Decatur.
1 City (2020 pop. 57,938), seat of Morgan co., N Ala., on the
Tennessee River; inc. 1826. It has shipyards, port traffic, and diverse
industries, including steel manufacturing. The city has thrived on power
supplied by the Tennessee Valley
Authority. A settlement there incorporated in 1820 as Rhodes
Ferry was chartered in 1826 and renamed in honor of naval hero Stephen
Decatur. During
the Civil War, Decatur was continually raided by Union forces; two houses
and the imposing state bank (1832) survive. The huge Browns Ferry nuclear
power plant and a national wildlife refuge are nearby. The present city was
formed (1927) by the union of Decatur and Albany (formerly New Decatur).
2 City (2020 pop. 24,928), seat of DeKalb co., NW Ga., a residential suburb of
Atlanta; inc. 1823. Some light industry is there. The city was named for the
U.S. war hero Stephen Decatur. Agnes
Scott College and Columbia Theological Seminary are there. Carved on the
side of nearby Stone Mountain, in a memorial park, are the figures of Robert
E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, and Jefferson Davis (see Stone Mountain Memorial).
3 City (2020 pop. 70,522), seat of Macon co., central Ill., on the Sangamon River
(dammed there to form Lake Decatur); inc. 1839. A railroad and industrial
center in a fertile farm and livestock area, Decatur has railroad repair
shops and huge plants for processing corn and soybeans. Other manufactures
include transportation and mining equipment and machinery. Coal deposits
underlie the area. Of interest are the Lincoln Log Cabin Courthouse, where
Abraham Lincoln practiced law; Lincoln Square, where he received his first
endorsement for the presidential nomination; and the city library, with its
Lincoln collection. The site of Lincoln's first home in Illinois is in a
state park nearby. The Grand Army of the
Republic was organized in Decatur in Apr., 1866. Millikin
Univ. is in the city.
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