| Peachtree Corners | |
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| — City — | |
| The Forum, the unofficial downtown of Peachtree Corners | |
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| Coordinates: 33°58′32.1″N 84°13′4″W / 33.975583°N 84.21778°WCoordinates: 33°58′32.1″N 84°13′4″W / 33.975583°N 84.21778°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Georgia |
| County | Gwinnett |
| Population (2008 estimate)[1] | |
| • Total | 34,274 |
| Time zone | Eastern (EST) (UTC-5) |
| • Summer (DST) | EDT (UTC-4) |
| ZIP codes | 30071, 30092, 30097, 30096, 30360 |
| FIPS code | |
| GNIS feature ID | |
Peachtree Corners is a city[2] soon to be incorporated in western Gwinnett County, Georgia, United States. It is a northern suburb of Atlanta, located east of Dunwoody and south of Johns Creek. Out of all of Atlanta's northern suburbs, Peachtree Corners is the only one that was developed as a planned community.[3] On November 18, 2011, Peachtree Corners became Gwinnett County's 16th city, and, with a population of 34,274, its largest. Municipal operations will begin on July 1, 2012.[1][4]
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Prior to 1818, the western corner of what would later become 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 an Indian 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 rail road, all of the area's businesses and residents moved from Pinckneyville to Norcross. For the next century, the Peachtree Corners area remained a rural farming community.[5]
In the late 1960s, Paul Duke pitched an idea for Peachtree Corners, a planned community to be constructed in the area that was once known as Pinckneyville. Duke envisioned a place where people could live, work, and play in the same quality controlled environment, thus diminishing the need for long commutes. In 1967, Duke initiated the planning of the office component of Peachtree Corners, Technology Park/Atlanta, a campus of low-rise buildings that would house low-pollution, high technology industries. As a member of the Georgia Tech National Advisory Board, he persuaded 16 others to invest $1.7 million to develop a business center that would raise funds for Tech’s foundation and supply local jobs for graduates in high technology fields. In 1968, Duke established Peachtree Corners, Inc., and coaxed top developers from throughout the country to work within a stringent set of covenants and restrictions established to control the quality and type of residential development in the area.[6]
The man who turned Paul Duke’s vision into executive neighborhoods in Peachtree Corners was Jim Cowart. Having developed and built homes in Dunwoody for years, Cowart came over to Peachtree Corners in the late 1970s, not as a home builder, but as a land developer. He determined from Gwinnett County where the sewer treatment lift station would be and went upstream and bought everything he could afford. The first neighborhood in Peachtree Corners that Jim Cowart developed was Spalding Corners. Chattahoochee Station had gone bankrupt, so Cowart took that property over from a bank and finished developing that neighborhood. He began Peachtree Station in 1979, which developed out at 726 homes. Cowart also developed River Station, Revington, Linfield, and Amberfield. The neighborhoods of Riverfield and Wellington Lake were developed by Jim’s son, Dan Cowart, who was also responsible for locating Wesleyan School in Peachtree Corners. In 1985, Cowart built the Farrell Creek sewer line, from the Wolf Creek pumping station to Farrell Creek, and up Farrell Creek to the east side of Highway 141. The line that allowed for the 1990s development of Amberfield, Linfield, Riverfield, Wesleyan School, and the businesses in Spalding Triangle office park, Check Free, and The Forum. 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.[6]
In early 2010, it was announced that the United Peachtree Corners Civic Association was pursuing the incorporation of Peachtree Corners.[7] The move was spurred by a failed attempt of the City of Norcross to annex a portion of Technology Park, an area located within the boundaries of Peachtree Corners.[8] In a referendum held on November 8, 2011, voters in Peachtree Corners voted to incorporate the community.[9]
Peachtree Corners is defined as the area 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, Johhns Creek (also in Fulton) at the Chattahoochee River on the north, and the city limits of Berkeley Lake and Duluth on the east.[10]
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 the entirety 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.[18] 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.[19] Zip code 30092 had a population of 31,704 at the 2010 census which is also the population of Peachtree Corners.
The city of Peachtree Corners will provide only land-use planning and zoning services, code enforcement and trash collection, leaving other services, such as police, fire protection, and parks to be provided by Gwinnett County.[4]
The United States Postal Service operates the Peachtree Corners Post Office.[20] Despite this, as of April 2012[update], the Peachtree Corners ZIP code 30092 is still listed as Norcross by default, and Berkeley Lake as acceptable, with the correct Peachtree Corners (and clearly incorrect "Parkway") being listed as a "mistake".[21] Any correction is unlikely to occur for at least a few months after incorporation, since neighboring Sandy Springs' 30328 (also entirely within that city, created in 2005) was not made "acceptable" until 2006, with "Atlanta" still being the default as of 2012.
The county operates Gwinnett County Public Schools and Berkley Lake Elementary School, Peachtree Elementary School, Simpson Elementary School, Stripling Elementary School, Duluth Middle School, Pinckneyville Middle School, Duluth High School and Norcross High School serve the area.[22]
Wesleyan School is a private school located in Peachtree Corners.[22]
Gwinnett County Public Library operates the Peachtree Corners Library.[23]
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