Is there a reason why only a portion of Oakhurst is included within the Local Historic District application? It seems like the application recognizes

Is there a reason why only a portion of Oakhurst is included within the Local Historic District application? It seems like the application recognizes that only a portion of the original city of Oakhurst is included in the application, but I don't understand why Feld Avenue is anymore historically significant than Benson or Jefferson or Fayetteville? Thanks!

While there are broad boundaries of the community we now call Oakhurst many of the areas vary greatly in their history. According to the Decatur Historic Preservation Resource Manual Benson, Jefferson and Fayetteville were annexed into the City of Decatur at a different time. The City of Decatur Historic Resources Survey conducted in the 1990s indicates that the streets you mention were not part of the original City of Oakhurst. Not all of the original City of Oakhurst was included. The section on the north side of the tracks asked not to be included because they feel they are no longer connected to Oakhurst and have developed their own neighborhood character and association with surrounding neighborhoods. Additionally, they felt that the manner in which their homes are connected to the street are vastly different from the proposed district. A portion of East Lake was excluded because it was obvious it was not developed until a much later period. Another street was excluded because it has a large amount of in-fill housing making the majority of the street non-contributing. The streets and homes chosen where part of the development by a few developers in the period of the construction of the Meade's rail station and South Decatur Trolley line. There could be a case made for the entire area of Oakhurst to be a local historic district, but many residents rejected the notion of seeking such protection. The proposed district has a high percentage of residents that would like to seek protection under the historic preservation ordinances.