To truly appreciate where we live it is important know of its history.
With help from Mr. Walter McCurdy and the DeKalb Historical Society, I
investigated some history surrounding our neighborhood, Glenwood Estates.
Due to a fire in 1842, which destroyed the courthouse, all land records
were destroyed. Consequently there are more questions than answers about
the earliest land ownership in the county.
The Creek Indians in the Indian Springs Treaty of 1821 ceded the lands
that now are DeKalb County to the State of Georgia. The original DeKalb
County was formed from Fayette to Henry Counties in 1822. DeKalb was
divided into approximately 875 land lots, each containing 202.5 acres
which were distributed via the Fourth Land Lottery. In 1853 DeKalb County
was divided into two parts, the western portion becoming Fulton County.
Land Lot 247 of the 15th district encompasses our neighborhood including
as far south as Sycamore Street, and as far North as Forkner. Tullie
Choice, a former senator in the State of Georgia, is the first recorded
owner of Land Lot 247 but faced a legal situation and the lot was sold
1842 in a Sheriff Foreclosure to Mr. Wooley. Wooley quickly turned around
and sold it to John T. King, who then in 1847 sold the western portion of
land lot 247 to Mr. Little and Mr. Adams. Mr. Little and Adams also bought
parts of the land lots adjoining land lot 247, including parts of Land Lot
7, 8, & 49 of the 18th district. The lot exceeded 500 acres and extended
from Sycamore up towards the North DeKalb Mall and the Hospital Area. They
paid ten dollars an acre the highest recorded value paid for an acre up to
that time.
The records then become unclear, but it seems that the Georgia Railroad
Banking Company owned the western portion of Land Lot 247 and then later
sold it to J.T. Glenn in 1869. It was common after the civil war for Northern
Land Speculators, often referred to as carpetbaggers, to purchase land in the
South at low prices due poverty in South resulting from devaluation of
Confederate money.
Mr. Glenn's family were mostly from New York. He owned a residence in Fulton
and later built a house on Sycamore. Mr. Glenn started developing his land
early 1870s when he sold lots on Sycamore and Ponce de Leon. The Glenn/Pierce
house at 174 Sycamore was built in 1874 and descendents of J.T. Glenn lived
there as late as the 1980s. In an old map from the 1870, the area the neighborhood
resides was labled Glenn's Woods. In 1909 the land was passed onto his children.
In 1913 Glenn Estates sold a small portion of the land on Ponce de Leon to the
City of Decatur for the Glenwood School built in 1914. This is the first recorded
use of the word Glenwood.
In 1927, a Georgia, corporation named Glennwood Estates was formed to buy the land
from Glennwood Estate the New York corporation and develop the portion south of the
creek (Glendale, Pinecrest, Glendale Cir.). Glenwood Estates Corporation was composed
of land developers CE Patillo, C.G. McGay, F.O. Watkins, and F.H. Roberts. By 1939
most of the original development was completed so they began building on the area north
of the creek (Forkner and Mount Vernon). Interestingly, the original development
contained a restrictive convenant that preserved the north side of the creek as
forest but the pressure to develop it prevailed. However, many of the original trees
on the lots were preserved, especially along the creek, contributing to the amazing
canopy we currently enjoy. It remains a possibility that the trees bordering the creek
have never been cut, which would classify it as a very rare virgin forest. The north
portion sold slowly due to its inauspicious debut during WWII, however soon after the
war this section was quickly completed.
Mr. Walter McCurdy and his cousin Ann Hughs were able to give me some interesting
background about life in the neighborhood in the early 1930s and 40s. Their fathers,
Julius and Walter, moved into the neighborhood in 1939 at 124 Pinecrest and 119 Glendale
Circle. Mr. McCurdy (Walter) bought his house for $5700. As a young boy Walter Jr. used
to have football games with other boys of the neighborhood on what is now Mount Vernon.
Later when this area was developed, the boys from the south side of the creek would
challenge those from the north side of the creek at the newly developed Glenlake Park.
It turns out that the name of Glenlake came at the suggestion of Walter's father who
thought the name should combine the names of the two neighborhoods it bordered.
Glenwood and Great Lakes, hence Glenlake.
Mr. McCurdy also recalls an area of the neighborhood east of the lots on Glencircle
that was commonly known as Dog Patch. The people living in this section were very
poor and there was no electricity, floors, or running water.
Two interesting landmarks exist within land lot 247 on Forkner and Pinecrest. During
the early 1900s, Forkner was actually Candler airfield and you will notice that pine
trees planted on the former airfield land dominate this street. Pinecrest resides smack
on top of Morse Hill which resided on the western portion of Land Lot 247 and was often
referred to in the earlier deeds indicating land due east of Decatur.
This is just a small portion of the history of our neighborhood. There are many neighbors
that lived here from the beginning and I hope to encourage a project with the Glenwood School
to produce a more lengthy study of our wonderful neighborhood and neighbors.
By Neil Norton
Please consider joining the DeKalb Historical Society by calling them at 404-373-1088
or email at dhs@dekalbhistory.org. A $30 family membership entitles to you a quarterly
newsletter and invitation to many interesting presentations.