Peachtree Corners, Georgia

Settlement

Prior to 1818, the western corner of what became Gwinnett County was Creek and Cherokee Indian Territory, and it was illegal for white families to settle there. However, there were several families of white squatters in the area before settlement was legalized, including Isham Medlock, whose name is lent to Medlock Bridge Road. In the early 1800s a road was built along a Native American trail from what is now Buford to what is now Atlanta. A small farming community known as "Pinckneyville" grew up along that road. By 1827, the community was home to the second school in Gwinnett County, the Washington Academy, founded on what is now Spalding Drive. The area was also home to a post office, saloon, blacksmith shop, carpenter shop and inn. However, the prosperity of Pinckneyville was to be short-lived. In 1870 a railroad was built through Norcross, and due to the heavy trading that could be done via the railroad, all of the area's businesses and many residents moved from Pinckneyville to Norcross.

Urban development

For the next century, the area remained a rural farming community. In the late 1960s, Paul Duke developed the idea of creating Peachtree Corners, a planned community to be constructed in the area that was once known as Pinckneyville. In 1967, Duke initiated the planning of the office component of Peachtree Corners, Technology Park/Atlanta, a campus for high technology industries to employ engineers graduating from the Georgia Institute of Technology. As a member of the Georgia Tech National Advisory Board, he raised $1.7 million to develop the business center. Initial residents of the tech park included GE, Scientific Atlanta, and Hayes Microcomputer Products. In 1968, Duke established Peachtree Corners, Inc., a development corporation for the residential parts of the community.

During the 1970s, Jim Cowart began to develop the neighborhoods that Duke had planned. Initial neighborhoods developed by Cowart included Peachtree Station, Chattahoochee Station, Spalding Corners, Revington, Linfield, and Amberfield. During this period, Cowart laid more sewer pipes than Gwinnett County. Neely Farm was one of the last neighborhoods to be built in Peachtree Corners, and it is located on the former farm of Frank Neely that abuts the Chattahoochee River.

Incorporation

The United Peachtree Corners Civic Association (UPCCA), an umbrella group of neighborhood homeowners' associations, was formed in 1993 in response to land use and overdevelopment concerns in the area. Despite the efforts of the UPCCA, development continued in Peachtree Corners throughout the 1990s, so that in 1999, the idea of incorporating Peachtree Corners was first proposed. However, due to the complexity of existing law, an incorporation movement never materialized. A city of Peachtree Corners was again proposed by the UPCCA in 2005, but efforts were abandoned after a resident survey revealed the majority of citizens did not support incorporation.

In 2010 the UPCCA again pursued the incorporation of Peachtree Corners, after a failed attempt by the city of Norcross to annex a portion of Technology Park. In a referendum held on November 8, 2011, residents of Peachtree Corners voted to incorporate as Gwinnett County's 16th city, and, with a population of 40,059, making Peachtree Corners its largest. Municipal operations began on July 1, 2012.

Geography

Peachtree Corners is located in the western corner of Gwinnett County at 33°58′32.1″N 84°13′4″W (33.969893, -84.221455). Peachtree Corners is bordered by the cities of Dunwoody and Sandy Springs (DeKalb and Fulton counties) on the west, Buford Highway and Norcross city limits on the south, Roswell and Johns Creek (both in Fulton County) across the Chattahoochee River on the north, and the city limits of Berkeley Lake and Duluth on the east.

Demographics

Since Peachtree Corners was not a city (nor even a census-designated place) at the time, no demographic data is available for the city from the 2010 U.S. Census. However, the city contains approximately 95% of ZIP code 30092, which in 2004 had an average adjusted gross income (AGI) of $70,724. The median home price in 2007 was $368,408. As of 2000, 30092 was 70% white, 13% black, 9% Asian, 4% some other race, and 2% two or more races. Hispanics of any race made up 9% of the population. ZIP Code 30092 had a population of 31,704 at the 2010 census. With parts of ZIP Codes 30071, 30096, 30097, and 30360 being within the city limits of Peachtree Corners, the estimated population is 40,059. The U.S. Census Bureau directly estimated the population of Peachtree Corners to be 40,978 in 2015.

Economy

The economy of Peachtree Corners is largely driven by the concentration of businesses, particularly engineering firms and information technology companies. In October 2014 United Arab Shipping Company relocated its North American Headquarters to Peachtree Corners. The company purchased a 50,000 square foot office building on Spalding Drive for logistics, accounting and customer service operations. The office campus includes a 9 1/2 ton ship anchor, weighing 8775 kilograms and measuring 16 feet long by 10 feet wide. In February 2015, Governor Nathan Deal confirmed that Comcast will be expanding their Southeast HQ to Peachtree Corners.In 2016, the Peachtree Corners Incubator was opened in partnership with the Georgia Tech Advanced Technology Development Center.

Parks and recreation

Peachtree Corners is home to several parks, including the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area - Medlock Bridge, Holcomb Bridge Park Jones Bridge Park, Pinckneyville Park, and Simpsonwood Park. The city holds the Annual Peachtree Corners Festival.

Government

The City of Peachtree Corners was incorporated on July 1, 2012, and provides three services: land-use planning and zoning including zoning enforcement, promulgation of building and environmental ordinances and enforcement of them, and solid waste collection. The city is governed by a mayor and six city council members which are elected to four-year terms. The city employees Peachtree Corners has in charge of day-to-day operations include a city manager, city clerk, and the community development director. The city also has code enforcement personnel, and building officials. department directors, Departments in the city include Communications, Community Development, Finance, and Public Works. The city has its own municipal court and employs a city attorney.

The city is authorized to collect property taxes of up to one millage a year, though the city operated only on business license and other fees and without levying any property taxes in 2013. The United States Postal Service operates the Peachtree Corners Post Office, which uses ZIP code 30010 for post office boxes in that location. As of July 2014, USPS officially recognized Peachtree Corners as a city, which means residents and businesses may use Peachtree Corners in their mailing address and on their websites. The city is made up of five ZIP Codes, 30092, 30071, 30096, 30097 and 30360.

Education

Gwinnett County Public Schools serve Peachtree Corners through Duluth High School, Norcross High School, Duluth Middle School, Pinckneyville Middle School, Simpson Elementary School, Peachtree Elementary School, and Berkeley Lake Elementary School.Further, Wesleyan School, Seigakuin Atlanta International School and Cornerstone Christian Academy (K-8th grade) are private schools located in Peachtree Corners. Gwinnett County Public Library operates the Peachtree Corners Library.

Media

As part of the Metro Atlanta area, the city's primary network-affiliated television stations are WXIA-TV (NBC), WGCL-TV (CBS), WSB-TV (ABC), and WAGA-TV (Fox). WGTV is the flagship station of the statewide Georgia Public Television network and is a PBS member station. Peachtree Corners is served by the Gwinnett Daily Post, which is the most widely distributed newspaper as well as Gwinnett county's legal organ. The former site of BJ’s Wholesale Club was used as the set of the 2012 movie “Neighborhood Watch” starring Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn, and Jonah Hill. A home on Fitzpatrick Way in Peachtree Corners was used as a filming location for the 2015 movie “Barely Lethal” starring Sophie Turner (actress), Jessica Alba, and Samuel L. Jackson. The film used Simpsonwood Retreat and Conference Center as the staging area.

Notable people