Dunwoody

History

The Dunwoody area was established in the early 1830s and is named for Major Charles Dunwody (1828–1905), an extra "o" added with the incorrect spelling of the name on a banking note. Charles Dunwody originally returned to Roswell after fighting in the Civil War, in which he fought for the Confederates. One of Dunwoody's most historic buildings dates from 1829. The Ebenezer Primitive Baptist Church, at the corner of Roberts Drive and Spalding Drive, is still active to this date and is also the home to one of the city's oldest cemeteries, where many of the founding fathers of Dunwoody are buried. The first public school, Dunwoody Elementary, first stood near the center of the city at the intersection of Chamblee-Dunwoody Road and Mount Vernon Road. It was in continuous operation from 1911 to 1986. A fire destroyed the school's cafeteria in 1966, which was on the corner of Womack Road and Chamblee-Dunwoody Road. On that site today, the Dunwoody branch of the Dekalb County Public Library now operates along with the North Dekalb Cultural Arts Center. In 1881, the Roswell Railroad opened and ran along what is now Chamblee-Dunwoody Road north to the Chattahoochee River. It operated for 40 years, and in 1905, President Theodore Roosevelt made a campaign whistle stop in Dunwoody along the way to Roswell, Georgia. On account of the railroad, Dunwoody developed into a small crossroads community. The community continued to grow and prosper even after the railroad shut down in 1921. Dunwoody remained rural until suburban residential development was initiated in the 1960s. In 1971, the Spruill family sold a large portion of their property for the construction of Perimeter Mall, with the completion of Dunwoody Village occurring the same year. The bill for incorporation was…

Geography

Dunwoody's geographic center is at (33.942751, -84.317694). According to the United States Census Bureau, Dunwoody has a total area of , of which is land and , or 1.72%, is water. Dunwoody lies at the northern tip of DeKalb County, bounded by the Fulton County line on the north and west, Interstate 285 on the south, Peachtree Industrial Boulevard on the southeast, and the Gwinnett County line on the northeast. Late on April 8, 1998, a major tornado tore through parts of Dunwoody, running east-northeast from Perimeter Center and into Gwinnett County. Thousands of homes were damaged, hundreds seriously, and several dozen were condemned. In addition, tens of thousands of native forest trees were downed. The vast majority of the tornado's damage occurred here, leading it to be called the "Dunwoody tornado", the most vivid in local memory until the 2008 Atlanta tornado. Dunwoody Village is the historic heart of the community, and the location of the iconic Dunwoody Farmhouse. The distinctive Colonial Williamsburg architectural style of the district originated with the construction of Dunwoody Village Shopping Center in the 1970s, for which the district gets its name. Since then, all other construction in the area followed suit, giving Dunwoody a unique architectural identity and sense of place. Perimeter Center is the major edge city and neighborhood that has formed around Perimeter Mall. The mall was developed in 1971, spurring major office, residential, and commercial developments in the decades since. It is one of Metro Atlanta's largest job centers, employing hundreds of thousands of people each day. Perimeter Mall and approximately 40 percent of the Perimeter Community Improvement District, is a self-taxing district of shopping and office buildings (including…

Race & ethnicity

Largest nearby schools

• Lakeside High School
  High · Atlanta · 2,141 students · 17.4:1 ratio
• Dunwoody High School
  High · Dunwoody · 2,040 students · 17.3:1 ratio
• Chamblee High School
  High · Chamblee · 1,776 students · 16.4:1 ratio
• Sequoyah Middle School
  Middle · Atlanta · 1,763 students · 15.7:1 ratio
• Cross Keys High School
  High · Brookhaven · 1,714 students · 16.6:1 ratio
• Tucker High School
  High · Tucker · 1,579 students · 15.9:1 ratio
• Henderson Middle School
  Middle · Chamblee · 1,411 students · 15.7:1 ratio
• Peachtree Middle School
  Middle · Atlanta · 1,288 students · 15.9:1 ratio