Druid Hills is a community which includes both a

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...

(CDP) in unincorporated

DeKalb County DeKalb County may refer to one of several counties in the United States, all of which were named for Baron Johann de Kalb: * DeKalb County, Alabama DeKalb County is a County (United States), county in the Northeast Alabama, northeastern part ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

, United States, as well as a neighborhood of the city of Atlanta. The CDP's population was 14,568 at the 2010 census. The CDP formerly contained the main campus of

Emory University Emory University is a private university, private research university in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It was founded in 1836 as Emory College by the Methodist Episcopal Church and named in honor of Methodist bishop John Emory. Its main campu ...

and the

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is the National public health institutes, national public health agency of the United States. It is a Federal agencies of the United States, United States federal agency under the United S ...

(CDC); however, they were annexed by Atlanta in 2018. The Atlanta-city section of Druid Hills is one of Atlanta's most affluent neighborhoods with a mean household income in excess of $238,500 (making it the ninth most affluent, per that metric).

History

The

planned community A planned community, planned city, planned town, or planned settlement is any community that was carefully planned from its inception and is typically constructed on previously undeveloped land. This contrasts with settlements that evolve ...

was initially conceived by Joel Hurt, and developed with the effort of Atlanta's leading families, including

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a cola soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. In 2013, Coke products were sold in over 200 countries and territories worldwide, with consumers drinking more than 1.8 billion company beverage servings ...

founder Asa Candler. It contains some of Atlanta's historic mansions from the late 19th and early 20th century. Druid Hills includes the main campus of

, which relocated to Atlanta in 1914. Druid Hills was designed by

Frederick Law Olmsted Frederick Law Olmsted (April 26, 1822 – August 28, 1903) was an American landscape architect, journalist, Social criticism, social critic, and public administrator. He is considered to be the father of landscape architecture in the U ...

and was one of his last commissions. A showpiece of the design was the string of parks along Ponce de Leon Avenue, which was designated as Druid Hills Parks and Parkways and listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

on April 11, 1975. The remainder of the development was listed on the Register as the Druid Hills Historic District on October 25, 1979. Later the Park and Parkways district was consolidated into the Druid Hills Historic District. The other historic districts in Druid Hills are: * Emory University District, added in 1975 * University Park-Emory Highlands-Emory Estates Historic District, added in 1998 * Emory Grove Historic District, added in 2000. Asa Candler Mansion - Druid Hills

By 2015 there was a bill in the Georgia Legislature which called for annexing more of Druid Hills into Atlanta. In 2016 Emory University's administration stated that it intended to petition the university to be annexed into the City of Atlanta, along with the CDC area; in 2017 the university leadership formally submitted its petition. The City of Atlanta annexed Emory's campus effective January 1, 2018, a part of its largest annexation within a period of 65 years; the

Atlanta City Council The Atlanta City Council (formerly the Atlanta Board of Aldermen until 1974) is the main municipal legislative body for the city of Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It consists of 16 members: the council president, twelve members elected from di ...

voted to do so the prior December.

Geography

Druid Hills is located at (33.787205, -84.325974). 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 CDP has a total area of , of which , or 0.48%, is water. The CDP's northern boundary is the South Fork of Peachtree Creek; the CSX track and the Decatur city limits are the eastern boundary; the DeKalb County line is the western boundary; and the southern boundary is the

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

city limit. The Druid Hills neighborhood of Atlanta is bounded by the Druid Hills CDP (i.e. unincorporated DeKalb County) on the north and east; the Morningside/Lenox Park, Virginia-Highland and Poncey-Highland neighborhoods of Atlanta on the west; and the

Candler Park Candler Park is a 55-acre (223,000 m2) city park located at 585 Candler Park Drive NE, in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It is named after Coca-Cola magnate Asa Griggs Candler, who donated this land to the city in 1922. The park features a ...

neighborhood of Atlanta on the south. The Chelsea Heights neighborhood is located in the eastern part of the CDP at the Decatur border, and participates in the Druid Hills Civic Association.

Demographics

Druid Hills was first listed as a

census designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...

in the

1980 U.S. census The 1980 United States census, conducted by the United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States to be 226,545,805, an increase of 11.4% over the 203,184,772 persons Enumeration, enumerated dur ...

. As of the 2020 United States census, there were 9,429 people, 3,579 households, and 1,977 families residing in the CDP.

Economy

Emory University, including its hospitals, is the third largest employer in Metro Atlanta as of 2007/8. The CDC is also an employer of note. Commercial areas include Emory Village, a small node first developed in the 1920s at the terminus of the streetcar line to Emory. A revitalization of the area was completed in 2011 with new sidewalks, street furniture and two new

roundabout A roundabout, a rotary and a traffic circle are types of circular intersection or junction in which road traffic is permitted to flow in one direction around a central island, and priority is typically given to traffic already in the junct ...

s. The other, larger commercial areas fall just outside the community's boundaries, such as the Clairmont Road corridor in North Decatur, the Sage Hill shopping center in Atlanta's Morningside/Lenox Park, and the Ponce de Leon Avenue corridor just west of Druid Hills in Atlanta's Poncey-Highland/ Virginia-Highland.

Arts and culture

Druid Hills is home to The Atlanta Boy Choir on S. Ponce de Leon Ave. and Callanwolde Fine Arts Center, housed in the Gothic-Tudor style former estate of Charles Howard Candler, president of Coca-Cola and eldest son of Asa Griggs Candler, Coca-Cola's co-founder.

