text:
Early County, Georgia

Early County is a county located on the southwest border of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 10,854. The county seat is Blakely, where the Early County Courthouse is located. Created on December 15, 1818, it was named for Peter Early, 28th Governor of Georgia. The county is bordered on the west by the Chattahoochee River, forming the border with Alabama.

History
Prehistoric and nineteenth-century history has been preserved in some of Early County's attractions. It is the site of the Kolomoki Mounds, a park preserving major earthworks built by indigenous peoples of the Woodland culture more than 1700 years ago, from 350 CE to 600 CE. This is one of the largest mound complexes in the United States and the largest in Georgia; it includes burial and ceremonial mounds. The siting of the mounds expresses the ancient people's cosmology, as mounds are aligned with the sun at the spring equinox and summer solstice.

The county area was long territory of the historic Creek Indian peoples of the Southeast, particularly along the Chattahoochee River. Beginning in the early nineteenth century, European-American settlers began to encroach on this territory, pushing the Muscogee out during Indian Removal in the 1830s. The Muscogee were forced to Indian Territory west of the Mississippi River.

This area was developed by European-American settlers and their African-American enslaved workers for cotton plantations. Agriculture was critical to the economy into the 20th century. The Cohelee Creek Bridge in the county is the southernmost covered bridge still standing. One of the last wooden flagpoles from the American Civil War era is located at the historic courthouse in downtown Blakely.

According to the Equal Justice Initiative, in the period from 1877 to 1950, Early County had 24 documented lynchings of African Americans, the second-highest total in the state after the more densely populated Fulton County. Most were committed around the turn of the 20th century, in the period of Jim Crow conditions and suppression of black voting. This was still a largely agricultural area, and some disputes arose from confrontations between black sharecroppers or tenant farmers and white landowners, particularly at times to settle accounts. Another, Sidney Grist, was lynched on December 31, 1896, for "political activity".

Among these cases were five African-American men lynched by whites in less than a month in the summer of 1899: three on July 23, one on July 25 (all reportedly for rape and robbery), and one on August 3 for attempted rape. Black men were frequently identified as suspects in such cases and lynched before any trial took place; further investigations have sometimes revealed consensual sex or other persons having committed the crime. A mass lynching took place in the county on December 30, 1915, when seven black men were lynched, allegedly as suspects in a murder.

Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 516 sqmi, of which 513 sqmi is land and 3.8 sqmi (0.7%) is water.

The northeastern and eastern portions of Early County, east of Blakely, and extending south to a line east of Jakin, are located in the Spring Creek sub-basin of the ACF River Basin (Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River Basin). The western portion of the county is located in the Lower Chattahoochee River sub-basin of the same ACF River Basin.

Major highways
U.S. Route 27 Business
 * US 27.svg U.S. Route 27
 * Business plate.svg
 * US 84.svg U.S. Route 84
 * Georgia 1.svg State Route 1
 * Georgia 1 Business.svg State Route 1 Business
 * Georgia 39.svg State Route 39
 * Georgia 45.svg State Route 45
 * Georgia 62.svg State Route 62
 * Georgia 62 Bypass.svg State Route 62 Bypass
 * Georgia 200.svg State Route 200
 * Georgia 216.svg State Route 216
 * Georgia 273.svg State Route 273
 * Georgia 273 Spur.svg State Route 273 Spur
 * Georgia 370.svg State Route 370

Adjacent counties

 * Clay County (north)
 * Calhoun County (northeast)
 * Baker County (east)
 * Miller County (southeast)
 * Seminole County (south or east)
 * Houston County, Alabama (southwest/CST Border)
 * Henry County, Alabama (west/CST Border)

Cities

 * Arlington (shared with Calhoun County)
 * Blakely
 * Damascus
 * Jakin

Census designated places

 * Cedar Springs

Unincorporated communities

 * Colomokee
 * Cuba
 * Freeman
 * Hentown
 * Hilton
 * Jones Crossroads
 * Killarney
 * Lucile
 * New Hope
 * Nicholasville
 * Old Damascus
 * Rock Hill
 * Rowena
 * Saffold
 * Urquhart

Demographics
As of the 2020 United States census, there were 10,854 people, 4,074 households, and 2,659 families residing in the county.

Education
The Early County School District holds grades pre-school to grade twelve, and consists of one elementary school, a middle school, and a high school. The district has 156 full-time teachers and over 2,764 students.
 * Early County Elementary School
 * Early County Middle School
 * Early County High School

Politics
Despite being a Black-majority county, Early County leans Republican. As recently as 2012, the county selected Barack Obama (D) over Mitt Romney (R). However, Early County voted for Donald Trump (R) both in 2016 and 2020, even though Joe Biden (D) defeated Trump statewide in 2020. In the 2022 midterms, Governor Kemp carried it by 19.5 points while Brad Raffensperger carried it by over 21%

title: Early County, Georgia


text:
Echols County, Georgia

Echols County is a county located in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,697. The county seat is Statenville. Since 2008, Statenville is a disincorporated municipality. Echols and Webster counties are the only two counties in Georgia to currently have no incorporated municipalities. The county was established in 1858 and named in honor of Robert Milner Echols (1798–1847).

Echols County is part of the Valdosta, GA metropolitan statistical area.

History
On December 13, 1858, the Georgia General Assembly passed a bill establishing Echols County from a south-eastern section of Lowndes County and a south-western section Clinch County. The original borders of the county were a line from the mouth of the Suwanoochee Creek directly south to the state line, then along the state line, then north to the junction of Grand Bay Creek and Mud Swamp, then up the course of Grand Bay Creek to Carter's Ford, then a direct line to where Cow's Creek enters the Alapaha River, then up the creek to Griffins' Mill, then a direct line to Jack's Fort on Suwanoochee Creek, and then down Suwanoochee Creek to its mouth. With the exception of some minor adjustments of the border Echols shares with Lowndes and the loss of a thin strip to Florida following Florida v. Georgia, the borders of Echols County has changed little since its establishment. Statenville was declared the county seat in 1859.

At the time of the 1860 census, Echols County had a white population of 1,177, with 314 slaves, and no free people of color.

Echols County became notable as it has served as a place of banishment for many of Georgia's criminals. As the Georgia State Constitution forbids banishment beyond the borders of the state, officials instead ban the offender from 158 of Georgia's 159 counties, with Echols remaining as their only option. Few criminals have been documented as actually moving to Echols. This is because almost all banished criminals choose to leave the state instead of moving to Echols County.

Banishment, including 158-county banishment, has repeatedly been upheld by Georgia courts. The first case when banishment was upheld was in the 1974 case State v Collett, when the Georgia Supreme Court upheld the banishment of a drug dealer from seven counties. The most recent time banishment was upheld, in 2011, the Georgia Supreme Court ruled it was constitutional to banish David Nathan Thompson (a mentally ill man who was convicted of firing a gun into a home, although no one was injured) from all but one county in Georgia.

Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 421 sqmi, of which 415 sqmi is land and 5.8 sqmi (1.4%) is water. The county contains a notable swamp, Whitehead Bay.

The western half of Echols County is located in the Alapaha River sub-basin of the Suwannee River basin. The eastern half of the county, from well east of Statenville to just west of Fargo, is located in the Upper Suwannee River sub-basin of the same Suwannee River basin.

Major highways

 * US 41.svg U.S. Route 41
 * US 129.svg U.S. Route 129
 * US 441.svg U.S. Route 441
 * Georgia 7.svg  State Route 7
 * Georgia 11.svg State Route 11
 * Georgia 89.svg State Route 89
 * Georgia 94.svg State Route 94
 * Georgia 135.svg State Route 135
 * Georgia 187.svg State Route 187
 * Georgia 376.svg State Route 376

Major waterways

 * Alapaha River
 * Alapahoochee River
 * Grand Bay Creek (known in the 1800s as Irwin's River and later as Irwin's Creek)
 * Suwannee River
 * Suwanoochee Creek

Railways

 * Georgia Southern and Florida Railway
 * Seaboard Coast Line Railroad
 * Plant System (now part of CSX)
 * Statenville Railway (Defunct, it was used from 1910 to 1924. It ran from Statenville to Haylow, Georgia)

Adjacent counties

 * Clinch County – northeast
 * Columbia County, Florida – southeast
 * Hamilton County, Florida – south
 * Lowndes County – west
 * Lanier County – north

Unincorporated communities

 * Fruitland
 * Howell
 * Needmore
 * Statenville (county seat)

Extinct town

 * Tarver (formerly Statenville Station and Huckleberry)

Demographics
As of the 2020 United States Census, there were 3,697 people, 1,561 households, and 1,097 families residing in the county.

Education

Echols County School District operates public schools.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Echols County, Georgia


text:
Douglas County, Georgia

Douglas County is a county located in the north central portion of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, the population was 144,237, having more than doubled since 1990. The county seat is Douglasville. The City of Villa Rica, and a small portion of Austell are both also located in Douglas County. Douglas County is included in the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA Metropolitan Statistical Area. It has attracted new residents as jobs have increased in the Atlanta area.

History
The county was created during Reconstruction after the American Civil War. The Georgia General Assembly named it after Stephen A. Douglas, an Illinois senator and the Democratic opponent of Abraham Lincoln in the presidential election of 1860. The existing historical marker says:
 * Name

Historical marker: "This county, created by Act of the Legislature October 1, 1870, was named for Stephen A. Douglas, the 'Little Giant,' a Vermonter who was Congressman from Illinois 1843 to '47, Senator from '47 to '61, and Democratic candidate for President in 1860 on the ticket with gov. Herschel V. Johnson, of Georgia, for Vice President. Among the first County Officers were: sheriff T.H. Sellman, Clerk of Superior Court A.L. Gorman, Ordinary Wm. Hindman, Tax Receiver Jno. M. James, Tax Collector M.D. Watkins, Treasurer C.P. Bower, Surveyor John M. Hughey.

The county was created from the part of Campbell county which was northwest of the Chattahoochee River. The remainder of Campbell became southwest Fulton at the beginning of 1932."

 * County seat

The act creating Douglas County provided that in November 1870, voters of the new county would elect county officers, and vote to select the site of the county seat. In the election, some voters chose a site near the center of the county, but a larger number voted for the settlement known as "Skinned Chestnut" or "Skin(t) Chestnut," based on a Creek Indian landmark tree. The courthouse commissioners chose this site as county seat and proceeded to sell lots and build a courthouse. It later changed its name to Douglasville.

A group of citizens filed suit against the commissioners. The case ultimately went to the Supreme Court of Georgia, which ruled against the commissioners. Both sides agreed to postpone further action until the route of the Georgia Western Railroad through Douglas County was determined. The General Assembly enacted legislation on February 28, 1874, directing that an election be held on April 7, 1874, to determine the location of the county seat—but with the provision that the site be located on the Georgia Western Railroad. In the election, voters confirmed Douglasville as the county seat. On February 25, 1875, the General Assembly incorporated Douglasville.

Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 201 sqmi, of which 200 sqmi is land and 1.0 sqmi (0.5%) is water.

Douglas County's elevation above sea level ranges as low as 740 ft at the Chattahoochee River to as high as 1340 ft; one of the county's highest elevation points lies inside the city of Douglasville. Andy Mountain, between Villa Rica and Winston – west of Douglasville along Bankhead Highway, has the highest elevation in Douglas County. Two other elevated summits are located in the county, known as Cedar Mountain at 1257 ft, and Pine Mountain at 1180 ft.

Douglas County sits in Georgia's Piedmont region, which makes its elevation vary due to many rolling hills that Douglas County sits on near the tail end of the Appalachian Mountains. There are no high mountain peaks in Douglas County, just a range of ridges, hills and valleys.

The entirety of Douglas County is located in the Middle Chattahoochee River-Lake Harding sub-basin of the ACF River Basin (Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River Basin).

Bodies of water
All of these had massive flooding during the 2009 Atlanta floods.
 * The Chattahoochee River borders the county to the east and southeast.
 * Sweetwater Creek runs in the eastern side of the county in the Lithia Springs area. The USGS stream gauge (NWS identifier AUSG1) at Lithia Springs is considered to be "near Austell" by the National Weather Service, however, even though that city is further away and in Cobb and not Douglas.
 * George Sparks Reservoir makes its home at Sweetwater Creek State Park.
 * The Dog River is a small, almost creek like river in the western side of Douglas county and travels south and eastward until it ends at the Dog River Reservoir in the southern part of the county.
 * The Dog River Reservoir is Douglas County's main source of drinking water, and also serves as a recreational lake for residents of the county.

Climate
Douglas County has been experiencing numerous natural disasters over the most recent decades. Being located in the South Eastern United States the county experiences strong storms and tornadoes often because of its location in Dixie Alley.

A tornado touched down in the city of Douglasville on March 7, 2008, damaging many homes and ripping one home in half in the Brookmont subdivision on Chapel Hill Road. Arbor Place Mall also reported broken windows from the storm. The tornado also damaged the Chapel Hill Kroger grocery store and threw a heavy air conditioning unit onto cars below. There was only one injury reported from the storm.

Another tornado touched down in Douglas County on May 11, 2008, known as the "Mother's Day Tornado". The EF2 tornado caused damage all over the county. The tornado touched down in the Fairplay area and moved through the rest of the county. The tornado packing wind speeds up to 110 mi/h downed many trees and damaged many homes in the county. A filling station in Douglasville was destroyed by the storm, with the large roof being thrown onto the street. No injuries or deaths were reported. The governor of Georgia declared a state of emergency for Douglas County and many other counties in the state on May 12, 2008. This is the first time in history that two tornados have touched down in Douglas County in the same year.

The county has suffered through numerous ice storms throughout the years. The ice storms bring everything to a stand still in the area due to the lack of equipment to deal with the problem and drastic amounts of power outages. Some of the worst ice storms were in 1938, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2005, and 2010.

In 2007 the county suffered one of the worst droughts in the area's history, causing a complete watering ban and resulting in the largest wildfire in Georgia history. The fire was located in south east Georgia, but it still affected the county with smoke often through the life of the fire.

In 2005 Hurricane Katrina's remnants tore through the area spawning tornadoes, causing wind damage, and flooding rains. Katrina killed 2 people in Georgia

Sunday night on January 9, 2011, right after Douglasville's first white Christmas in decades, a snowstorm developed over Douglas County and caused as much as 8 inches of snow in the area. The storm closed grocery stores, the courthouse, and Arbor Place Mall until that Wednesday January 12. Schools were closed the entire second week of January.

The March 1993 Storm of the Century brought 17 in to Douglasville, with drifts measuring several feet.

On September 21, 2009, Douglas County was devastated by the worst flood in Georgia history. Over 18 in of rain fell in one night causing many roads to be destroyed and many homes a total loss. The county was later declared a disaster area, and the governor of Georgia declared a state of emergency. The floodings worst affected areas were in the areas of Douglasville, Villa Rica, Austell, Lithia Springs, and Chapel Hill. The disaster killed more than eight people in the county, most of them in the Douglasville area. The Austell death toll was also high but it was reported in the Cobb County losses.

Adjacent counties

 * Cobb County– northeast
 * Fulton County – southeast
 * Carroll County – west
 * Paulding County – northwest

2020 census
As of the 2020 United States Census, there were 144,237 people, 48,899 households, and 32,898 families residing in the county.

2010 census
As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 132,403 people, 46,624 households, and 34,429 families residing in the county. The population density was 661.8 PD/sqmi. There were 51,672 housing units at an average density of 258.3 /sqmi. The racial makeup of the county was 52.5% white, 39.5% black or African American, 1.4% Asian, 0.3% American Indian, 0.1% Pacific islander, 3.8% from other races, and 2.4% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 8.4% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 13.1% were Subsaharan African, 9.1% were American, 8.6% were Irish, 7.8% were German, and 7.6% were English.

Of the 46,624 households, 42.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.9% were married couples living together, 17.3% had a female householder with no husband present, 26.2% were non-families, and 21.5% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.81 and the average family size was 3.27. The median age was 35.0 years.

The median income for a household in the county was $55,852 and the median income for a family was $62,977. Males had a median income of $45,424 versus $37,120 for females. The per capita income for the county was $24,515. About 8.8% of families and 11.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 15.5% of those under age 18 and 10.3% of those age 65 or over.

2000 census
As of the census of 2000, there were 92,174 people, 32,822 households, and 24,911 families residing in the county. The population density was 462 people per square mile. There were 34,825 housing units. The racial makeup of the county was 77.28% White, 18.51% Black or African American, 0.35% Native American, 1.17% Asian and 1.44% from two or more races. 2.86% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 32,822 households, out of which 38.60% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.90% were married couples living together, 12.70% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.10% were non-families. 18.40% of all households were made up of individuals, and 4.40% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.78 and the average family size was 3.17.

In the county, the population was spread out, with 27.60% under the age of 18, 8.90% from 18 to 24, 33.50% from 25 to 44, 22.40% from 45 to 64, and 7.50% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females, there were 96.50 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.80 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $50,798, and the median income for a family was $54,082. Males had a median income of $38,204 versus $28,475 for females. The per capita income for the county was $21,172. About 5.70% of families and 7.80% of the population were below the poverty line, including 9.90% of those under age 18 and 7.50% of those age 65 or over.

Economy
Per Capita Income Growth for Douglas County:

Douglas County is part of the greater Appalachia region, is served by the Appalachian Regional Commission, and is currently a transitional economy.

Parks and recreation

 * Sweetwater Creek State Park is host to the ruins of a Civil War-era mill destroyed in General Sherman's campaign through Georgia.
 * Hunter Park is located within the city limits of Douglasville, and it is home to the majority of the sports events held in Douglas County. It is home to the Douglas County Boys and Girls Club.
 * Deer Lick Park is located in the northeast corner of the county and is the third-largest park in the county. It is also home to sporting events.
 * Woodrow Wilson Park and Lithia Springs Girls Ball Field are located in Lithia Springs next to Sweetwater Creek. The ballfield has flooded during heavy rain storms.
 * Boundary Waters Aquatic Center opened in July 2005 in the southeastern section of the county, and it is home to the Douglas County swim team, the Stingrays. The center also provides aquatic therapy and swim lessons to the county's citizens for a low fee. Residents outside the county can use the center as well for a slightly higher fee. Boundary Waters Park features 9 miles of trails open to hikers, joggers, bicyclists and equestrians.

Other parks in the county include:
 * Post Road Park
 * Clinton Nature Preserve
 * Bill Arp Park
 * Fairplay Park
 * Winston Park
 * Mount Carmel Ball Field
 * Dog River Park/Reservoir

Government
Most government offices in the county are located at the Douglas County Courthouse complex, about 1 mi south of the downtown area of Douglasville. The exception is the Douglas County Board of Education, located adjacent to Hunter Park. The Douglas County Chamber of Commerce is located in downtown Douglasville.

The county courthouse was constructed in 1997–98 and opened in 1998 after the county services needed a new courthouse for the ever-growing and changing county. The services prior to the opening were scattered all over downtown Douglasville in seven or eight office buildings. The old Douglas County courthouse, built in 1956, remains in downtown and is now used as a museum and a satellite school for the University of West Georgia an institution of the University System of Georgia with the main campus located in the city of Carrollton in Carroll County, which is included in the Atlanta Metropolitan Area historically, a commercial center for several mostly rural counties in both Georgia and Alabama.

Douglas County is governed by the Douglas County Board of Commissioners with an elected chairman and commissioners from Douglas County's four districts.

Politics
In presidential elections, Douglas County had been a reliably Republican county between 1980 and 2004, voting Republican by a double-digit margin even in 1992, when Democrat Bill Clinton carried the state of Georgia. The county gave over 60% of the vote to Republican George W. Bush in both of his presidential runs. The county has since become increasingly Democratic, voting for Barack Obama in both 2008 and 2012, Hillary Clinton in 2016 and Joe Biden in 2020.

Law enforcement
Douglas County law enforcement is handled by the Douglas County Sheriffs Department. Inside Douglasville city limits, law enforcement is handled by the Douglasville Police Department.

Education

Douglas County is served by the Douglas County School System. Based in Douglasville, it operates 20 Elementary Schools, 8 Middle Schools, 5 High Schools, a Performance Learning Center and numerous private academies,.

Douglas County (Lithia Springs) is home to a regional academic center of Mercer University, which provides educational programs and extended learning opportunities for working adults. In addition, the county has a campus of West Georgia Technical College, formerly West Central Technical College (main campus in Waco, Georgia); the college provides programs for those seeking higher education in technical fields, as well as adult education and GED classes. The county also is home to Tanner Technical Institute, Strayer University, and Georgia Highlands College.

Media
The newspaper that serves the Douglas County area is the Douglas County Sentinel, a paper that circulates three days a week: Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. The paper has been in circulation since 1902. It now relies on its website for breaking news.

The county also has a secondary paper that circulates on Wednesday, the Douglas Neighbor, a paper that is run by the publisher of the Marietta Daily Journal. This paper is delivered free of charge, supported by advertising.

The county also has a monthly magazine called Chapel Hill News & Views and Villa Rica News & Views that delivers to 39,000 homes and businesses ranging from Villa Rica to Lithia Springs and everywhere in between. It also includes a local yellow pages. The company's website covers a wide range of local information as well.

