DECATUR, GA — Decatur city commissioners have unanimously approved the designation of the Beacon Hill neighborhood as a historic district following a lengthy meeting and strong community input.
Beacon Hill was established by freed slaves after the Civil War and was primarily home to Black families until gentrification in recent decades.
Residents packed the meeting and spoke late into the night, urging leaders to preserve the neighborhood’s cultural and historical significance.
Calls for the designation grew louder after plans were announced for a $20 million early childhood learning center on greenspace at West Trinity Place and Electric Avenue, land many residents consider sacred.
“Preserving this sacred ground is educational,” Wanda Watters said. “We’re not against a facility for education, but they have other options. We don’t have other options, this is the last sacred space that means so much to us.”
Others also spoke in favor of the designation.
“It didn’t matter whose property it was when it was taken from the indigenous people or from later African American communities,” Lynn Farmer said. “The legal arguments of possession fail in comparison to the moral, ethical, and spiritual imperative.”
Community members emphasized the area’s deep historical roots and the impact of past displacement.
“Gentrification happened and they were scattered once again,” Carol Burgess said. “So I really feel like the city of Decatur owes this community, the Beacon Hill Community, a lot.”
Doris Johnson said the designation recognizes the contributions of those who built the community.
“We’ll be the first and only historic district in the city of Decatur that specifically recognizes the contributions of formerly enslaved African Americans who created the Beacon Hill Community,” Johnson said.
Even with the historic designation, the proposed early learning center could still be built if it is fully funded. Leaders have also discussed the possibility of requiring an archaeological survey before any construction begins.
The Decatur Cemetery’s historic African American section includes the graves of some of Beacon Hill’s earliest residents, with some gravestones dating back to 1886.
WSB Radio’s Graham Carroll contributed to this story.