Clarkston, Georgia
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Clarkston is a city in
DeKalb County, Georgia DeKalb County (, , ) is located in the north central portion of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 764,382, making it Georgia's fourth-most populous county. Its ...
, United States. The population was 14,756 as of the 2020 census, up from 7,554 in 2010. The city is noted for its ethnic diversity, and is often referred to as "the most diverse square mile in America" and "the Ellis Island of the South." In the 1990s,
refugee A refugee, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), is a person "forced to flee their own country and seek safety in another country. They are unable to return to their own country because of feared persecution as ...
resettlement programs identified Clarkston as a good fit for displaced persons of many backgrounds. The rental market was open, residents were moving farther out from the Atlanta urban core, and Clarkston was the last stop on a transit line into the city. At present students attending Clarkston High School come from over 50 countries; the local mosque (Masjid al-Momineen, or Mosque of the Faithful in English) has a diverse and sizable congregation; and over half the population is estimated by some to be foreign born.


History

A post office called Clarkston has been in operation since 1876. The
Georgia General Assembly The Georgia General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is bicameral, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. Each of the General Assembly's 236 members serve two-year terms and are directl ...
incorporated the place in 1882 as the "Town of Clarkston", with municipal corporate limits extending in a one-half mile radius from the Georgia Railroad depot. The community was named after W. W. Clark, a railroad official.


Geography

Clarkston is located at (33.810304, −84.239877). According to the
United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...
, the city has a total area of , of which is land and 0.94% is water. Clarkston is on the
Eastern Continental Divide The Eastern Continental Divide, Eastern Divide or Appalachian Divide is a drainage divide, hydrological divide in eastern North America that separates the easterly Atlantic Seaboard drainage basin, watershed from the westerly Gulf of Mexico wat ...
.


Demographics

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 14,756 people, 3,727 households, and 2,341 families residing in the city. The most reported ancestries were
African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...
(23.6%),
Ethiopian Ethiopians are the native inhabitants of Ethiopia, as well as the global diaspora of Ethiopia. Ethiopians constitute several component ethnic groups, many of which are closely related to ethnic groups in neighboring Eritrea and other parts of ...
(12%), Burmese (8.7%),
Congolese Congolese or Kongolese may refer to: African peoples * Congolese people (disambiguation) * Kongo people, a Bantu ethnic group who live along the Atlantic coast of Africa from Pointe-Noire (Republic of Congo) to Luanda, Angola, primarily defined by ...
(4.2%), Nepalese (4.1%), and
Afghan Afghan or Afgan may refer to: Related to Afghanistan *Afghans, historically refers to the Pashtun people. It is both an ethnicity and nationality. Ethnicity wise, it refers to the Pashtuns. In modern terms, it means both the citizens of Afghanist ...
(2.3%).


Education

DeKalb County School System operates Clarkston's public schools. Zoned schools which have attendance boundaries in the residential-zoned portions of the city limits include: * Jolly, Idlewood, and Indian Creek elementary schools * Freedom Middle School and Tucker Middle School * Clarkston High School and
Tucker High School Tucker High School is the only public high school in Tucker, a city in DeKalb County, Georgia, United States. It is operated by the DeKalb County School District. Its student body consists of over 1,600 students. Tucker High's boundary includes ...
All the school district-operated schools are located outside of the city limits of Clarkston. Atlanta Area School for the Deaf, operated by the State of Georgia, is in the Clarkston city limits. Additionally, Georgia Fugees Academy Charter School, a
charter school A charter school is a school that receives government funding but operates independently of the established state school system in which it is located. It is independent in the sense that it operates according to the basic principle of autono ...
, is in the city limits. The Clarkston Campus of Georgia State University's Perimeter College is just south of the city limits.
Georgia Piedmont Technical College Georgia Piedmont Technical College (GPTC) is a public community college based in Clarkston, Georgia. It is part of the Technical College System of Georgia (TCSG) and provides education for a three-county service area, mostly in the metro Atlanta ...
, part of the
Technical College System of Georgia The Technical College System of Georgia (TCSG), formerly known as the Department of Technical and Adult Education (DTAE), is the State of Georgia Government Agency which supervises the U.S. state of Georgia's 22 technical colleges, while also su ...
, is also south of Clarkston.


