The Places & Faces of DeKalb County

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THE 

& Places 

OF 

Faces 

DeKalb County 

GEORGIA 

A publication of the 

DeKalb Chamber of Commerce 

HPNbooks 

A division of Lammert Incorporated 

San Antonio, Texas

T H E D E K A L B C H A M B E R O F C O M M E R C E 

C E L E B R A T E S S E V E N T Y - F I V E Y E A R S O F S E R V I C E 

T O T H E B U S I N E S S C O M M U N I T Y 

The discoveries and business innovations of 1938 still affect all of us in the twenty-first century. 

Oil was found in Saudi Arabia that year and the minimum wage was legally established in the United States. 

The man destined to become the first African-American mayor of Atlanta, Georgia, Maynard Holbrook Jackson 

was born; as was a former media mogul/entrepreneur, Robert Edward Turner III. He’s better known as “Ted.” 

Locally, one of the oldest chambers in the state of Georgia began supporting the business community. 

The DeKalb Chamber of Commerce has one of the most distinguished track records of service in the Metro 

Atlanta area. Part of its interesting history has to do with the county where it is based. You will learn more 

about DeKalb as you browse through the pages of this book. 

The Faces & Places of DeKalb County, Georgia is a tribute to the communities, cities and areas of interest that 

the DeKalb Chamber of Commerce has had the privilege to serve for the last seventy-five years. 

The goal of the following pages is to tell you positive facts about a place many people take for granted. 

Anniversary 

Est. 1938 

First Edition 

Copyright © 2013 HPNbooks 

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, without permission in writing 

from the publisher. All inquiries should be addressed to HPNbooks, 11535 Galm Road, Suite 101, San Antonio, Texas, 78254, (800) 749-9790, www.hpnbooks.com. 

ISBN: 978-1-939300-07-2 

Library of Congress Card Catalog Number: 2013932372 

The Places & Faces of DeKalb County, Georgia 

photographer: Dwayne Sullivan 

author: Marti C. Covington 

designer: Glenda Tarazon Krouse 

HPNbooks 

president: Ron Lammert 

project managers: Barry Black, Violet Caren, Marti C. Covington, Igor Patrushev 

administration: Donna M. Mata, Melissa G. Quinn 

book sales: Dee Steidle 

production: Colin Hart, Evelyn Hart, Tony Quinn 

2 ✦ T H E P L A C E S & F A C E S O F D E K A L B C O U N T Y , G E O R G I A

4 The Places & Faces of DeKalb County, Georgia 

6 Chapter 1 DeKalb County Cities 

8 Clarkston 

10 Decatur 

12 Brookhaven 

14 Doraville 

15 Chamblee 

16 Dunwoody 

18 Pine Lake 

20 Avondale Estates 

22 Lithonia 

23 City of Stone Mountain 

24 Chapter 2 DeKalb County Communities 

26 Tucker 

28 East Lake 

30 Little Five Points 

32 Ellenwood 

34 Candler Park 

35 Briarcliff, Druid Hills 

36 Chapter 3 DeKalb County Sights & Sites 

38 MEDICAL SCIENCE 

38 Emory Healthcare 

38, 39 DeKalb Medical Center 

39 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 

40 HIGHER EDUCATION 

40 Emory University 

41 Columbia Theological Seminary 

41 Agnes Scott College 

41 Georgia Piedmont Technical College 

41 Everest Institute 

42 Georgia Perimeter College 

43 Oglethorpe University 

43 Mercer University 

44 TRANSPORTATION 

44 Tom Moreland Interchange 

45 DeKalb Peachtree Airport 

46 HISTORICAL 

46 Decatur Cemetery 

47 Decatur Waterworks 

48 Stone Mountain 

49 Soapstone Ridge 

50 Michael C. Carlos Museum 

51 DeKalb County Partners 

72 About the Photographer 

72 About the Author 

Contents 

C o n t e n t s ✦ 3

THE 

& Places 

OF 

Faces 

DeKalb County 

GEORGIA 

✧ 

Top: Young festival attendee at 

Stone Mountain Soul Fest. 

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF DWAYNE SULLIVAN. 

Middle: April Flowers at Pine Lake. 

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF DALLAS DENNY. 

Bottom: The Atlanta Greek Festival 

hosted by the Greek Orthodox 

Cathedral attracts thousands of 

people to DeKalb County every 

year. OPA! 

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF THE 

DEKALB CONVENTION AND VISITORS BUREAU. 

DeKalb County, Georgia, is a jewel among the many jurisdictions in metro 

Atlanta’s landscape. The county is the third largest in the state, but offers much 

more to its residents than mainstream urban living choices. 

Nearly 700,000 people call DeKalb County, Georgia, home. But this is not a 

monolithic group of residents. Some of the most diverse communities and cities 

in the state thrive in DeKalb. That diversity shows itself in everything from the 

county’s governmental structure to the number of higher education institutions 

located within the county’s borders. 

According to the United State Census office, the median age for a DeKalb County 

resident is thirty-two and the median county household income is $49,117. However, 

the county high is an average of more the $230,000 per household in Brookhaven. More 

than half of DeKalb’s population is made up of women and those who live in the county 

also represent a healthy dose of the South’s rich African-American culture with significant 

infusion of Asian, Spanish speaking and African communities from around the world. 

DeKalb lures diverse groups as residents because it has a wealth of support systems 

that makes it an attractive place to live. The DeKalb County school system has more than 

143 schools and has existed since 1873. DCPS is unique because it also maintains the 

Fernbank Museum and Fernbank Science Center. These unique educational locations 

feature a planetarium and host regular science based excursions and exhibits that delight 

children, teachers and parents throughout the year. 

The options for higher education in DeKalb also exceed what is available in most 

surrounding counties. Several liberal arts colleges with more than 100 years of 

educational tradition such as: Emory University (1836), Oglethorpe University (1835) 

and the women’s college, Agnes Scott (1889), are located in DeKalb. In addition, 

technical and two-year institutions such as Mercer University, Everest Institute, Georgia Piedmont 

College and DeVry University make DeKalb one of the easiest places, geographically, to find a place 

to earn two-year and advanced degrees in the Atlanta area. 

DeKalb’s neighborhoods are actually some of the best the state has to offer. 

People who prefer trendy settings may find homes or condos in the Brookhaven or Dunwoody 

communities. Families buying houses for the first time, could consider making purchases in cozy 

cities like Pine Lake or Doraville. Anyone in the market for older homes with an historic flair can 

find what they want in the Druid Hills or Tucker locations. 

Industry in the county is almost as diverse as its population and for years, has provided a stable 

tax platform. Cox Communications has based its worldwide operations in DeKalb for decades and 

other companies with international customers, such as Asian telecom giant, Huawei, the North 

American headquarters for Intercontinental Hotels, and gamma knife producer Elekta, have joined 

them. DeKalb Peachtree Airport is one of the busiest private strips in the southeast and recently, 

several bioscience companies have made DeKalb their headquarters. 


One of the main reasons DeKalb has such a strong science community is because 

the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is headquartered within its borders. 

The CDC has two main facilities in the county. The administrative offices are near Emory 

University, while many of the highly restricted labs are located several miles away. 

Stone Mountain is another unique attraction only located in DeKalb County. There is 

no place else like it in the world. There’s a town by that name that boasts quaint streets 

and fun festivals. But the 3,200 acre park that surrounds the 1,600 foot quartz monzonite 

“mountain” also contains the largest bas-relief on earth. Several million people visit the park each year 

or attend the many festivals and cook-offs that take place near the mountain’s beautiful surroundings. 

Shopping and retail establishments have also found success in DeKalb. The county has five major 

malls and several designated “boutique” shopping areas that cater to specific types of products. 

If you’re looking for old items, the nationally recognized “antique row” of Chamblee may satisfy your 

quest. While the home of funky, Soho style clothing and jewelry might lead a shopper to browse 

through stores in Little Five Points or Decatur. 

DeKalb operates with an elected, chief executive officer form of government and, as of 2012, seven 

commissioners. Each official serves a four year term. 

Many are considered “progressive” and as such, have supported the type of environmental programs 

that, in 2009, earned the county Atlanta Regional Commission’s “Green Communities” designation for 

its efforts in conserving energy, water and fuel; investing in renewable energy; reducing waste; and 

protecting and restoring natural resources. Portions of a $7.8 million dollar grant from the United 

States Department of Energy also went to the county to help build an alternative fuel station near the 

community of Ellenwood. The station collects natural gas from landfills and uses it to fuel buses. 

The county has centralized its law enforcement personnel to patrol the 271 square miles within 

its borders. But the cities of Decatur, Doraville, Chamblee, Lithonia and Dunwoody also maintain 

separate police forces. 

Historically, DeKalb is described as a bedroom community to Atlanta. But it didn’t start that way. 

Until 1853 the City of Atlanta existed entirely within DeKalb’s borders. Even though that is no longer 

the case, the county has managed to retain one other distinctive demographic. As of 2011, DeKalb 

County has the highest population density of any county in the Atlanta metropolitan area. Although 

ten percent of Atlanta remains a part of DeKalb County, there are at least ten other cities and 

several other communities with stories. Those localities, and other places unique to DeKalb County 

make valuable cultural and financial contributions to the metro Atlanta area; as well as the state 

of Georgia. 

The DeKalb Chamber of Commerce is proud to present the businesses, communities, cities, sights 

and sites of the place it calls home. It is the sincere hope of the writer and publishers that you the 

reader, will appreciate DeKalb even more after you have a chance to browse through the articles and 

photographs in this very special book. 

DeKalb is definitely a county that offers its resident a smorgasbord of opportunities for fun, great 

residential environments, and places of higher education. The Faces & Places of DeKalb County, 

Georgia, simply puts some of the positive facts about the county in pictures and writing so people 

all over the world can use the book to find out what a great place DeKalb County is and why so 

many people happily call this county their home. 

✧ 

Clockwise, starting from the top left: 

Produce at Your DeKalb 

Farmers’ Market. 

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF 

YOUR DEKALB FARMERS’ MARKET. 

The Fernbank Museum specializes in 

dinosaurs of South America. 

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF THE 

DEKALB CONVENTION AND VISITORS BUREAU. 

Lithonia neighborhood from the air. 

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF C. COVINGTON. 

Centers for Disease Control and 

Prevention administrative offices. 

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF DWAYNE SULLIVAN. 

T H E P L A C E S & F A C E S O F D E K A L B C O U N T Y , G E O R G I A ✦ 5

Above: Stone Mountain 

smiles in 2012. 

Right: This is public 

artwork on the Decatur 

Square. It has the 

inscription: "Imagine 

a world without limits, 

without boundaries, 

without prejudice 

and blame”. 

Pine Lake’s city hall building was 

originally built to be a chapel. 



1 

CHAPTER 

DeKalb 

Cities 

COUNTY 

Traditional Christmas carols sung by DeKalb County 

residents dressed in Victorian attire. 

Several hundred people enjoy a music 

festival in the shadow of 

Stone Mountain. 

C h a p t e r 1 ✦ 7

Clarkston 

D I V E R S I T Y A T I T S B E S T 

Above: Your DeKalb Farmers’ Market: “Bringing the 

world of people and food together”. 

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF YOUR DEKALB FARMERS’ MARKET. 

Right: The City of Clarkston has the word “welcome” 

printed in six languages on its website. 

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF THE CITY OF CLARKSTON. 

Below: Your DeKalb Farmers’ Market produces a 

variety of specialty products that are all-natural and 

preservative free. 

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF YOUR DEKALB FARMERS’ MARKET. 

If DeKalb claims the 

title of being the most 

culturally diverse county 

in the state of Georgia, 

then Clarkston is the 

county’s most diverse 

city. The town of 

Clarkston has fewer than 

10,000 residents, but 

there are more than fifty 

languages spoken at its 

high school. 

A visitor from the year Clarkston was founded 

in 1882 probably would not recognize the city 

now. People from places all over the world have 

made contributions to the town and most 

residents have no ties to the Georgia Railroad, 

which spurred the town’s founding. However, 

there is one bit of history a traveler from 

an earlier century might understand. The 

Clarkston high school mascot is a goat. 

Clarkston was once called “Goatsville” and 

“Angora Heights” because so many residents 

owned the highly prized animals. 


Rail tracks still wind through a 

good portion of the town, but two 

very different, unique businesses 

contribute to bolstering the international 

reach of this small, historic 

Georgia location. One of 

those businesses is family-based. 

In 1977, Robert and Barbara 

Blazer opened a produce stand 

in Clarkston. It covered 7,500 feet 

but brought in items, and customers, 

from places far outside 

DeKalb’s borders. By 2012, the 

Blazers’ produce stand had grown 

into a full-fledged international 

farmers’ market. Your DeKalb 

Farmers’ Market now operates from 140,000 

square feet of space and serves an excess of 

75,000 customers a week; and it is still growing. 

Visiting Your DeKalb Farmers’ Market is like 

taking a taste trip around the world. 

Shoppers find more than 400 varieties of 

cheese directly imported from countries like 

Greece and Switzerland. The meat section offers 

everything from fresh air, chilled, cage-free 

chicken to Australian Hala goat. There’s a deli, 

an outdoor market and pastries that are freshly 

baked daily. Customers can buy exotic wines or 

fresh flowers in varieties unavailable anywhere 

else in metro Atlanta. 

Adding to the culturally diverse shopping 

experience are the employees. There are forty-two 

different nations and fifty-six languages represented 

among Your DeKalb Farmers’ Market staff. 

The second industry that has helped to 

make Clarkston more than just another old rail 

town are organizations such as Refugee Family 

Services. RFS originally began as a local branch 

of the Save the Children network but expanded 

its work to aid women and their dependents 

in their escape from global areas of conflict. 

Currently, it serves more than 2,000 women 

and children each year with forty-eight staff 

members and more than 500 volunteers. 

Refugee Family Services helps women and 

children from political “hot-spots” such as 

Afghanistan, Bhutan, Burma, Burundi, Ethiopia, 

Eritrea, Iraq, Somalia, and Sudan. The RFS 

volunteers and staff help individuals in the 

relocated families to develop job skills, English 

language literacy, earn citizenship and become 

better parents. Children are helped with their 

transition into school and receive academic 

support, youth employment training and summer 

literacy camps. 

The organization began during the late 

1980s. At that time, the first wave of refugees 

came to the Atlanta area from Vietnam and 

many needed support. Since then, metro Atlanta 

ranks among the top ten places refugees settle 

in the U.S. and Clarkston is one of the first 

places many call home. The town itself has 

adapted to the changes by making many aspects 

of regular life easy to navigate for those who 

arrive from another culture. For example, the 

official home page for the City of Clarkston has 

the word “welcome” listed in six languages. 

The town’s history and international reach 

make it a prime example of diversity that works 

and works well, in DeKalb County, Georgia. 

✧ 

Top: In home family literacy program. 

http://www.refugeefamilyservices.org. 

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF REFUGEE 

CENTER SERVICES. 

Left: The Refugee Center Services 

helps women and children who come 

to Clarkston, Georgia, from political 

hot-spots all over the world. 



Right: After school program at 

McClendon Elementary School. 



C h a p t e r 1 ✦ 9

Decatur 

A C O U N T Y S E A T P O P U L A T E D W I T H I N D E P E N D E N T T H I N K E R S 

✧ 

Left, top and bottom: The downtown 

square has several pieces of art such 

as this one commemorating the 

retirement of Elizabeth Wilson, 

Decatur’s first African-American 

mayor and African-American 

member of the Decatur 

City Commission. 

Center: The original county 

courthouse is now home to the 

DeKalb History Center. 

Right: Fresh flowers adorn the 

Valentine couple on the Decatur 

square. The sculpture is on permanent 

loan from Wesley Woods Center which 

is part of Emory Healthcare. 

The Grand Dame of all DeKalb County cities is Decatur. The town’s origins, its history and its 

importance in the twenty-first century make it one of the most unique places to live in the state 


Historically it always has stood out. It was incorporated on December 10, 1822. It was Western 

and Atlantic railroad’s first choice as a place to lay track. But traditional lore credits the town’s fathers 

of that era with the type of non-traditional thinking that is a hallmark of Decatur in the twenty-first 

century. Decatur’s leaders in the 1800s did not allow the railroad to lay lines, because they did not 

want the town to become congested. So, instead, the rail line built a terminal in a place called 

Marthasville. Marthasville was once named Terminus. Today, we call it Atlanta and as Atlanta grew, 

Decatur, and subsequently all of DeKalb County, became bedroom communities. 

