Decatur Heights

Last updated January 20, 2024

Decatur Heights is a historic community located in the northeast corner of the Atlanta, Georgia suburb of Decatur. It includes residences, churches and a nature preserve. During much of the 20th Century, this community primarily consisted modest homes. However, in the 1990s it became a neighborhood where “tear downs” were increasingly common. This has resulted in the demolition of the modest cottages the community was historically known for.

Decatur Heights is accessed off of East Ponce de Leon Avenue to the south, Church Street to the north and Winn Way to the east. The approximate boundaries of the community are Glennwood Estates to the west; Winn Way to the east; the Dekalb Medical Center to the north; Church Street to the northeast; and Ponce de Leon Avenue to the south. The Avondale MARTA station is located immediately south of the community.

The community includes several distinct neighborhoods, each constructed in different decades. (Decatur Heights is commonly referred to as the community's name, but it is also the name of the oldest neighborhood within the community.) The neighborhoods located with the City of Decatur include Decatur Heights, Sycamore Ridge and Sycamore Station. The Springdale Heights neighborhood is also part of the Decatur Heights community, but is located in unincorporated DeKalb County. However, the City of Decatur began investigating annexation of Springdale Heights in 2008. The heart of the community and primary north–south road is Sycamore Drive. The geographic heart of the historic neighborhood is generally considered to be Sycamore Drive and Fairview Street. A country store, which was originally constructed as a residence, was located at the southwest corner of this intersection. The store was also torn down and replaced with a single family home.

History

The Decatur Heights subdivision is the oldest part of the community. It was developed by Homer C. Lord of the Georgia Land & Investment Company between 1910 and 1928. It primarily includes the streets on the east and west side of Sycamore Drive in the south and west-central (Ridgeland Ave.) part of the community. In addition to Sycamore Drive, the original streets included Ridgeland Avenue, Fairview Street, Pinehurst Street, Hillcrest, Poplar, Oakdale, Grove Street, Woodland and Covington Roads^[1] Sycamore Court townhomes are located within Decatur Heights.

The Springdale Heights subdivision, also located on the east and west sides of Sycamore Street, anchors the north end of the community. It was developed in two stages. The residences close to Sycamore Drive were developed in the late 1940s, and include sidewalks which link to Decatur Heights. The residences in the back portion of the east side of Sycamore Street were developed in 1953, but the sidewalks were omitted and the homes are larger 1950s vintage, ranch-style houses. There is a neighborhood tradition that Bridlewood Drive was part of a horse bridle path used by Agnes Scott College students. In addition to Bridlewood Circle, the streets include Poplar Lane Way, Pineview Drive, Woodhaven Drive and North Pineview Court DeKalb Medical Center - North borders this subdivision on the north and east sides. Church Street Manor, a cluster subdivision, borders Springdale Heights on the west side.

The Sycamore Station townhome development was constructed in phases in the 1980s and 1990s. It was built on a small farm located between Springdale Heights and Sycamore Ridge. The farmhouse is now the clubhouse for the development.

Sycamore Ridge is a totally new development in Decatur Heights, and this subdivision has the greatest concentration of affluent homes in the community. It was constructed in the late 1990s and early 2000, and consists of large homes on small, urban lots. At the time of the development, certain lots fell outside Decatur and were annexed into the city. The name “ridge”, however, is inaccurate. Sycamore Street is the “ridge” in the community, and the Sycamore Ridge development falls off to the east. In addition to the main street of Sycamore Ridge, streets include Winburn Court, Fitzgerald Court, Renfroe Court, Pinehurst Sttreet, the northern leg of Lockwood Terrace and the eastern leg of Fairview Street.

Churches

North Decatur United Methodist Church (UMC), 1523 Church Street.
The Church at Decatur Heights (SBC), 735 Sycamore Drive.

Parks

Glenn Creek Nature Preserve, Fairview Street. A 2-acre (8,100 m²) nature preserve purchased in 2004, and located between Glennwood Estates and Decatur Heights. The primary entrance to the preserve is at the end of Fairview Street in Decatur Heights. Glenn Creek bisects the site - running from the SE to the NW. There are walking paths within the preserve, and a clearing in the center of the preserve. The preserve is open to the public by appointment, but has a calendar of events on their website. "Glenn Creek" was known as "Hunter's Branch" in the 19th century, named after a C.S.A. Colonel Hunter who owned property in the vicinity.

