Page 37 - DeKalb Bicentennial Flipbook

Camp Gordon (left) mobilized soldiers for WWI
in one of the larger military training complexes
in the nation around 1915. Peachtree-DeKalb
Airport (right) was built on part of the Camp
Gordon property and today is the second-
busiest airport in Georgia behind Hartsfield-
Jackson Atlanta International Airport.

CITY OF CHAMBLEE

FOUNDED 1908
Mayor Brian Mock

The City of Chamblee began around the railroad and is named for an African American railroad
worker. Dairy farmers raised cows in pastures of rolling hills here. Irvindale and J.W. Brown are two
of the numerous dairies that Chamblee is proud to claim. And as times evolved, so did industry.

hamblee was host to Camp Gordon, one of American market draws four million visitors a year from
16 national training camps to mobilize for throughout the Southeast, with more than 280 retail and
World War I, and the largest in the South. Base specialty stores, a dozen restaurants, healthcare services, a
C Hospital No. 43 initiated the Emory University fitness center, and the largest indoor playground in Georgia.
Medical Unit. The camp’s 2,400 acres had barracks for more Buford Highway runs through Chamblee and is rooted
than 46,000 men and corrals for upward of 7,500 horses and in global cuisine. Chinatown Mall is in the heart of
mules. The November 11, 1918 armistice ended “The Great Downtown Chamblee and known for its authentic food

War” and Camp Gordon was salvaged by 1921. court – serving Laotian, Cantonese, and Vietnamese cuisine
DeKalb-Peachtree Airport, built on former Camp – and a tranquil Chinese garden. Shoppers come for Asian-
Gordon, is Georgia’s second busiest airport behind Hartsfield- inspired arts and gifts.
Jackson International Airport in Atlanta. The first runways Chamblee represents great areas of progress and is
were paved in 1917 and now more than a century later see continuing to redefine its sense of place with the addition of
230,000 takeoffs and landings annually. bike and pedestrian trails, nine serene parks, including the

Chamblee, Georgia has transformed into a progressive 45-acre Keswick Park, and award-winning festivals. It’s the
and vibrant international city. Plaza Fiesta’s indoor South fastest growing city in DeKalb.

Sp i rit o f D eK alb – B i centen n ial 1822-2022 35