Chamblee

History

The area that would later become Chamblee was originally dairy farms. During the late nineteenth century, an intersection of two railroads was constructed in Chamblee; one carried passengers from Atlanta to Charlotte, North Carolina, while the other ferried workers and goods back and forth from a factory in Roswell to Atlanta. A settlement known as Roswell Junction emerged at the intersection, and the United States Postal Service decided to establish a post office there. However, feeling the name of the settlement was too similar to nearby Roswell, they randomly selected Chamblee from a list of petitioners for the new post office name. Chamblee was incorporated in 1907. During World War I and World War II, Chamblee served as the site of U.S. military operations. During World War I, the U.S. operated Camp Gordon, home to 40,000 servicemen. This influx of new people created a building boom in the town. Camp Gordon was closed after the war and then re-opened as Navy Flight Training Center at the advent of World War II. Following the annexation, the city and neighboring Brookhaven had a dispute in 2014 over which city would annex the Century Center development. The courts gave Century Center to Chamblee. According to 2020 Census data, Chamblee effectively tripled its population since 2010. It started the decade with roughly 9,800 residents and ended it with more than 30,000, mostly due to two annexations. The only city to gain more residents in that time was Atlanta, and only two Georgia cities — Morgan and Pendergrass — grew at faster rates in the 2010s. City leaders have credited Chamblee's location as a transportation hub, with close proximity to two interstates, a MARTA station and the DeKalb–Peachtree Airport, as a key reason for the city's growth. In the early…

Geography

Chamblee is south of Dunwoody, southwest of Doraville, northeast of Brookhaven, and north of Interstate 85. The city is located at (33.887552, -84.305326). According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all land. *Downtown: Downtown Chamblee has been preserved has an early 20th-century railroad community. Many of the buildings are of historic vintage, and the district has architectural similarities to other similar former railroad communities, such as Decatur and Norcross. Much of the downtown businesses are devoted to Chamblee's antique industry, but that has been changing. The district has attracted significant commercial development since 2000, including lofts and townhomes. The Chamblee MARTA Station and City Hall are both located downtown. Massive economic development including the Town Center Initiative and downtown revitalization projects, have turned Downtown Chamblee into a mecca for foodies. A recently opened brewery and distillery flank downtown Chamblee. A new Chamblee signature event called, Taste of Chamblee, debuted in the mid 20 Teens, showcases the food of the Chamblee area. *Buford Highway Corridor: The Buford Highway community is home to one of the highest concentration of foreign-born residents in the country, including Mexican, Central American, Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese. The area attracted many Latino workers during the construction boom that preceded the 1996 Olympic Games. Asian business owners were attracted to the stretch of highway by cheap leases and reliable traffic flow. The more than 1,000 immigrant-owned businesses are owned by and patronized by a wide variety of ethnic groups, including Korean, Mexican, Chinese, and Vietnamese, and Indian, Bangladeshi, Central American, Somali, and Ethiopian. The…

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  83,095
• Carolina Wren

  Thryothorus ludovicianus (Latham, 1790) · Aves
  69,541
• Tufted Titmouse

  Baeolophus bicolor (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  59,507
• Downy Woodpecker

  Dryobates pubescens (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  53,455
• Eastern Towhee

  Pipilo erythrophthalmus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  52,857
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  52,318
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  52,141
• Carolina Chickadee

  Poecile carolinensis (Audubon, 1834) · Aves
  51,866

Most recent

• M 2.54 — 2022-09-12
  13 km NE of Jackson, Georgia
• M 2.72 — 2018-11-23
  3 km N of Plainville, Georgia