Page 8 - DeKalb Bicentennial Flipbook

TIMELINE OF DEKALB COUNTY

ca. 800- The Mississippian people populate the area. Creeks
1500 AD and Cherokees descend from them.

1821 1821 land lottery raffles away Creek lands, forming Henry
(and later, DeKalb), Fayette and Gwinnett counties.

1822 Georgia General Assembly picks land lot 246 in the 15th
militia district as the DeKalb County site on December 9, 1822.

1823 Decatur is established as DeKalb County’s seat of government.

1835 Oglethorpe University is chartered by the State of Georgia. Oglethorpe University

1836 Emory College is founded in Oxford, Ga. It moves to
Decatur in 1915 and is rechartered as Emory University.

1847 Atlanta is incorporated.

1849 Mt. Pleasant Baptist Church in Decatur is built and is the
oldest church serving a predominantly black congregation.

1864 The Battle of Atlanta in the Civil War, on July 22, is the
largest, most closely fought battle of the Atlanta Campaign.

1873 DeKalb County School District is established.

Carey Spruill and Shorty plowing 1889 Agnes Scott, a college for women, opens as Decatur
at Cheek Spruill property, Dunwoody Female Seminary.

1904 Wesley Memorial Hospital is chartered, later to
become Emory University Hospital.

1911 Decatur Board of Trade forms, the origin of today’s
DeKalb Chamber of Commerce.

1914 The DeKalb County Police Department is formed by
the Georgia General Assembly.

1915 Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at Scottish Rite is founded
from Scottish Rite Convalescent Home for Crippled Children.

1925 Columbia Theological Seminary relocates from
South Carolina to Decatur.

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