Decatur, Georgia

Decatur is a city in Dekalb County, just 6 miles east Of Atlanta. There are roughly 20,000 people living there, although it is assumed to be larger because multiple zip codes in unincorporated Dekalb claim to be in Decatur.  The entire county has rougly 800,000 people, including all the cites and not just Decatur. It was founded in 1823 at the intersection of two Native American trails: the Sandtown which led east from the Chattahoochee River at Utoy Creek and the Shallowford which follows today's Clairmont Road and eventually crossed near Roswell, Georgia. The town was named for naval hero Stephen Decatur. Decatur is considered a suburb of Atlanta. However, In the 1830s, the Western and Atlantic Railroad wanted to make Decatur the southernmost stop on its railroad. Decatur did not want the noise and growth and rejected the proposal. The railroad decided to put the terminal west of the town, thus creating Atlanta. In the 1960's and 1970's, middle class whites left moved to other suburbs causing a significant drop in property values. However, in the last 20 years, revitalization efforts have made the city a coveted place to live. The city is known for being progressive, especially with it's large and influential LGBT community. It's home to well-known educational centers such as Agnes Scott College, Art Institute of Atlanta, Columbia Theological Seminary, Devry University, and Emory University that is unincorporated Dekalb.