That status has never bothered the decision makers of Decatur. 

Today, Decatur’s downtown area has developed a very chic bohemian ambience. It has southern 

grace punctuated with funky clothing stores and innovative eateries. The city is the county seat for 

DeKalb government and approximately 20,000 residents call it home. It is a number far smaller 

than many from the Atlanta area would suspect because several nearby unincorporated areas 

outside of city have the designation of a Decatur zip code. 

The city maintains its own school system and police department. Nationally, it’s listed as one of 

the most progressive places to live, even though it has managed to maintain its authenticity. For 

example, the town’s original courthouse now houses a museum on county history which helps lend 

the feel of yesteryear to Decatur’s business oriented downtown. But the city is still more than just 

regular streets and sidewalks. Artwork and obelisks commemorate the town’s former motto, “A city 

of homes, schools, and churches” and a plaque that tells visitors about the city’s civil rights history. 

Still, a lot of downtown Decatur retains the feel of neighborhood closeness that is unusual to 

find in a large metropolitan area. This atmosphere is evident because Decatur has maintained 

something very important to its founding fathers: Decatur is a community. And it is a community 

that appreciates history while simultaneously understanding its modern identity. 

The venue to really see how Decatur citizens interact is at one of the many public events the town 

holds. Several regular festivals and block parties draw thousands of people from around the region 

to celebrate the place that has always been led by forward thinkers. 

1 0 ✦ T H E P L A C E S & F A C E S O F D E K A L B C O U N T Y , G E O R G I A

✧ 

Top: Decatur Beerfest 2011 

Center, left: Proceeds from the 

Great Decatur Beer Tasting Festival 

are distributed via grants to 

community organizations. 

Center, right: A maximum of 5,000 

people can buy Beerfest tickets each year. 

It is sold out every year, raises $200,000 

and gives most of the money to agencies 

that provide community support. 

Left: The city hosts several annual 

festivals including an annual arts 

festival during Memorial Day weekend; 

a midsummer beach party and a 

bar-b-que blues and bluegrass festival. 

C h a p t e r 1 ✦ 1 1

Brookhaven 

A T R E N D Y D E L I G H T W I T H A N U P S C A L E H I S T O R Y 

✧ 

Above: A new center of commerce has 

sprung up in Brookhaven along 

Dresden Drive. 

Opposite top: Stately homes in the 

Ashford subdivision make Brookhaven 

one of the prettiest neighborhoods in 

metro Atlanta. 

Opposite, bottom: The rolling greens 

of the Capital City Club were 

designed in the 1920s. 

There are a variety of factors that make Brookhaven an appealing community. Brookhaven is 

located near great shopping outlets in Buckhead and it has two popular golf courses. As a result 

of those large lures, many new and affluent subdivisions have been built in the Brookhaven 

community during recent years. It has boosted the median family income to nearly $240,000 and 

made the area one of the most affluent communities in Atlanta. 

Brookhaven has a lot of history. The home of the area’s original European settler is open 

occasionally to the public and the family burial plot is also in the area. However, it was later 

residents who made the neighborhood famous. 

Brookhaven received its name from a small neighborhood near the Capital City Country Club 

which is the original home of a prestigious nine-hole course built in 1911 and expanded to 18 holes 

in 1915. The club and course are now on the National Register of Historic Places. The course was 

designed by a golf professional from Long Island and immediately spurred the construction of large 

homes in Brookhaven and Country Club Estates. 

Other developments also made the Brookhaven neighborhood popular. In 1835, Oglethorpe 

College (now University) built its first campus there. It did not move to its current location along 

Peachtree Road until 1915. 

Brookhaven’s area increased in size after the public bus and rail line, MARTA (Metro Atlanta 

Rapid Transit Authority), built a stop there; a second golf course, the Peachtree Golf Club, became 

available; and additional subdivisions such as Ashford Park and Drew Valley were constructed. The 

area has also developed some fun and distinct districts such as the one located along Dresden Drive. 

The intersection of Cross Keys and Peachtree Road also has started to develop a “new downtown” 

location for the community. 

But Brookhaven may not remain unincorporated for long. Many residents want it to become 

DeKalb’s newest city. If so, it would be named the City of Ashford and become the county’s largest 

town with nearly 40,000 people. But what some people do not realize is it would not be the first time 

the general area has legally been a town. The area of Brookhaven was once incorporated as the City 

of North Atlanta. It was unincorporated in the 1960s. However, the area has so much history, beauty 

and tradition that, no matter whether it is a community or a city, it will always be a popular location 

to live, work, shop and play golf in Metro Atlanta. 


C h a p t e r 1 ✦ 1 3

For many drivers, the cities of DORAVILLE 

and CHAMBLEE are stitched together by 

the sliver of interstate that identifies exits 

for both towns seemingly simultaneously. 

But Doraville and Chamblee have drastically 

different histories and make very different 

contributions to DeKalb County. 

✧ 

Bottom, left: The Doraville General 

Motors plant no longer operates, 

but has several development groups 

researching plans to make it a mixed 

use property. 


Bottom, right: Major fuel storage 

companies operate from Doraville. 


For some, the ARS lyrics still describe 

Doraville best: 

“ 

Doraville 

A touch of country in the city 

Doraville 

It’s not much but it’s home 

Doraville 

A C O R P O R A T E T O W N 

W I T H A R O C K N ’ R O L L H E R I T A G E 

Doraville was incorporated by the state assembly in 1871, 

but it remains a vital and important DeKalb County city in 2012. 

Fast lights and the hustle and bustle of the big city are not what 

you will find in this bedroom community. However, traditional 

neighborhoods, strong community interaction and even a little rock n’ roll history all combine to 

make this town a great place to start or raise a family. It is also considered to be a great place to retire. 

This town holds a special spot in Georgia history for two reasons. It flourished after World War II 

as one of the few “company” towns for the automotive industry and it was home to a music studio 

that produced songs from legendary southern rock n’ roll groups in the 1970s. 

Currently, nearly 8,000 people live in Doraville. At one time it was one of the fastest growing cities 

in DeKalb. Doraville’s population jumped from fewer than five hundred to more than 6,000 in less 

than fourteen years and became a boom town when General Motors built an assembly plant there. 

Subdivisions sprang up almost immediately. Doraville annexed the communities of Northwoods and 

Oakcliff in 1949 and 1958. For a while, there was an almost uncontrolled growth spurt. 

The GM plant completely closed in 2009. But during the nearly sixty years it operated, Doraville 

went through several changes in its population base. 

MARTA (Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority) came to town in 1992. The construction 

of the train station actually destroyed the last original buildings of Doraville’s downtown. But it also 

helped to expand the area’s already diverse community. In fact, Doraville is now listed as having one 

of the largest Asian populations in the country and more than fifty-six percent of its residents speak 

English as a second language. 

” 

However, few people realize that Doraville also helped to popularize 

a sound known as southern rock n’ roll. In 1970 local Georgia Music 

Hall of Fame recipient and Atlanta engineer, Rodney Mills built Studio 

One there. Lynyrd Skynyrd, Joe South, Dickey Betts, .38 Special and 

B. J. Thomas all recorded hit music from that location. 

But musicians, residents and select rock fans know that the town 

was immortalized in vinyl when Doraville rock group Atlanta Rhythm 

Section, (ARS) recorded a song named after their home town. It was 

the group’s first chart topper. 

It is a home people love. Doraville stirs up such strong memories 

that Facebook pages such as Sons and Daughters of Doraville, often 

have lively posts from people who have not lived in the town in decades. They continue to reach 

out because they want to stay connected to Doraville, even as it continues to evolve. 


Chamblee 

O N T H E R I G H T T R A C K 

Chamblee is one of the most important cities 

in the world to the scientific and medical 

communities. It is also one of the most strategic 

stops for private pilots in metro Atlanta. 

That’s because the City of Chamblee is home 

to DeKalb Peachtree Airport and the Centers 

for Disease Control and Prevention’s Buford Highway laboratories. It’s an interesting historical fact 

that both started with military building efforts from World War I. 

In 1917 more than 1,000 buildings and nearly 40,000 troops came to Chamblee to train at Camp 

Gordon’s new facilities. Forty new stores, three theaters, two hotels and a bowling alley popped up 

to help the new population spend its money close to the camp. 

After that war, the first CDC converted Army barracks into laboratories at the Buford Highway 

location. A stone’s throw down the road, PDK grew from the former site of Camp Gordon. In the 

late 1950s, the United States Navy leased the land from the county for civilian use. 

At the start of the twenty-first century, PDK airport distinguishes itself as being the second 

busiest in the state, right after Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport; the busiest in the world. The 

PDK airport has 765 acres and houses several hundred aircraft in more than one hundred hangars. 

The growth of both the CDC and PDK gave Chamblee a different history than the one that 

developed in Doraville. Chamblee’s location attracted large companies such as Frito-Lay, Kodak 

and General Electric, all built plants along Peachtree Industrial Boulevard after World War II. The 

1980s saw many of those companies close. Many people left with the manufacturing jobs. The city 

leaders of the era developed a plan that allowed Chamblee to look forward to accommodate 

diversity and simultaneously honor the past. 

Chamblee created a central business district that has become a nationally recognized “antique row.” 

Strolling along downtown streets visually allows a visitor to experience a twentieth century railroad 

community. At the same time, the town created an International Village that acknowledges the 

diversity that is evident all over DeKalb County. Nearly forty-five percent of Chamblee’s residents list 

themselves as White. At the same time, more than half of the population is of Hispanic or Latino descent. 

The city slogan might do the best job of explaining 

Chamblee’s self image. The town tipped a hat to its history of 

being on a rail line town and also a stop on the MARTA route 

by describing itself as “A City on the Right Track.” City 

leaders also add that being on the right track doesn’t mean 

sitting still. They invite all to visit Chamblee: a DeKalb County 

city that values progress while still paying respect to the past. 

✧ 

Above: The level-4 bio laboratories 

for the Centers for Disease Control 

and Prevention are located in DeKalb 

County several miles from the 

agency’s administrative offices. 


Below: An antique shop sits in front 

of the former Frito Lay plant with 

rails from the MARTA train station 

off to the right. 

Bottom: Antique shops line 

Chamblee’s major streets and operate 

in the shadow of the former 

Frito Lay plant. 

C h a p t e r 1 ✦ 1 5

Dunwoody 

S U B U R B A N S O P H I S T I C A T I O N O U T S I D E T H E P E R I M E T E R 

✧ 

North Perimeter Mall is a major 

draw for shoppers all over the region. 


Until July 2012, Dunwoody was DeKalb’s newest city. It was voted into existence, December 

2008. Its location in the northern part of the county separates it from some of the old rail line cities 

in several ways. First, Dunwoody is perceived as an upscale community. That perception is based, 

in part, on the variety of shopping options available in the general Dunwoody area. The city’s web 

site boasts of having more than 2,300 businesses; one being Perimeter Mall, a General Growth 

Property company. GGP also owns malls in Honolulu, Hawaii; Los Angeles, California; and Water 

Tower Place in Chicago, Illinois. 

A second distinguishing factor for Dunwoody is its location. It is outside the perimeter, yet still 

inside DeKalb County. The perimeter is a local’s way of describing the circle of metro Interstate, I-285, 

that separates the traditional borders of metro Atlanta from the suburbs. I-85 splits the circumference 

of this circle in half, by running north and south. Interstate 20 splits the circumference in half 

running east and west. Each quadrant inside the I-285 perimeter has its own historical significance. 

The communities outside the circle, such as Dunwoody, are usually newer. 


But, Dunwoody, as a community, is actually 

older than its incorporation date. In fact, the 

area was originally called “standing peach tree” 

or “pitch tree” by the Creek Indians who had 

farms in the area. John Dunwody and his 

family settled in the area during the early 

1800s and started a shoe company. The nearness 

of the Chattahoochee River encouraged 

industrialists to build a rail line which ran 

into Atlanta. It was destroyed during the United 

States Civil War; rebuilt and shut down in 1921. 

The area remained small and unincorporated 

until Perimeter Mall was built in 1971. Since 

then the area and city have bloomed. 

Dunwoody is home to DeKalb Perimeter 

College, the third largest in the state and has 

more than 150 acres of parks. 

Dunwoody presents itself to the world a 

little differently. The town slogan is “Smart 

People—Smart City” and could be represented 

by one of Dunwoody’s most famous former 

residents, Ryan Seacrest. Seacrest is a graduate 

of Dunwoody High. He became known as a 

nationally syndicated radio talk show host 

and the emcee of the very popular television, 

singing contest, American Idol. 

Because Dunwoody started in the digital 

age, it has skipped the learning pains usually 

associated with growth. It has a far-sighted 

approach toward community development 

and the type of unwavering support for 

commerce that will make it one of 

DeKalb County’s most vital cities for years 

to come. 

✧ 

A good portion of north DeKalb exists 

outside the I-285 perimeter. 


C h a p t e r 1 ✦ 1 7

1 8 ✦ T H E P L A C E S & F A C E S O F D E K A L B C O U N T Y , G E O R G I A 

Pine Lake 

residents recently 

paved the gravel 

walkway around the lake. 

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF DALLAS DENNY.

Pine Lake 

Two wild geese share 

Pine Lake waters with a turtle. 

The lake was drained and 

refilled in 2011. 


A P E A C E F U L A N D P L E A S A N T P L A C E 

DeKalb County’s smallest city also has one of its most beautiful settings. The major streets of 

the entire town of Pine Lake can be driven in less than five minutes and are laid out in a manner 

that could remind you of how a resort town from the 1930s might look. 

There’s a reason this town with a population of less than 800 brings the ideas of resorts to mind. 

It started as one in 1937. The Pine Woods Corporation sold lots of land in Pine Lake to people 

who lived in faraway Buckhead (Atlanta) to escape. But the corporation only operated for a short 

period of time. However, many of the people who originally purchased Pine Lake resort plots for 

approximately $70 kept them after the city incorporated. 

That may be because one of the best aspects of Pine Lake has nothing 

to do with the lake. The town is known for its friendliness and for 

having residents who have a high degree of community involvement. 

Atlanta Magazine once labeled Pine Lake as “One of the Best Places 

to Call Home” in the metro area. Another factor that makes this a close 

knit community is the Pine Lake Association of Involved Neighbors 

(PLAIN). This group hosts coffees, has an annual chili cook-off, plans 

how-to seminars and a monthly pancake breakfast for anyone who has 

a Pine Lake address. 

Children participate in a summer theatre and there are even local 

residents who are celebrities among certain circles. A member of the 

rock band, The Georgia Satellites, sculptor Richard Cecil and writer 

Alice Teeter all own homes in Pine Lake. 

The lake itself is not natural and was created by the Army Corp of 

Engineers by widening and damming Snapfinger Creek as a means 

of flood control. The lake had to be drained in 2011, but was refilled 

by October and provides year-round delight to the small group of 

people who have found a way to live in an outdoor setting right in 

the middle of a big city environment. 

✧ 

Below: Pine Lake City Hall. 


C h a p t e r 1 ✦ 1 9

Avondale Estates 

A T O W N I N S P I R E D B Y S H A K E S P E A R E ’ S H O M E 

✧ 

Below: School aged children serenade 

the crowd before the lights of the 

Christmas Tree are lit. 

Opposite, top: The architecture 

inspired by a European vacation 

forms the backdrop as hundreds of 

DeKalb County citizens attend one of 

the two Christmas Tree lightings in 

Avondale Estates. In addition to the 

tree on the square, another tree 

ceremony takes place at the city’s 

park lake. 

The town of Avondale Estates was inspired by a vacation. 

An Atlanta businessman named George Francis Willis took his wife, Lottie, to Stratford–upon-Avon 

in England during the roaring twenties. They made the visit because it was the birthplace of writer 

William Shakespeare. But Stratford-upon-Avon enthralled Willis so much that it also inspired him 

to create Avondale Estates, Georgia. 

Willis was a millionaire and used his wealth to build a twentieth century version of the 

traditional English community. He purchased the entire community of Ingleside, which is the 

original location of Avondale Estates along with an adjacent 400 acre dairy farm from a local judge. 

He then hired an architect and engineer. 

