The historic neighborhood of Druid Hills, designed by famed landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, is a beautiful community nestled in the heart of Atlanta.
Druid Hills Civic Association (DHCA) is a membership organization that serves Historic Druid Hills. Our mission is to "Connect neighbors, foster civic engagement, and steward the neighborhood’s beauty."
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Part of our mission is to keep our residents informed about what's happening in the neighborhood - from events to development news and everything in between.
Every quarter, the DHCA curates, publishes and mails the "Druid Hills News" magazine to all homes in our neighborhood. You can always find the latest digital copy on our homepage, or archive issues here.
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Community engagement
After planning and enjoying all of the wonderful Olmsted 200 events held last April, DHCA and our neighborhood partner organizations decided to do it again! Why not team up every year to bring our community together for a week of fun activities that celebrate Spring in this gorgeous neighborhood? |
Reserve the end of April for a lot of must-dos in Druid Hills:
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DRUID HILLS COMMUNITY PARTNERSDHCA is one of many neighborhood organizations that support the Druid Hills community. Each group has a unique mission and role to fill within the neighborhood. We often collaborate on events and do whatever we can to support each other's efforts. |
Druid Hills Patrol hires off-duty police officers to regularly patrol our neighborhood and supplement DeKalb County and City of Atlanta police services. It is funded by its stand-alone membership and is run by volunteers.
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OLPA oversees and protects the Olmsted Linear Park, a chain of small parks that run along Ponce de Leon Ave. The park, as well as the historic Druid Hills neighborhood were designed by famed landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted.
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South Fork Conservancy is a local nonprofit which works to restore the banks of the South Fork of Peachtree Creek. We return these restored green spaces to the neighbors in communities along the creek banks by connecting people with nature trails. |
Callanwolde's mission is to provide the Atlanta community with premier, accessible arts education, especially to the underserved, while promoting enjoyment of the arts at the historic and inspiring Callanwolde estate.
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Freedom Park Conservancy, a non profit organization, raises money to promote the improvement and preservation of the park for a diverse public.
DRUID HILLS 4th of july parade
It was wonderful to see hundreds of neighbors of all ages turn out for our annual Druid Hills 4th of July parade! What a special tradition, started by Juanita Edwards in 1976. Thank you, Phil and Caroline Moise, for once again opening your front yard to us and for the lemonade! We would also like to thank our wonderful community partners for helping the DHCA provide all of the fun giveaways and goodies.
OLMSTED 200 - A GRAND CELEBRATION IN DRUID HILLS
2022 marked the 200th anniversary of the birth of Frederick Law Olmsted, founder of American landscape architecture and designer of our beloved Druid Hills neighborhood and Olmsted Linear Park. His legacy also lives on in iconic spaces around the U.S. such as New York's Central Park, Boston's Emerald Necklace, the Biltmore Estate in Asheville and many more.
Druid Hills celebrated in style
It was so fun seeing neighbors enjoying all of the fun events that our Atlanta Olmsted 200 Committee planned. From a fantastical evening at Callanwolde for the Olmsted 200th Birthday Gala and the Artist Market in Dellwood Park to our record-breaking Home & Garden Tour and the free Shawn Mullins concert that was packed with neighbors in Emory Village, we'd say it was a smashing success!!
Enjoy the gallery below of highlights from the Tour and Olmsted 200 events. Make sure to visit our Community Events page where you can see more images from Druid Hills neighborhood happenings!
NEIGHBORS, TAKE ACTION!Our community is part of the heart of intown living in the metro Atlanta area. DeKalb County and the City of Atlanta have limited funds to tackle a variety of infrastructure and amenity projects, and our neighborhood's needs are often overlooked. The DHCA actively advocates for action with city and county officials, but the loudest voices are most often heard. That's where our residents come in! Please help us write to these officials so that things like our sidewalks, twittens, the train bridge and more might be moved up their priority list. Check out our "Residents, Take Action" page to download email templates, get current contact information, and more! MARTA Community Meetings: Clifton Corridor
MARTA’s Clifton Corridor Transit Initiative proposes a high-capacity bus rapid transit (BRT) or light rail transit (LRT) service to provide a connection between Lindbergh Center and Decatur or Avondale MARTA stations. Proposed routes travel though Druid Hills alongside or through the Sage Hill shopping center, Old Briarcliff Road, Emory University, Druid Hills High School, and Emory Grove neighborhood.
Additionally, DHCA will host a special Community Meeting to focus on the proposed routes through Druid Hills. The virtual meeting will be held at 7:00 PM on Wednesday, July 27. MARTA will present project information specific to Druid Hills, answer questions, and gather community input. | RECENT NEIGHBORHOOD NEWS
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DRUID HILLS PARENT GROUP
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Calling all Druid Hills parents! As we rethink how the DHCA can best serve our community, we have decided to take a less formal approach to our traditional committee, formerly known as the Druid Hills Parent Network. We have created a special Facebook group called the Druid Hills Parent Group so parents can interact in real time. We hope people will use this group to set up playdates, arrange meet-ups, welcome new neighbors, share recommendations, plan community events, ask questions, share photos, and more - HISTORIC PRESERVATION
This was the original plan for Druid Hills, as designed by Fredrick Law Olmsted in the late 1800's.
As the only neighborhood in the South designed by famed landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, Druid Hills stands apart from the other Intown neighborhoods in Atlanta, for the quality and integrity of its historic architecture and for the sweeping wide open spaces and the soaring canopy of its mature hardwoods. In order to protect the integrity and historic legacy of the neighborhood Druid Hills has been established as a historic district. Anyone who wishes to make significant changes to their properties must apply for a Certificate of Appropriateness (COA) through either the City of Atlanta or DeKalb County, depending on where your property is. The two principal jurisdictions are the DeKalb County Historic District and the City of Atlanta Landmark District. Thanks for helping us preserve and protect the unique heritage of historic Druid Hills. Read more about how historic preservation got started in Druid Hills here. |
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HISTORY OF THE DHCA
One of most active neighborhood groups in the South, DHCA was founded in 1938 to help residents preserve and protect the unique heritage of Druid Hills as envisioned by its creator, landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted. Much of our work involves exercising vigilance in land use and zoning matters, communicating with local and state officials, informing the residents about community issues, and promoting the general welfare of the neighborhood for the enjoyment of its residents today and in the future. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the Druid Hills Historic District incorporates in its entirety the area formerly listed as the Druid Hills Parks and Parkways Historic District. Learn some of our rich history as experienced by many of our long-time residents by watching the delightful "Druid Hills History Happens Here".
Did you know the DHCA worked ardently over 25 years to prevent the expansion of the Stone Mountain Freeway and the proposed Presidential Parkway from being built straight thru Druid Hills?
“An Informal History of the Druid Hills Civic Association, Celebrating 75 years” was written in 2013 and Thea Roeser, our membership chair, would be happy to deliver one to your home. Please send your name and address to membership@druidhills.org and she will deliver one to your mailbox! |
CONTACT US
DRUID HILLS CIVIC ASSOCIATION
P.O. Box 363, Decatur, GA 30031
©2017 Druid Hills Civic Association. | Druid Hills Civic Association, Inc. is a Georgia non-profit corporation.