Public libraries

DeKalb County Public Library The DeKalb County Public Library (DCPL) is the public library system of DeKalb County, Georgia in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The library system headquarters are at the Darro C. Willey Administrative Offices in Decatur, Georgia, Decatur. Its ...
operates the Clarkston Branch.Library Locations & Hours
"
DeKalb County Public Library The DeKalb County Public Library (DCPL) is the public library system of DeKalb County, Georgia in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The library system headquarters are at the Darro C. Willey Administrative Offices in Decatur, Georgia, Decatur. Its ...
. Retrieved on February 24, 2010.


Refugee resettlement

Georgia is among states that receive the highest amount of refugees for resettlement, and has resettled more than 37,000 refugees since 1993. Clarkston receives a large portion of these refugees, but arrivals have gradually declined yearly since 2016. In 2016, then Georgia Governor
Nathan Deal John Nathan Deal (born August 25, 1942) is an American politician and former lawyer who served as the 82nd governor of Georgia from 2011 to 2019. A Republican, he previously served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives. Deal served ...
issued and then reneged on an executive order attempting to cease influx of Syrian refugees into the state. Additionally, as of 2019 federal funding for refugee programs has decreased and executive orders have been issued that allow states increased authority to limit resettlement, which has resulted in the downsizing of several Georgia resettlement organizations. Organizations that aid the resettlement of refugees in Clarkston include: * Friends of Refugees * Fugees Family *
International Rescue Committee The International Rescue Committee (IRC) is a global humanitarian aid, relief, and development nongovernmental organization. Founded in 1933 as the International Relief Association, at the request of Albert Einstein, and changing its name in 1 ...
of Atlanta * New American Pathways * World Relief Atlanta


Transportation


Major roads

* *


Mass transit

*
MARTA Bus The Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority operates a number of bus routes in the Atlanta metro region. The main system operates in Fulton County, Georgia, Fulton, DeKalb County, Georgia, DeKalb, and Clayton County, Georgia, Clayton Countie ...
120 connects to
MARTA Marta may refer to: People * Marta (given name), a feminine given name * Märta, a feminine given name * Marta (surname) * Marta (footballer) (born 1986), Brazilian professional footballer Places * Marta (river), an Italian river that flow ...
Blue Line rail service at Avondale *
MARTA Bus The Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority operates a number of bus routes in the Atlanta metro region. The main system operates in Fulton County, Georgia, Fulton, DeKalb County, Georgia, DeKalb, and Clayton County, Georgia, Clayton Countie ...
125 connects to
MARTA Marta may refer to: People * Marta (given name), a feminine given name * Märta, a feminine given name * Marta (surname) * Marta (footballer) (born 1986), Brazilian professional footballer Places * Marta (river), an Italian river that flow ...
Blue Line rail service at
Kensington Kensington is an area of London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, around west of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up by Kensingt ...


Pedestrians and cycling

*Stone Mountain Trail


In popular culture


In television

* Clarkston was featured in season one of " Good Girls"
Netflix series Netflix is an American global Internet streaming-on-demand media provider that has distributed a number of original streaming television shows, including original series, specials, miniseries, documentaries and films. Netflix's original produ ...
(the fictional supermarket "Fine & Frugal" was shot in Fresh Food Town in the Tahoe Village plaza). * Clarkston is the setting of the episode "Make Ted Great Again" in the second season of ''
Queer Eye ''Queer Eye'' is a television franchise based upon a team of gay professionals (the "Fab 5") giving lifestyle and fashion makeovers to guests. ''Queer Eye'' may refer to: * ''Queer Eye'' (2003 TV series), an American reality television series on ...
'' in 2018. * Clarkston is featured in the episode "It's a Greens Thing" in the first season of Vivan Howard's
PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...
cooking show ''Somewhere South'' in 2020.


Notable people

* Machop Chol (born 1998) – soccer player who represented the South Sudan national team


References


External links


City of Clarkston official website

Clarkston GA News
{{authority control African diaspora in the United States Clarkston Cities in DeKalb County, Georgia Cities in Georgia (U.S. state) Refugees in the United States