The result was a community that was ahead of its time in 1926. The planning, and money 

invested in the town from the beginning made it an enviable place to live later, in the twenty-first 

century. Avondale Estates is unlike any other town in Georgia. It features graceful two-story homes, 

a beautiful lake and a Tudor styled motif dominant in the downtown area. Its park has a pool, pool 

house and tennis court which were all part of Willis’ original design. 

Avondale Estates is located less than seven miles from Atlanta. The town remains vital in the 

twenty-first century and hosts a variety of activities that help neighbors stay connected as a 

community. There are two Christmas tree lighting ceremonies each year; one for a tree by the lake 

and another for the tree in the downtown district. These events are followed by a Menorah lighting 

and a Christmas tour of homes. In the spring, the city hosts an Easter egg hunt for children ten 

and younger. Antique car parades, dog parades, a traditional bar-b-que, 5K runs, Fourth of July 

celebrations and an annual motorcade dedicated to raising money to buy gifts for patients at 

the Georgia Regional Mental Health Hospital make Avondale Estates one of the most active and 

compassionate cities in the county, and very likely, the state. 


Santa and helper toss 

treats to the crowd. 

C h a p t e r 1 ✦ 2 1

Lithonia 

A C O N T I N U O U S H E R I T A G E O F 

A F R I C A N - A M E R I C A N A F F L U E N C E 

✧ 

Top, left: Picturesque upscale 

Lithonia neighborhoods. 


Top, right: The Mall at Stonecrest. 


Flat Rock 

Flat Rock is a small area that is filled 

with history important to Lithonia, DeKalb 

County, the state of Georgia and the world. 

Margaret Mitchell’s grandfather was 

the post master for Flat Rock back in 

1837. Mitchell’s Pulitzer Prize winning 

book, Gone with the Wind, had sold an 

unprecedented one million copies less than 

100 years later. 

All of Lithonia was named Flat Rock at 

one time. The area has the oldest white 

and African-American churches in DeKalb. 

Macedonia Baptist Church was founded in 

1823 and Flat Rock Methodist Episcopal 

Church formally organized in 1860. It is 

now known as the Flat Rock Community 

Church. The families represented were here 

when DeKalb became a county in 1822. 

Reverend Spencer Bryant, born 1864, 

is the great-great-grandfather of actor and 

comedian, Chris Tucker. Tucker’s grandfather 

was born in the house that now houses 

the Flat Rock archives. More than 10,000 

people have visited the building, constructed 

in 1917, and the nearby slave cemetery. 

It has 204 graves. Its oldest marker is 1834. 

PBS, NPR radio, the New York Times, 

Washington Post and the Atlanta Journal 

Constitution have all published or broadcast 

information about the Flat Rock community. 

More info about Flat Rock is available at: 

http://www.flatrockarchives.org/. 

It is impossible and impractical to build any description of communities in the state of Georgia without 

paying tribute to the history and current contributions of African-Americans. Many places described 

in The Faces & Places of Dekalb County, Georgia have very well documented black historic contributions. 

For example, the Lynwood Park Community predates most affluent Brookhaven neighborhoods and 

established its own association to prevent developers from selling the neighborhood’s property. In 

Tucker, a local all-black civic club constructed its own park and funded schools in the Peter’s neighborhood. 

Segregation made both actions necessary. And even though Stone Mountain was branded 

as a Ku Klux Klan enclave during the early part of the twentieth century the same people who held 

meetings on the mountain also operated a granite mine that employed African-American labor. 

Historically though, the city that seems to have the most continuously prosperous African-American 

population in DeKalb County is Lithonia. During the 1970s the United States Census department listed 

forty-eight percent of the city’s population as African-American. However, Lithonia had a significant 

black presence long before that. Part of the reason for that fact is tied to Lithonia’s development. 

The city did not have the same agricultural or rail history that spurred many nearby communities. 

Instead, Lithonia was a stop along the stagecoach route that ran into Georgia from Tennessee. The 

memories of that time were put into a book written by a family whose name lives on in the area. 

Panola Plantation was once a 1,000 acre property owned by the Latimer family. Panola Road is now 

the name of a street that runs through Lithonia. 

The Latimer family also made one other historic contribution. Rebecca Latimer Felton became 

the first woman in the country (and the only one from Georgia) to serve as a United States senator. 

She held the position for two days. 

From the air, Lithonia looks like it is the distance of a rock’s throw from Stone Mountain. On 

the ground, that meant farmers had a hard time raising crops because the soil was hard to till. 

However, it is rock that gave the town its name. Local lore says a teacher in 1840 combined 

the Greek words Litho λίθος (rock) and Onia (place). Before that the area was known as 

Cross Roads and marked by the only commerce in the area, George’s Store. 

However, it was the local granite mines that kept Lithonia open for business. After the United 

States Civil War, those mines attracted a continuous stream of African-American labor. Pine Mountain 

Quarry #3 was one of the many rock mines that paid these workers enough to build homes, start 

churches and raise families. The Flatrock community is an example of an African-American enclave 

that has thrived in Lithonia for more than five generations. In fact, internationally known comedian 

Chris Tucker has family from Flatrock. That community, like the rest of Lithonia, has grown and 

modernized in the twenty-first century. Even though the 2010 census listed approximately only 

2,000 people as Lithonia residents the area is affluent enough to support a major mall, The Mall 

at Stonecrest, three medical centers, eight public parks, and four public high schools. 

Lithonia was founded on a type of rock called gneiss. But it is people that make Lithonia what 

it is today and many are descendants of those who made their living mining stone throughout the 

nineteenth and twentieth century. Those hard-working men and women built Lithonia into a city 

of affluence that is noted now for both its history and relevant African-American heritage. 


City of Stone Mountain 

A N D 

Stone Mountain Village 

More than 5,000 people live in the City of Stone Mountain. However, several million from 

around the world know about its location. 

International tennis enthusiasts will know about the town because of 1996 Olympic competitions 

for that sport; plus those for archery and track cycling were held in Stone Mountain Park. 

But Stone Mountain Village which is a part of the City of Stone Mountain and Stone Mountain Park 

are known best as tourist attractions. 

Stone Mountain Village has its own visitors’ center nestled into the caboose of a 1914 Seaboard 

railcar. A manager is often on site to answers questions about the town. Stone Mountain is linked to 

the rock itself and that has a history intimately tied to race relations in Georgia. The late United States 

Civil Rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., refers to Stone Mountain in his “I Have a Dream 

Speech” because the likeness of three Confederate officers are carved on the front of its face. The bas 

relief, which is the largest in the world, has made the mountain a traditional symbol of segregation. 

But tourism has changed that designation. More people now know Stone Mountain as a destination 

for fun and has made it popular to millions of visitors. 

Not everyone realizes there is also a town named Stone Mountain, but they should because it 

carries a lot of historical significance. Stone Mountain was created at almost the same time DeKalb 

County came into existence, in 1822. The town was first named Gibraltar. It was in the path of General 

Tecumseh Sherman’s march to the sea. A train depot, built in 1856, is one of the few buildings that 

remain and now houses the town’s police and department and city hall. That same building holds the 

distinction of being in longest continuous use of any building burned by Sherman’s troops during 

the War Between the States in America. Stone Mountain and Stone Mountain Village are considered 

by many to be one entity. But actually they are two of the most delightful and historic places to live 

in the state of Georgia. 

✧ 

Above: Three thousand plus acres of 

natural beauty surround Stone 

Mountain and is available to 

the public. 

Below: Quaint buildings line the 

main business district of Stone 

Mountain Village. 

C h a p t e r 1 ✦ 2 3


2 

CHAPTER 

Communities 

COUNTY 

Left and below: 

Candler Park Fallfest. 

PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY OF DWAYNE SULLIVAN. 


Left: A smiling face in the 

crowd at the Little Five Points 

Halloween Parade. 

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF M. COVINGTON. 

Right: East Lake golf club 

building has had several renovations 

since construction in 1925. 


The courthouse continues to play 

a significant role in Tucker. 

On June 24, 2012, it was the site 

where residents and the DeKalb 

Historical Society celebrated 

Tucker’s 120th year. 

C h a p t e r 2 ✦ 2 5

Tucker’s Main Street 

was repaved and widened 

with grant money. 

Tucker 

T H E C H A M P I O N S O F T H E M A I N S T R E E T S P I R I T 

The community known as Tucker would be DeKalb’s second largest city—if it incorporated. 

However, the decision-makers from the area have researched and rejected the idea several times 

in the past; it is an option that might be reconsidered in the future. For 2012, though, more 

than 27,000 residents have the pleasure of living in a community that projects the feel of being 

“Main Street USA.” It is a feeling those who care about Tucker want preserved. 

One of the main ingredients of creating that all-American home town ambience centers around 

the Tucker Day Celebration. This annual planned festivity actually started in 1957 when Tucker 

celebrated its semi-centennial. Parades, bar-b-ques, pageants, car shows and street dances lasted a 

week. In recent years, the Tucker Day Commemoration involves a parade, crafts, car shows and 

food. But there are several other reminders about the community’s long history. 

Henderson Mill Road is the name of a major street in Tucker. However, many residents also 

know it as a reminder about one the first Europeans to settle in the area. He did so because he won 

a land lottery after fighting in the Indian Wars of the 1830s. Greenville Henderson didn’t name the 

3,000 acres of land he received, Tucker. Instead, it continued to be known as the Browning District. 

But Henderson did start the community spirit that is evident in the neighborhoods all through the 

Tucker area. Henderson ran a grist mill and several other enterprises. He and most of his family are 

buried in DeKalb. His mill was torn down in 1911, but several changes enveloped Tucker before 

that happened. Henderson lived long enough to see some of them. 


The United States Civil War brought Union 

troops to Tucker. Soldiers commanded by 

Major General John Logan crossed the 

Chattahoochee River in Roswell and detoured 

to what was known as the Browning’s 

Courthouse on their way to Stone Mountain. 

They later joined other Union soldiers in the 

Battle of Atlanta. The courthouse still stands. 

It moved first from its original location at 

the intersection of Chamblee-Tucker and 

La Vista roads in the 1980s, to a location in 

front of the Tucker Recreation Center (formerly 

Tucker Elementary). 

Tucker rebuilt itself after the War Between 

the States. In April 1892 the rail tracks for 

the Seaboard Air-line were completed. Tucker 

continued to grow, but was still known as 

Browning. In 1907 the center of town was 

officially laid out and what used to be Third 

Avenue became Main Street. Somewhere along 

the way Browning became Tucker and no one 

has solid evidence to explain why. 

What stays evident, though, is the strong 

sense of community that allows Tucker to 

continually evolve. Strong community spirit 

shows itself in several ways. Several non-profit 

organizations have members who use their 

business skills to better their home area. The 

MainStreet Tucker Alliance, a 501c3 volunteer 

organization, took the responsibility of seeking 

and receiving several grants that have helped 

to improve the quality of life for everyone in 

Tucker. The most recent grant MSTA helped 

write gave the community’s Main Street a 

facelift. A Federal TE grant, combined with 

several grants from the Atlanta Regional 

Commission, fully funded the streetscape 

improvement and was completed late in 2011. 

Tucker’s volunteer association also earned 

a Livable Centers Initiative (LCI) and was 

awarded a different grant from the Community 

Choices group. These funds were applied to 

community improvement projects that finished 

in 2005 and 2008. 

No other community in DeKalb has this type 

of track record for success in seeking, receiving, 

implementing and completing community 

grant projects. But, then again, there is no 

other community in DeKalb like Tucker. It is 

one of the important places to visit and know 

in DeKalb County. It is important because of 

its history and location. However the best 

thing about Tucker are the people who live 

there. They are a one of a kind group and it 

is their ability to do what is best to keep 

the spirit of Main Street alive that makes their 

community great. 

Dr. Wallace and Ruth Ann Hardy 

donate a nineteenth century church pew 

to the Tucker Historical Society. 

C h a p t e r 2 ✦ 2 7

The East Lake Golf Club 

originally attracted 

home builders and 

home buyers during 

the end of the 

nineteenth century. 


East Lake is one of the oldest 

communities in the Atlanta area. 



East Lake 

T H E D E K A L B P H O E N I X 

Ten percent of the City of Atlanta exists inside DeKalb County borders. That allows some 

citizens to simultaneously send their children to Atlanta schools but receive DeKalb support 

services. East Lake residents fit in that unique geographical category. 

East Lake is one of Atlanta’s oldest neighborhoods. People who have lived in the area a long time 

will remember it as the home of the Atlanta Athletic Club. In the early 1900s the East Lake Country 

Club became so popular that demand for homes in the area almost reached a boom status. The 

City of Atlanta annexed the area in 1928. It was during that era that well known names such as golf 

legend Bobby Jones and Olympic Gold Medalist turned actor, Johnny Weissmuller, enhanced their 

golf skills on the East Lake course. 

However a housing project was built in East Lake during the 1970s a few years after the golf club 

moved outside of the I-285 perimeter. The changes affected property values and the neighborhood 

spent several years battling problems common in urban areas. 

In the mid-1990s, a former resident and local developer partnered with local government to 

purchase the housing project, tear it down and convert the land into a mixed use area. The result 

was a resurgence in the popularity and prestige of the East Lake. 

Today, East Lake is a thriving and vibrant community filled with families and neighborhoods of 

well-maintained homes. Many are renovated structures built during the beginning of the twentieth 

century and are beautiful examples of stone or brick architecture. 

East Lake also has its own foundation. It has received national coverage from established news 

outlets such as the New York Times, CNN and NBC Sports for the organization’s outstanding work that 

brings the game of golf to children who otherwise might not get a chance to play. 

The East Lake community is home to the oldest golf course in the City of Atlanta; it is one of 

the oldest neighborhoods in the metro area, has always been a part of DeKalb County, and yet 

showcases the type of cohesion necessary to bring brightness, success and joy into everyday living. 

East Lake Country Club, 1925. 

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF THE FLAGLER GROUP. 

C h a p t e r 2 ✦ 2 9

Little Five Points 

H A I G H T- A S H B U R Y M E E T S T H E F R E N C H Q U A R T E R 

Less than three miles from downtown Atlanta is one of the most bohemian areas in the south. 

Little Five Points, also known as LP5, originally earned its name because five separate roads converged 

at the major intersection in the area. Moreland Avenue actually provided two points. It runs north 

and south while providing the dividing line between DeKalb and Fulton Counties. Euclid Avenue 

provides a second set of two points. It runs northeast and southwest. 

The fifth point came from Seminole Avenue, which now deadends and has become a plaza; 

but McClendon Avenue extends from Euclid’s southern intersection at Moreland. Locals now claim 

it provides the modern fifth “point.” 

In the twenty-first century, Little Five Points is considered a cool and hip place to shop. It also 

has the reputation of providing great alternative restaurants, bars and street festivals. 

However, in the 1890s, information provided by the United States Park Services indicates that 

Atlanta’s first street cars were built in the Little Five Points neighborhood. The neighborhood 

thrived until the 1960s. Proposed road construction drove off potential home buyers, but all of 

that changed in the 1970s. Victorian houses were refurbished and funky, alternative neighborhood 

shops began attracting shoppers from all over metro Atlanta. At the turn of the twenty-first century 

large grocery store and shopping chains moved a few miles away. Those choices along with LP5’s 

nearness to pricey neighborhoods such as Inman Park and Virginia-Highland, made it a very 

popular place to live. 

The crowd of the 

LP5 Halloween Parade 

dress up as much as the 

participants do. 



Top, right and center: Many of the 

LP5 Halloween floats are built by 

neighborhood business people. 


But more than anything, Little Five Points is 

known as a place to go have fun. The open 

plaza on what used to be Seminole Avenue is a 

great place to sit and enjoy ice-cream from a 

nearby restaurant or just see the sights and 

in this area and there are many. The best time 

to view them, of course, is during the annual 

Halloween parade organized by local businesses 

and neighborhood organizations. More than 

10,000 people attend each year and everyone 

from high school bands to gothic make-up 

artists build a float or find some way to 

participate. To see a then and now shot of LP5 

and excerpts from the 2011 October parade 

visit http://youtu.be/b8pDJDtTvDs or take time 

to make a personal visit. LP5 is one of the 

places you have to see. It is unlike any other 

place and exists simultaneously in DeKalb and 

Fulton Counties. For that matter, it is probably 

unlike any other place in the state of Georgia 

and the people who live, work and have 

businesses in LP5 are just fine with that. 

