Page 13 - DeKalb Bicentennial Flipbook

THE FOUNDING

OF DEKALB COUNTY

Imagine a forested frontier. The 1821 land lottery raffled off land from the Muscogee (Creek) Nation and
resulted in the formation of Henry, Fayette, and Gwinnett counties, from which DeKalb eventually was
formed. English, Scot, and Irish settlers from Virginia, the Carolinas, and from Europe moved into
the area. They were subsistence farmers who built log cabins and struggled to survive.

eKalb County was established in 1822 as DeKalb County was a daylong horse ride from the state
Georgia’s 56th county. It is situated on a capitol at Milledgeville 90 miles to the southeast. The City
natural ridge between Atlanta and Athens, a of Atlanta was entirely in DeKalb County until 1853 when
D continental divide. The southern boundary is Fulton County was delineated.
the South River and the northern boundary is the Hightower Rivers and creeks supplied the energy for grain and
Trail, a trading path used by indigenous peoples from across cotton mills. Fresh water contributed to farming, dairy
the Southeast. DeKalb’s 269 square miles are named for Baron farming, and granite quarrying in the early decades.
Johann de Kalb, a wealthy Bavarian man who joined the DeKalb County became one of the largest milk producers
Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War. in the Southeast.

The 1898 DeKalb County Courthouse is now
the home of the DeKalb History Center. It is
built in the Neoclassical style with exterior
Lithonia granite walls.

Sp i rit o f D eK alb – B i centen n ial 1822-2022 11