The county is also well-served by online media. Home Rule News launched in 2009 and covers Douglas County as part of its Greater West Metro Atlanta territory. All On Georgia-Douglas which is the newest and fastest growing digital news outlet in the county. Douglasville Patch launched in 2010 and focuses on countywide news and extensive crime coverage. The Douglasville Menu launched in 2015 and focuses on the retail, economic and development news of the city and county with some community and events news as well. The Douglasville Menu is part of The City Menus which began solely as The Carrollton Menu.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution also serves readers of Douglas County, seven days a week, with its largest paper on Sunday.

Douglas County is served by the Atlanta television market, but has a small information TV channel on cable, DCTV 23. The station broadcasts board meetings and special events, classified job listings, and original shows: Gesundheit, Douglas County Living, Insights, District Dialogue, Legally Speaking, dctv23 Presents, Storytime at the Library, Pet Pause, and the "Friday Night Drive-in Movie".

Major highways

 * I-20.svg Interstate 20
 * US 78.svg U.S. Route 78
 * US 278.svg U.S. Route 278
 * Georgia 5.svg State Route 5
 * Georgia 6.svg State Route 6
 * Georgia 8.svg State Route 8
 * Georgia 8 Connector.svg State Route 8 Connector
 * Georgia 61.svg State Route 61
 * Georgia 70.svg State Route 70
 * Georgia 92.svg State Route 92
 * Georgia 154.svg State Route 154
 * Georgia 166.svg State Route 166
 * Georgia 402.svg State Route 402 (unsigned designation for I-20)

Other roads

 * Lee Road: Runs through the eastern portion of the county in the Lithia Springs area. The road intersects I-20, begins at Fairburn Road (State Highway 92) in the south and terminates at S. Sweetwater Rd north of I-20.
 * Post Road: Runs through the western portion of Douglas County through the Winston area. The road begins at the southern border with Carroll County, and runs north, intersects I-20 and ends at Bankhead Highway (US Route 78).
 * Chapel Hill Road: begins at I-20 (road continues north as Campbellton St.) and runs south to Dorsett Shoals Road, ending at SR 166.
 * Douglas Boulevard runs from Chapel Hill Rd. at I-20 to SR 5 (Bill Arp Rd.), and from there to Bright Star Road. This road passes Douglasville's Arbor Place Mall.
 * Kings Highway runs south from SR 5 to Big A Road, and is host to many residential developments.
 * Pope Road runs south, southeast looping from the Midway area of Fairburn Rd.(SR 92) and ends at Annewakee Rd.
 * Annewakee Road runs south from Chapel Hill Rd. at Dorsett Shoals Rd. and ending at Fairburn Rd.(SR 92) and Pope Rd.
 * Dorsett Shoals Road runs west from Chapel Hill Rd. at Annewakee Rd. to SR 5.
 * Capps Ferry Road (a future state route) runs from the end of South Fulton Parkway to S.R. 166 connecting southern Douglas County to Atlanta.

Pedestrians and cycling

 * Douglasville Running Trail
 * Sweetwater Creek Park Trail
 * Water Lily Dr
 * Boundary Waters Park Trails

Rail
Historically, the Southern Railway ran several daily passenger trains, including the Kansas City-Florida Special, the Sunnyland and an Atlanta-Birmingham section of the Piedmont Limited, making flag or signal stops in Austell and Douglasville. The last trains made stops in 1967. Today, the nearest passenger service is Amtrak's Crescent in Atlanta, 21 miles east of Lithia Springs.

Healthcare
Douglas County is served by Wellstar Douglas Hospital.

Tanner Health System serves Douglas County with three locations in Villa Rica. Tanner Medical Center/Villa Rica is a 53-bed acute care hospital located in Villa Rica, Georgia, serving the residents of Carroll, Douglas and Paulding counties and beyond.

Cities

 * Austell: Most of Austell is in Cobb County, GA with a small portion extending into northeastern Douglas County
 * Douglasville
 * Villa Rica: The western portion of Villa Rica is located in Carroll County, GA

Census-designated places

 * Lithia Springs
 * Fairplay

Unincorporated communities

 * Beulah
 * Bill Arp
 * Chapel Hill
 * Fairplay
 * Hannah
 * McWhorter
 * White City
 * Winston

In popular culture

 * The county has become a hub for the film industry, serving as some of the state's most popular filming locations. Projects that have filmed exclusively in, or in part of, Douglas County include the Academy Award-winning Driving Miss Daisy, Smokey and the Bandit, Six Pack, Randy and the Mob, Zombieland, Killers, Killing Season, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, The Founder, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part I, Million Dollar Arm, Kill the Messenger, All Eyez on Me, Logan Lucky, Table 19, and The House with a Clock in Its Walls.
 * Television series to film in the county include The Walking Dead, Necessary Roughness, Stranger Things, Matlock (TV series), Finding Carter, MacGyver, Stan Against Evil, and MTV's Scream.

title: Douglas County, Georgia


text:
Dougherty County, Georgia

Dougherty County is located in the southwestern portion of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 85,790. The county seat and sole incorporated city is Albany.

Dougherty County is included in the Albany, GA metropolitan statistical area. Historically dominated by cotton plantation agriculture in the nineteenth century, it is part of the Black Belt of the South.

History
The county was created by the Georgia General Assembly on December 15, 1853, from a part of Baker County. It was named after Charles Dougherty, a respected judge and lawyer from Athens, Georgia. In 1854 and 1856 small areas were added from Worth County.

As noted above, the county was developed by European Americans using enslaved African Americans as workers for the production of cotton as a commodity crop. Its county seat of Albany, Georgia is located on the Flint River, which was originally the chief means of transportation for shipped products. Albany was later served by seven railroad lines, adding to its significance as a market center. The city was a center of the Civil Rights Movement, particularly during the early 1960s.

Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 335 sqmi, of which 329 sqmi is land and 5.9 sqmi (1.8%) is water.

The majority of Dougherty County is located in the Lower Flint River sub-basin of the ACF River Basin (Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River Basin). The northeastern corner of the county, northeast of Albany, is located in the Middle Flint River sub-basin of the same ACF River basin. A very small portion of Dougherty County, north of Albany, is located in the Kinchafoonee-Muckalee sub-basin of the larger ACF River Basin. The remaining western portion of the county is located in the Ichawaynochaway Creek sub-basin of the same ACF River Basin.

Major highways
U.S. Route 19 Business U.S. Route 82 Business
 * US 19.svg U.S. Route 19
 * Business plate.svg
 * US 82.svg U.S. Route 82
 * Business plate.svg
 * Georgia 3.svg State Route 3
 * Georgia 62.svg State Route 62
 * Georgia 91.svg State Route 91
 * Georgia 133.svg State Route 133
 * Georgia 234.svg State Route 234
 * Georgia 300.svg State Route 300
 * Georgia 520.svg State Route 520
 * Georgia 520 Business.svg State Route 520 Business

Adjacent counties

 * Lee County – north
 * Worth County – east
 * Mitchell County – south
 * Baker County – southwest
 * Calhoun County – west
 * Terrell County – northwest

City

 * Albany

Census-designated place

 * Putney

Unincorporated communities

 * Acree
 * Doublegate
 * Pecan City
 * Pretoria
 * Radium Springs

Demographics
As of the 2020 United States census, there were 85,790 people, 32,630 households, and 18,213 families residing in the county.

title: Dougherty County, Georgia


text:
Dooly County, Georgia

Dooly County is a county located in the central portion of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 11,208. The county seat is Vienna. The county was created by an act of the Georgia General Assembly on May 15, 1821, and named for Colonel John Dooly, a Georgia American Revolutionary War fighter. It was one of the original landlot counties created from land ceded from the Creek Nation.

The entire county of Crisp and parts of Macon, Pulaski, Turner, Wilcox and Worth counties were formed from Dooly's original borders.

Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 397 sqmi, of which 392 sqmi is land and 5.3 sqmi (1.3%) is water. The county is located in the upper Atlantic coastal plain region of the state.

The western two-thirds of Dooly County, from west of Unadilla south to Pinehurst, then to the southeastern corner of the county, is located in the Middle Flint River sub-basin of the ACF River Basin (Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River Basin). The northeastern and eastern portion of Dooly County is located in the Lower Ocmulgee River sub-basin of the Altamaha River basin. The very southeastern corner of the county is located in the Alapaha River sub-basin of the Suwannee River basin.

Major highways

 * I-75.svg Interstate 75
 * US 41.svg U.S. Route 41
 * Georgia 7.svg State Route 7
 * Georgia 27.svg State Route 27
 * Georgia 90.svg State Route 90
 * Georgia 215.svg State Route 215
 * Georgia 230.svg State Route 230
 * Georgia 230 Connector.svg State Route 230 Connector
 * Georgia 257.svg State Route 257
 * Georgia 329.svg State Route 329
 * Georgia 401.svg State Route 401 (unsigned designation for I-75)

Adjacent counties

 * Houston County - northeast
 * Pulaski County - east
 * Wilcox County - southeast
 * Crisp County - south
 * Sumter County - west
 * Macon County - northwest

Cities

 * Lilly
 * Pinehurst
 * Unadilla
 * Vienna (county seat)

Towns

 * Byromville
 * Dooling

Demographics
As of the 2020 United States census, there were 11,208 people, 5,020 households, and 3,350 families residing in the county.

Economy
The Big Pig Jig, Georgia's official State Barbecue Cooking Championship, is held annually in Fall in Dooly County and attracts a national audience. The county is also notable for cotton and peanut production.

Notable people

 * John Dooly after whom the county was named
 * Rooney L. Bowen, Georgia businessman and politician
 * George Busbee, governor of Georgia
 * Walter F. George, U.S. Senator
 * Jody Powell, press secretary and aide to Jimmy Carter
 * Roger Kingdom, Olympic gold medalist in track and field
 * David Ragan, NASCAR driver
 * Keith Mumphery, NFL player
 * Julian Webb, judge on the Georgia Court of Appeals and member of the Georgia State Senate.

title: Dooly County, Georgia


text:
Dodge County, Georgia

Dodge County is a county located in the central portion of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of 2020, the population was 19,925. The county seat is Eastman. Dodge County lies in the Historic South and Black Belt region of Georgia, an area that was devoted to cotton production in the antebellum years. It has significant historic buildings and plantations, has a substantial African-American population, and shows cultural aspects of the South.

