-use district with easy transit to downtown Atlanta.
Over the past two decades, Decatur has gained a local and national reputation as a
progressive city with a high level of citizen involvement that retains a small
town feel despite its proximity to Atlanta.
According to the United States Census Bureau,
the city has a total area of 4.2 square miles all of it land.
As of the 2010 census, there were
19,335 people, 8,599 occupied housing units, and 4,215 families residing in the
city. The population density was 4,603.6 people per square mile. There were
9,335 housing units at an average density of 2,222.6 per square mile.
The racial makeup of the city was
73.5% White, 20.2% African American, 0.0% Native American, 2.9% Asian, 0.0%
Pacific Islander, 0.6% from other races, and 2.4% from two or more races.
Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.2% of the population.
38.8%) were a husband-wife family
living together, 984 (11.4%) of households had a female householder with no
husband present, and 4,063 (47.2) did not fit into either of the two
37.9%) of all households were
made up of individuals of those, 1,814 (21.1%) had someone living alone who was
65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.17 and the average
family size was 2.96.
The median income for a household
in Decatur, at
the time when the survey was conducted, was $73,602. Males had a median income
of $73,089 versus $58,580 for females. The per capita income for the city was
$42,926. About 12.20% of families and 14.9% of the population were below the
poverty line, including 24.2% of those under age 18 and 12.5% of those age 65
or over.
Education levels for Decatur are
above average for the Atlanta area, with 56% of residents having obtained a
bachelor's degree or higher, and 27% having obtained a graduate degree or
higher.
The Decatur City
School District, which
serves the city limits, holds grades pre-school to grade twelve, that consists
of four elementary schools, a fourth and fifth grade academy, a middle school,
and a high school.
The DeKalb
County School
District, which serves unincorporated areas in DeKalb County
around Decatur, operates the William Bradley
Bryant Center (WBBC) in an unincorporated area near Decatur.
List of Schools
- Decatur High School
- Carl G. Renfroe Middle School
- The 4/5 Academy at Fifth Avenue
- Glenwood Elementary
- Clairemont Elementary
- Oakhurst Elementary
- Winnona Park
Elementary
- The district has 224 full-time
teachers and over 2,519 students.
There are two accredited colleges
in Decatur:
- Agnes Scott
College
- Columbia Theological Seminary
Emory
University is located northwest of Decatur, in nearby unincorporated DeKalb County.
Georgia Perimeter College
is not too far away. The DeKalb County Public Library operates the Decatur
Branch of the library.
Decatur has a Commission - Manager form of
government. A five-member City Commission is elected for four-year terms on
two-year cycles. Two members are elected from the south side of the city, two
from the north side and one is elected at-large. At their organizational
meeting each January, the Commissioners elect a mayor and mayor-pro-tem from
among their own membership for a one-year term. The mayor is not a separate
elected office. The current mayor is William F. Floyd. Previous mayors have
included Leslie Jasper Steele (1915), Jack Hamilton, aWalter Drake, Mike Mears,
Ann A. Crichton, Elizabeth Wilson, and Scott Candler, Sr. (known as Mr.
DeKalb).
The Commission appoints a
professional City Manager to carry out the policies, directives and day-to-day
business of the city. There are also several citizen volunteer boards and
commissions appointed by the City Commission including the Planning Commission,
the Zoning Board of Appeals, the Historic Preservation Commission, and others.
The Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice has its headquarters in Avondale
Estates, near Decatur.
Decatur's
downtown area and residential neighborhoods are filled with historic structures
and sites of interest which is perhaps why buying a home in Decatur is a worthwhile value proposition to
pursue. This list primarily consists of structures on the National Register of
Historic Places, but many remain privately owned and may only be viewed from
the exterior.
South Candler Street--Agnes Scott
College Historic
District, 141 East College Ave.
This "district" is on the National Register of Historic Places. It
includes both the college campus and surrounding historic homes, and is
"book-ended" by the Winnona Park Historic District to the east and
the MAK Historic District to the west.
Clairemont Historic District,
north of Decatur Square.
Columbia Theological Seminary, 701 Columbia Dr.
This tree-lined, brick and limestone campus lies within Decatur's
Winnona Park neighborhood.
Cora Beck Hampton Schoolhouse and House, 213 Hillyer
Pl. These structures are on the National Register of Historic Places.
Decatur Cemetery,
229 Bell St.
Historic cemetery founded in the early 19th Century and locNE of Decatur Square. Decatur's renovated
Railway Depot is now a restaurant known as "Farmstead 303".
The historic courthouse sits in Decatur Square and
contains a small history museum.
Fraser House, Church St. & Bell St. A modest 19th Century structure
at the entrance to Decatur
Cemetery.
Glenwood Elementary, the oldest
school in the city
High House, North Candler St. and Sycamore St. This antebellum structure is
believed to be the oldest 2-story structure in Decatur.
Historic House Complex, 716 &
720 West Trinity Pl.
Three antebellum homes relocated to Adair
Park.
Historic Oakhurst in southwest Decatur:
An early 20th Century town
annexed by Decatur, Oakhurst still has its own business district surrounded by
bungalows.
MAK Historic District, McDonough,
Adams and Kings Highway.
Decatur's first local historic district is full
of early 20th Century American Craftsman-style homes and has been used by Hollywood for films.
Methodist Chapel, Commerce Ave. &
Sycamore St.
A beautiful granite chapel on historic Sycamore Street that is owned by First Methodist
Church, Decatur.
Old Scottish
Rite Hospital,
321 West Hill St.
(Oakhurst neighborhood). The historic Shriner's hospital has had an adaptive
reuse and now houses restaurants and an art gallery.
Pythagoras Masonic Lodge, 108 East Ponce de Leon Ave.
A 1924 building designed by architect William Sayward.
Ponce de Leon Court Historic
District. A single street of bungalows and palm trees east of Decatur Square (off
Ponce de Leon Ave.).
Some of Decatur's largest historic residences line
this street.
Old U.S. Post Office, 141 Trinity Place.
Marble-encased former federal building on the National Register of Historic
Places.
Winnona Park Historic District,
in southeast Decatur.
This district is on the National Register of Historic Places for its residences
and is also the home of Columbia Theological Seminary.
Woodlands Garden,
932 Scott Blvd. 7 acres, mostly wooded with a focus on native plants, and open
to the public.