Box heroes interact 

with children watching 

the LP5 parade. 


C h a p t e r 2 ✦ 3 1

Ellenwood 

A B R I G H T G R E E N S P O T I N A V E R Y G R E E N U R B A N C O U N T Y 

✧ 

The Ellenwood RNG (Renewable 

Natural Gas) plant will give DeKalb 

the capacity to process more landfill 

gas than any other county in Georgia. 

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF DEKALB COUNTY. 

DeKalb has earned the title of being the Greenest Urban County in America. Its Gas to Cash 

Program is one reason why. The DeKalb County Department of Sanitation has partnered with 

the Clean Cities Atlanta Petroleum Reduction Program, a $40 million initiative with the goals of 

increasing the supply and availability of renewable fuels and decreasing the demand for petroleum 

fuels in the metro Atlanta region. Through this program, the DeKalb County Sanitation Department 

will convert seventy vehicles to run on RNG that is produced by the DeKalb County Renewable 

Fuels Facility providing a fuel that is cleaner and less expensive than diesel fuel. Compared to 

the cost of diesel fuel, DeKalb County is forecasting fuel savings of $3 million over the next eight 

years. The county’s goal is to eventually replace or adapt its entire fleet of 306 sanitation vehicles 

with natural gas vehicles over the same time period. The program is funded by DeKalb County 

and a U.S. Department of Energy grant made possible through President Obama’s federal stimulus 

program, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. 

Ellenwood is one of the most geographically unique locations in DeKalb. Parts of Ellenwood exist 

in Clayton and Henry Counties, as well as DeKalb. Nearly 42,000 people live in the combined 

Ellenwood area. 


DeKalb elected officials and representatives from the 

Clean Cities Atlanta Petroleum Reduction Program and Energy Systems Group 

hold a ceremonial groundbreaking for a new renewable natural gas (RNG) processing 

facility at the Seminole Road Landfill in Ellenwood in October 2011. 

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF DEKALB COUNTY. 

C h a p t e r 2 ✦ 3 3

Candler Park 

P H I L A N T H R O P I C P A S T A N D P R E S E N T D A Y S O L V E D M Y S T E R Y 

✧ 

Top, left: Many of the Candler Park’s 

bungalow style houses were built 

before the turn of the twentieth 

century. Some were expanded but 

several retain their original 

construction and design. 

Top, right: Candler Park is 

maintained by the City of Atlanta 

but the Candler Park Neighborhood 

exists entirely in DeKalb County. 

Above: During the Candler Park 

Fallfest Tour of Homes visitors get 

to see houses originally built in the 

early 1900s and the Epworth United 

Methodist Church founded in 1890. 

Atlanta is often described as a city built by the popularity of a local soft-drink. While that is not 

entirely true, it is a fact that the family associated with one of the most recognized colas in the world 

left large land and property donations to communities in or near DeKalb County. 

One of those is the fifty-five acre park and golf course that bears the name of the man who once owned 

it. Candler Park itself is administered by the City of Atlanta. But the neighborhood surrounding it exists 

entirely in DeKalb County. Asa Griggs Candler donated the land to the city in 1922. Even back then the park 

contained a 9-hole golf course, pool, the playground, tennis courts, basket ball courts and a soccer field. 

Since the 1920s, though, Candler Park area has become one of DeKalb’s most desirable neighborhoods. 

The neighborhood has a very active and organized association. Festivals, marathons and outings are 

scheduled regularly and announced on the CandlerPark.org web site. A nearby MARTA (Metro Atlanta 

Rapid Transit Authority) train station makes transportation to downtown Atlanta, approximately 

five minutes away by car; green and easy. 

However, the true sparkle in the Candler Park community comes from the many homeowners who 

enjoy the area’s harmony and history. Each year a tour of homes allows visitors to see houses and 

churches built at the turn of last century. What is surprising is the fact that new information on the 

area’s historical significance continues to be discovered. 

In 2012 the Candler Park Neighborhood Organization web site published research conducted by the 

BiRacial History Project. The group actually helped solve a mystery. Most people in the area had seen or 

knew about the old stone church at 470 Candler Drive. But few knew who built it. The members of the 

project discovered that the church started in 1874 when Candler Drive was known as Mayson Avenue 

north. Recently freed African-American slaves worshipped at the Antioch East Baptist Church on what is 

now public park property. Members built the church by hand between 1918 and 1922, but were forced 

to leave in 1950. However, six generations of church descendants were able to return to the Candler 

Park site in 2010 to commemorate what their ancestors had built. You can read the article about this 

significant piece of history here http://www.candlerpark.org/content/early-edgewood-candler-park. 

It is a tribute to the Candler Park community, its neighborhood association and the individuals 

and families who live in this historic DeKalb area that the history of the old stone church was solved 

and the people associated with it were welcomed. It is a testament to DeKalb County that these types 

of stories are told often and almost always have happy endings. 

Candler Park 

Fallfest. 


Briarcliff and Druid Hills 

S O U T H E R N C H A R M A T I T S B E S T 

One of the oldest and most recognized communities in DeKalb County is not a city. It is the 

community officially known as Druid Hills. But, many Georgians often identify the area by one of 

its major streets: Briarcliff Road. 

Some of the older homes in Druid Hills invoke the visual definition of southern charm. There are 

the graceful mansions built during the beginning of the twentieth century and newer homes, in all 

brick and stone subdivisions; that display a sense of stability. Several homes in the Druid Hills area 

have shown up in major motion pictures. The house used for the blockbuster hit, Driving Miss Daisy 

was located in the Druid Hills neighborhood and the confrontation scene between two coaches in 

Remember the Titans was filmed in Druid Hills High, which is now closed. 

There is also a level of diversity that is not immediately apparent. 

The Druid Hills area has many established Jewish neighborhoods, which have 

existed for nearly 100 years. Congregation Or VeShalom, Congregation Beth Jacob, 

and Congregation Bet Haverim all operate synagogues there. Many families can be 

seen walking to worship service on the weekends. 

In addition to beautiful neighborhoods, Druid Hills is also home to one of the 

most iconic media buildings in the city, FOX 5 television, located on Briarcliff Road. 

The station has broadcast to Atlanta viewers since March 1949, but moved to the 

signature antebellum styled studios in the 1960s. 

The epitome of the Druid Hills history, heritage, and architecture is the Callanwolde 

mansion. Callanwolde is 27,000 square feet of beauty surrounded by twelve acres of 

county maintained charm. It was originally built as the home of Coca-Cola’s president, 

Howard Candler, in the early 1920s. His widow donated the home and its furnishings to a nearby 

college. It was passed through several owners until 1972. That year, a committee raised $360,000 

and combined the money with a federal grant and county contributions to buy it and most of the 

surrounding property. Callanwolde now operates as a fine arts center offering a variety of classes. It is 

also a popular location for meetings and weddings. Callenwolde has also appeared in several movies. 

During the 1996 Olympics, Callanwolde returned to the stature it held in the 1920s. It was 

headquarters for the Italian representatives who held lavish parties attended by internationally 

known celebrities such as Luciano Pavarotti and Prince Albert of Monaco. 

Druid Hills offers several snapshots into the past. It has homes that are reminders 

of great architectural achievements and neighborhoods that often display the true 

meaning of what it means to live 

in a good community. But most 

of all is has the type of southern 

charm that, unfortunately, is 

important because it has become 

harder to find in metro Atlanta. 

✧ 

Top, left: The Greek Festival in Briarcliff. 

Top, right: This house on Lullwater 

Drive in the Druid Hills area was used 

as the home of the lead character 

Jessica Tandy portrayed in the movie 

Driving Miss Daisy. 

Above: The beautiful Callanwolde mansion. 

Bottom, left: Callanwolde offers fine art 

classes in a variety of areas. 

Below: Callanwolde has pottery on the 

wheel classes. 

C h a p t e r 2 ✦ 3 5

DeKalb Medical 

main hospital entrance, 

February 2010. 

Oglethorpe University 

Museum of Art. 

Stone Mountain is visible 

from outer space. 

The CDC started as a federal agency focused 

on eliminating only one disease. 

DeKalb is more than just a group of cities or 

communities. It has an admirable selection of 

post high school educational choices. DeKalb 

County has one of the only natural wonders of 

the world that is visible from outer space and 

is also home to the largest agency in the world 

dedicated to policing communicable diseases. 

There is also an outstanding museum and 

vestiges of history around the county that are 

worth noting by photograph and the written 

word. The following chapter is dedicated to 

sights that are uniquely DeKalb and sites that 

help define the county. 



CHAPTER 

3 

COUNTY& Sites 

Sights 

The main library at Agnes Scott College founded in 1869. 

Agnes Scott garden. 

C h a p t e r 3 ✦ 3 7

Medical Science 

A twenty-first century community is not viable without the 

availability of quality medical care. DeKalb County has cutting 

edge hospitals and world class health agencies operating within 

its borders. This section highlights three. 

✧ 

Top, right: Emory Healthcare is the clinical arm of the Robert W. Woodruff Health 

Sciences Center of Emory University, which focuses on patient care, education of 

health professionals, research addressing health and illness, and health policies for 

prevention and treatment of disease. 

Right: Since 1905, Emory Healthcare has been at the forefront of medicine, 

putting cutting-edge interventional research and technology into 

lifesaving action. 

E M O R Y 

H E A L T H C A R E 

One of the world’s leading centers for 

discovery and learning, Emory offers a broad 

range of undergraduate and advanced degree 

programs. Emory is also a major academic 

health sciences center with numerous teaching 

and research divisions housed in Emory’s 

Robert W. Woodruff Health Sciences Center. 

Emory Healthcare serves as the Woodruff 

Health Sciences Center’s clinical arm and is a 

major provider of health services to the entire 

region and beyond. 

D E K A L B M E D I C A L C E N T E R 

Since 1961 DeKalb Medical has provided 

quality, state-of-the-art medical care to the 

people of the county. The hospital has three 

main facilities. The Long Term Acute Care 

unit is located in downtown Decatur; the 

DeKalb Medical at Hillandale facility is based 

in Lithonia; and the North Decatur campus 

houses the Dr. Bobbie Bailey Tower which 

includes the Women’s and Surgery Center. 

DeKalb Medical has the second largest neonatal 

intensive care unit in Georgia. 

✧ 

DeKalb Medical has three locations in the county. 

The Hillandale facility is near south DeKalb in Lithonia. 


C E N T E R S F O R D I S E A S E 

C O N T R O L A N D P R E V E N T I O N 

The world’s best known organization for 

combating contagious diseases is based in 

DeKalb County. However, the Centers for 

Disease Control and Prevention, as it exists in 

the twenty-first century, was actually started 

to fight the ravages of only one illness. The 

office of National Defense Malaria Control 

Activities was founded during World War II 

in 1942. It became the Communicable Disease 

Center in 1946. The following year employees 

banded together and purchased the land for the 

organization’s headquarters on Clifton Road for 

$10. The chairman of the board of Coca-Cola, 

Robert Woodruff, helped make the purchase 

of the fifteen acres near Emory University 

possible. The CDC’s role expanded to combat 

sexually transmitted diseases in 1957; then the 

control of tuberculosis and immunization was 

transferred to it in 1960 and 1963. It became 

the NCDC, National Communicable Disease 

Center in 1967 and was renamed Centers for 

Disease Control in 1970. It operates under 

the umbrella of Health and Human Services. 

The CDC is one of two official repositories in 

the world for the smallpox virus and one of four 

places in the country with level-4 biosafety 

laboratories. Both the labs and the administration 

offices are located in DeKalb County. 

✧ 

Above and below: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has one of four level-4 biosafety labs in the 

world located in DeKalb County. 

PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY OF C. COVINGTON. 

✧ 

Top, left: DeKalb Medical has three locations in 

the county. 

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF THE DEKALB MEDICAL CENTER. 

Bottom, left: The North Decatur campus houses 

the Dr. Bobbie Bailey Tower which includes the 

Women’s and Surgery Center. 

Top, right: Décor in DeKalb Medical main lobby. 

Bottom, right: DeKalb Medical Center offers 

residents state-of-the-art treatment facilities. 

C h a p t e r 3 ✦ 3 9

Higher Education 

Education has always held a place of importance in DeKalb County. More than 102,000 students attend DeKalb County Public 

Schools each year. But the county also has prestigious private institutions that have provided advanced degrees for more than 

100 years. In addition, the county has several two-year and technical colleges such as DeVry University, Everest College and 

Strayer University. Columbia Theological Seminary and Luther Rice University offer those who choose them religious courses. 

Georgia Perimeter College is part of the University of Georgia system and has six locations while Georgia Piedmont Technical College 

changed its name from DeKalb Technical College. It is among the oldest of Georgia’s twenty-five technical colleges and actually 

started under the umbrella of DeKalb County Public schools with the DeKalb Chamber advocating its founding. DeKalb County 

educational institutions can provide almost any type of post high school training required. It is one of the only metro Atlanta 

counties able to offer such a wide range of educational opportunity to its residents. 

E M O R Y 

U N I V E R S I T Y 

Emory University contributes more than $5 

billion a year in direct and indirect economic 

benefits to the region as a nationally recognized 

research university, a major employer, a buyer 

of goods and services from local businesses, 

a sponsor of construction projects, and a 

generator of tax revenues. Off-campus spending 

by Emory students, and by visitors to the 

University and to Emory Healthcare institutions, 

also contributes to the local economy. 

The community benefits from an enhanced 

quality of life through Emory’s healthcare 

services, support for the arts, continuing 

education offerings, and volunteer service. 

✧ 

Top: Emory University has nine academic divisions: Emory 

College of Arts and Sciences, Oxford College, Goizueta Business 

School, Laney Graduate School, School of Law, School of 

Medicine, Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing, Rollins 

School of Public Health, and the Candler School of Theology. 

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF EMORY UNIVERSITY. 

Center: Emory University students polishing their writing skills. 


Bottom: Emory is a private university in metropolitan Atlanta, 

located in the Druid Hills section of unincorporated DeKalb 

County. The university was founded as Emory College in 1836 

in Oxford, Georgia. 



C O L U M B I A T H E O L O G I C A L S E M I N A R Y 

A G N E S S C O T T C O L L E G E 

The school was started 1889 as Decatur Female Seminary 

by Presbyterian minister Frank H. Gaines. In 1890 the name 

was changed to Agnes Scott Institute to honor the mother of 

the college’s primary benefactor. The name changed again 

to Agnes Scott College in 1906 and it remains a liberal arts 

women’s college. Agnes Scott currently enrolls 914 students. 

In 2006 the student to faculty ratio was 10:1. Eighty-seven 

percent of the faculty are full-time, and one hundred 

percent of the tenure-track faculty hold terminal degrees. 

The undergraduate school offers 30 majors and 25 minors, 

and is affiliated with numerous institutions, including 

Georgia Institute of Technology, Emory University School 

of Nursing, and Washington University. Students who 

graduate from Agnes Scott receive a Bachelor of Arts degree. 

Agnes Scott is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church. 

G E O R G I A P I E D M O N T T E C H N I C A L C O L L E G E 

Georgia Piedmont Technical College began offering post-high 

school classes to county residents in 1961 under the name of 

DeKalb Area Community College. It is among the first twenty-five 

technical colleges to open its doors in the state of Georgia. 

Georgia Piedmont Technical College provides real-world skills 

for rewarding careers and graduates have a ninety-nine percent 

job placement rate with sixty-nine percent graduate placement in 

jobs in or related to their program of study or in further education. 

In fiscal year 2010, the College served 24,590 students and 

conferred 1,118 awards to graduates earning associate degrees, 

diplomas and technical certificates of credit. As of 2012 residents 

of DeKalb, Rockdale, Newton, and Morgan counties have the 

opportunity to attend classes at one of two campuses and nine 

centers of learning conveniently located throughout the 

service area. 

E V E R E S T 

I N S T I T U T E 

C h a p t e r 3 ✦ 4 1

✧ 

Top: Georgia Perimeter College 

Clarkston location. 

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF GEORGIA 

PERIMETER COLLEGE. 

Center: Georgia Perimeter College 

Dunwoody location. 



Bottom: Georgia Perimeter College 

Decatur location. 



