Pine Lake is the smallest city in

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. The population was 752 at the 2020 census.

History

Pine Lake was established as a city in December 1937, after a short life as a summer retreat run by the Pine Woods Corporation. The corporation sold lots around a small fishing lake to Atlantans who lived in (then) faraway areas like

Buckhead Buckhead is the wikt:uptown, uptown commercial and residential district of the city of Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, comprising approximately the northernmost fifth of the city. Buckhead is the third largest business district within ...

for use as a weekend retreat. The 20' x 100' lots sold for $69, and the advertisement for lots directed people "from Decatur down the npavedRockbridge Road East." Many homeowners continued to use their property as a weekend getaway long after the city incorporated. Prior to development, Pine Lake was a portion of a farm. The lake was formerly a widened region of Snapfinger Creek, and the valley that encompasses much of the town was where corn was grown. The lake was dammed by the Army Corps of Engineers as erosion and flood control, prior to the official FDR lake projects.

Geography

Pine Lake is located at (33.791505, -84.206428). 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 5.00% is water.

Demographics

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 752 people, 386 households, and 199 families residing in the city.

Education

Residents are zoned to schools 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 ...

. *

Stone Mountain High School Stone Mountain High School is a college preparatory and public high school located in unincorporated area, unincorporated DeKalb County, Georgia, DeKalb County, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States, near Stone Mountain, Georgia, Stone Mou ...

* Stone Mountain Middle School * Rockbridge Elementary School All of the schools are located outside of the Pine Lake city limits in unincorporated sections of DeKalb County.

In Media

''Welcome to Pine Lake'', is a documentary feature film released in 2020 by

ViacomCBS Paramount Global (Trade name, d/b/a Paramount) is an American multinational mass media and entertainment Conglomerate (company), conglomerate controlled by National Amusements and Headquarters, headquartered at One Astor Plaza in Times Square, ...

. The largely observational film looks at the all-women leadership in the predominantly white city of Pine Lake. The documentary claims that the primary funding source of the city's police force is from traffic tickets issued predominately to people of color from the surrounding communities. According to National Public Radio member station

KCRW KCRW (89.9 FM broadcasting, FM) is an NPR member station broadcasting from the campus of Santa Monica College in Santa Monica, California, where the station is licensed. KCRW airs original news and music programming in addition to programming ...

, the filmmaker “found that this progressive town was participating in an unfair and ultimately racist criminal justice system.” In February, 2022,

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution ''The Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' (''AJC'') is an American daily newspaper based in metropolitan area of Atlanta, Georgia. It is the flagship publication of Cox Enterprises. The ''Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' is the result of the merger ...

wrote, " 'Welcome to Pine Lake' is a scathing indictment of the privilege of obliviousness when it comes to class and race."

References

External links

City of Pine Lake official website

Pine Lake Association of Involved Neighbors

Documentary reveals how a small Georgia city's history of over-policing belies its liberal image
- CBS News - October 2020 {{authority control Cities in Georgia (U.S. state) Cities in DeKalb County, Georgia Cities in the Atlanta metropolitan area