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Duluth, Georgia

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File:Duluth Fall Festival.jpg
A picture from the annual Duluth Fall Festival

Duluth is a city in Gwinnett County, Georgia, and a suburb of Atlanta located in the Metro Atlanta area. Unincorporated portions of northeast Fulton County and Forsyth County also have Duluth as a mailing address, though this area is technically outside city limits. Much of the City of Johns Creek (incorporated December 1, 2006) is served by the Duluth post office, which creates much confusion since Johns Creek and Duluth are completely separate cities (with the Chattahoochee River as the boundary between the two).

The population of Duluth was 22,122 at the 2000 census, making it the second most populated city in Gwinnett County, behind Lawrenceville.

Duluth is a popular and rapidly developing suburb of Atlanta, close to Interstate 85, which allows for a quick commute to Atlanta. It has schools at all levels up through high school. It is home to Gwinnett Place Mall, Gwinnett Civic and Cultural Center, Arena at Gwinnett Center, Hudgens Center for the Arts. Nearby attractions include Stone Mountain and Lake Lanier. Its Peachtree Industrial Boulevard is the same road as Atlanta's Peachtree Road and Peachtree Street.

The Gwinnett Gladiators of the ECHL, a professional minor league ice hockey team, plays in the Arena at Gwinnett Center, which opened in 2003 in Duluth. At the TPC at Sugarloaf golf course, the Bellsouth Classic tournament is played the third week in May. Atlanta Athletic Club is in Johns Creek (with a Duluth zip code), which hosted the 1976 U.S. Open Golf Tournament and the 1981 and 2001 PGA Championship Golf Tournaments, as well as being home to the trophies of golfer Bobby Jones. Red Clay Theatre and Arts Center opened in downtown Duluth in 2007.

The 30097 ZIP code serves Duluth and parts of Johns Creek, and is one of the wealthiest zip codes in Georgia. Several of the most expensive neighborhoods in the Metro Atlanta area have Duluth mailing addresses, including Sugarloaf Country Club, Sweet Bottom Plantation, St. Marlo Country Club, and St. Ives Country Club.

Duluth has an annual Fall Festival celebrating the season of autumn, now held in their newly-built town center, where several buildings of traditional architecture are located, along with a pavilion, a fountain, and City Hall.

Government

The City of Duluth is governed by a mayor and five city council members, who together appoint the city manager and city clerk. Elections are held every two years, in the odd numbered years, and the the mayor and council members are elected for staggered four year terms.

The mayor of Duluth is Shirely Fanning Lasseter, and the city manager is Phil McElmore.

Politics

Duluth is decidely Republican and a dominant player in local and regional politics. On the county level, Duluth is represented by Gwinnett County Commissioner Lorraine Green. On the state level, the city is represented in the State Senate by Senator David Shafer and in the State House by Representative Brooks Coleman. On the federal level, it is represented by Congressman John Linder. Green, Shafer, Coleman and Linder are all Duluth residents and all Republicans. All four were elected to office defeating candidates from other cities in Gwinnett County or, in the case of Linder, from a neighboring county.

Geography

Location of Duluth, Georgia
Location of Duluth, Georgia

Duluth is located at 34°0′11″N 84°8′44″W / 34.00306°N 84.14556°W / 34.00306; -84.14556Invalid arguments have been passed to the {{#coordinates:}} function (34.003100, -84.145498)Template:GR.

History

Duluth's roots as a community stretch back to the early 1800s, when it was primarily forest land occupied by Cherokee Indians. An Indian trail, called Old Peachtree Road by the settlers, was extended through the area during the War of 1812 to connect Fort Peachtree in present day Atlanta with Fort Daniel near present day Lawrenceville. With the creation of Gwinnett County, Georgia in 1818, white settlement of the area accelerated.

Duluth's forefather, cotton merchant Evan Howell, constructed a road connecting his cotton gin at the Chattahoochee River and Old Peachtree Road, creating Howell's Cross Roads. The settlement later became known as Howell's Crossing. Evan Howell was the grandfather of Atlanta Mayor Evan P. Howell and great grandfather of Atlanta Constitution publisher Clark Howell. His descendants continue to live in the area, although the Howell name has disappeared.