Transportation

Ponce de Leon Avenue, is located south of the neighborhood, and is the primary entry point from Atlanta.
Avondale MARTA rail station, is immediately south of the neighborhood.
Church Street, is located north of the neighborhood, and is the primary entry point from Interstate 285. This street used to be known as "Old Lawrenceville Highway".^[2]
Winn Way, is located east of the neighborhood, but is a secondary entrance through the Sycamore Ridge subdivision.

Related Research Articles

Decatur is a city in, and the county seat of, DeKalb County, Georgia, United States, part of the Atlanta metropolitan area. With a population of 24,928 in the 2020 census, the municipality is sometimes assumed to be larger since multiple ZIP Codes in unincorporated DeKalb County bear Decatur as the address. The city is served by three MARTA rail stations. The city is located approximately five miles northeast of Downtown Atlanta and shares its western border with both the city of Atlanta and unincorporated DeKalb County. The Druid Hills neighborhood is to the northwest of Decatur.

Druid Hills is a community which includes both a census-designated place (CDP) in unincorporated DeKalb County, Georgia, United States, as well as a neighborhood of the city of Atlanta. The CDP's population was 14,568 at the 2010 census. The CDP formerly contained the main campus of Emory University and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) however they were annexed by Atlanta in 2018. The Atlanta-city section of Druid Hills is one of Atlanta's most affluent neighborhoods with a mean household income in excess of $238,500.

North Decatur is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in DeKalb County, Georgia, United States. The population was 16,698 at the 2010 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oakhurst, Decatur, Georgia</span>

Oakhurst is a historic neighborhood in the southwest corner of Decatur, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta, Georgia. It is located south of downtown Decatur and approximately six miles east of downtown Atlanta. Oakhurst primarily consists of residences built in early 20th century and neighborhood businesses. It is roughly bounded by the City of Atlanta's Kirkwood neighborhood on the west ; the Atlanta city limits on the south; West College Ave. on the north; and South McDonough St. on the east. There is also a neighborhood near the College Heights Early Learning Center referred to as "College Heights", but it is part of Historic Oakhurst.

East Lake is a transit station in Atlanta and Decatur, Georgia, serving the Blue Line of the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) rail system. It has a track in each direction serving an island platform. When the station entered service on June 30, 1979, the opening ceremony took place in the south parking lot.

Tam O'Shanter-Sullivan is a neighbourhood in the east end of the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, in the district of Scarborough. The neighbourhood is bordered by Huntingwood Drive to the North, Kennedy Road to the East, Highway 401 to the South and Victoria Park to the West. The neighbourhood, which includes the Tam O'Shanter and Sullivan communities, takes its name from Tam O’Shanter Golf Course and O'Sullivan's Corners.

Winnona Park is a historic area in the southeast corner of the Atlanta, Georgia suburb of Decatur. It is listed as a historic district on the National Register of Historic Places, but it is not one of the City of Decatur's locally designated historic districts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clairemont – Great Lakes (Decatur)</span>

Clairemont - Great Lakes is a historic neighborhood in the north central section of the Atlanta, Georgia suburb of Decatur. It primarily consists of residences and churches. However, there are businesses on West Ponce de Leon Avenue, in the southernmost section of the neighborhood. Its rough boundaries are Coventry Road, Ponce de Leon Avenue and Commerce Drive on the south; Church Street on the east; Scott Boulevard on the north; and Willow on the northeast. The section of Superior Avenue north of Scott Boulevard is also considered part of this neighborhood. Ridgeland Park, located northeast of the Clairemont - Great Lakes neighborhood, is not presently considered part of the neighborhood. It was developed later (1946–1950) and is in unincorporated DeKalb County. However, in 2008 the city of Decatur began evaluating annexation of this neighborhood, which is contiguous to the rest of the development.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glennwood Estates (Decatur)</span>

Glennwood Estates is a historic neighborhood located in the northeast section of Decatur, Georgia. It is a residential neighborhood chiefly of single-family homes including a nature preserve and an adjoining park. At least a third of the homes were built in the 1920s and were relatively large for the time. Glenn Creek and the South Fork of Peachtree Creek Tributary run through the neighborhood.

