Eatonton, Georgia
Encyclopedia
Putnam County, Georgia
Putnam County is a county located in the U.S. state of Georgia. As of 2000, the population was 18,812. The 2007 Census Estimate showed a population of 21,251...
, Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 6,480. The city 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 Putnam County
Putnam County, Georgia
Putnam County is a county located in the U.S. state of Georgia. As of 2000, the population was 18,812. The 2007 Census Estimate showed a population of 21,251...
. It was named after William Eaton, an officer and diplomat involved in the First Barbary War
First Barbary War
The First Barbary War , also known as the Barbary Coast War or the Tripolitan War, was the first of two wars fought between the United States and the North African Berber Muslim states known collectively as the Barbary States...
. The name consists of his surname
Surname
A surname is a name added to a given name and is part of a personal name. In many cases, a surname is a family name. Many dictionaries define "surname" as a synonym of "family name"...
with the English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
suffix
Suffix
In linguistics, a suffix is an affix which is placed after the stem of a word. Common examples are case endings, which indicate the grammatical case of nouns or adjectives, and verb endings, which form the conjugation of verbs...
"ton", meaning "town
Town
A town is a human settlement larger than a village but smaller than a city. The size a settlement must be in order to be called a "town" varies considerably in different parts of the world, so that, for example, many American "small towns" seem to British people to be no more than villages, while...
".
Geography
Eatonton is located at 33°19′35"N 83°23′16"W (33.326302, -83.387798).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 20.7 square miles (53.6 km²). 20.6 square miles (53.4 km²) of it is land and 0.1 square mile (0.258998811 km²) of it (0.63%) is water.
Demographics
As of the censusCensus
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 6,538 people, 2,442 households, and 1,706 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 329.1 people per square mile (127.0/km²). There were 2,668 housing units at an average density of 129.8 per square mile (50.1/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 37.49% White, 59.33% African American, 0.10% Native American, 0.41% Asian, 1.35% 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 1.32% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.38% of the population.
There were 2,442 households out of which 34.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 40.4% 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, 24.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.1% were non-families. 26.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.66 and the average family size was 3.20.
In the city the population was spread out with 47.5% under the age of 18, 9.8% from 18 to 24, 29.3% from 25 to 44, 20.3% from 45 to 64, and 12.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 90.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.9 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $25,391, and the median income for a family was $31,571. Males had a median income of $26,703 versus $20,013 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 $12,993. About 20.4% of families and 25.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 32.5% of those under age 18 and 16.4% of those age 65 or over.
Putnam County School District
The Putnam County School DistrictPutnam County School District
The Putnam County School District is a public school district in Putnam County, Georgia, USA, based in Eatonton, Georgia. It serves the communities of Eatonton and Willard, Georgia.-Schools:...
holds grades pre-school to grade twelve, that consists of one primary school, an elementary school, a middle school, a high school, an an alternative school. The district has 165 full-time teachers and over 2,474 students.
- Putnam County Primary School
- Putnam County Elementary School
- Putnam County Middle School
- Putnam County High School
- Putnam County Achievement Academy
History
The Rock Eagle Effigy MoundRock Eagle Effigy Mound
Rock Eagle Effigy Mound is an archaeological site in Putnam County, Georgia, U.S.A. estimated to have been constructed 1,000 to 3,000 years ago. The earthwork was built up of thousands of pieces of quartzite laid in the mounded shape of a large bird...
, a Native American
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
archaeological site, is located adjacent to Georgia 4-H's
Georgia 4-H
Georgia 4-H was founded in 1904 by G.C. Adams in Newton County, Georgia, USA, as the Girls Canning, and Boys Corn Clubs.The Georgia 4-H Program is a branch of Georgia Cooperative Extension, which is part of the University of Georgia College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, and is funded...
Rock Eagle 4-H Center north of the city. Rock Hawk Effigy Mound
Rock Hawk Effigy Mound
Rock Hawk Effigy Mound is an archaeological site in Putnam County, Georgia, U.S.A. It consists of thousands of pieces of quartzite laid in the shape of a large bird. Although it is most often referred to as a hawk, scholars do not know exactly what type of bird the original builders intended to...
is located just to the east. They are the only such sites discovered in Georgia east of the Mississippi River
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
, and were made by the Mississippian peoples who inhabited the area 900-1500 A.D.
Eatonton is known as the "Dairy Capital of Georgia" (in honor of its major industry, dairy farming).
Notable residents
Vincent HancockVincent Hancock
Vincent Hancock is an American shooter and Olympic athlete who won the gold medal in the men's skeet at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing...
, Olympic gold medalist in Men's skeet shooting at the 2008 Summer Olympics, resides in Eatonton.
The city was the birthplace of several noted writers, such as Alice Walker
Alice Walker
Alice Malsenior Walker is an American author, poet, and activist. She has written both fiction and essays about race and gender...
(author of The Color Purple
The Color Purple
The Color Purple is an acclaimed 1982 epistolary novel by American author Alice Walker. It received the 1983 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the National Book Award for Fiction...
), Joel Chandler Harris
Joel Chandler Harris
Joel Chandler Harris was an American journalist, fiction writer, and folklorist best known for his collection of Uncle Remus stories. Harris was born in Eatonton, Georgia, where he served as an apprentice on a plantation during his teenage years...
(journalist and author of the Uncle Remus
Uncle Remus
Uncle Remus is a fictional character, the title character and fictional narrator of a collection of African American folktales adapted and compiled by Joel Chandler Harris, published in book form in 1881...
stories), and Henry Grady Weaver (author of The Mainspring of Human Progress
The Mainspring of Human Progress
The Mainspring of Human Progress by Henry Grady Weaver is a libertarian history book published in 1947 by Talbot Books. In 1953, the Foundation for Economic Education printed a revised edition and has done all subsequent printings...
).
It also honors S. Truett Cathy
S. Truett Cathy
Samuel Truett Cathy is the founder of Chick-fil-A, a quick service restaurant chain based in suburban Atlanta, Georgia, USA.-Early life:...
, founder of the successful fast food Chick-fil-A
Chick-fil-A
Chick-fil-A |"fillet"]]) is a quick service restaurant chain headquartered in College Park, Georgia, United States, specializing in chicken entrées and is known for promoting the company founder's claims of Christian values. Long associated with the southern United States, where it has been a...
restaurants.
Until recently, the town was the location of the self-styled Nuwaubian
Nuwaubianism
The Nuwaubian Nation or Nuwaubian movement led by Malachi York,...
compound known as Tama-Re
Tama-Re
The Tama-Re compound in Putnam County, Georgia was an Egyptian-themed set of buildings and monuments established near Eatonton, Georgia by Nuwaubians in 1993 that was mostly demolished after being sold under government forfeiture in 2005.-History:On 15 January, 1993, Dwight York bought the...
.