G E O R G I A P E R I M E T E R 

C O L L E G E 

Georgia Perimeter College is the third largest 

institution in the University System of Georgia 

and among the nation’s fastest growing two 

year colleges, serving approximately 25,000 

students. The college is home to five locations 

around Atlanta that have served almost half a 

million students in nearly fifty years. Formerly 

known as DeKalb College, Georgia Perimeter 

College has provided an outstanding education 

at the two-year level at campuses in Clarkston, 

Decatur, Dunwoody, Newton, and a center in 

Alpharetta. Georgia Perimeter College will soon 

begin offering select bachelor’s degrees in Sign 

Language and Health Informatics. 


O G L E T H O R P E 


Oglethorpe University, Atlanta’s only coeducational 

liberal arts college, was founded in 

1835 and named for James Edward Oglethorpe, 

the founder and first governor of Georgia. 

The campus, with its distinct Gothic revival 

architecture, is listed on the National Register of 

Historic Places and located in Brookhaven, a part 

of unincorporated DeKalb County. OU has 

an educational reputation that is outstanding. 

It enrolls approximately 1,100 undergraduates 

from 34 states and 28 countries and is 

consistently ranked among the nation’s best 

liberal arts college is in the Princeton Review and 

Forbes. Oglethorpe University has been named 

to the President’s Higher Education Community 

Service Honor Roll since 2006. It is also 

home to Georgia Shakespeare, the Oglethorpe 

University Museum of Art, and the Crypt of 

Civilization—the world’s first time capsule. 

M E R C E R 


Founded in 1833, Mercer University has 

7,300 students; 11 schools and colleges liberal 

arts, law, pharmacy, medicine, business, engineering, 

education, theology, music, nursing 

and continuing and professional studies; major 

campuses in Macon, Atlanta, and Savannah; four 

regional academic centers across the state. MU 

offers students a chance to earn undergraduate, 

graduate and professional education. 

The University has a press; three teaching 

hospitals—Memorial Health University Medical 

Center, the Medical Center of Central Georgia 

and St. Francis Hospital in Columbus; 

educational partnerships with Warner Robins 

Air Logistics Center in Warner Robins and 

Piedmont Healthcare in Atlanta; an engineering 

research center in Warner Robins; a performing 

arts center in Macon; and a NCAA Division I 

athletic program. 

✧ 

Above: Mercer University campus. 

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF MERCER UNIVERSITY. 

Right: Mercer University has more than one location in Georgia. 

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF MERCER UNIVERSITY. 

C h a p t e r 3 ✦ 4 3

Above: Spaghetti Junction from the air. 

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF M. COVINGTON. AIRPLANE AND PILOT PROVIDED BY EPPS AVIATION. 

Below: Interstate on-ramp from DeKalb County Tom Moreland Interchange. 

DeKalb roads are some of the most important transportation arteries in metro Atlanta. 


T O M M O R E L A N D 

I N T E R C H A N G E 

The name of a former Georgia Department 

of Transportation commissioner lives on in the 

minds of several hundred thousand motorists 

every day. However, many drivers of the I-85 

and I-285 interchange, less than affectionately 

call the intersection: Spaghetti Junction. The 

Tom Moreland Interchange was constructed 

to link Interstate 85, a major traffic corridor in 

Atlanta and Interstate 285, the beltway that 

rings the city. TMI was previously a cloverleaf 

and redesigned as a stack interchange to 

remove choke points and reduce congestion. 

It has fourteen bridges and more than 300,000 

vehicles a day passing through it. The Tom 

Moreland Interchange is maintained by GDOT 

and exists almost entirely in DeKalb County. 


Transportation 

DeKalb is one of the core counties in metro 

Atlanta. As of 2012, there are eighteen counties 

that count themselves as part of Atlanta. 

Whether a motorist travels from the north end 

to reach the southern tip or drives east to 

west, a significant amount of time will be spent 

in DeKalb County. A very well known airport 

has operated in DeKalb County for decades. 

DeKalb Peachtree is known as PDK and has a 

history in the aviation industry that few airports 

anywhere can match. Transportation is 

very important in the Atlanta area and all the 

major road arteries; Interstate-85, 75, 20 and 

285 are in DeKalb County. 

///////////////////// 

Above: DeKalb Peachtree Airport 

is nicknamed PDK. 


Right: DeKalb Peachtree Airport 

is the second busiest in the state 

of Georgia, it runs more than 

250,000 flight operations a year. 


D E K A L B P E A C H T R E E A I R P O R T 

Nearly 250,000 flight operations a year are 

run from DeKalb Peachtree Airport. It is the 

second busiest airport in Georgia. DeKalb 

Peachtree is known locally as PDK and has been 

an aviation transportation mainstay for decades. 

PDK started on training camp property that 

was part of Camp Gordon, operated during 

World War I. It evolved to Naval Air Station 

Atlanta during World War II. The Navy leased 

the land from the county until 1957 when it 

was converted to civilian use. 

DeKalb Peachtree Airport has 765 acres housing 

more than 100 hangars. Its main runway is 

6,000 feet long and the air traffic control tower, 

built in 1988, stands 130 feet over the tarmac. 

The airport is officially located in the City 

of Chamblee. 

C h a p t e r 3 ✦ 4 5

Historical 

Below and bottom: Decatur Cemetery has a bamboo grove 

in one section and is bordered by several acres of forest. 

There are several interesting facts concerning 

the history of DeKalb that do not fit neatly into 

profiles about the development of a specific city 

or community. History can harbor beauty. The 

unfinished shape of a bowl left in stone by 

Native Americans who have long ago vanished; 

or the graffiti painted onto the remnants of an 

abandoned utility system speak about history 

through a language only understood by the 

human eye. Even history that stirs disturbing 

memories can bring a sense of pictorial joy by 

showcasing the progress of the present. 

On a more traditional note, the Michael C. 

Carlos Museum allows visitors to see artifacts 

from the past brought to DeKalb County from 

ancient Egypt, Greece, Rome, the Near East, 

and the ancient Americas. 

D E C A T U R 

C E M E T E R Y 

This is oldest publicly owned burial ground 

in metro Atlanta. The Decatur Cemetery first 

shows up in the written records of 1881, but 

may actually have been in use before 1823. The 

original part of the cemetery only covered seven 

and a half acres but was unique because it had an 

African-American section and interred residents 

from all social strata and ethnic origins. 

Legislators, educators, authors and veterans from 

every American war are found here. 

More than 20,000 grave sites are on these 

grounds, which have expanded over the years to 

include thirty-eight acres of land. The cemetery 

also includes a well house, wrought iron fencing 

and many enhancements made from Stone 

Mountain granite. 

The Decatur Cemetery became part of the 

National Register of Historic Places in 1997. 


D E C A T U R 

W A T E R W O R K S 

Mason Mill Park contains the remnant of a 

technological miracle that few people remember. 

Instead, brightly painted walls of graffiti and 

rusted portions of pipe are all that remain of 

the first public water system in the area. 

Running water was rare at the turn of the 

twentieth century, yet in 1906 the Decatur 

Waterworks brought the convenience of tap 

water to residents. The Decatur Waterworks 

plant dammed South Peachtree Creek and 

Burnt Fort Creek to make the process work. 

Engineers built two aeration tanks, two storage 

tanks and two solid removal tanks between the 

creeks and introduced the people of DeKalb 

County to the age of modern utilities. 

In the 1930s a park was built around 

the main system. Decatur Waterworks supplied 

water to residents for another ten years 

afterwards and then was shut down. 

On March 15, 2006, the State of Georgia 

designated it as a historic site because of its 

industrial significance. 

These pipes brought 

running water to Decatur 

residents in 1906. 

The Decatur 

Waterworks is on 

the historic register 

for the state 


The Decatur 

Waterworks is 

part of 

Mason Mill Park. 

The wall ruins of Decatur Waterworks have morphed from 

C h a p t e r 3 ✦ 4 7 

an instrument of modern industry to a work of modern art.

S T O N E 

M O U N T A I N 

Trams take tourists to 

the top of Stone Mountain. 


✧ 

Above: The Stone Mountain bas-relief was originally designed to have four soldiers carved into the mountain side. 

Stone Mountain is composed of granite. The idea for a bas-relief was started in the 1920s and is the largest 

carving of its type in the world. 


It stands 1686 feet tall. It is visible from 

outer space. It is made of solid granite and 

there is no other elevation like it on earth. 

Stone Mountain and the park that surrounds 

it, are two of the most iconic locations in 

DeKalb County. The mountain and land around 

it have impressed people at first sight for several 

hundred years. Spanish explorer Juan Pardo 

named it Crystal Mountain when he first saw it 

in 1567, but the mountain is actually made of 

a type of rock called gneiss. 

Stone Mountain has a history intimately tied 

to race relations in Georgia. The late United States 

Civil Rights leader, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., 

refers to Stone Mountain in his I Have a Dream 

Speech because the likeness of three Confederate 

officers are carved on the front of its face. The 

carving was started and stopped twice from 

1923-1928. It began again in 1963 and was 

completed in 1972. The bas relief, which is the 

largest in the world, has made the mountain a 

visual symbol of segregation. The family who 

owned it before the State of Georgia purchased 

it in 1958 and made it legally difficult to 

change that association. A perpetual easement 

allowed the Ku Klux Klan the right to hold 

meetings on the mountain in perpetuity. The 

only way to dissolve that privilege was to 

condemn the property, which the state did after 

purchasing the mountain in 1958. 

In the twenty-first century, tourism has 

erased most of the negative history attached 

to Stone Mountain. More people now know 

Stone Mountain as a destination for fun than 

ever before and it has become a popular 

place for hundreds of thousands of children 

and families of all ethnicities to visit for 

enjoyment every year. 

Stone Mountain is surrounded by nearly 4,000 acres of park. 

It contains both undisturbed wooded areas and rides, 

displays and family pavilions. A variety of outdoor water 

activities are offered at Stone Mountain Park. 


S O A P S T O N E 

R I D G E 

When the original people of Egypt were building the first pyramids and 1,000 years before 

Stonehenge, Native Americans in what is now DeKalb County were conducting mining operations. 

The evidence of their labors is seen, most often, in a twenty-five square mile area called Soapstone 

Ridge. It is located in the Southwest corner of the county and is, petrologically, an area unlike the 

surrounding region. Soft rock called soapstone is found there. Most of the area has hard stone like 

the granite that makes Stone Mountain. 

At least seventeen separate quarry sites have been identified in the area. Researchers say it was 

quarried for small items like bowls or other types of pottery from 3000 B.C. to 100 B.C. 

Three section of the ridge are listed on the National Register of Historic Places and the DeKalb 

County Commission also has designated a portion of the ridge as an Historic District. 

Soapstone Ridge contains the largest collection of archaic soapstone quarries in the eastern 

United States. 

✧ 

Top: This forested area is home to 

unique archeological information. 

Inset, left: Boulder with quarry scars. 

Inset, center: Native Americans used 

the soapstone quarry to make bowls. 

Inset, right: The beginning shape of a 

bowl is seen in this boulder. 

PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY OF LARISSA THOMAS. 

C h a p t e r 3 ✦ 4 9

M I C H A E L C. CA R L O S M U S E U M 

Above: More than 120,000 people visit the 

Michael C. Carlos Museum every year. 

Below: The Michael C. Carlos Museum displays 

art collected by Emory University since 1876. 

The Michael C. Carlos Museum has one of the 

largest ancient art collections in the Southeast. 

It is located on the Emory University campus 

and actually began in 1876 when the college 

was based in Oxford, Georgia. Methodist 

missionaries added Asian art in the nineteenth 

century while theology professor, William A. 

Shelton, helped strengthen the museum’s other 

displays from elsewhere around the world. 

The museum is named for benefactor and 

Atlanta businessman Michael C. Carlos. Carlos 

donated more than $20 million to create a 

permanent home for the ancient art collection 

of Emory University. It officially opened in 1985. 

More than 120,000 people a year visit the 

museum. In 1999, the Carlos Museum purchased 

an unidentified male mummy that was later 

identified as pharaoh Ramesses I. The museum 

returned the mummy to Egypt in 2003 as a gift of 

goodwill and international cultural cooperation. 

The Michael C. Carlos Museum is recognized 

for operating a teaching lab, publishing important 

scholarly catalogues and holding one of the most 

extensive collections of Near Eastern, Grecian, 

Roman, ancient American, 

African, Asian and 

ancient Egyptian 

art objects, on a 

university campus, 

in the country. 



COUNTY 

P r o f i l e s o f b u s i n e s s e s , o r g a n i z a t i o n s , 

a n d f a m i l i e s t h a t h a v e c o n t r i b u t e d 

t o t h e d e v e l o p m e n t a n d e c o n o m i c 

b a s e o f D e K a l b C o u n t y 

DeKalb Chamber of Commerce ...............................................52 

Development Authority of DeKalb County 

DeKalb County Office of Economic Development ..............54 

DeKalb Medical........................................................................58 

DeVry University......................................................................60 

PepsiCo.....................................................................................62 

The Seventh-day Adventist Church in DeKalb County ...........64 

Georgia Piedmont Technical College........................................66 

DeKalb Academy of Technology and Environment, Inc...........68 

Red Roof Inn.............................................................................69 

Epps Aviation............................................................................70 

MarChasCo 

MCCP..................................................................................71 

D e K a l b C o u n t y P a r t n e r s ✦ 5 1

DEKALB 

CHAMBER OF 

COMMERCE 

In 1938, if you visited the Decatur square 

you might meet a kindly old woman named 

Grandma Hudson. She had a job with the 

newly formed DeKalb Chamber. She handed 

out brochures from a booth. The major 

business enterprises in the county were 

dairy farms and the chamber’s full name 

recognized the entire industry by being 

incorporated as the DeKalb Chamber of 

Commerce and Agriculture. 

All of that changed in the 1950s when 

the population of DeKalb County began to 

grow rapidly. County fathers understood the 

economics of civic responsibility and knew 

more businesses needed to be based in DeKalb 

or taxes would increase as quickly as the 

population. They also knew that it took special 

skills to attract and manage new commerce; 

so they hired a professional manager in 1955. 

He made his first hire in 1956 and within 

ten years the DCOC began to be the voice 

of business and the face of local leadership 

for DeKalb. 

DeKalb’s Chamber was actually larger than 

that of Atlanta for a time. It had more than 

5,000 members and spearheaded vital 

community efforts. The DCOC educated the 

public about the need for a local hospital. 

Its efforts helped DeKalb Medical Center 

open its doors on May 1, 1961. The DCOC also 

supported DeKalb College as it began teaching 

classes under the auspices of the DeKalb 

County Board of Education. DeKalb College 

evolved into Georgia Perimeter College and is a 

part of the University of Georgia system. 

Anniversary 

Est. 1938 

The backbone of the DeKalb Chamber of 

Commerce has always been family owned businesses. 

During the middle part of the twentieth 

century that meant many family owned enterprises 

and hubs for several national banks. 

But as those companies closed or moved away, 

the DCOC made a transition. For a brief period, 

Atlanta and DeKalb Chambers pooled their 

resources. But by the mid-1990s DeKalb 

business leaders realized a local chamber would 

better serve their needs. 

Since that time, the DCOC has again 

reclaimed its place as the voice business in 

DeKalb County. Its efforts revolve around a 

dedicated, hard-working and talented staff; 

but also extend to quality leaders who have 

chaired the organization during the last few 

years. Influential DeKalb Chamber members 

such as board member Robert Brown, CEO of 

R. L. Brown & Associates are again gaining 

metro and state wide attention. Brown was 

named the most respected CEO in the state by 

Georgia Trend Magazine in 2012. In 2011, 

Chairman John Kelley of Georgia Power helped 

the chamber rebrand itself with a new logo, 

slogan and office space. The Chamber new 

office space is located at a prestigious Decatur 

address which happens to be just a few blocks 

from where the first chamber kiosk stood more 

than seventy years ago. The DeKalb Chamber 

of Commerce has always been operated by 

far-sighted individuals. Today, it also involves 

itself with the type of education and enrichment 


programs members can not find elsewhere. 

In addition, the twenty-first century version of 

the DeKalb Chamber serves as a place where 

members meet nationally known business men 

and women who can share their experiences. 

Finally, the DCOC is an advocacy group that 

is able to help members of the business and 

general community learn more about issues 

affecting all county citizens. 

The DeKalb Chamber is a mirror of the times. 

It is technically sophisticated and communicates 

regularly on several social media platforms. 