Adair Park is a historic and contemporary community in the west section of the Atlanta, Georgia suburb of Decatur. It is one of Decatur’s most diverse communities in terms of building types, and includes several individual neighborhoods. Adair Park has single family residences, townhomes, cluster homes, institutional buildings and commercial buildings – built from the early 1900s to 2008. Its rough boundaries are: downtown Decatur to the east; Ponce de Leon Avenue to the north; Howard Avenue and the railroad tracks to the south; and the Parkwood neighborhood to the west. There is also an Adair Park in southwest Atlanta, but it is not part of the Decatur community.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ponce de Leon Heights (Decatur)</span>

Ponce de Leon Heights is a historic neighborhood in the west section Decatur, a suburb of the Atlanta, Georgia, USA. It includes single family residences and a church, primarily built in the early 1900s. The neighborhood is located between Scott Blvd. to the northwest, Ponce de Leon Avenue to the south and Coventry Road to the east. Although the neighborhood partially fronts on Ponce de Leon Avenue, there are no commercial businesses.

Chelsea Heights and Westchester Hills are adjacent neighborhoods, separated by a municipal park, in the northwest corner of the Atlanta, Georgia suburb of Decatur. Chelsea Heights straddles the east and west sides of the CSX railroad tracks, falling within the City of Decatur and the unincorporated DeKalb County, respectively. The latter part, though located east of what historically was Druid Hills, is part of the Druid Hills CDP and participates in the Druid Hills Civic Association: see Chelsea Heights.

Parkwood is a neighborhood on the western side of Decatur, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta. Although a small portion of the neighborhood was always within the city limits of Decatur, the remainder of the Parkwood neighborhood was voluntarily annexed into the City of Decatur effective July 1, 2014. The neighborhood is bounded by Ponce de Leon Avenue to the north; East Lake Road to the south; the CSX railroad tracks to the west; and Melrose Avenue and the Adair Park community to the east.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sycamore Street (Decatur)</span> Atlanta, Georgia

Sycamore Street is both a street and a historic neighborhood located in the Atlanta, Georgia suburb of Decatur. The street is known for its homes, which are some of the largest historic homes in Decatur. It is also "book-ended” by MARTA stations, and the MARTA track runs underneath the western end of Sycamore Street. The neighborhood includes historic homes, historic churches, townhouses and adaptive reuse condominiums.

U.S. Highway 23 (US 23) in the U.S. state of Georgia is a north–south United States Numbered Highway that travels from the St. Marys River south-southeast of Folkston to the North Carolina state line, in the northern part of Dillard. At nearly 392 miles (631 km) in length, it is the longest U.S. Highway in Georgia.

South River City is a community located in Austin, Texas. Also frequently called Travis Heights, the neighborhood is located south of the city's urban core, just below Lake Lady Bird in South Austin. The area encompasses a portion of ZIP code 78704.

Ridgeland Park is a residential subdivision in Decatur, Georgia, US, containing a mix of older and newer homes. The neighborhood lies partly within the City Limits of Decatur and partly outside the city in unincorporated DeKalb County, Georgia. The streets include Willow Lane, Pensdale Road, Eastland Drive, Greylock Place, part of Scott Blvd and part of Medlock Rd. Ridgeland Park is bordered by Church Street to the south and Scott Boulevard to the north.

Piedmont Avenue is a major thoroughfare in Atlanta, beginning in Downtown Atlanta and ending at its continuation as Piedmont Road just before crossing under Interstate 85. Along the way, Piedmont Avenue passes through Midtown Atlanta where several historic properties are located on the street.

References

Clark, Caroline McKinney. The story of Decatur, 1823-1899. DeKalb Historical Society (1996).
Price, Vivian. Historic DeKalb County: An Illustrated History (Georgia Heritage Series). Historical Publishing Network (2007).

Notes

↑ " Archived 2005-07-21 at the Wayback Machine " Glencreek Watershed Website: History. Retrieved: 15 August 2008.
↑ " Archived 2005-07-21 at the Wayback Machine " Glencreek Watershed Website: History. Retrieved: 18 August 2008.

External links

33°47′8.5″N84°16′54.6″W / 33.785694°N 84.281833°W / 33.785694; -84.281833

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[1] " Archived 2005-07-21 at the Wayback Machine " Glencreek Watershed Website: History. Retrieved: 15 August 2008.

[2] " Archived 2005-07-21 at the Wayback Machine " Glencreek Watershed Website: History. Retrieved: 18 August 2008.

[1]

[2]