Blountstown is a city in Calhoun County

Calhoun County, Florida

Calhoun County is a county located in the U.S. state of Florida. As of 2000, the population was 13,017. The U.S. Census Bureau 2006 estimate for the county was 13,410 . Its county seat is Blountstown, Florida.- History :...

, Florida

Florida

Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. The population was 2,444 at the 2000 census. According to the U.S Census estimates of 2005, the city had a population of 2,433. It is the county seat

County seat

A county seat is an administrative center, or seat of government, for a county or civil parish. The term is primarily used in the United States....

 of Calhoun County.

Name Origin

Blountstown is named for John Blount, a Seminole Indian Chief who served as a guide for General Andrew Jackson during his invasion of Spanish Florida in 1818. This invasion caused the United States to purchase Florida from Spain and the territory became a part of the U.S. in 1821.

Geography

Blountstown is located at 30.442957°N 85.045402°W.

According to the United States Census Bureau

United States Census Bureau

The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...

, the city has a total area of 3.2 square miles (8.3 km²). 3.2 square miles (8.3 km²) of it is land and 0.31% is water.

Demographics

As of the census

Census

A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...

of 2000, there were 2,444 people, 913 households, and 595 families residing in the city. The population density

Population density

Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...

 was 767.2 people per square mile (295.8/km²). There were 1,046 housing units at an average density of 328.4 per square mile (126.6/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 65.18% White, 31.79% African American, 1.27% Native American, 0.33% Asian, 0.08% Pacific Islander, 0.29% from other races

Race (United States Census)

Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...

, and 1.06% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.70% of the population.

There were 913 households out of which 27.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 40.6% were married couples

Marriage

Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...

 living together, 21.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.8% were non-families. 31.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 17.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.39 and the average family size was 2.99.

In the city the population was spread out with 23.2% under the age of 18, 8.1% from 18 to 24, 22.1% from 25 to 44, 21.3% from 45 to 64, and 25.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females there were 75.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 71.8 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $23,271, and the median income for a family was $30,880. Males had a median income of $23,313 versus $20,000 for females. The per capita income

Per capita income

Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...

 for the city was $11,498. About 18.5% of families and 24.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 33.6% of those under age 18 and 17.7% of those age 65 or over.

Notable residents

• Patricia Dane
  Patricia Dane
  Patricia Dane was an American film actress of the 1940s.Born "Thelma Pearl Pippins" and sometimes known as Thelma Byrnes after her step father in Jacksonville, Florida, she began her career designing clothes for a New York City dress firm. She was signed to an MGM contract in 1941 and is...
  
   - Hollywood actress of the 1940s & early 1950s. Best known role as Jennitt Hicks in 1941's Life Begins For Andy Hardy. Former wife of bandleader Tommy Dorsey
  Tommy Dorsey
  Thomas Francis "Tommy" Dorsey, Jr. was an American jazz trombonist, trumpeter, composer, and bandleader of the Big Band era. He was known as "The Sentimental Gentleman of Swing", due to his smooth-toned trombone playing. He was the younger brother of bandleader Jimmy Dorsey...
  
  . Died in Blountstown in 1995.
• Michael Guilford- University of Florida
  University of Florida
  The University of Florida is an American public land-grant, sea-grant, and space-grant research university located on a campus in Gainesville, Florida. The university traces its historical origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its present Gainesville campus since September 1906...
  
   football player killed in motorcycle crash on October 12, 2007
• Carey Loftin
  Carey Loftin
  Carey Loftin was an American actor and stuntman. One of his most famous roles was as the truck driver in Steven Spielberg's Duel, although his face was never seen...
  
   (1914–1997) - Hollywood stuntman
  Stuntman
  A stuntman or stunt performer is someone who performs dangerous stunts.Stuntman may also refer to:*The Stunt Man, a 1980 film starring Peter O'Toole*Stuntman , a 2002 video game**Stuntman: Ignition, its sequel...
  
   and actor
  Actor
  An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
  
  , born in Blountstown
• Elam Stoltzfus - film producer
• Fuller Warren
  Fuller Warren
  Fuller Warren was the 30th Governor of Florida.Born in Blountstown, Florida, he attended the University of Florida in Gainesville. While at the University of Florida, he was one of the early members of Florida Blue Key and was a member of the Tau Chapter of Theta Chi Fraternity...
  
   - 30th governor of Florida
• Marsha Harpool - First African American and African American Mayor of Blountstown
• Socialburn
  Socialburn
  Socialburn was a four-piece post-grunge rock band from Blountstown, Florida.-History:The first major label album from Socialburn, "Where You Are" , was released in February 2003 and spawned two modern-rock radio hits: "Down" and "Everyone", which reached the top 10 and top 20 US charts...
  
  - band

External links

• The County Record newspaper that serves Blountstown, Florida is available in full-text with images in Florida Digital Newspaper Library