Decatur Library, Decatur, Georgia

Contributed by Ann L. Sherman and Jane L. Splawn

Decatur Library (DeKalb County Public Library System-Main Branch)
215 Sycamore Street, Decatur, GA 30030
Telephone: (404) 370-3070
Hours: Monday-Thursday, 9 a.m.-9 p.m.; Friday-Saturday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.; Sunday, 1 p.m.-5 p.m.
Website: http://www.dekalb.public.lib.ga.us

Directions to and Parking at the Decatur Library
This library is located less than a block east of the Decatur station of MARTA, the Atlanta rapid transit system. By automobile travel south on Clairemont Avenue. Turn left when Clairemont Avenue dead-ends at East Ponce de Leon Avenue (or travel east on West Ponce de Leon from downtown Atlanta). Turn right (south) on Church Street, then turn left (east) on Sycamore Street. The library will be on your right at number 215. Access to the parking levels is between the library and the recreation center building. A large, two-level parking deck located behind the library accommodates many cars and is free to the public. The upper level deck permits entry directly to the first floor. Handicap access is available from this level with doors that have push-button automatic entry. Although the lower level parking deck is entirely under cover, in the event of rain you must climb a set of outside stairs with no protection from the elements to gain entrance to the first floor. There is no entrance from this lower level parking deck.

History of Area
The Decatur Library is located in the county seat of DeKalb County, created in 1822 from parts of Fayette, Gwinnett, and Henry Counties. These parent counties were formed as a result of the 1820 Georgia Land Lottery from Cherokee and Creek Indian lands. Campbell County was formed from part of DeKalb in 1828. Fulton County, which was formed in 1853 from DeKalb, absorbed Campbell County in 1932.
Decatur and the surrounding county suffered widespread destruction during the Civil War but are today a thriving and progressive part of the metropolitan area of Atlanta.

Locations of Genealogical Materials
The main genealogical holdings for the DeKalb County Library System are at the Decatur Library. Most of the materials pertaining to genealogy are in the Special Collections Room on the first floor and are not for circulation. However, all microforms, including those of a genealogical nature, are on the second floor in the Reference Department.

Finding Aids and Internet Access
DYNIX, a finding aid for the DeKalb County Library System, is on computers in the Reference Department and in the area on the first floor near the Special Collections Room. Searches using key words may be made either by author, title, or subject. Other computers in the Reference Department have Internet access and are available for use by the public. DYNIX may be found on computers in any of the twenty-three library branches. In the future it may also be accessed by your home computer through a dial-up service which may be used to determine availability of a book before a trip to the library. See the WWW site given at the beginning of this article for guidance in finding DYNIX.

Located at the desk in the Reference Department is a copy of Virtual Roots: A Guide to Genealogy and Local History on the World Wide Web, written by Thomas Jay Kemp and published by Scholarly Resources, Wilmington, Delaware, 1997. You must request to see it, and it cannot be checked out, but this book may well be worth a trip to the Decatur Library for information on specific Internet sites. Some topics addressed are African Americans, archives, church records, heraldry, history, libraries, Mayflower passengers, Native Americans, Palatines, foreign countries, and family associations.

The Special Collections Room
The Special Collections Room is open with the help of volunteers. When no volunteer is available, it is locked. However, visitors may use the room by signing in at the security desk on the first floor. A copy of the Special Collections brochure may be obtained at the circulation desk. Books, periodicals, and city directories are found in this room. Although gifts of books that meet specific requirements are accepted, dairies, letters, photographs, and other such material cannot be accepted. Persons who wish to make such a donation are referred to special archival depositories equipped to handle such items properly.

     Books: The predominant portion of the collection pertains to the history of DeKalb County and Georgia. Also included are histories of Fayette, Gwinnett, and Henry Counties, parent counties of DeKalb County; histories of other counties; biographical material on Georgians; family histories with strong DeKalb County interest; colonial through present-day records of Georgia, including some D.A.R. and U.D.C. publications; books pertaining to other states, particularly Virginia; several books on the Civil War; passenger and immigration indexes; and journals on local and historic genealogical societies.
The books are catalogued and shelved using the Dewey Decimal Classification System. Because of this, genealogists who like to browse may find it a frustrating effort. Use of this system means that books are not grouped in separate categories such as county histories, family histories, and the like. For example, a book on Virginia records may be placed next to a Georgia family history. Use of the computer finding aid to locate a book’s call number will probably be more efficient than browsing. Inputting a subject category such as “Genealogy Virginia” will give a list of titles and call numbers available and specify if they are located in the Special Collections Room or elsewhere. However, the finding aid program is currently not available in the Special Collections Room and must be accessed on computers in the area outside the room near the Circulation Desk.