History
Prior to 1802, this section of Georgia was owned by the Creek Indians. Treaties were made in 1802-1805 by which all lands east of the Ocmulgee River were taken from the Creek Indians. This land was distributed by lottery to the citizens of Georgia. In 1803 Wilkinson County was organized under that treaty. Telfair and Laurens counties were formed from Wilkinson County. In 1808 Pulaski County was formed from Laurens. In 1869, the Macon and Brunswick Railroad was built. Towns began to spring up all up and down the line, and, as this section was so far removed from the county seat, Hawkinsville, it was deemed expedient to create a new county and place the county seat at this point. A large portion of the county was taken from Laurens County, and also smaller portions from Pulaski, Montgomery, and Telfair counties. Dodge County was organized on October 26, 1870, during the Reconstruction era. The county was named by the Republican-dominated legislature for William E. Dodge. The county courthouse was built by Dodge and used until 1908, on the same area the courthouse stands now.

Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 503 sqmi, of which 496 sqmi is land and 7.2 sqmi (1.4%) is water.

The western half of Dodge County, roughly west of Eastman, is located in the Lower Ocmulgee River sub-basin of the Altamaha River basin. The eastern half of the county is located in the Little Ocmulgee River sub-basin of the same Altamaha River basin, with a small northern corner of Dodge County, north and west of Chester, located in the Lower Oconee River sub-basin of the larger Alamaha River basin. The rivers were important for trade, carrying cotton and timber downriver to markets.

Adjacent counties

 * Laurens County - northeast
 * Wheeler County - east
 * Telfair County - southeast
 * Wilcox County - west
 * Pulaski County - west
 * Bleckley County - northwest

Cities

 * Chauncey
 * Eastman
 * Milan

Towns

 * Chester
 * Rhine

Unincorporated communities

 * Empire
 * Plainfield
 * Ontario

Demographics
As of the 2020 United States census, there were 19,925 people, 7,628 households, and 5,167 families residing in the county.

Airport
The Heart of Georgia Regional Airport is located three miles east of Eastman off of State Route 46. Elevation 304'. Runway 02/20 is 6,506'x100'and has a precision instrument landing system. The airport is owned by the Heart of Georgia Regional Airport Authority and is home to the Middle Georgia State College Georgia Aviation campus. Middle Georgia State College operates the Federal Aviation Administration's #1 ranked student control tower in the United States. Other businesses at the airport include aircraft manufacturing, aircraft metal finishing, and general metal fabrication. The airport's fixed-base operator is located in the terminal building midfield. The terminal building is named after W. S. Stuckey Sr., founder of Stuckey's Candy Company (now Standard Candy) an aviation pioneer who is from Eastman.

Vote-buying controversy
Dodge County has been at the center of several voter fraud and vote buying controversies over the past several decades.

1990s
The most notable incident of voter fraud in Dodge County in the 1990s is the case of United States vs. McCranie. In this case, there were two defendants being tried together for several different methods of voter fraud. These methods included vote buying, vote selling, multiple voting, and votes cast by felons and deceased voters. The case involved the winners of the July 9, 1996, races for Dodge County Sheriff and Dodge County Commissioner. The races were decided by 9 votes and 31 votes, respectively. The original results of the election had been contested, and a secondary election took place in an attempt to resolve the issue. In the secondary election, the Dodge County Sheriff's race was overturned, but the results of the Dodge County Commissioner's race remained the same.

A joint federal-state investigation into the events of this election found that the defendants likely worked together to buy votes. This was backed up with bank records that showed that the defendants had each obtained $15,000 in cash in $20 bills from the Bank of Eastman. The two defendants were accused of voter fraud and sentenced on March 12, 1999. Many federal officials described the 1996 election trial as the largest election-fraud prosecution in United States history.

2000s
The most notable case of voter fraud in the 2000s is the case of the 2004 Dodge County Sheriff's race. Former Dodge County Sheriff Lawton Douglas Jr. was indicted on two counts of conspiracy and four counts of vote buying in July 2009. This indictment came due to an investigation of the 2004 election, and did not include any charges for the potentially fraudulent 2008 election. Former Sheriff Lawton Douglas received a maximum sentence. The sentencing cited Douglas's use of cash, liquor, and drugs to buy votes in the election. Also, Douglas had people accompany voters into the polling booths to ensure that the vote actually went to him. His sentence was 18 months in federal prison.

title: Dodge County, Georgia


text:
DeKalb County, Georgia

DeKalb County is located in the north central portion of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 764,382, making it Georgia's fourth-most populous county. Its county seat is Decatur.

DeKalb County is included in the Atlanta–Sandy Springs–Alpharetta, GA Metropolitan Statistical Area. It contains roughly 10% of the city of Atlanta (the other 90% lies in Fulton County). Stonecrest is the largest city that is entirely within the county. DeKalb is primarily a suburban county.

In 2009, DeKalb earned the Atlanta Regional Commission's "Green Communities" designation for its efforts in conserving energy, water and fuel, investing in renewable energy, reducing waste, and protecting and restoring natural resources.

In 2021, the non-profit American Rivers named DeKalb's South River the fourth-most endangered river in the United States, citing "the egregious threat that ongoing sewage pollution poses to clean water and public health."

In recent years, some communities in North DeKalb have incorporated, following a trend in other suburban areas around Metro Atlanta. Stonecrest, Dunwoody and Brookhaven are now the largest cities that are entirely contained within the county.

History
The area of DeKalb county was acquired by the state of Georgia as a result of the 1821 Treaty of Indian Springs with a faction of the Muscogee (Creek). DeKalb County, formed in 1822 from Henry, Gwinnett and Fayette counties, took its name from Baron Johann de Kalb (1721–1780), a Bavarian-born former officer in the French Army, who fought for the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War. The oldest existing house in the county is the 1831 Goodwin House along Peachtree Road in Brookhaven. Much of the area was forested; a section of old-growth forest is preserved at Fernbank Forest.

In 1853, Fulton County formed from the western half of DeKalb, divided along a perfectly straight and due north–south line down the middle (along which Moreland Avenue now runs). Until this time, the growing city of Atlanta had been inside DeKalb. Atlanta grew because the city of Decatur did not want to become the railroad terminus in the 1830s, thus a spot at the Thrasherville encampment in western DeKalb was picked to become Terminus and then Marthasville, before becoming Atlanta a few years after its founding. North and southwest Fulton came from two other counties: Milton and southeast Campbell, respectively. DeKalb once extended slightly further north to the Chattahoochee River, but this strip was later given to Milton, and is now the panhandle of Sandy Springs.

During the Civil War, much of the Battle of Atlanta took place in DeKalb.

Until the 1960s, DeKalb was a mainly agricultural county, but as the sprawl of the metropolitan Atlanta region expanded, DeKalb became increasingly urbanized. Finished in 1969, the eastern half of the Interstate 285 beltway, called "the Perimeter", ringed the northeastern and southern edges of the county, placing most of it "inside the Perimeter" along with nearly all of Atlanta. Interstate 675 and Georgia 400 were originally planned to connect inside the Perimeter, along with the Stone Mountain Freeway (U.S. Highway 78) connecting with the Downtown Connector (a co-signment of I-75/I-85) near Moreland Avenue, destroying many neighborhoods in western DeKalb, but community opposition in the early 1970s spared them this fate of urbanization, although part of the proposed Stone Mountain Tollway later became the Freedom Parkway. Only Interstate 20 and Interstate 85 were successfully built through the county. DeKalb also became one of only two counties to approve MARTA rapid transit in the 1970s; the county now contains the east and northeast heavy rail lines.

In April 2018, more than 350 bus drivers for DeKalb County School District went on strike over low pay and poor working conditions, resulting in seven bus drivers being fired.

The DeKalb County seal was created in 1967, by artist Jackson Bailey. The design is based on a passage from Aristotle in which a comparison is made between human progress and the relay race. The background landscape shows planted fields, which is a tribute to DeKalb's heritage as an agrarian community and Stone Mountain, now recognized as Georgia's most popular tourist attraction. The date of the county's founding, 1822, is at the bottom of the seal.

Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 271 sqmi, of which 268 sqmi is land and 3.6 sqmi (1.3%) is water. The county is located within the upper Piedmont region of the state.

The county is crossed by the South River and numerous creeks, including Nancy Creek, Snapfinger Creek and two forks of Peachtree Creek. Peachtree Creek and Nancy Creek drain into the Chattahoochee River and eventually to the Gulf of Mexico. South River drains into the Ocmulgee River and ultimately into the Atlantic Ocean.

The southern two-thirds of DeKalb County, in a line from Druid Hills northeast to Tucker, is located in the Upper Ocmulgee River sub-basin of the Altamaha River basin, while the portion of the county north of that line is located in the Upper Chattahoochee River sub-basin of the ACF River Basin (Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River Basin).

Stone Mountain lies near the eastern border of the county. Soapstone Ridge, parallel to the southern border, was heavily quarried between 1400 and 100 BC and objects made from the soapstone have been found as far away as the Great Lakes.

Adjacent counties

 * Gwinnett County – North/Northeast
 * Rockdale County – east
 * Henry County – south
 * Clayton County – southwest
 * Fulton County – west

2020 census
As of the 2020 United States census, there were 764,382 people, 289,829 households, and 157,737 families residing in the county. It is the 86th most populous county in the United States.

2010 Census
As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 691,893 people, 271,809 households, and 161,453 families residing in the county. The population density was 2,585.7 PD/sqmi. There were 304,968 housing units at an average density of 1,139.7 /sqmi. The racial makeup of the county was 54.3% black or African American, 33.3% white, 5.1% Asian, 0.4% American Indian, 4.5% from other races, and 2.4% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 9.8% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 5.9% were English, 5.2% were German, and 3.5% were American.

Of the 271,809 households, 32.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 35.8% were married couples living together, 18.3% had a female householder with no husband present, 40.6% were non-families, and 31.4% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.50 and the average family size was 3.18. The median age was 34.3 years.

The median income for a household in the county was $51,349 and the median income for a family was $60,718. Males had a median income of $43,663 versus $40,288 for females. The per capita income for the county was $28,412. About 12.4% of families and 16.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 24.2% of those under age 18 and 11.2% of those age 65 or over.

Although Fulton County is more populous, DeKalb has the highest population density of any county in the Atlanta metropolitan area.

Economy
Major employers in DeKalb County include:
 * AT&T Mobility, headquartered in the Lenox Park neighborhood of Brookhaven
 * Emory Healthcare, located off of Clifton Road
 * Emory University, located off of Clifton Road
 * Kroger, which operates its Atlanta-area offices at 2175 Parklake Drive NE in Northlake
 * DeKalb County School District, headquartered in Stone Mountain

Visitor attractions

 * Davidson-Arabia Mountain Nature Preserve
 * Stone Mountain Park
 * Fernbank Museum of Natural History
 * Fernbank Science Center
 * Michael C. Carlos Museum
 * Callanwolde Fine Arts Center
 * National Register of Historic Places listings in DeKalb County, Georgia
 * DeKalb History Center

DeKalb County 9/11 Memorial
The DeKalb County 9/11 Memorial was dedicated on September 11, 2011.

