HISTORY OF
FORTY OAKS

Forty Oaks has been part of Clarkston’s landscape for more than 130 years.
The land was first settled in the late 19th century, when the Sutton family built a modest farmhouse on what was then a rural crossroads. The home became a gathering place — a spot where people shared news, tended gardens, raised chickens, and cared for the land long before Clarkston grew into the diverse community it is today.

 

For nearly a century, the Sutton family served as stewards of this property. The farmhouse that remains today is one of the few intact historic homesteads of its kind in the area. Ed Sutton was a mayor, newspaper editor, teacher, community volunteer, and one of the organizers of Clarkston’s first public school. His daughter, Hazel Sutton, continued that spirit of service into the 1970s as a community advocate, educator, and volunteer who worked closely with DeKalb County to preserve the land as public green space for future generations.

 

In the early 1970s, DeKalb County secured the property with federal open-space funding, formally setting it aside for conservation and public outdoor use. Decades later, the land passed to the City of Clarkston with the same enduring purpose:
to remain a forested sanctuary in the heart of the city.

 

Today, Forty Oaks remains one of Clarkston’s last remaining natural areas — a 10-acre urban forest, creek corridor, and wildlife habitat where residents can explore, learn, gather, and connect with nature.

 

Friends of Forty Oaks is continuing that legacy.
We work to restore the forest, protect wildlife habitats, improve trail access, and care for the historic farmhouse alongside the surrounding forest so this place can remain a community asset.