The town was renamed Duluth in 1871 after Congress approved funding for a north-south railroad connecting it with the better known Duluth, Minnesota. Minnesota's Duluth is in turn named for Daniel Greysolon, Sieur du Lhut). Evan Howell was on hand for the renaming ceremony. Duluth's founding fathers apparently chose the name after a satirical speech, "The Untold Delights of Duluth," given by Congressman J. Proctor Knott of Kentucky during the debate over the railroad bill.

The railroad was an enormous boost to the Duluth economy. A school house was built in 1871 on the site of what is now Duluth Middle School. The first Methodist church was organized in 1871, and the first Baptist congregration formed in 1886. Both churches continue today. The Bank of Duluth was charted in 1904, followed by the Farmers and Merchants Bank in 1911. Neither survived the Depression, but the Bank of Duluth was re-chartered in 1945 at its original location.

In 1922, Duluth elected Georgia's first woman mayor, Alice Harrell Strickland, who promised to "Clean up Duluth and get rid of demon rum." She donated one acre land of for a "community forest" and began efforts to conserve land for public recreation.

Duluth grew rapidly in the 1970s and 1980s along with the rest of Gwinnett County. Georgia Governor George Busbee became a resident of Duluth in 1983 after leaving office, moving to the Sweet Bottom Plantation subdivision developed by Scott Hudgens. A major revitilization of the Duluth downtown area was undertaken in the early 2000s.

In much of the 20th century, when Gwinnett County was still rural, Duluth was known in the area as being one of the few small towns with its own hospital, Joan Glancy Memorial Hospital. Consequently, many older residents of the area who call other towns home were actually born in Duluth.

2005 National Headlines

The city made national headlines twice in 2005. In March, Fulton County Courthouse shooting suspect Brian Nichols was captured in a Duluth apartment after holding local resident Ashley Smith hostage. In April, local resident Jennifer Wilbanks was reported missing a few days before her planned wedding to John Mason. She was found a few days later in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where she admitted to having lied about being kidnapped.

Demographics

Many Koreans have moved to the Duluth area during the past decade. This church is located on highway 120 near Satellite Boulevard.

2nd highest Asian Americans population in the state based on percentage: Chinese 6.20% and Korean 7.87%.

As of the censusTemplate:GR of 2000, there were 22,122 people, 8,735 households, and 5,642 families residing in the city. The population density was 969.5/km² (2,512.3/mi²). There were 9,061 housing units at an average density of 397.1/km² (1,029.0/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 68.65% White, 11.86% African American, 0.33% Native American, 14.89% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 3.83% from other races, and 2.41% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 9.05% of the population. Behind Chamblee, Duluth has the second highest percentage population of Asian Americans in Georgia, though it actually has the most total.

There were 8,735 households out of which 35.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.8% were married couples living together, 10.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.4% were non-families. 27.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 2.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.53 and the average family size was 3.10.

In age 18 and over, there were 94.5 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $60,088, and the median income for a family was $69,437. Males had a median income of $46,683 versus $34,334 for females. The per capita income for the city was $29,185. About 3.0% of families and 4.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 4.8% of those under age 18 and 3.2% of those age 65 or over.

Schools with Duluth mailing address

Elementary Schools

  • Abbotts Hill Elementary (Chattahoochee)
  • B.B. Harris Elementary (Duluth)
  • Berkeley Lake Elementary (Duluth)
  • Berkmar/Meadowcreek Area Elementary (opening 8/10)
  • Chattahoochee Elementary (Duluth)
  • Charles Brant Chesney Elementary (Duluth)
  • Findley Oaks Elementary (Northview)
  • M.H. Mason Elementary (Peachteee Ridge)
  • Shakerag Elementary (Northview)
  • Wilson Creek Elementary (Northview)

Middle Schools

  • Duluth Middle (Duluth)
  • Richard Hull Middle (Peachtree Ridge)
  • Louise Radloff Middle (Meadowcreek)

High Schools

Private Schools

  • Duluth Junior Academy
  • Perimeter Christian School
  • Woodward Academy North
  • Notre Dame Academy

Notable residents of Duluth and Johns Creek

Business

References


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