U.S. Marine and sculptor Curtis James Miller designed a memorial that is located in front of the Dekalb County Fire and Police Headquarters. The memorial pays homage to the 343 New York Firefighters, 60 New York Police Department and Port Authority Police Officers, and the more than 2800 civilian victims of the terrorist attacks in New York City, Washington D.C., and Shanksville, Pennsylvania on September 11, 2001.

A piece of steel from one of the World Trade Center Towers in New York City is the centerpiece of this monument.

Crime
In 2022, DeKalb County had the second highest crime rate in Georgia. The county saw 40.3 crimes per 1,000 residents. The county also had the second highest rate of robberies and motor vehicle theft, as well as the third highest rates of burglary and larceny theft. DeKalb was only behind Bibb County for highest crime rate.

Government and politics
In recent years, along with many other counties in the Atlanta area, DeKalb County has voted strongly Democratic in presidential elections, while in the past it was more of a swing county, voting Democratic and Republican an equal number of times from 1960 until 1988. Following the 2020 United States election, there are no elected Republicans in the county. DeKalb is the second most Democratic-leaning county in Georgia, only behind Clayton County. 83 percent of the votes cast in the 2020 presidential election were for Joe Biden.

The current chief executive officer of DeKalb County is Michael Thurmond. He took office on January 1, 2017.

Current County Commissioners as of January 2023:

Public safety

Unincorporated DeKalb County is policed by the DeKalb County Police Department; the DeKalb Sheriff's Office, which is responsible for serving criminal warrants and securing the courts and county jail; and the DeKalb Marshal's Office, which serves civil processes issued through state court, such as evictions.

Fire services are provided throughout the county by DeKalb County Fire and Rescue. Previously, DeKalb County Fire and Rescue also provided emergency medical services throughout the county; however, in 2013, the county signed a contract with American Medical Response to provide emergency medical services to the county.

Federal representation
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is based in the Druid Hills CDP in an unincorporated area in the county. The Federal Bureau of Investigation Atlanta Field Office is located in Chamblee.

State representation
The Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice has its headquarters in Avondale Estates, near Decatur. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation has its headquarters near Decatur, in an unincorporated area.

The Metro State Prison of the Georgia Department of Corrections was formerly located in an unincorporated area in DeKalb County. Female death row inmates (UDS, "under death sentence") resided in the Metro State Prison. The prison was closed in 2011.

Diplomatic missions
The Consulate-General of Mexico in Atlanta is located in the North Druid Hills CDP. The Consulate-General of Guatemala in Atlanta is located in Chamblee. The Consulate-General of Peru in Atlanta is located in the city of Brookhaven."

Mass transit
Xpress GA / RTA commuter buses and MARTA heavy rail subway and buses serve the county.

Pedestrians and cycling
Currently, there are plans for the construction of a multi-use trail, known as the Peachtree Creek Greenway. The goal of the greenway is to provide residents with close-to-home and close-to-work access to bicycle and pedestrian trails, serve transportation and recreation needs, and help encourage quality of life and sustainable economic growth. The trail will connect the cities of Atlanta, Brookhaven, Chamblee and Doraville.

 * Arabia Mountain Path
 * Chamblee Rail Trail
 * Hill Loop Trail
 * Nancy Creek Trail
 * Peachtree Creek Greenway (under construction)
 * South Peachtree Creek Trail
 * Stone Mountain Trail (under construction)

Public schools
The portion of DeKalb County not within the city of Atlanta or the city of Decatur is served by DeKalb County School District (formerly DeKalb County School System). The Atlanta portion is served by Atlanta Public Schools. The Decatur portion is served by Decatur City School District.

On December 17, 2012, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools announced that it had downgraded the DeKalb County Schools System's status from "on advisement" to "on probation" and warned the school system that the loss of their accreditation was "imminent."

Private schools
Private schools in DeKalb County include:
 * Atlanta Jewish Academy Upper School (former Yeshiva Atlanta) in Doraville
 * Benjamin Franklin Academy (unincorporated area)
 * Howard Scholars Academy (Decatur)
 * Marist School (Brookhaven)
 * Mohammed Schools (unincorporated area)
 * Paideia School (Atlanta)
 * Saint Thomas More Catholic Elementary & Middle School (Decatur)
 * St. Pius X Catholic High School (Chamblee)
 * Friends School of Atlanta (Decatur)
 * Waldorf School of Atlanta (Decatur)
 * Academe of the Oaks (Decatur)

From its opening in 1990 until 2003, the Seigakuin Atlanta International School was located on the property of Oglethorpe University in Brookhaven, an unincorporated area.

Higher education

Agnes Scott College is a private, all female, undergraduate liberal arts college in Decatur.

Emory University is a private, coeducational, liberal arts university. It is a member of the Association of American Universities, an association of leading research universities in the US and Canada. The university consists of the following divisions: Emory College of Arts and Science, the Laney Graduate School, Candler School of Theology, Goizueta Business School, Emory University School of Law, Rollins School of Public Health, and the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing.

Mercer University is a private, coeducational, faith-based university with a Baptist heritage. Its main campus is in Macon. The Cecil B. Day Graduate and Professional Campus is in DeKalb County; it houses the College of Nursing, the College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, and the James and Carolyn McAfee School of Theology along with programs of the Eugene W. Stetson School of Business and Economics, the School of Medicine, and the Tift College of Education.

Oglethorpe University is a private, coeducational, liberal arts school in Brookhaven and is named after James Oglethorpe, founder of the Georgia Colony.

Perimeter College at Georgia State University (formerly Georgia Perimeter College) has three campuses within DeKalb County and offers two-year associate degrees.

Georgia Military College (GMC) has a satellite campus in Stone Mountain Village.

Georgia Piedmont Technical College (formerly DeKalb Technical College) is the largest vocational institution in Georgia. Georgia Piedmont Technical College trains students in business, engineering, technologies, health, human services, industrial arts, information systems, and transportation.

DeVry University offers bachelor's and master's degrees in healthcare, accounting, business, and management technology.

Columbia Theological Seminary is a theological institution of the Presbyterian Church (USA) in Decatur. More than 640 students are enrolled at Columbia in one of five degree programs: Master of Divinity, Master of Arts in Theological Studies, Master of Theology, Doctor of Ministry, and Doctor of Theology.

Luther Rice College and Seminary is a private Christian college and seminary in Lithonia. It offers bachelors, masters, and doctoral programs in ministry and ministry-related programs.

Public libraries
The DeKalb County Public Library has 22 branches throughout the county.

Cities

 * Atlanta (mostly in Fulton County)
 * Avondale Estates
 * Brookhaven
 * Chamblee
 * Clarkston
 * Decatur
 * Doraville
 * Dunwoody
 * Lithonia
 * Pine Lake
 * Stonecrest
 * Stone Mountain
 * Tucker

Census-designated places

 * Belvedere Park
 * Candler-McAfee
 * Druid Hills
 * Gresham Park
 * North Decatur
 * North Druid Hills (also known as Briarcliff or Toco Hills)
 * Panthersville
 * Redan
 * Scottdale

Unincorporated communities

 * Buford Highway
 * Collinsville
 * Conley (partly)
 * Ellenwood
 * Embry Hills
 * Flair Forest
 * Lenox Park (neighborhood in Brookhaven)
 * Northlake
 * Pittsburg
 * Smoke Rise
 * Snapfinger

Ghost town

 * Constitution

title: DeKalb County, Georgia


text:
Decatur County, Georgia

Decatur County is a county located in the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 29,367. The county seat is Bainbridge.

Decatur County comprises the Bainbridge, GA Micropolitan Statistical Area (μSA), which is included in the Tallahassee—Bainbridge, FL-GA Combined Statistical Area.

History
The county was created by an act of the Georgia General Assembly on December 8, 1823, from a portion of Early County. Three other counties were created from land that was originally part of Decatur County.

In 1825, a portion of Decatur was used in the creation of Thomas County. In 1905, another portion of Decatur was used in the creation of part of Grady County. In 1920, the western portion of Decatur County was used to form Seminole County in its entirety.

Decatur County is named for United States Navy Commodore Stephen Decatur, a hero of the War of 1812.

Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 623 sqmi, of which 597 sqmi is land and 26 sqmi (4.2%) is water.

The bulk of Decatur County, from northeast to southwest, and centered on Bainbridge, is located in the Lower Flint River sub-basin of the ACF River Basin (Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River Basin). Almost all of the county's western border is located in the Spring Creek sub-basin of the same ACF River Basin. The southwestern portion of Decatur County, centered on Attapulgus, and bordered on the west by State Route 302, is located on the Lower Ochlockonee River sub-basin of the larger Ochlockonee River basin. Finally, the county's southwestern corner, west of State Route 302, is located in the Apalachicola River sub-basin of the same larger ACF River basin.

Major highways
U.S. Route 27 Business U.S. Route 84 Business
 * US 27.svg U.S. Route 27
 * Business plate.svg
 * US 84.svg U.S. Route 84
 * Business plate.svg
 * Georgia 1.svg State Route 1
 * Georgia 1 Business.svg State Route 1 Business
 * Georgia 38.svg State Route 38
 * Georgia 97.svg State Route 97
 * Georgia 97 Spur.svg State Route 97 Spur
 * Georgia 241.svg State Route 241
 * Georgia 253.svg State Route 253
 * Georgia 253 Spur.svg State Route 253 Spur
 * Georgia 262.svg State Route 262
 * Georgia 285.svg State Route 285
 * Georgia 302.svg State Route 302
 * Georgia 302 Spur.svg State Route 302 Spur
 * Georgia 309.svg State Route 309
 * Georgia 310.svg State Route 310
 * Georgia 311.svg State Route 311

Adjacent counties

 * Miller County - north
 * Mitchell County - northeast
 * Baker County - northeast
 * Grady County - east
 * Gadsden County, Florida - south
 * Seminole County - west

Cities

 * Attapulgus
 * Bainbridge
 * Climax

Town

 * Brinson

Census-Designated Place

 * Faceville

Unincorporated communities

 * Amsterdam
 * Ausmac
 * Cyrene
 * Eldorendo
 * Fowlstown
 * Vada

Demographics
As of the 2020 United States census, there were 29,367 people, 10,084 households, and 7,113 families residing in the county.

Education
Decatur County School District is the local school district with Bainbridge High School being the local high school.

Spring Creek Charter Academy was formed in 2019 and includes grades Pre-K through 9th Grade as of 2023–2024 school year with the next year being added as each grade progresses through the years.

Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College has a satellite campus in Bainbridge. Southern Regional Technical College has a satellite campus in Bainbridge serving the county.

title: Decatur County, Georgia


text:
Dawson County, Georgia

Dawson County is a county located in the Northeast portion of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 26,798 up from 22,330 in 2010. The county seat is Dawsonville.

Dawson County is included in the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, Georgia Metropolitan Statistical Area. Its natural resources include Amicalola Falls, the highest falls in Georgia and one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the state.

History
Dawson County was created on December 3, 1857, from Gilmer and Lumpkin Counties. It is named for William Crosby Dawson, a U.S. Senator from Georgia.

Civil War
The 1860s brought war and hardships to the people of Dawson County. Many men of Dawson County answered the call and went to fight in the Civil War. Several Confederate units were raised in Dawson County, including:
 * 21st Regiment, Georgia Infantry, Company E Concord Rangers
 * 22nd Regiment, Georgia Infantry, Company I, Dawson County Independents
 * 38th Regiment, Georgia Infantry, Company I (Wright's Legion), Dawson Farmers
 * 38th Regiment, Georgia Infantry, Company L (Wright's Legion)
 * 52nd Regiment, Georgia Volunteer Infantry, Company I

The 1st Georgia Infantry Battalion (Union), Companies B and C also was raised there.

After Civil War to present
Dawson County is known for its long involvement in auto racing, which was established in the 20th century; many of the original NASCAR racers came from this area, and Dawsonville is now one of a few areas considered to be the "birthplace of stock car racing". Local racing skills are said to have been developed by men who ran moonshine down Georgia State Route 9, also known as Thunder Road, to Atlanta. The celebration of Dawson County's history and its involvement in bootlegging moonshine during the Prohibition era now occurs every October, dubbed the Moonshine Festival.

Locals have referred to Dawson County as the "Moonshine Capital of the World". This title is claimed by many other cities and communities, but is fiercely defended by residents of the area. Allegedly, bootleggers took advantage of the county's relative isolation and the ability to move so much moonshine to the larger cities, especially Atlanta, during the United States Prohibition era.

Education
Dawson County currently serves grades K-12. It has a total of seven schools - one for pre-K, four for grades K-5, one for grades 6–7, one for grades 8–9, and Dawson County High School (grades 10–12).

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 214 sqmi, of which 211 sqmi are land and 3.6 sqmi (1.7%) are covered by water.

The county is located in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Portions of the mountain chain extend into the far northern and western portions of the county, with elevations around 3,500 ft. in this area.

Part of Lake Lanier is in the southeastern part of the county and the boundary lines with neighboring counties pass through the lake. The 729 ft Amicalola Falls, are located in the county. The Amicalola Falls are the highest in Georgia, the tallest cascading waterfall east of the Mississippi River, and one of the Seven Natural Wonders of Georgia. The highest point in the county is Black Mountain, with an elevation of 3600 ft. The Chestatee and Etowah Rivers flow through Dawson County.

The vast majority of Dawson County is located in the Etowah River subbasin of the ACT River Basin (Coosa-Tallapoosa River Basin). The southeastern tip of the county is located in the Upper Chattahoochee River subbasin of the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River Basin, and a very small northern section of Dawson County is located in the Coosawattee River subbasin of the larger ACT River Basin.

Adjacent counties

 * Fannin County - north
 * Lumpkin County - northeast
 * Hall County - east
 * Forsyth County - south
 * Cherokee County - southwest
 * Pickens County - west
 * Gilmer County - northwest

National protected area

 * Chattahoochee National Forest (part)

Major highways

 * [[Image:US 19.svg|20px]] U.S. Route 19
 * [[Image:Georgia 9.svg|20px]] State Route 9
 * [[Image:Georgia 52.svg|20px]] State Route 52
 * [[Image:Georgia 53.svg|20px]] State Route 53
 * [[Image:Georgia 136.svg|25px]] State Route 136
 * [[Image:Georgia 183.svg|25px]] State Route 183
 * [[Image:Georgia 400.svg|25px]] State Route 400

Pedestrians and cycling

 * Springer Mountain Trail

2020 census
As of the 2020 United States census, there were 26,798 people, 9,041 households, and 6,491 families residing in the county. Between 2021 and 2022, Dawson experienced a 5.8% growth in population, making it the fourth fastest growing county in the nation.

2010 census
As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 22,330 people, 8,433 households, and 6,390 families living in the county. The population density was 105.9 /mi2. There were 10,425 housing units at an average density of 49.4 /mi2. The racial makeup of the county was 95.6% white, 0.6% Asian, 0.5% black or African American, 0.4% American Indian, 1.6% from other races, and 1.4% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 4.1% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 18.9% were American, 18.8% were Irish, 14.7% were English, and 13.6% were German.

Of the 8,433 households, 33.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 61.7% were married couples living together, 9.5% had a female householder with no husband present, 24.2% were non-families, and 19.7% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.61 and the average family size was 2.97. The median age was 40.6 years.

The median income for a household in the county was $51,128 and the median income for a family was $60,236. Males had a median income of $41,726 versus $31,978 for females. The per capita income for the county was $25,557. About 7.8% of families and 12.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 16.0% of those under age 18 and 5.3% of those age 65 or over.

2000 census
As of the census of 2010, 22,330 people, and 10,425 households, and 6,390 families were living in the county. The racial makeup of the county was 95.62% White, 0.5% African American, 0.4% Native American, 0.6% Asian, 1.6% from other races, and 1.4% from two or more races. Hispanics or Latinos of any race were 4.1% of the population.

Of the 8,433 households, 21.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 61.7% were married couples living together, 9.5% had a female householder with no husband present, 4.6% had a male householder with no wife present, and 24.2% were not families. About 19.7% of all households were made up of individuals living alone, and 6.5% of whom were 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.61, and the average family size was 2.97.

In the county, the population was distributed as 5.7% under the age of 5, 6.5% at 5–9 years, 6.8% at 10–14 years, 6.0% at 15–19 years, 6.1% at 20–24 years, 5.7% at 25–29 years, 5.8% at 30–34 years, 6.6% at 35–39 years, 6.9% at 40–44 years, 8.1% at 45–49 years, 7.2% at 50–54 years, 7.0% at 55–59 years, 7.6% at 60–64 years, 6.0% at 65–69 years, 3.6% at 70–74 years, 2.4% at 75–79 years, 1.3% at 80–84 years, and 0.8% over age 85. The median age was 40.6 years - 11,164 were male and 11,166 were female.

The median income for a household in the county was estimated at $51,989, and for a family was estimated at $60,455. About 8.9% of families and 13.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 16.0% of those under age 18 and 6.3% of those age 65 or over.

Cities

 * Dawsonville

Unincorporated communities

 * Juno
 * Afton

Private communities
Several large, gated, private communities function similar to a municipality, providing many municipal-type services that operate independently of county government.

 * Big Canoe

Politics
Dawson County was the only county that supported Thomas Dewey in 1948 and then supported Adlai Stevenson II in 1952.

Notable people

 * Bill Elliott - NASCAR racer, 1988 Cup Series champion, and Hall of Fame member
 * Chase Elliott - NASCAR racer and 2014 NASCAR Xfinity Series champion, and 2020 NASCAR Cup Series champion
 * Gober Sosebee - stock-car racer (three-time Daytona champion)
 * Jerry Glanville - National Football League head coach, NASCAR driver
 * Bill Goldberg - professional wrestler and actor (once resided in Dawson County)
 * Kevin Tanner - politician and Commissioner of the Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities
 * Will Wade - politician and member of the Georgia House of Representatives

title: Dawson County, Georgia


text:
Dade County, Georgia

Dade County is a county in the U.S. state of Georgia. It occupies the northwest corner of Georgia, and the county's own northwest corner is the westernmost point in the state. As of the 2020 census, the population is 16,251. The county seat and only incorporated municipality is Trenton. Dade County is part of the Chattanooga, TN–GA Metropolitan Statistical Area. In 1860, residents of Dade County voted to secede from the state of Georgia and from the United States, but no government outside the county ever recognized this gesture as legal. In 1945, the county symbolically "rejoined" Georgia and the United States.

History
Dade County was established in 1837 and was named for Major Francis Langhorne Dade, who was killed in the Dade Massacre by Seminole Indians in December 1835. The first settlers of Dade County won the land in the Georgia Land Lotteries, held to encourage settlement after the Cherokee people were forced off the land. Many settlers worked in regional coke and coal mines that contributed to development of the Chattanooga, Tennessee area.

The area was long isolated by its geography of mountains and rivers, which some historians say contributed to early residents' separatist attitudes. For the first century of Dade County's existence, no road connected it directly to the rest of Georgia, so visitors from elsewhere in the state had to reach it by way of Alabama or Tennessee. That changed in 1939 with the establishment of Cloudland Canyon State Park, and Georgia began work on Highway 136 to connect U.S. 41 to the recently created park. The Civilian Conservation Corps built many of the facilities and access roads to the park.

Dade County had a short-lived state secessionist movement before the American Civil War. In 1860, county residents wanted to secede from the Union, but lawmakers for the state of Georgia were cautious. Legend has it that in 1860, the people of Dade County were so impatient that they announced their own secession from both Georgia and the United States. On July 4, 1945, a telegram from President Harry S. Truman was read at a celebration marking the county's "rejoining" the Union. Historians say Dade's individual secession and readmission were symbolic and had no legal effect. They say that officially, Dade County seceded along with the state of Georgia in 1861 and re-entered the Union with the state in 1870.

The noted Southern humorist, author and seminal writer of Southern humor George Washington Harris (1814-1869) is buried in the Brock Cemetery in Trenton. Although he greatly influenced the literary works of Mark Twain, William Faulkner, and Flannery O'Connor, his grave was not verified and given a marker until 2008.

In 1964, Covenant College established a campus at Lookout Mountain. Founded in 1955 in California, it was ready to expand after a year. Several professors led Covenant to move to St. Louis, Missouri, where it developed for eight years. After outgrowing its facilities there, the college decided to move to Dade County.

Quarter controversy

Shortly after the Georgia State Quarter was released by the US Mint, Dade County gained attention because of an apparent mistake in the design. As shown on the quarter, the state appears to lack Dade County, in the extreme northwestern part of the state. Some accounts in 2012 suggest the exclusion was intended to refer to the local legend of Dade County's secession from Georgia.

Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 174 sqmi, of which 174 sqmi is land and 0.2 sqmi (0.1%) is water.

