History of Lake City, Georgia
The City of Lake City is located in northern Clayton County nine miles south of the City of Atlanta. The city has an ideal geographic location in the greater Atlanta metropolitan area, having convenient access to Interstate 75 and Interstate 285 and is just five mile east of Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. The City of Lake City is located just north of Clayton State University and the City of Morrow, south of the U.S. Army's Fort Gillem and south, southeast of the City of Forest Park.
The City of Lake City was granted a charter as an incorporated city by the Georgia General Assembly on February 12, 1951. Boundaries of the community included the land lying between Forest Park on the North, Morrow on the South, and extended from Burks Drive on East to Reynolds Road on the West. The people living within these boundaries did not wish to join the cities of Morrow or Forest Park and voted to incorporate as their own city. After 26 months of negotiating with the state under the leadership of mayor William P. Eubanks the city was granted a charter. The city derives its name from the fact that the area contained several lakes which were then filled in order to form portions of the land area of the city. The first mayor of Lake City when it was incorporated in 1951 was Mayor J.L. Christian. The subsequent mayor was F.M. Blaylock who served a number of years in the Army Ordnance Corps. and was active in many civic affairs.
A club which helped facilitate much of the early development of the city the "Lake City Improvement Club" was organized on February 9, 1955 as a Women’s Club in the home of Mrs. W.R. Duke with 20 charter members. Mrs. Duke was voted the first president of the club. Mrs. A.L. Kenyon was also served as president of the club in its early days. The permanent goal of the club was to “make our community a better place to live and rear our families”. Its first project was the building of a community center consisting of a building and playgrounds. Feeling the building of the community center required the help of men it was decided that the club should be a family affair and it was opened up to men and children and the meetings were changed from the daytime to the evening. On June 25, 1955 ground was broken on the community center and the club held its first meeting in the center on May 11, 1956.
The club, in which membership dues were paid, generally met once a month. The club participated in the North Georgia Rural Improvement Program from the time of its organization. Also in 1955, a map of the community was made, a census taken, houses numbered and mail boxes were made uniform. On February 25, 1958 the clubs secretary Mrs. W.L. Shi wrote a letter to Mr. Charles Tucker, Clayton County Agent, on behalf of the club in which the club expressed its wish to enter the “Community Development Program” sponsored by the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce in Cooperation with the Georgia Agricultural Extension Service, University of Georgia College of Agriculture. In May of 1959 the club changed its name to the Lake City Community Club. In 1960 street lights were installed at intersections and Lake City Elementary School was completed. A community census was again taken by members of the club in 1961 which revealed a population of 1,125 residents. In 1962, Forest Park High School located on Phillips Drive was opened.
The community grew rapidly and consisted of Springbrook Nursery school, Buckaroo Ranch Day Nursery, two churches, and businesses including Joyce’s Beauty Shop, Steven’s Beauty Shop, Lake City Service Station, Neundorfer’s Service Station, Cecil’s Service Station, Royal Trailer Court, Trailer Sales and Service, Lake City Grocery, Lake City Sanitation Service, Mitchell’s Garage, Sander’s Bait Farm, Southern States Feed Corp., Eubanks Industrial Piping Company, O’Hara Asphalt Paving and Forest Park Animal Hospital, among others. Land on North Lake Drive with railroad frontage was set aside as an Industrial Park. The community club sponsored a Boy Scout troop which met in the club house along with other organizations and individuals whom used the facility for various meetings and entertainment. The club endeavored to serve the people of the community by presenting programs that were informative and interesting, to be alert to problems that affected the individual as well as the community as a whole and to create civic pride and neighborliness among the people.
Today the City of Lake City consists of 1.8 square miles of total land area and has a population of 2,614 residents.
Population in 2011: 2,614. Population change since 2000: -9.4%
Males: 1,224 (46.9%)
Females: 1,390 (53.1%)
Median resident age: 36.0 years
Georgia median age: 40.0 years
Estimated median household income in 2009: $35,168 (it was $38,929 in 2000)
Lake City: $35,168
Estimated per capita income in 2009: $16,452
Estimated median house or condo value in 2009: $100,460 (it was $86,700 in 2000)
Lake City: $100,460
Mean prices in 2009: All housing units: $113,886; Detached houses: $116,724 Townhouses or other attached units: $74,502
Median gross rent in 2009: $786
Black alone: 1,078 (41.3%)
White alone: 678 (26.0%)
Hispanic: 400 (15.3%)
Asian alone: 388 (14.9%)
Two or more race: 57 (2.2%)
American Indian alone: 6 (0.2%)
Other race alone: 3 (0.1%)
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone: 2 (0.08%)
More demographic information available at City-Data.com.