Dekalb County

In the 176 years since its founding, DeKalb County has grown from a quiet village of 2,500 to a bustling and diverse metropolitan county with 600,000 residents.

Baron Johann De Kalb, the French army officer for whom DeKalb County is named, was neither French nor a Baron. The son of a German peasant, De Kalb left home at the age of sixteen to become a French soldier of fortune. There he found that only noblemen could become officers, so he gave himself the title of "baron". De Kalb was one of several foreign soldiers to offer their services gallantly in the Battle of Camden, S.C. on August 16, 1780 and died there after being wounded eleven times. He was the only general in the American Revolution to die on the battlefield, fighting next to the average foot soldier. Six counties in the United States are named for De Kalb, making it the third most popular name for counties in the nation.