The county, like most of northwest Georgia, is entrenched in the southern Appalachian Mountains. In addition, a vast majority of the county is located in the Middle Tennessee-Chickamauga sub-basin of the Middle Tennessee-Hiwassee basin. A very small part of the southernmost tip of the county is located in the Upper Coosa River sub-basin in the ACT River Basin (Coosa-Tallapoosa River Basin), while a small part of the westernmost portion of Dade County is located in the Guntersville Lake sub-basin in the Middle Tennessee-Elk basin.

Adjacent counties

 * Marion County, Tennessee (north/CST Border)
 * Hamilton County, Tennessee (northeast)
 * Walker County (southeast)
 * DeKalb County, Alabama (southwest/CST Border)
 * Jackson County, Alabama (west/CST Border)

Protected areas

 * Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park (part)
 * Cloudland Canyon State Park

2020 Census
As of the 2020 United States census, there were 16,251 people, 6,195 households, and 4,539 families residing in the county.

2010 census
As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 16,633 people, 6,291 households, and 4,462 families living in the county. The population density was 95.6 PD/sqmi. There were 7,305 housing units at an average density of 42.0 /sqmi. The racial makeup of the county was 96.0% white, 0.9% black or African American, 0.7% Asian, 0.4% American Indian, 0.1% Pacific islander, 0.6% from other races, and 1.3% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 1.8% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 21.2% were American, 18.1% were Irish, 11.4% were German, and 9.4% were English.

Of the 6,291 households, 31.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.2% were married couples living together, 10.4% had a female householder with no husband present, 29.1% were non-families, and 25.1% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.49 and the average family size was 2.96. The median age was 39.0 years.

The median income for a household in the county was $39,760 and the median income for a family was $48,881. Males had a median income of $41,618 versus $26,521 for females. The per capita income for the county was $20,168. About 10.7% of families and 15.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 25.8% of those under age 18 and 10.8% of those age 65 or over.

2000 census
As of the census of 2000, there were 15,154 people, 5,633 households, and 4,264 families living in the county. The population density was 87 PD/sqmi. There were 6,224 housing units at an average density of 36 /mi2. The racial makeup of the county was 97.51% White, 0.63% Black or African American, 0.49% Native American, 0.38% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.20% from other races, and 0.76% from two or more races. 0.90% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 5,633 households, out of which 33.30% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 62.70% were married couples living together, 9.50% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.30% were non-families. 21.70% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.20% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.55 and the average family size was 2.97.

In the county, the population was spread out, with 23.80% under the age of 18, 11.80% from 18 to 24, 27.80% from 25 to 44, 24.50% from 45 to 64, and 12.00% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 96.00 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.80 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $35,259, and the median income for a family was $39,481. Males had a median income of $31,534 versus $21,753 for females. The per capita income for the county was $16,127. About 7.50% of families and 9.70% of the population were below the poverty line, including 7.40% of those under age 18 and 12.50% of those age 65 or over.

Georgia water supply
Dade County lies just south of Nickajack Lake on the Tennessee River, which was created by the Nickajack Dam, constructed by the Tennessee Valley Authority. The city of Atlanta, Georgia wanted to gain rights to the water in Nickajack Lake to supplement their sources from Lake Lanier and Lake Allatoona. In addition, in 2008 Georgia lawmakers wanted to change the Tennessee-Georgia state line, as they say it is based on a flawed 1818 survey, which mistakenly placed Georgia's northern line just short of the Tennessee River. Changing the boundary would give Georgia rights to the water, but they were unsuccessful.

Politics
Although it contained many opponents of the Confederacy during the Civil War, Dade County – unlike more easterly Fannin, Towns, Pickens and Gilmer – is a typical “Solid South” county in its political history. It voted Democratic in every presidential election until 1964, when the county turned towards conservative Republican Barry Goldwater. Since then, only twice has a Republican presidential candidate lost Dade County: when segregationist former and future Alabama Governor George Wallace carried the county in 1968 and when favorite son Jimmy Carter won in 1976. In 1972, Dade was Richard Nixon’s strongest county nationwide in his 2,900-plus-county landslide over George McGovern.

Cities

 * Trenton

Census-designated places

 * New England
 * West Brow
 * Wildwood

Other unincorporated communities

 * Head River
 * Hooker
 * Morganville
 * New Home
 * New Salem
 * Rising Fawn

Ghost towns

 * Cole City
 * Tatum

Notable people from Dade County

 * The Forester Sisters

title: Dade County, Georgia


text:
Crisp County, Georgia

Crisp County is a county located in the central portion of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 20,128. The county seat is Cordele. The county was created on August 17, 1905, from Dooly County and named for Georgia Congressman Charles Frederick Crisp.

Crisp County comprises the Cordele, GA micropolitan statistical area.

Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 281 sqmi, of which 273 sqmi is land and 8.4 sqmi (3.0%) is water.

The western two-thirds of Crisp County, bordered on the east by a line from south of Arabi running northeast, is located in the Middle Flint River sub-basin of the ACF River Basin (Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River Basin). The eastern third of the county is located in the Alapaha River sub-basin of the Suwannee River.

Major highways

 * I-75.svg Interstate 75
 * US 41.svg U.S. Route 41
 * US 280.svg U.S. Route 280
 * Georgia 7.svg State Route 7
 * Georgia 30.svg State Route 30
 * Georgia 33.svg State Route 33
 * Georgia 33 Connector.svg State Route 33 Connector
 * Georgia 90.svg State Route 90
 * Georgia 257.svg State Route 257
 * Georgia 300.svg State Route 300
 * Georgia 300 Connector.svg State Route 300 Connector
 * Georgia 401.svg State Route 401 (unsigned designation for I-75)

Adjacent counties

 * Dooly County (north)
 * Wilcox County (east)
 * Turner County (southeast)
 * Worth County (southwest)
 * Lee County (west)
 * Sumter County (west)

City

 * Cordele (county seat)

Town

 * Arabi

Unincorporated community

 * Coney

Demographics
As of the 2020 United States census, there were 20,128 people, 8,585 households, and 5,712 families residing in the county.

title: Crisp County, Georgia


text:
Crawford County, Georgia

Crawford County is a county located in the central portion of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 12,130. The county seat is Knoxville.

Crawford County is included in the Macon, GA metropolitan statistical area.

History
Crawford County, in west central Georgia, is Georgia's fifty-seventh county. The 325 sqmi county was created on December 9, 1822, from Houston County, which had been formed from land given up by the Creek Indians in the 1821 Treaty of Indian Springs. The county is named for statesman William H. Crawford who had served as a U.S. senator, minister to France, and secretary of the treasury.

The first white settlers in the area were Indian agent Benjamin Hawkins. Arriving in 1803, he developed a five-square-mile compound on the Flint River, with slave labor. The compound included a shop and plantation, which became known as the Creek Agency Reserve. Although Hawkins was well liked by the Creeks, he believed, as did many white men of his time, that the Indians should embrace a European-American way of life. His efforts to persuade the Creeks, however, were largely unsuccessful. Hawkins died at the reserve in 1816. David B. Mitchell was appointed in 1817 to replace the deceased Hawkins.

Knoxville, Georgia was established on the Federal Road, the main stagecoach route from Washington, D.C., to New Orleans, making the town a natural choice for county seat. Although the chief center of population is now Roberta, a mile to its west, Knoxville (no longer an incorporated city) retains its designation as the county seat. The current courthouse, built there in 2002, replaced one built in 1851, which still stands. The Old Courthouse is designated as a historical site and is used as a museum.

Roberta, originally called New Knoxville, is the only incorporated city in the county. It was incorporated on December 26, 1890. Roberta started out in 1886 as a railroad office and warehouse, "Roberta, ca. 1900," at the Atlanta and Florida Railway's "89 Fort Valley" milepost. Two years later, after a freight depot and passenger station were completed at the site, people began to settle in the immediate area. Townspeople gave the honor of naming the new town to Hiram McCrary, who had given the railroad the rights to come through his land. McCrary chose to call it Roberta in honor of his young daughter.

Most of the inhabitants of Knoxville, a mile away, moved to Roberta when the railroad arrived. For years, while passenger train service was an important mode of transportation, Roberta served as a thriving tourist stop on the route to Florida. After passenger train service gave way to the private automobile, Roberta relaxed into a quiet residential town. The rail tracks were taken up during the 1980s and only the rail bed remains. During 1950 through 1965 the tourist industry was revived by tourist traveling to and from coastal resorts by way of Highway US 341. This all ended when the interstate system diverted traffic away from Roberta to Macon, Georgia. The many diners and motels built to meet the tourist needs all but disappeared. Roberta is now a quiet, small Southern town. Other communities in Crawford county are Musella, Gaillard, Horns, Lee Pope, and Zenith.

Musella officially first appeared on the Georgia map in 1895. It appears that the Atlanta and Florida Railway (A&F) named the community Musella to identify it as a flag stop. The A&F began laying 105 mi of track from Atlanta to Fort Valley in 1880. The railroad wanted to bring the track from Culloden to Knoxville, which was the most direct and economical route, but Crawford County rebelled. Crawford Countians didn't want the railroad passing through their county seat, so, the A&F laid the tracks to Musella instead. When Musella became a flag stop, the railroad offered better opportunities for farmers to market their products, so many of the residents of nearby Ceres, Georgia, (named after the Roman goddess of agriculture; settlement also called Hopewell) migrated to Musella. Since cotton could be shipped by rail, the cotton gin at Ceres was disassembled and moved approximately two miles to Musella. Soon, a general store and post office were built there, and Musella quickly became a hub of economic activity in northern Crawford County. Now it is a snapshot of the past.

During the county's early days, settlers relied first on agriculture (cotton and oats) then on cattle ranching, timber harvesting, and sand extraction as economic mainstays. Agriculture continues to be important, as are manufacturing and health and social services. Many residents also work in neighboring areas.

Well-known figures from Crawford County include Jefferson Franklin Long, Georgia's first African-American congressional representative and the first African American to speak from the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives. Long, of mixed African and Caucasian ancestry, was born into slavery in Knoxville. As a freedman after the Civil War (1861–65), he became a tailor. His interest in equal rights led him to politics. He was elected to Congress in December 1870 and served until March 1871 during the Reconstruction era.

John Pemberton, the inventor of Coca-Cola, was also born in Knoxville. Pemberton was a veteran Confederate States of America lieutenant colonel who served on the first Georgia pharmacy licensing board after the war. His state-of-the-art laboratory for chemical analysis and manufacturing became the first state-run facility to conduct tests of soil and crop chemicals.

Joanna Troutman, who designed the first Lone Star flag (later adopted as the Texas State Flag), was born in Crawford County. She presented her flag to a Volunteer Georgia Battalion, who went to Texas in 1835 to assist Texans in their fight for independence. The flag was first flown at Velasco January 8, 1836, and was hoisted along with the Bloody Arm flag at Goliad on news of the declaration of independence March 8, 1836. Although Troutman lived most of her life in Knoxville, her remains were moved to the Texas State Cemetery in Austin, where a bronze statue was erected in her honor. A portrait of Troutman also hangs in the Texas State Capitol.

