Pine Lake, GA

Pine Lake began as a weekend retreat before becoming a city. In the 1930s, Pine Woods Corporation sold small lots around a fishing lake to Atlantans looking for a place outside the city, and Pine Lake incorporated in December 1937. The original setup still gives the name its context: a lake-centered retreat in DeKalb County. Schools are outside the city limits and fall under the DeKalb County School District. Pine Lake’s quick local read is a former fishing-and-camping retreat that became a municipality, with the lake still doing most of the geographic work.