The Decatur Waterworks was a facility that obtained drinking water for the city of Decatur, Georgia, from the local Peachtree Creek and Burnt Fork Creek. Completed in 1907 and abandoned since the 1940s, the Waterworks have fallen into disrepair and are covered with graffiti. The Decatur Waterworks are in Mason Mill Park, near the city of Decatur.Historical designationOn March 15, 2006, the Decatur Waterworks was added to the National Register of Historic Places, due to its former industrial significance as a water works, its political importance as Works Progress Administration (WPA) project, and its use as a public park.History of the Decatur Water WorksNear Decatur Georgia, before the Civil War, in the 1850s, Ezekiel Mason built a flour mill on the bank of Burnt Fork Creek near where it flows into the south fork of Peachtree Creek. This is the mill from which Mason Mill Road and Mason Mill Park derive their names. After the deaths of Mr. Mason and his wife in the late 19th century the land was transferred to J. A. Mason, relationship unknown. The provenance of the property becomes unclear at that point as the DeKalb Historical Society notes show that the J. A. Mason sold the property to the City of Decatur, but Decatur City Council Minutes refer to the property as the "Tallery property", and an option was exercised with C. H. Talley for the purchase of land in October 1906. In any case, records show that a waterworks construction project was completed on the property by December 1907. By 1939, the Decatur Water Works consisted of two aeration and solid removal tanks, two storage tanks, an office building and two dams, one dam on South Peachtree Creek and one on Burnt Fork Creek. The remains of all of these structures can still be seen today and are often referred as ‘the old Decatur Water Works’.