In 1775 naturalist William Bartram, traveling across Georgia, found a previously unknown plant in Crawford County. He named the plant Hydrangea Quercifolia—now commonly called Oakleaf Hydrangea. Bartram described the area near Sweetwater Creek as a "delightful diversified rural scene," noting that it "promises a happy, fruitful and salubrious region." See The Botanical Explorations of William Bartram in the Southeast by David H. Rembert Jr., Department of Biology, University of South Carolina—article and picture courtesy of Bartram Trail Conference.

Crawford County pottery was a thriving business in Crawford County during the 1800s and early 1900s. Men such as Long, Becham, Merritt, Pyles, and Dickson were known throughout the area for their utilitarian jugs and crocks. Clay from Crawford County and the Rich Hill alkaline glaze used by the early "jug makers" is still prized today.

Historic places to visit:
 * Knoxville: The Old Jail (Est 1843) Museum and the Old Courthouse (Est 1832), which was re-built in 1851 after a fire, houses documents and local history. Knoxville is also the home of the annual Crawford County Pottery Jug Fest.
 * Roberta: Historic Old Town Buildings, Replica of the original Train Depot and Passenger Station, Bejamin Hawkins Monument. Currently renovating a rail car Caboose for a railway Museum.
 * West of Roberta off Highway US 80: The Museum of Southeastern Indians with its collection of Indian artifacts and Appalachian settler history.
 * Musella: Dickey Farms (Est. 1897) has one of Georgia's oldest, continuously operating peach packing houses (built in 1936). Hays General Store (Est. 1900) has 110 years of continuous operation, and is one of the oldest stores of its kind in Georgia still in operation. Musella Baptist Church was founded in 1884; the current building was constructed in 1908, and is a beautiful example of traditional country church architecture.

Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 326 sqmi, of which 325 sqmi is land and 1.6 sqmi (0.5%) is water.

The fall line of the eastern United States roughly bisects the county, meaning that northern portions of the county are generally hillier than southern portions of the county, which tend to be flatter and have a lot of farmland and agriculture. The Fall Line Freeway runs across a very small portion of the southern part of the county along Georgia State Route 96.

The western portion of Crawford County, west of Musella and Knoxville, is located in the Upper Flint River sub-basin of the ACF River Basin (Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River Basin). The northeastern portion of the county, northeast of Byron, is located in the Upper Ocmulgee River sub-basin of the Altamaha River basin. A southeastern corner of Crawford County, north of Fort Valley, is located in the Lower Ocmulgee River sub-basin of the same Altamaha River basin.

Major highways

 * I-75.svg Interstate 75
 * US 80.svg U.S. Route 80
 * US 341.svg U.S. Route 341
 * Georgia 7.svg State Route 7
 * Georgia 22.svg State Route 22
 * Georgia 42.svg State Route 42
 * Georgia 96.svg State Route 96
 * Georgia 128.svg State Route 128
 * Georgia 401.svg State Route 401
 * Georgia 540.svg State Route 540 (Fall Line Freeway)

Adjacent counties

 * Monroe County – north
 * Bibb County – east-northeast
 * Peach County – east-southeast
 * Taylor County – southwest
 * Macon County – south
 * Upson County – northwest
 * Houston County- Extreme East at Echeconee Creek

City

 * Roberta

Census-designated place

 * Knoxville

Unincorporated communities

 * Lizella
 * Musella
 * Zenith

Demographics
As of the 2020 United States census, there were 12,130 people, 4,510 households, and 3,122 families residing in the county.

title: Crawford County, Georgia


text:
Coweta County, Georgia

Coweta County is a county located in the west central portion of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is part of Metro Atlanta. As of the 2020 census, the population was 146,158. The county seat is Newnan.

Coweta County is included in the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell metropolitan statistical area.

History
The land for Lee, Muscogee, Troup, Coweta and Carroll counties was ceded by the Creek people in the 1825 Treaty of Indian Springs. The counties' boundaries were created by the Georgia General Assembly on June 9, 1826, but they were not named until December 14, 1826. Coweta County was named for the Koweta Indians (a sub-group of the Creek people), who had several towns in and around the present-day county.

In the city of Newnan, on April 23, 1899, a notorious lynching occurred after an African-American man by the name of Sam Hose (born Tom Wilkes) was accused of killing his boss, Alfred Cranford. Hose was tortured and burned alive by a lynch mob of approximately 2,000 citizens of Coweta County.

On August 9, 1882, Aleck Brown was lynched.

Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 446 sqmi, of which 441 sqmi is land and 4.9 sqmi (1.1%) is water. The county is located in the Piedmont region of the state.

The eastern half of Coweta County, from Palmetto southwest to Newnan, then south to Luthersville, is in the Upper Flint River sub-basin of the ACF River Basin (Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River Basin). The western half is in the Middle Chattahoochee River-Lake Harding sub-basin of the same ACF River Basin.

Major highways
U.S. Route 27 Alternate
 * I-85.svg Interstate 85
 * alt plate.svg
 * US 29.svg U.S. Route 29
 * Georgia 14.svg State Route 14
 * Georgia 16.svg State Route 16
 * Georgia 34.svg State Route 34
 * Georgia 34 Bypass.svg State Route 34 Bypass
 * Georgia 41.svg State Route 41
 * Georgia 54.svg State Route 54
 * Georgia 70.svg State Route 70
 * Georgia 74.svg State Route 74
 * Georgia 85.svg State Route 85
 * Georgia 154.svg State Route 154
 * Georgia 403.svg State Route 403

Adjacent counties

 * Fulton County – northeast
 * Fayette County – east
 * Spalding County – East/southeast
 * Meriwether County – south
 * Troup County – southwest
 * Heard County – west
 * Carroll County – northwest

Cities

 * Grantville
 * Newnan
 * Palmetto (partly in Fulton County)
 * Senoia

Towns

 * Haralson
 * Moreland
 * Sharpsburg
 * Turin

Census-designated place

 * East Newnan

Unincorporated communities

 * Corinth (partly in Heard County)
 * Raymond
 * Roscoe
 * Sargent
 * Thomas Crossroads

Planned town
In the federal government's National Urban Policy and New Community Development Act of 1970, funding was provided for thirteen "new towns" or planned cities throughout the country. One 70,000-acre location was set to be developed in Coweta County and was known as Shenandoah. The project was launched in the early 1970s and was foreclosed on in 1981, when it included 170 families and 108 residential lots.

Demographics
As of the 2020 United States census, there were 146,158 people, 53,640 households, and 37,400 families residing in the county.

Education
The Coweta County School System holds pre-school to grade 12, and consists of nineteen elementary schools, six middle schools and three high schools. The system has 1,164 full-time teachers and more than 18,389 students. Private schools in the county include The Heritage School and Trinity Christian School.

Mercer University has a Regional Academic Center in Newnan. The center, opened in 2010, offers programs through the university's College of Continuing and Professional Studies. The University of West Georgia has a campus near downtown Newnan on the site of the old Newnan Hospital. This campus offers two undergraduate programs - Bachelor of Science in nursing and early childhood education.

Newnan is also home to a campus of West Georgia Technical College.

Government
The legislative body of Coweta is the Coweta County Commission, which consists of five members elected from numbered districts. The chairmanship rotates among the members. Coweta County is the only county in Georgia that operates with a rotating chairmanship.

In the General Assembly, it is currently divided between State House district 70, 71, 72 and 132, and is within State Senate district 28 (currently held by Matt Brass). In Congress, it is in the 3rd congressional district, currently represented by Drew Ferguson.

Politics
Coweta is a strongly Republican county, voting 68.4 percent for Donald Trump in 2016 and 69.9 percent for Brian Kemp in 2018.

Notable people

 * Ellis Gibbs Arnall, governor of Georgia, 1943-1947
 * William Yates Atkinson, governor of Georgia, 1894–1896; founded Georgia State College for Women, now Georgia College & State University
 * Steve Bedrosian, former Major League baseball player; National League Cy Young Award winner in 1987
 * Eric Berry, football player for the Kansas City Chiefs
 * Keith Brooking, football player for the Atlanta Falcons and Dallas Cowboys
 * Erskine Caldwell, author of the novels Tobacco Road and God's Little Acre
 * Lewis Grizzard, newspaper columnist, author and humorist
 * Drew Hill, played for the pro football Houston Oilers, Los Angeles Rams and Atlanta Falcons
 * Sam Hose, African-American man who was brutally murdered by a lynch mob after accusations of murder, assault and rape
 * Alan Jackson, country music singer and musician
 * Joe M. Jackson, colonel, U.S. Air Force, Medal of Honor recipient
 * Warren Newson, played pro baseball for the Chicago White Sox
 * Stephen W. Pless, major, U.S. Marine Corps, Medal of Honor recipient
 * Jefferson Randolph "Soapy" Smith, confidence man and crime boss
 * Charles Wadsworth, retired director of the Chamber Music Society at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts
 * Jerome Walton, former Major League baseball player; Rookie of the Year in the National League in 1989
 * Rutledge Wood, auto racing analyst and host of Top Gear
 * Will Smith, professional baseball player for the Kansas City Royals

title: Coweta County, Georgia


text:
Cook County, Georgia

Cook County is a county located in the south central portion of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 17,229. The county seat is Adel. The constitutional amendment to create the county was proposed July 30, 1918, and ratified November 5, 1918. It is named for former Civil War general Philip Cook of the Confederate States Army.

Reed Bingham State Park is in Cook County.

Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 233 sqmi, of which 227 sqmi is land and 6.0 sqmi (2.6%) is water.

The western half of Cook County, located roughly west of Interstate 75, is located in the Little River sub-basin of the Suwannee River basin. The eastern half of the county is located in the Withlacoochee River sub-basin of the same Suwannee River basin.

Major highways

 * I-75.svg Interstate 75
 * US 41.svg U.S. Route 41
 * Georgia 7.svg State Route 7
 * Georgia 37.svg State Route 37
 * Georgia 76.svg State Route 76
 * Georgia 401.svg State Route 401 (unsigned designation for I-75)

Adjacent counties

 * Tift County (north)
 * Berrien County (east)
 * Lowndes County (southeast)
 * Brooks County (southwest)
 * Colquitt County (west)

City

 * Adel (county seat)

Towns

 * Cecil
 * Lenox
 * Sparks

Demographics
As of the 2020 United States census, there were 17,229 people, 6,217 households, and 4,243 families residing in the county.

Education
It is within the Cook County School District. It operates Cook County High School.

title: Cook County, Georgia