     Periodicals: Included in this collection are United Daughters of the Confederacy Magazine, 1950-present; Genealogical Helper, 1947-present; Family Puzzlers, 1981-1991; Georgia History Quarterly, 1928-present; Georgia Magazine, 1961-1990; Georgia Journal, 1980-1993; Georgia Genealogical Magazine, 1961-1990; Georgia Genealogical Society Quarterly, 1966-present; and The Mayflower Quarterly, 1971-1993. There may not be a complete run for the dates shown, and sometimes they are not arranged in chronological order or even in the same area.

     Newspapers: The Lithonia Observer is in a set of bound volumes covering 1978-1986.

     City Directories: Atlanta directories, 1928-1991; Tucker-Stone Mountain directories, 1966-1972.

     Manuscripts: There are no manuscript collections in paper form, and none are accepted.

     Maps: Maps are located in the corner of the room in large drawers that are not labeled. A current map of DeKalb County showing militia districts and a Georgia map of early roads, trails, ferries, and forts, 1730-1850, are interesting items in this collection.

     Copiers: No copiers are available in the Special Collections Room, but one is located nearby on the first floor. The copies are 15¢ each.

Microform Collection
The microform collection is located in the Reference Department on the second floor of the library. Although not totally genealogical in nature, this collection does include a wide variety of genealogical materials. Isolated film from other states such as the Fairfield County, South Carolina, Probate Records provides an unexpected surprise.

     Selected Holdings: The following list does not include all microform records but is intended to give researchers a representation of the items available in this area of the Decatur Library.

• Census Records:
  • Federal - 1790-1850 for various states
  • 1820-1920 for Georgia
  • No Soundex; some census indexes
• Decatur Cemetery Records for 1837-1979
• DeKalb County Sunday School Association, 1866-1883, 1975
  • Minutes and other records
• Family Registry Index (microfiche)
• Georgia:
  • Marriage Register, 1964-1994 (1972 missing)
  • Death Index, 1920-1994
  • Divorce Register, 1965-1994 (1972 missing)
• Georgia Genealogical Society Quarterly Index, 1964-1980
• Leon S. Hollingsworth Genealogical Card File Collection (12 reels)
• Margaret Davis Cate Collection (microfilm reels #3170-3189)
• Newspapers:
  • Atlanta Constitution, 17 June 1868-present
  • Atlanta Journal, 24 February 1883-present
  • New York Times, September 1851-present
  • Southern Confederacy Newspaper, February 12, 1861-February 8, 1865 (seven reels)
  • Some local, state, and area newspapers also included
• North Carolina Land Grants in Tennessee, 1778-1791
• Passenger Lists:
  • Ports in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina, early 1880s-1924
  • Savannah, 1906-1945 (4 reels)
• Revolutionary War
  • Rolls for Georgia, (M246, Roll 332)
  • Index to Compiled Service Records for Georgia (M1051, roll #10)
  • Compiled Service Records for Georgia (M888, roll #332)
  • Register of Land Warrants, Military District of Ohio, 1799-1805
• Sanborn Maps for Georgia
• South Carolina, Fairfield County
  • Judge of Probate Inventory, Book I, 1787-1792; Book II, 1784-1800
  • Judge of Probate Inventory, Will Book C, Volume 5, 1804-1812
• Southern Historical Society Papers (magazine published by Virginia Historical Society)
• Virginia State Library County and Municipal Records (miscellaneous file #461)

     Microform Reader-Copiers: Five microform reader-copiers are available. Cost is 15¢ per page (standard size only). Each machine will accept nickels, dimes, quarters, and one-dollar and five-dollar bills. Instructions for use are not easily seen while sitting at the machine, as they are located at the top. Change will be given only after the return button is pushed.

Other Area Attractions
     DeKalb County Courthouse: Located at 556 North McDonough Street in Decatur, this building was erected in 1967. Divorce, civil court, and land records are maintained by the Clerk of the Superior Court. Marriage and estate records are found in the Office of Probate Court. Courthouse fires occurred in 1842, 1898, and 1916, and some early records have been destroyed.

     DeKalb County Historical Museum: This museum is located in the “old” courthouse built in 1916 “on the square” in Decatur. It features exhibits pertaining to the history of DeKalb County and contains some genealogical materials.

     Stone Mountain Park: Located approximately ten miles east of Decatur off Highway 78, this park contains the second largest monadnock in the world. The Confederate Memorial, a carving in the side of the granite-mountain, was begun in 1923 and not completed until 1972. The figures depicted are of Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee, and “Stonewall” Jackson on horseback. When the carving was being done, workers could easily stand inside a horse’s mouth to escape the rain. A lift, which takes one up the side of the mountain, provides a bird’s eye view of the magnitude of the carving.