It is socially responsible and partners with 

other civic and government organizations for 

the good of the community. Above all is has 

a historical vested interest in the county that 

provides a solid bedrock of experience for all 

forms of business in DeKalb. 

✧ 

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF DAVID FISHER. 


DEVELOPMENT 

AUTHORITY OF 

DEKALB COUNTY 

DEKALB COUNTY 

OFFICE OF 

ECONOMIC 

DEVELOPMENT 

W H Y D E K A L B C O U N T Y 

I S G R E A T F O R B U S I N E S S 

The Development Authority of DeKalb County 

and the DeKalb County Office of Economic 

Development focus on recruitment, retention 

and redevelopment. Together, they work to 

attract quality jobs and investment to expand 

the tax base and support balanced growth. 

The Development Authority of DeKalb County 

was established in 1974 to promote economic 

development within DeKalb. It assists in financing 

business facilities and equipment for job 

creation and expansion. Its seven member board 

is appointed by the CEO of DeKalb County and 

approved by the board of commissioners. 

The DeKalb County Office of Economic 

Development (OED) is a division of county 

government and its staff markets DeKalb 

County as a business location to companies 

seeking to expand or relocate. Incentives and 

services offered by OED facilitate private 

investment and job creation in DeKalb. 

DeKalb has many advantages and a private 

sector and government that know how to work 

together. These are among the reasons that 

DeKalb is a great place to do business. 

DEKALB IS GLOBAL. Global entrepreneurs 

and companies seek locations offering commercial 

and quality of life benefits. All employers 

need talent, which DeKalb is uniquely qualified 

to provide. In addition to being educated, the 

population of DeKalb County is one of the most 

diverse in Georgia. 

Business leaders from international corporations 

analyze the cost of doing business and 

global rankings when they research places to 

establish, expand or relocate their companies, 

but they also factor in the quality of life 

attributes which DeKalb has in abundance. 

DeKalb provides residents with more than 124 

parks, is home to Stone Mountain and Arabia 

Mountain, has ten MARTA (Metro Atlanta Rapid 

Transit Authority) rail stations and a variety of 

art and community events throughout the year. 

DEKALB IS CONNECTED. All four major 

interstates that allow drivers to reach the entire 

twenty county Metro Atlanta region pass 

through DeKalb County. I-85, I-20 I-285, and 

I-675 make DeKalb one of the most important 

locations for road transportation in the state of 

Georgia. Two of the nation’s largest rail lines run 

through DeKalb and the county is only a four 

hour drive to Savannah, a global maritime port. 

Metro Atlanta is also among the nation’s largest 

inland ports. DeKalb is mere minutes away from 

the busiest airport in the world, Atlanta 

Hartsfield-Jackson International. But the second 

busiest airport in the state, DeKalb Peachtree, 

is located in the county. 

✧ 

DeKalb Peachtree Airport. 



R . L . B R O W N 

& A S S O C I A T E S 

“I’ve lived in DeKalb County for almost forty 

years. When I developed the business plan for 

my company, a core component revolved around 

having a location near my home. Since 1984, 

R. L. Brown & Associates has been located in 

downtown Decatur for too many reasons to list. 

However, the excellent quality of life and the 

vibrant community organizations combined with 

the numerous business opportunities make this 

an ideal location for my company. R. L. Brown & 

Associates was established to offer professional 

services in architecture, interior design, construction 

management and planning. But all 

members and employees also work with several 

non-profit volunteer groups. In addition, the 

company itself offers professional services as 

part of our efforts to give back to our community. 

R. L. Brown & Associates has clients throughout 

Metro Atlanta and Georgia. We could have 

based our headquarters anywhere, but there’s 

no other place I can think of that would have 

been as good for our business as the location 

we have in DeKalb County, Georgia.” Please visit 

www.rlbrown.com. 

E L E K T A 

Elekta has an international presence in field 

of health equipment. Its portfolio of products 

includes linear accelerators, treatment planning 

solutions, oncology information management 

software and dedicated radiosurgery and 

brachytherapy systems. Founded in 1972, 

Elekta’s oncology, neuroscience, software and 

brachytherapy business can be found on every 

continent of the globe. 

Elekta’s move to the Dunwoody, Georgia 

in DeKalb County in the fourth quarter of 

2012, was to offer better office space for 

employees and visitors with room for growth in 

a dynamic community. 

The 3,500 individuals who are part of the 

Elekta family work collaboratively to fulfill the 

company mission of improving, prolonging 

and saving the lives of people with cancer and 

brain disorders. Please visit www.elekta.com. 

✧ 

Above: Georgia Trend magazine’s 

most trusted CEO of 2012, R. L. 

Brown of R. L. Brown & Associates. 

Below: Gerry Hogue, senior vice 

president and general manager, 

Elekta, North America. 


✧ 

Above: Monica Maldonado Interprint 

president/CEO. 

Bottom, left: Executive Vice President, 

Chief Operating Officer 

Gregory Baranco. 

Bottom, right: Wade Walker Family 

YMCA opened in 2012. 

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF J AND D IMAGES. 

I N T E R P R I N T 

When we started our business thirty years 

ago we wanted a location that was centralized. 

We operate a print and design company and 

service the entire twenty county metro area. 

It was vital to locate Interprint in an area with 

easy access to I-285/1-20 and close to the heart 

of downtown Atlanta. 

We are a family owned business. So, we also 

wanted to live near our company. We needed a 

county that provided friendly access for services 

such as license renewal, car tags and utilities. 

We wanted to raise our children in a county 

where you see your tax dollars at work. We 

wanted to live in a county with a diverse 

community that represented all of us. We have 

found all of that and much more, in DeKalb 

County, Georgia. Please visit www.ok2print.com. 

M E R C E D E S - B E N Z 

O F B U C K H E A D 

Gregory and Juanita Baranco have been 

leaders in automobile sales in metro Atlanta 

for more than thirty years. Although they 

have sold cars all over the metro area to people 

in all walks of life, they have called DeKalb 

County home since 1980 and it is to DeKalb 

County that they relocated their first franchise 

in 1981. 

Greg Baranco explains “DeKalb is probably 

the region’s most diverse county which creates 

a wonderful climate for business. Schools like 

Emory University and Agnes Scott College 

provide solid educational anchors and help 

to feed successful business communities in 

North and South DeKalb. 

The Barancos are not only business owners 

but also are active in several civic organizations. 

Gregory has been a member of the DeKalb United 

Way, 100 Black Men of DeKalb and the DeKalb 

Council of the Arts. Juanita has served as assistant 

attorney general for the State of Georgia, chair of 

the DeKalb Education Task Force and a member 

of the Georgia State Board of Education. 

Their four children were raised in DeKalb are 

products of DeKalb County schools. They are 

attracted to DeKalb in large part because it is 

supportive of developing businesses and provides 

amenities that attract and retain employees. 

Greg sums it up with the following 

statement: “DeKalb is a wonderful work/ 

live community that is inclusive; full of great 

neighborhoods and good people”. Please visit 

www.mercedesofbuckhead.com. 


DEKALB IS SMART. Nearly 

ninety percent of DeKalb residents, 

older than twenty-five, 

have earned their high school 

diploma and almost forty percent 

of the county’s population 

has received an undergraduate 

degree or higher. With 64,000 

county residents enrolled in 

college, university and technical 

schools, DeKalb is full of 

smart people. These aspiring or 

returning professionals allow 

DeKalb to offer prospective and 

existing employers one of the 

most qualified and educated 

workforces in the state. 

Some of the oldest and most 

prestigious colleges in Georgia 

are located in DeKalb. Agnes 

Scott College, Emory University 

and Oglethorpe University have each educated 

students for more than a century. Columbia 

Theological Seminary, Luther Rice College, 

DeVry University, Georgia Perimeter College, 

the Decatur campus of the Art institute of 

Atlanta and Georgia Piedmont Technical College 

are among the choices DeKalb residents can 

make to further their desire for self improvement, 

or to expand their career goals. 

DEKALB IS ENTREPRENEURIAL. Harvesting 

local innovators and entrepreneurs is a priority 

for DeKalb. The State of Georgia has recognized 

DeKalb as an Entrepreneur Friendly Community 

because of its support to small and medium 

sized businesses. With sixty-five percent of 

net new jobs coming from small businesses, a 

healthy small business sector is vitally important 

to DeKalb’s economy. DeKalb’s outreach to 

small business owners includes an annual small 

business summit hosted by OED and the 

Development Authority. The summit helps 

the owners of small companies gain access to 

capital, identify public and private resources 

and network with peers. 

DeKalb was also among the inaugural 

counties in the state to receive an official 

Camera Ready Community designation. As a 

result, over thirty television series and movies 

each year are shot in the county. Warner 

Brothers, Walt Disney Productions and 

Twentieth Century Fox are among the companies 

that bring entertainment industry jobs and 

investment to DeKalb. 

DEKALB IS SUSTAINABLE. Being sustainable 

is good business for DeKalb. In 2009, DeKalb 

earned the Atlanta Regional Commission’s “Green 

Communities” designation for its efforts in 

conserving energy, water and fuel, investing in 

renewable energy, reducing waste, and protecting 

and restoring natural resources. DeKalb was 

also selected as one of twenty-five STAR Pilot 

Communities in the nation in 2012. DeKalb’s 

goal to go green is as much about innovation, 

resiliency and entrepreneurism as it is about 

environmental stewardship and smart governing. 

✧ 

The main library at Agnes Scott 

College founded in 1869. 

DeKalb has a tradition of her citizens, homegrown and newly-welcomed, 

working together to reach our greater potential. Our DNA is full 

of history and opportunity, dreamers and doers, visionaries and practitioners. 

Government, private sector, and community work together to 

create an environment that is conducive to business and job creation. 

Civic engagement is critical to the economic health of our community. 

Businesses are attracted to DeKalb because it has successful and vibrant 

communities that maintain a high level of civic engagement from citizens, 

in a wide-range of fields. Healthy ecosystems mean the difference 

between survive and perish, and thrive and subsist. DeKalb must thrive! 


DEKALB 

MEDICAL 

✧ 

Top: DeKalb Medical at Hillandale 

opened in 2005 as one of the most 

technologically advanced hospitals 

in Georgia. 

Above: The new Women’s & Surgery 

Center is located at 2701 North 

Decatur Road. 

DeKalb Medical provides accessible, quality, 

state-of-the-art medical care to DeKalb County 

residents. DeKalb Medical celebrated its fiftieth 

anniversary in 2011 and had several milestone 

events to commemorate as it simultaneously 

contributed to the financial and physical health 

of DeKalb County. 

DeKalb Medical focuses on quality. Nearly five 

percent of the more than 800 doctors who practice 

medicine at one of DeKalb Medical’s three 

locations were listed as Top Doctors by U.S. News 

magazine in 2011. Thirty-eight DeKalb Medical 

physicians, treating patients in more than twenty 

specialties, were recognized in the magazine’s 

annual “Top Doctors” edition. In addition to 

recruiting and retaining some of the best medical 

care practitioners in the area, DeKalb Medical has 

also been a trailblazer in bringing technological 

sophistication to the healthcare industry. The 

hospital’s Lithonia location, DeKalb Medical at 

Hillandale, was Georgia’s first master-planned, alldigital 

hospital. Physicians on staff at all DeKalb 

Medical hospitals have access to their patients’ lab 

results whether from their office or home. 

However, beyond offering patients a level of 

medical competency and technical advancement 

not always available elsewhere, DeKalb Medical 

strives to achieve in one key area—customer care. 

The level of care starts with the environment. 

Most patients are checked into rooms with flatscreen 

televisions and pass reception areas that 

have fireplaces. Nursing stations have granite 

countertops. Wi-Fi is available. The Hillandale 

facility has an earth-toned décor accented by 

plants. The Long Term Acute Care facility, 

located in downtown Decatur, offers details of 

comfort for the patient and the patient’s family. 

The attention to customer care continues 

with the quality of services offered by an empathetic 

and professional staff. Recipients of that 

care are best qualified to describe it. 

DeKalb Medical’s North Decatur campus 

boasts a beautiful craftsman-style Women’s and 

Surgery Center. The Dr. Bobbie Bailey Tower, 

named for a local businesswoman who has made 

significant donations to the health system, 

features private rooms and family areas, a spa-like 

décor with stone accents and wooden floors, a 

Mother & Baby Boutique and Lactation Center. 

The facility’s maternity department welcomes 

more than 5,000 babies each year and cares for 

moms-to-be with high-risk pregnancies and those 

expecting multiple births, as well as newborns 

requiring specialized care. DM’s neonatal intensive 

care unit is the second largest in Georgia. 


Patient Adrianne Leonard spent three 

weeks in the hospital before giving birth to 

her baby. “I was on bed rest so I really got 

to know the staff,” Adrianne recalled. 

“Everyone from the housekeepers and 

techs to the nurses listened, not just to my 

needs but also to my wants. I didn’t feel 

like they were just doing their job, it 

seemed more like a calling for them. They 

even had a lactation consultant in the 

recovery area to help me with breastfeeding 

because they knew that was important 

to me. The facility is really nice, but to me 

it’s all about the service and how I am treated.” 

DeKalb Medical’s Women’s and Surgery Center 

offers facilities other area hospitals do not have. 

There is a comprehensive array of obstetrics, 

gynecological and maternity services, with an 

emphasis on family-centered maternity care. 

There are eighteen private Labor-Delivery- 

Recovery (LDR) suites, which give expectant 

mothers the convenience and comfort of staying 

in the same room before, during and after delivery. 

There are also fifty-two private, postpartum 

Mother-Baby rooms with free high-speed Internet 

access, private bathrooms and window seat 

couches roomy enough for dads to sleep over. 

The type of care shown to new moms 

also extends to those receiving orthopedic, 

oncology, cardiac and long-term treatment. 

In 2011, DeKalb Medical ranked nationally in 

the top five percent among hospitals providing 

orthopedic services. The ranking was given by 

HealthGrades ® , an online independent ranking 

and rating service used by more than 

200,000,000 consumers. The ranking was reinforced 

in 2012 when DM was named as one of 

the top ten hospitals in Georgia for providing 

overall orthopedics and spine surgery. The hospital 

has the only knee and hip replacement 

program of its kind in Atlanta. 

The hospital’s quality of care has received 

other recent accolades which include: 

• Five-Star rating in Treatment of Heart Failure 

by HealthGrades ® , (2012); 

• Five-Star rating in Peripheral Vascular Bypass 

Surgery by HealthGrades ® , (2012); 

• Five-Star rating in Overall Orthopedic 

Services by HealthGrades ® , (2010-2012); 

• Five-Star rating in Total Knee Replacement 

by HealthGrades ® , (2010-2011); 

• Five-Star rating in Hip Fracture Treatment by 

HealthGrades ® , (2009-2012); 

• Blue Cross Blue Shield Blue Distinction 

Center for Bariatric Surgery (2007-2012); and 

• Outstanding Achievement Award from the 

Commission on Cancer (2007-2010). 

The 627-bed, three location system that is 

DeKalb Medical combines cutting-edge technology 

with compassion to effectively diagnose and 

treat patients. Those who work with and for 

DeKalb Medical use the phrase “pushing beyond” 

to describe their daily endeavor to provide an 

exceptional level of service that will result in 

patient satisfaction and healthcare quality. 

DeKalb Medical does more than treat 

patients. It makes the quality of life in DeKalb 

County superior to that of many other places in 

metro Atlanta. It has done so since 1961 and for 

that reason is among the gems that make 

DeKalb County a good place to live and work. 

✧ 

Above: The Long Term Acute Care 

facility, located in downtown Decatur. 

Below: Craftsman-style interiors with 

special textures, colors and details 

are blended together to provide an 

environment that is calming to 

patients as well as visitors. 


DEVRY 

UNIVERSITY 

DeVry University has a strong and established 

national reputation for helping students 

earn advanced degrees. At the campus in 

Decatur, Georgia, the faculty and staff also 

see themselves as people who help others 

launch dreams. Admittedly, those dreams 

require commitment and self-motivation 

to attain, and DeVry University encourages 

students to see options that can improve 

their lives. 

DeVry University understands a basic educational 

concept. It is not always easy to succeed 

in reaching educational or career goals. It takes 

a great deal of work, energy, and dedication. 

