Decatur’s history is
mostly unwritten
The public archives hold just one old photo of Decatur. The rest are in attics, shoeboxes and the historical society. Help start the collection.
The story
from WikipediaRead it all ↗Prior to European settlement, the Decatur area was largely forested (a remnant of old-growth forest near Decatur is preserved as Fernbank Forest). Decatur was established 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. A site for the DeKalb County courthouse was designated in 1822 in what would become downtown Decatur; the city of Decatur was incorporated on December 10, 1823. It was named for United States Navy Commodore Stephen Decatur.
The first settler in the area were farmers or skilled tradesmen of English, Scottish and Irish descent.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Timeline
built from the dates on the items belowStart Decatur’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Decatur’s history is told.
1 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 🔁Retake an old viewNo one has gone hungry, unclothed…, 1927: stand where they stood+15 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10Famous people from Decatur
See all 60 →
Decatur, decade by decade
1990s
Then & now
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as No one has gone hungry, unclothed, unprotected The DeKalb County Chapter booth to raise relief funds was a center of in… (1927) and it appears here side by side.
🔁 Retake this view · +15Historic places
National Register · via Wikidata
From Wikimedia Commons (2), the Library of Congress (1) and the National Register (3). Images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.