Parks

* Baker Woodland, Emory University, between Fishburne Dr. & South Kilga Cir. Forest of oak, tulip poplar, beech, and hickory trees - contains over 100 plant species. * Burbanck Park, Oxford Rd. & Clifton Rd. natural park which borders Peavine Creek. It is named after Madeline and William Burbanck, Emory University professors who owned the property. * Fernbank Forest, Fernbank Museum of Natural History. * Fernbank School Park, 157 Heaton Park Dr. This DeKalb County park is located west of the CSX railroad tracks. It includes a multi-use field and court, playground, picnic area and walking trails. * Hahn Woods, Emory University, Houston Mill Rd. (''at South Peachtree Creek''). Nature preserve with trail and viewing platform over the creek. * Medlock Park North Druid Hills subdivision, Nine little league baseball fields with concessions, playground and a running/cycling trail which follows Nancy Creek. * Olmsted Linear Park, Druid Hills, Ponce de Leon Ave. of six distinct parks, strung along Ponce de Leon Avenue like a necklace. They were designed by

in the late 19th century. Each of the six parks has its own name: Deepdene, Dellwood, Shadyside, Springdale, Virgilee and Oak Grove (formerly Brightwood). * Wesley Woods Forest, Emory University. * Princeton Way Park, a small neighborhood park that is surrounded by the interior homes of Princeton Way. The park is equipped with picnic tables, swings, slides, a sandbox, short walking trails, and an informal baseball setup.

Government

The neighborhood organization, the Druid Hills Civic Association (DHC

gives input to two authorities since the community is divided between the city of Atlanta and unincorporated territory in DeKalb County. The Atlanta part is an official recognized neighborhood of Atlanta, which in turn is part of neighborhood planning unit, NPU N. Officially, DHCA exercises its input into planning and other city processes by giving input to the NPU. DeKalb County does not have an officially designated role for the community within the county government in the way the City of Atlanta does (though there are five large geographic districts for the election of county commissioners), so the DHCA gives input to the unitarian county government in Decatur. The

United States Postal Service The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or simply the Postal Service, is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the executive branch of the federal governmen ...

operates the Druid Hills Post Office at 1799 Briarcliff Road NE in the North Druid Hills CDP in unincorporated DeKalb. The

's main offices were formerly located in the CDP.2010 CENSUS - CENSUS BLOCK MAP: Druid Hills CDP, GA
"

U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The U.S. Census Bureau is part of the U ...

. Retrieved on June 1, 2017. The City of Atlanta annexed the CDC effective January 1, 2018.

Education

Primary and secondary schools

The non-Atlanta portions of Druid Hills are in the

DeKalb County School District The DeKalb County School District (DCSD) is a school district headquartered at 1701 Mountain Industrial Boulevard in unincorporated DeKalb County, Georgia, United States, near Stone Mountain and in the Atlanta metropolitan area. DCSD operates ...

. Most residents are zoned to Fernbank Elementary School (in the Druid Hills CDP) while some are zoned to Briar Vista Elementary School. All residents are zoned to Druid Hills Middle School (in the North Decatur CDP), and Druid Hills High School (in the Druid Hills CDP). The Atlanta sections (the Emory/CDC annexation) are in Atlanta Public Schools. The zoned schools are Springdale Park Elementary School, D. T. Howard Middle School, and Midtown High School (formerly

Henry W. Grady Henry Woodfin Grady (May 24, 1850 – December 23, 1889) was an American journalist and orator who helped reintegrate the states of the Confederacy (American Civil War), Confederacy into the Union (American Civil War), Union after the American C ...

High School). The Emory/CDC annexation was scheduled to be moved into APS from DeKalb Schools in 2024. The Paideia Schoolbr>
is a nearby preK–12 private schoo

in the city of Atlanta.

Colleges and universities

is a private university formerly located in the Druid Hills CDP. The City of Atlanta annexed Emory effective January 1, 2018.

Infrastructure

Transportation

Public bus transportation is provided by the

Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority The Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA ) is the principal public transport operator in the Atlanta metropolitan area. Formed in 1971 as strictly a bus system, MARTA operates a network of Public transport bus service, bus route ...

, while Emory University runs an extensive fleet of shuttles, called the "

Cliff In geography and geology, a cliff or rock face is an area of Rock (geology), rock which has a general angle defined by the vertical, or nearly vertical. Cliffs are formed by the processes of weathering and erosion, with the effect of gravity. ...

Healthcare

Emory University Hospital Emory University Hospital is an 853-bed hospital in Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, specializing in the care of acutely ill adults. Emory University Hospital is staffed exclusively by Emory University School of Medicine faculty who also ...

and Children's Healthcare of Atlanta - Egleston Hospital are in the Druid Hills area. The City of Atlanta annexed Egleston and Emory University effective January 1, 2018. - This article includes a map of the annexed area, which includes Emory Hospital Prior to the annexation, Egleston was in Druid Hills CDP, as was Emory Hospital.

Notable people

*Cully Cobb, founder of the Cobb Institute of Archaeology at

Mississippi State University Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Mississippi State, Mississippi, Un ...

Bibliography

* Bryant, James C. ''Druid Hills Golf Club in Atlanta: The Story and the People, 1912–1997''. Atlanta, Ga.: Druid Hills Golf Club, 1998 * Hartle, Robert, Jr. ''Atlanta's Druid Hills: A Brief History''. The History Press, June 27, 2008.

References

External links

Druid Hills Civic Association

Wesley Woods ForestEmory University Walking TourEmory Village historic preservation
incl. history of Emory Village {{authority control Census-designated places in the Atlanta metropolitan area Census-designated places in DeKalb County, Georgia Frederick Law Olmsted works Historic districts in Georgia (U.S. state) Neighborhoods in DeKalb County, Georgia