For more than eighty years, DeVry University 

has helped its students achieve their career 

goals by providing degree programs employers 

want. DeVry University is unique among 

traditional institutions of higher education, 

because it allows students to start studies in 

one location and complete courses at more 

than ninety-five locations across the country, 

or even doing so online. 

DeVry University first opened its doors in 

Atlanta in 1969. There are now seven locations 

in metro Atlanta: Alpharetta, Buckhead, Cobb- 

Galleria, Perimeter, Duluth and Stockbridge, 

in addition to the flagship DeKalb County 

campus in Decatur. At the Decatur campus, 

DeVry University offers degree programs in five 

colleges of study, including: 

• College of Business & Management, 

• College of Engineering & Information Sciences, 

• College of Health Sciences, 

• College of Liberal Arts & Sciences and 

• College of Media Arts & Technology. 


Students at the campus can earn associate 

and bachelor’s degrees or complete a master’s 

degree program from DeVry University’s Keller 

Graduate School of Management. 

The five colleges are focused on today’s 

more relevant areas of study and specializations 

covering thirty-four different career fields. The 

Keller Graduate School of Management offers 

eight graduate degree programs, including a 

new Master of Science in Accounting program. 

The MBA program offers sixteen distinct areas 

of concentration. DeVry University offers a 

complete educational package designed to help 

adult learners take the next step towards their 

career goals. 

DeVry University Metro engages students 

to help them get the most out of their 

educational experience. In fact, the university 

has a regional website devoted to those 

attending Georgia campuses. Anyone who 

wants to learn more about the experiences 

available at the Atlanta-area locations can visit 

www.atl.devry.edu. 

The benefits, support and educational 

opportunities DeVry University uniquely 

provides are summed up by this paragraph, 

written by DeVry University’s Atlanta metro 

president, Christopher Chavez. 

“Earning a degree requires a significant commitment 

of focus and resources that are not 

always easy to achieve. We understand there are 

many times you will need to reach out. You are 

not alone. Please be assured we stand ready to 

work with you and guide you on your pathway 

to success.” 

DeVry University is not just a university 

in DeKalb County, Georgia. It is an opportunity. 

The faculty, staff and administration at the 

Decatur campus devote themselves toward 

helping students achieve their educational goals 

through gaining a level of achievement that 

will matter in their lives now and in the future. 


PEPSICO 

The PepsiCo family of products has a long 

history in DeKalb County, Georgia and together 

the metro Atlanta location and the internationally 

known company helped to create the 

popularity of one of the most recognized snack 

foods in the world. 

Few people know that before Herman W. Lay 

started his potato chip company in Nashville, 

Tennessee, he worked as a sales representative 

for Barrett Foods in Atlanta, Georgia. Lay made 

deliveries for Barrett out of his Model A car. He 

was a good salesperson and one of his most popular 

items was the Barrett brand of potato chips. 

Lay worked completely on commissions and did 

so well that he purchased Barrett Foods and then 

established Lay’s Brand Potato Crisps in 1938. 

Frito-Lay built a manufacturing plant in 

Chamblee that employed thousands of people 

for years. 

It closed in 1999, thirty-four years after the 

potato chip and soft drink companies combined to 

become the international corporation known as 

PepsiCo. Approximately, 285,000 are employed 

by PepsiCo around the world. The DeKalb plant, 

built in 2006, is located in Stone Mountain and 

employs more than 275 people. It continues the 

legacy of community involvement started by its 

two core companies nearly eighty years ago. 

PepsiCo has become more diversified and 

greener since it first became part of the DeKalb 

County commercial landscape. For example, in 

March 2011, PepsiCo began testing the world’s 

first plant-based bottle. It is made from switch 

grass, corn husks, and pine bark, and is 100 

percent recyclable. 

The PepsiCo also found ways to reward local 

entrepreneurs for their community efforts through 

the Pepsi Refresh Project. The project started in 

January 2010 and allowed web watchers to vote 

on projects for nonprofit groups, which individuals 

and companies wanted to initiate. The PRP goal 

was to award $20 million to deserving projects. Up 

to thirty-two ideas were selected every month in 

grant segments of $5K; $25K; $50K; and $250K. 

Individuals, nonprofits, and socially beneficial 

businesses were eligible to compete in all categories. 

In response to the Deepwater Horizon oil 

spill, on July 12, 2010 a special competition was 

announced within the PRP. It was called “Do Good 

for the Gulf.” An additional $1.3 million was committed 

to projects for communities in Alabama, 

Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas, which 

were adversely affected by the disaster. 

Lithonia resident Cori Fowler submitted 

ideas that earned two $50,000 grants from the 

Pepsi Refresh Project. 

“One was to cover the oil spill after the BP 

accident and the other was to teach high school 

students media, what we do,” she explained. 

“It was a great experience. Pepsi had a great 

team to help us get our paperwork through 

and they provided us with any resources that 

we needed, which included media coverage in 

a local area and things of that nature.” 

The PepsiCo family of products continues to 

evolve. As of 2012, more than eighteen percent 

of the corporation’s revenue, $10 billion, was 

generated by “good-for-you” products such as 

Quaker Oats and Tropicana juices. 

DeKalb residents should also know the level of 

commitment each PepsiCo facility dedicates to 

local community viability. The company encourages 

three platforms in every area it is located. 

Those platforms are: human sustainability, environmental 

sustainability and talent sustainability. 


The parent company also has created programs 

to develop affordable and nutritionally 

relevant products to underserved and lower 

income communities. But PepsiCo has also 

developed international market objectives 

that encourage consumers to make informed 

choices and live healthier lives. As a result 

Pepsi products made in DeKalb follow the 

company’s standard of displaying calorie 

counts and key nutrients; but exceed industry 

guidelines by moving to eliminate the direct 

sale of full-sugar soft drinks to primary and 

secondary schools all over the world by the 

end of 2012. 

PepsiCo earned a ranking as one of the top 

ten most reputable companies in the United 

States from Forbes and the Reputation Institute. 

RI is a consumer driven ranking system. It evaluates 

companies across seven key reputation 

drivers: product/services; innovation; workplace; 

governance; citizenship; leadership; 

and performance. The results are based on 

comments and answers provided by more than 

10,000 U.S. consumers. 

PepsiCo remains committed to the communities 

that provide its consumers. The vision of 

the company can be summed up by its talent 

acquisition statement: 

At PepsiCo, we promise to invest in our 

people to help them succeed and develop the 

skills needed to drive the company’s growth 

while creating employment opportunities in the 

communities we serve. 

We are seeking to create new jobs filled with 

people from the local communities where we 

operate and developing the next generation of 

leaders from within our organization. 

We are supporting our people with benefits 

and the flexibility to live healthier lives. 

PepsiCo is good for DeKalb County, Georgia. 

It provides jobs. It creates products that promote 

environmental and health sustainability 

and it is showcases how international product 

powerhouses can find a home for their facilities, 

and people, in one of the most diverse and 

well educated counties in Georgia. 


THE SEVENTH-DAY 

ADVENTIST 

CHURCH IN 

DEKALB COUNTY 

✧ 

Above: Southern Union officers, 

Ron C. Smith, D.Min., Ph.D., 

president (second from left); 

Jim Davidson, executive secretary; 

Randy Robinson, treasurer; and 

Dennis Millburn, under-treasurer. 

The Southern Union headquarters 

have been in DeKalb County 

since 1934. 

Below: Atlanta North Church in 

Dunwoody was the site of a rally 

where members of several churches in 

greater Atlanta met to pray and plan 

together in a lay evangelism effort of 

community involvement, personal 

witness, and city outreach. 

The Seventh-day Adventist Church in DeKalb 

County and Greater Atlanta is 250,000 plus 

members strong 

The Southern Union Conference is a very 

established, large, and community-oriented 

division of the North American Division of the 

World Church of Seventh-day Adventists. Eight 

southeastern states form the Southern Union. 

They encompass more than 258,000 church 

members and a multi-disciplinary organization 

of ministries and institutions including: 

• 1,047 churches 

• 186 elementary schools 

• 16 academies 

• 3 universities 

• 47 hospital campuses 

• 9 summer camp programs 

• 9 radio stations 

• 8 conferences 

• nearly 100 early childhood centers 

Today there are more than eighty Adventist 

congregations in the Atlanta area. They are part 

of the family of more than 1,000 churches in 

the Union. Those located in DeKalb County are: 

• Atlanta Belvedere 

• Atlanta First Hispanic 

• Atlanta Ghanaian 

• Atlanta International 

• Atlanta Nigerian 

• Atlanta North 

• Chamblee Hispanic 

• Decatur 

• Decatur Mountainside 

• Dunwoody Hispanic 

• East Hispanic 

• Emmanuel 

• First Lithonia 

• Greater Atlanta Company 

• New Life 

• North Atlanta Hispanic 

• Stone Mountain 

The Southern Union Conference of the Seventhday 

Adventist Church was organized April 9, 1901. 

The headquarters started in Nashville, Tennessee, 

to oversee the work in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, 

Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, 

South Carolina, and Tennessee. The first president 

was Robert M. Kilgore who had overseen the 

General District #2. General District #2 preceded 

the formation of the Southern Union from 

1889 until the turn of the last century. Under 

the previous system, headquarters provided 

guidance from Graysville, Tennessee. 

January 12, 1908, the Union was divided into 

the Southern Union and Southeastern Union. The 

new Southeastern Union covered the states of 

Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, 

and east Tennessee. In 1932, the Southern and 


Southeastern unions merged as a means of 

reducing expenses during the Great Depression. 

The reorganized Southern Union held offices 

in Collegedale, Tennessee, from 1932 to 1934 

when the headquarters was moved to DeKalb 

County. The first office was at 427 E. Ponce de 

Leon, Decatur, Georgia. Since 1964 it has been 

located at 3978 Memorial Drive, Decatur. 

In 1876, the first Adventist worker, Charles 

O. Taylor, entered Georgia. A decade later, a 

tent revival was held in the Atlanta area. The 

meetings were well attended, and several 

individuals embraced the Adventist message. 

Because of the growing work, Charles H. Bliss 

requested that a church be organized in 

Atlanta. In 1887, Bliss arrived in Atlanta with 

several other church missionaries, including 

George Anglebarger (head of city mission) and 

Charles Curtis (head of canvassing work). 

Between the years 1912 and 1918, a minister 

by the name of Carlyle B. Haynes engaged himself 

in large-scale evangelism in Atlanta. Atlanta First 

Church, then predominantly white, is thought to 

have been established in the 1920s. It eventually 

became Kirkwood Church on Howard Street; 

and then in the late 1960s moved again to the 

current Atlanta Belvedere Church, which is now 

an internationally diverse congregation of 723 

members at 3567 Covington Highway in Decatur. 

Miss M. M. Osborne was sent to Atlanta to 

work among African-Americans in 1896. 

However, it was Melvin C. Sturdevant who, with 

his wife, opened a school in 1900. By 1902 

they had organized a congregation with 

twenty believers but did not have a church. 

W. H. Sebastian, an African-American minister 

came in 1907, and by 1909 they purchased a building 

on Greensferry Avenue which was dedicated 

in February 1909. The Atlanta-Berean Church 

currently has a membership of more than 3,800. 

Education has been a priority for Adventists 

in Atlanta from when Sturdevant and his wife 

opened a school in 1900; that school is now 

Greater Atlanta Adventist Academy. There are 

eleven academies and elementary schools 

in the greater Atlanta area, and three schools 

in DeKalb County. 

The schools located in DeKalb County: 

• Atlanta North Seventh-day Adventist School 

• Decatur Adventist Junior Academy 

• Lithonia Adventist Academy 

The old Atlanta Sanitarium, founded in the 

early 1900s on Memorial Drive, was the pre-cursor 

in a mission to bring health and healing to 

our neighbors. Today Emory-Adventist Hospital 

of Atlanta is one of more than 150 Adventist 

hospitals in the United States, and 47 hospital 

campuses in the Southern Union. It is operated 

by Adventist Health System (AHS) as a joint 

enterprise with Emory Healthcare. “Extending 

the Healing Ministry of Christ” is a special 

mission that drives employees to provide 

wholistic patient care at the highest of standards. 

The Adventist Book Center (ABC) was established 

in Decatur in March of 1966. The ABC 

provides a large selection of vegetarian health 

foods and vitamins, as well as Bibles in various 

translations, recorded music, videos, greeting 

cards, Bible games, printed music, Sabbath 

School and Vacation Bible School materials, 

textbooks for schools, and gift items. These 

items help to provide customers with spiritual, 

mental, and physical growth in Christ. 

The mission of the Seventh-day Adventist 

Church is to proclaim to all people the everlasting 

Gospel in the context of the Three Angels’ 

Messages of Revelation 14:6-12. Jesus Christ 

compels us to lead others to accept Him as their 

personal Savior and to unite with His Church; 

and then to nurture them in preparation for His 

soon return. This is at the heart of the Southern 

Union’s mission, and is accomplished through 

preaching, teaching, and healing ministries. 

The Southern Union is located at 3978 

Memorial Drive, Decatur, or call 404-299-1832. 

✧ 

Above: Emory-Adventist Hospital 

promotes healing in a caring, 

compassionate Christian environment. 


GEORGIA 

PIEDMONT 

TECHNICAL 

COLLEGE 

✧ 

Above: The Georgia Piedmont 

Technical College entrance when it 

was DeKalb Area Technical School 

in 1961. 

Opposite, top: The entrance to the 

Georgia Piedmont Technical College 

DeKalb Campus in 2013. 

Opposite, bottom: The typical Georgia 

Piedmont Technical College student in 

2013 is most likely to be a woman 

and between the ages of 26 and 35 

like accounting degree student, 

Carlis Smoot. Sixty percent of Georgia 

Piedmont Technical College students 

are female and forty percent are male. 

There are three key facts that make Georgia 

Piedmont Technical College (GPTC) [formerly 

DeKalb Technical College] a powerhouse 

among educational institutions in Georgia and 

DeKalb County. First, nearly 25,000 students 

enroll in classes there each year. Second, its 

primary mission is to prepare graduates 

with the skills and training needed today by 

business and industry, enabling them to be 

“productive” employees immediately. Third, 

almost ninety-nine percent of its graduates 

secure jobs or continue 

their education at a four-year 

institution. More than seventy 

percent of graduates find 

positions in their field of 

study or a related field, even 

during tough economic times. 

Those impressive numbers 

are not the only significant 

facts about Georgia 

Piedmont Technical College. 

Its history is tied closely to 

the development of DeKalb 

County. In 2011, GPTC celebrated 

its fifty year anniversary 

and a review of the 

college’s milestones often 

shows its expansion coincided 

with specific areas of 

growth within the county. 

Georgia Piedmont Technical College has had 

several changes to its name. In 1961 it began 

as the DeKalb Area Vocational School and 

operated as a division of the DeKalb County 

Public School System. Even then, though, it 

served four counties in additional to DeKalb, 

which were Rockdale, Newton, Gwinnett and 

Walton. When founded, the college did not 

have a college president. Instead, from 1961 

through 1979, the college had four directors: 

Paul Lowery, James Clark, Travis Weatherly and 

Dr. Barry Mellinger. These men were far-sighted 

leaders and dedicated administrators who 

understood that education is the engine of 

commerce. They developed policies, expanded 

facilities and responded to students’ needs in 

a manner that quickly established GPTC as 

something more than a local training school. 

The college’s first classes were in the field 

of electronics with an enrollment of eighteen 

students and taught in a building located at 

3071 East Ponce de Leon in Scottdale, Georgia. 

Two years later, the DeKalb Campus had an 

110,000 square foot facility on North Indian 

Creek Drive in Clarkston, offered fourteen 

programs and had more than 1,300 students 

enrolled. In 1970 it received accreditation from 

the Southern Association of Colleges and 

Schools and, later in the decade, was renamed 

DeKalb Community College. In 1986 it was 

renamed DeKalb Technical Institute, and the 

next year, a nonprofit foundation was created to 

help promote technical education and to secure 

resources for student scholarships, program 

enhancements, and supporting the strategic 

initiatives of the college. 

In the 1990s the college blossomed with 

programs and students. By 1993 the DeKalb 

Campus had four buildings with 170,000 

square feet of floor space. When the Summer 

Olympics came to Atlanta, Georgia in 1996, 

GPTC was transitioning away from DeKalb 

County governance and joining the state’s 

technical educational system, comprised of 

thirty-four other technical institutions. While 

other institutions worried about a Y2K virus 

in 2000, GPTC began offering virtual seating to 

students who wanted to earn technical degrees. 

