4th District of Georgia

DeKalb County is located in the middle of the Atlanta metropolitan area, directly east of the City of Atlanta.  It includes the following incorporated cities:  Avondale Estates, Clarkston, Chamblee, Doraville, Decatur, Pine Lake, Stone Mountain, Lithonia and a portion of the city of Atlanta.

DeKalb County was formed in 1822 from parts of Henry, Gwinnett and Fayette counties.  It was the 56th county created in the state.  DeKalb County was named after Baron Johann DeKalb, who accompanied LaFayette to America and served as a major general in the Continental Army. 

The county seat was established in 1823, in the City of Decatur, the oldest town in the county.  It was named in honor of Stephen Decatur, an American Naval officer.  Mills and ginneries were vital to the county’s early growth.  This heritage lives on in the names of various DeKalb roads that once led to these mills such as Browns Mill, Evans Mill and Henderson Mill. The 2006 population estimate for DeKalb County is 677,437 according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Rockdale County is a fast growing and dynamic suburban community located 24 miles east of Atlanta on Interstate 20. It is about 130 square miles in size – the second smallest of Georgia’s 159 counties – and has a population estimated by the Atlanta Regional Commission at 76,900. Rockdale has one municipality, the city of Conyers, which is centrally located and has a population of 11,500.

Rockdale County also has an excellent school system an abundance of recreational opportunities and a number of points of interests that are enjoyed by residents and visitors alike. These include Panola Mountain State Conservation Park, located on a granite mountain in south Rockdale, the Smyrna Campground, where old fashion camp meetings have been held since before the Civil War, and Randy Poynter Reservoir, a county-owned 650 acres water supply and recreation lake in the northern part of the County.  It also is home to the city of Conyers’ Georgia International Horse Park, site of the 1996 Olympic Equestrian events and Monastery of the Holy Spirit.

Gwinnett County was created in 1818 with its boundary being the Applachee River. It was named after Button Gwinnett, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, he was a state legislator and served as Georgia’s Governor for a few months in 1777; some of the land had been part of Jackson County.

Gwinnett is the home of 15 municipalities:  Auburn, Berkeley Lake, Braselton, Buford, Dacula, Duluth, Grayson, Lawrenceville, Lilburn, Loganville, Norcross, Rest Haven, Snellville, Sugar Hill and Suwanee. Although the majority of Gwinnett’s citizens live in unincorporated areas, these municipalities play a vital role in the economic and social fabric of the county.   

Gwinnett was one of the nation’s fastest-growing counties during the 1970s and 1980s. The 2004 population estimate for Gwinnett County is 700,794 according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

For more information log on to DeKalb County | DeKalb Schools -- Rockdale County | Rockdale Schools -- Gwinnett County | Gwinnett Schools -- Atlanta | Atlanta Schools -- Decatur | Decatur Schools