That was also the year that the institution had 

a fourth name change and became known as 

DeKalb Technical College. 

In 2004, DeKalb Tech was listed as the fifth 

fastest growing community college in the 

country by Community College Week magazine. 

However, there was a period of mourning when 

the college’s first president, Dr. Paul M. Starnes 

died in office that June. Dr. Robin Hoffman 

became the college’s second president. 

In April 2011, the State Board of Directors of 

the Technical College System of Georgia (TCSG) 

approved DeKalb Technical College’s request to 

change its name to one that would be more inclusive 

of the full region that it serves. The college 

officially became known as Georgia Piedmont 

Technical College, making 2011 a year of several 

major changes: the college celebrated its new identifier, 

changed from a quarter to semester system, 

and had its second President, Dr. Hoffman retire. 

She had worked with the college since 1986. 

Educator, author, entrepreneur, and former 

chief-of-staff for the CEO of DeKalb County, 


Dr. Jabari Simama, took the helm of the college 

as its third president in September 2012. In 

his welcome statement on the college’s website, 

Dr. Simama wrote, “At GPTC, we are studentcentered 

and believe that our graduates will 

not only make significant contributions to their 

chosen professions, but also to their communities 

and society as a whole. We believe that 

technical and higher education are the means 

by which our students access the American 

Dream in our global economy.” 

A global perspective is important 

to the decision-makers at Georgia 

Piedmont Technical College because 

their students reflect the diversity 

that is today’s DeKalb County. In the 

1960s the majority of the students 

were male, young and mostly likely 

to be white. In 2012, older students 

who have already earned degrees 

are returning to school to learn new 

skills, and a slightly greater number 

of women than men attend classes. 

Additionally, diversity is reflected in 

the fact that within a two mile radius 

of GPTC’s DeKalb Campus, more 

than seventy different languages are 

spoken by local residents. 

Georgia Piedmont Technical College 

is an educational jewel in the DeKalb 

County landscape. 

It may have started by offering one program 

to eighteen students back in 1961, but it currently 

offers more than 125 different programs 

and has eight locations throughout DeKalb, 

Rockdale, Newton, and Morgan counties. 

Georgia Piedmont Technical College inspires 

minds, invests in dreams, and creates new 

realities…one individual at a time. 

To learn more about the college and its 

amazing history, visit www.GPTC.edu. 


DEKALB ACADEMY OF TECHNOLOGY 

AND ENVIRONMENT, INC. 

The school’s slogan is Learning with 

Relationships, Relevance and Rigor, which 

students and teachers achieve daily. Young 

people accomplish the three “R’s” referenced in 

that phrase through very vigorous and innovative 

assignments. The goal is to motivate them 

to become globally competitive in their studies. 

✧ 

Left: D. A. T. E. gets students to 

understand the principals of science 

from theory to practice. 

Right: Students at D. A. T. E. develop 

science skills from the ground up. 

Education is one of the most important 

factors families consider when choosing a 

place to live, work, and raise their children. 

The DeKalb Academy of Technology and 

Environment provides one of the premier 

kindergarten through eighth grade environments 

in the state. It is simultaneously, one 

of the reasons hundreds of parents across 

the county compete for the limited number 

of seats available at this school, via a lottery 

system, each year. 

The DeKalb Academy of Technology and 

Environment, often called D. A. T. E., offers one 

of the most inspired and results-based school 

formats in the county. Those best qualified to 

explain why the school works so well are parents. 

Since parents founded the school in 2005, 

several magazines have named it as one of the 

best charter schools in Georgia. The children 

who attend kindergarten through eighth grades 

achieve some of the highest test scores in 

DeKalb County and are among schools that 

earn the highest math and science scores in 

the state. Students at D. A. T. E. have exceeded 

state standards by eighty-eight percent and 

local standards by ninety-nine percent (2011) 

in subject areas and grade levels of the 

administration of Georgia Criterion Referenced 

Tests (GCRT). 

Children at D. A. T. E. get an education by 

doing rather than sitting and hearing. The 

master gardening program, even the act of 

raising chickens, gives children an ability to 

interact with science and math in ways that 

most school settings are unable to approach. 

D. A. T. E. has forty-eight teachers and 

seventy-one percent of them have advanced 

degrees. All appreciate the unique ability 

the school’s teaching environment offers to 

engage students. 

All children of DeKalb County residents 

are eligible to attend the DeKalb Academy of 

Technology and Environment. However, the final 

selection is made by lottery at the beginning of 

each year. D. A. T. E. has an operating budget of 

approximately $4 million. The majority of its 

funds come from county government; although 

the school has its own bond rating and has 

started applying for grants. The funds will be 

used to continue the tradition of excellence 

D. A. T. E. has established and expand the school’s 

campus with enhanced physical education 

facilities and additional science labs. 

D. A. T. E. is definitely one of the good 

things about living in DeKalb County. Its 

accomplishments and the potential to earn even 

larger accolades in the future are dwarfed by 

the fact that students at this school develop 

learning skills they can apply to every aspect 

of their lives for years to come. 


RED ROOF INN 

For a road weary traveler, nothing is nicer 

than checking into a clean hotel room with a 

comfortable bed, and a friendly staff. Those are 

exactly the amenities patrons of the Red Roof 

Inn of Lithonia will find each and every time 

they visit. 

Kamini Patel is the proprietor at the facility. 

She says anyone who stays in one of her hotel 

rooms should anticipate receiving an exceptional 

level of customer service because that is what 

she demands from herself, her staff and her 

facility. She has delivered on that expectation 

so consistently that the corporate offices of 

Red Roof Inn made Patel a faculty member on 

the company advisory board in 2008. It is a 

position, which runs in two year terms, she 

has held until 2011. That year, she made the 

decision to end her term so she could spend 

more time concentrating on her business. 

The Red Roof Inn of Lithonia’s track record of 

excellence started when Patel became the hotel’s 

owner in 2007. She began the improvement 

campaign by making a special request to 

corporate headquarters. The Red Roof Inn chain 

categorizes itself as a place to stay for the 

budget minded. However, Patel wanted her 

hotel to have a higher profile. She requested and 

received permission to bolster room rates by 

$20 in all categories. Instead of charging 

$39/$49/$59, rates at the Lithonia Red Roof Inn 

start at $59 and top out at $79. As a result, 

the location now attracts a completely different, 

and more corporate, level of clientele. 

Patel developed a slogan 

to match the other 

upgrades she made to 

her franchise. She says 

she offers the best customer 

service available 

and backs that slogan 

with staff members who 

deliver on the promise. 

The customer oriented 

approach has paid off. 

The location has made 

a significant profit and 

has earned the Badge of 

Honor from its parent 

corporation. The medal 

is a form of recognition 

given to hoteliers in the 

chain that maintain standards 

of cleanliness and 

customer care exceeding 

industry standards. 

Patel wants anyone 

who needs hotel services in Lithonia, Georgia, 

to understand two basic facts about her Red 

Roof Inn franchise. She wants everyone to 

know that she and her staff place a very high 

value on customer service. She also wants customers 

and fellow DeKalb business owners to 

know that her intention is to continue building 

on the reputation she has already established 

for providing quality lodging and improve 

upon that reputation in every way possible. 

✧ 

Above: Kamini Patel is the proprietor. 


EPPS AVIATION 

✧ 

Clockwise, starting from above: 

Epps received the Harrison Ford 

Aviation Legacy Award at the Eighth 

Annual Living Legends of Aviation 

Awards event in Beverly Hills, 

California. Epps is also honored as an 

inductee into the Georgia Aviation 

Hall of Fame in April 2011. 

Epps led an eleven year quest to 

recover the Lost Squadron. In 1992, 

he succeeded in retrieving a WWII 

Lockheed P-38 Lightning buried 

beneath 265 feet of the Greenland ice 

cap. In June 1994, Epps piloted a 

friend’s DC-3 to France. As he flew 

over Normandy, veteran War World II 

paratroopers jumped to commemorate 

the fiftieth anniversary of 

D-Day landings. 

Epps Aviation has had one motto: You take care 

of your business…we’ll take care of your aircraft. 

The slogan sums up a level of service founded 

on an unparalleled legacy in the aviation 

industry. Epps Aviation provides its customers 

with experience, professionalism and attention 

to detail that is exceptional. Founder Pat Epps 

established his company, along with some of 

his brothers, in 1965. However, his entire life 

is rooted in the growth of the flight industry. 

That is because he had an early, and unique, start. 

Ben Epps, Pat’s father, was the first pilot in 

the state of Georgia. The senior Epps also built 

most of the planes he flew. He instilled his love 

for flying into his children. All six of Ben’s sons 

flew; so did two of his three daughters. The 

family connection even extended to Pat’s first 

flight lessons. He was the youngest son in the 

family and an older brother taught him to fly. 

When Pat joined the Air Force he became the 

fifth Epps brother who became a military pilot. 

All members of the family also learned the 

mechanics of what it takes to keep planes in 

the air. As a result, when Pat established his 

business at DeKalb Peachtree Airport, usually 

called PDK, he set out to build a company 

based on the sound business practices and good 

family values he had always known. 

What he wanted to achieve has worked. Epps 

Aviation has continuously held one of the best 

reputations for aviation repair, aircraft maintenance 

and charter flights in the industry. In 

addition to having an outstanding legacy; Epps 

Aviation and its 150 employees, has a stellar 

track record that is based, in part, on the life 

and professional expertise of Pat Epps. 

His peers in the industry have recognized Pat’s 

contributions to the aviation industry by honoring 

him with a variety of prestigious awards. One 

of those accolades brought him face-to-face with 

a movie star. In January 2011, Epps received the 

Harrison Ford Aviation Legacy Award at the 

Eighth Annual Living Legends of Aviation 

Awards event in Beverly Hills; California. Epps 

was also honored as an inductee into the 

Georgia Aviation Hall of Fame in April that year. 

Those honors are secondary to the reason 

Epps Aviation exists. The company did not start 

to win trophies. It started to provide solid repair 

service to small aircraft. It started to provide 

experienced, dependable pilots and planes for 

charter flights. But most of all it started to 

continue the legacy of a family that has flying in 

their blood. Epps Aviation showcases the best of 

the flight industry through the company the 

Epps family has built. 

Founder Pat Epps has more than 

10,000 flying hours as a commercial 

pilot with type ratings in North 

American B-25 Mitchell, Douglas 

DC-3, Learjet, and Cessna Citation. 


MarChasCo, also known as MCCP, provides 

three core services. The company produces 

superior video and audio broadcast products 

and individual staff members are excellent 

professional speech writers. More than ninetytwo 

percent of MarChasCo’s clients reuse the 

company’s services, or have given recommendations 

about the company, because MCCP 

staff members and consultants take the time to 

customize all company products. 

MCCP tells clients that video is the new 

universal language of the twenty-first century. 

“Those who know the rules of good video 

production can use them to tell stories more 

effectively,” Marti Covington explains. Marti is 

the” Mar” in MarChasCo and serves clients as the 

company’s field producer, senior writer and script 

producer. “Anyone can point and shoot a camera. 

But video is defined by what happens after 

the cameras stop rolling. When video is done 

correctly, the viewer has an emotional response 

to what he or she sees,” MCCP’s co founder said. 

However, different rules apply to radio or 

audio products. 

“Radio is theatre of the mind. Good audio 

creates sounds allowing the person listening, to 

participate,” Marti explains. This means when 

clients contract MCCP for commercial radio 

campaigns, Marti and her team can build an 

original story line, write the script, cast the 

characters and produce the spots. MCCP also 

does media buys. 

The skill MarChasCo offers, that many other 

media production companies can’t duplicate, is 

speech writing. 

“A majority of our staff and consultants 

have worked in big city television news rooms. 

We understand the importance of meeting 

deadlines and have spent our careers writing 

words that sound natural to the people speaking 

them,” Marti explains. “You can tell when a 

good speech writer is involved. It’s the 

difference between a seamless program and 

presentation or sitting in the audience and 

watching something that’s just a little bit off.” 

MarChasCo provides the added service of 

prepping speech clients in person or over 

the phone. This gives the person doing the 

presentation a chance to become familiar with 

the written content and how the words and 

phrases sound when spoken out loud. 

MCCP also provides segment and project 

producing services. Marti wrote all the copy for 

The Faces & Places of DeKalb County, Georgia, 

and all of the client profiles. She has also 

produced documentaries and earned a regional 

Emmy for segment producing from WTBS. The 

photographer for the aerials and post production 

came from the “Chas” portion of the MCCP 

brand, C. Covington. 

MarChasCo Productions is unique because 

its personnel and support staff value the traits 

of reliability and customer service in addition 

to bringing a superior level of experience to 

each project they’re hired to do. 

If you would like to learn more about 

MCCP please visit the company website at 

www.marchasco.com or see examples of work 

they’ve done for clients with all budget levels 

at http://www.youtube.com/marchasco. 

MARCHASCO 

MCCP 


About the Photographer 

D W A Y N E 

S U L L I V A N 

The DeKalb Chamber has enlisted the photography skills of Dwayne Sullivan to 

capture the wide range of diversity that is represented among the cities, communities, 

work spaces, historical sites and educational halls of DeKalb County, Georgia. 

Dwayne brings unique skills to the art of taking pictures. His perspective on 

photography and composition is aided by having more than twenty years of work 

experience as a computer programmer for a major telecommunications company. 

In addition, he is building the credits necessary with PPA, Professional Photographers 

of America, to become both a certified and master photographer. 

Dwayne has earned his living composing photographs since 2002. But he actually started 

his photography career long before that. In fact, he says he had been taking pictures for 

free for several years until he received so many requests for his services that portrait and group photography became a profitable hobby. 

His entire focus changed when a professional organization, where he was a member, once hired someone to take group shots. 

The man used a Polaroid. Dwayne said it disgusted him that someone would charge money for poor quality work. So, the next year, 

he took the gig himself and began building his new career. 

Dwayne Sullivan Photography stakes its reputation on providing quality service and creative products. When working with 

people Dwayne explains that he has created a phrase, directive positioning, to describe his style of posing people naturally. 

His company’s slogan, Life’s a Style...Capture It! also describes his approach toward making sure his photographs tell the story of 

the moment. He understands that the only way to accomplish that goal is to stay current with the types of software, cameras 

and lighting techniques only premiere digital image artists use to make their photos memorable. 

His work has received accolades from several community organizations. In 1995, The Alliance of Black Telecommunications 

Employees, Inc., acknowledged his work; as did the A. P. Randolph Elementary P.T.A. in 1999-2000. Dwayne was given an 

appreciation award for community service photography. Dwayne Sullivan prides himself on the fact that he has a satisfaction rate 

of more than ninety-eight percent among his clients. While the bulk of his work experience has been built around taking pictures 

of people, he is excited about the opportunities the 2013 DeKalb tabletop book will give him to record images of architecture, 

spontaneous events, workplace environments and nature. Visit Dwayne’s website at www.dwaynesullivanphotography.com. 

About the Author 

M A R T I 

C . C O V I N G T O N 

The person who penned the prose for The Many Faces & Places of DeKalb County, 

Georgia, considers communicating with visuals and sound as her strongest talents. 

Writer Marti C. Covington is also president of MarChasCo Productions LLC. MCCP 

builds broadcast (video/audio) products for non-profit organizations, individuals and 

companies. Delta Air Lines, the Atlanta Business League and the DeKalb Chamber of 

Commerce are among the company’s repeat clients. 

Marti earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Missouri-Columbia 

and received a regional Emmy for segment producing work while freelancing at WTBS. 

She has written the speeches read by DeKalb Chamber presenters for the last three 

years at the organization’s annual dinner and her company also produces edited audio 

versions of the DCOC’s well attended First Monday Lunch series. 

The Atlanta area has been Marti’s home for more than twenty years although she says she will always sound like someone from 

the Midwest. For more information about Marti Covington and her company MarChasCo Productions LLC, visit the company’s 

website at www.marchasco.com or see videos at www.youtube.com/marchasco. 


$39.95 

Left and above: 

Candler Park Fallfest. 

PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY OF DWAYNE SULLIVAN. 

Anniversary 

LEADERSHIP 

SPONSOR 

Est. 1938

The Places & Faces of DeKalb County

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