Milledgeville, Georgia
Encyclopedia
Milledgeville is a city in and the county seat
of Baldwin County
in the U.S. state
of Georgia
. It is northeast of Macon
, located just before Eatonton
on the way to Athens
along U.S. Highway 441, and it is located on the Oconee River
. The relatively rapid current of the Oconee here made this an attractive location to build a city. It was the capital of Georgia from 1804 to 1868, notably during the American Civil War
. Milledgeville was preceded as the capital city by Louisville
, and it was succeeded by Atlanta, the current capital.
The population of the town of Milledgeville was 18,757 at the 2000 census
.
Milledgeville is along the route of the under-construction Fall Line Freeway
, which will link Milledgeville with Augusta
, Macon
, Columbus
, and other Fall Line
cities with long histories from Colonial Georgia
.
Milledgeville is the principal city of the Milledgeville Micropolitan Statistical Area
, a micropolitan area
that covers Baldwin and Hancock
counties and had a combined population of 54,776 at the 2000 census
.
Milledgeville was named after Georgia governor John Milledge, and was laid out at the start of the 19th century to be the new centrally located capital of the State of Georgia
. It served as the state capital from 1804 to 1868. In 1803 an act of the Georgia legislature called for the establishment and survey of a town to be named in honor of the current governor, John Milledge. The land immediately west of the Oconee River had just been opened up by the Treaty of Fort Wilkinson (1802), in which the Creek people, hard pressed by debts to white traders, agreed to cede part of their ancient land. The restless white population of Georgia was pressing west and south in search of new farmland, and the town of Milledgeville was carved out of the Oconee wilderness to help accommodate their needs. The area was surveyed, and a town plat of 500 acres (2 km²) was divided into 84 4 acres (16,187.4 m²) squares. The survey also included four public squares of 20 acres (80,937.2 m²) each. In December 1804 Milledgeville was declared by the legislature to be the new capital of Georgia. The new planned town, modeled after Savannah
and Washington, D.C.
, was located on the edge of the frontier, where the Upper Coastal Plain merges into the Piedmont.
In 1807 fifteen wagons, escorted by troops, left Louisville
, the former capital, carrying the treasury and public records of the state. The new statehouse, though unfinished, was able to accommodate the legislators. Over the next thirty years the building was enlarged with a north and south wing. Its pointed arched windows and battlements marked it as America's first public building in the Gothic revival style.
Governor Jared Irwin soon moved into a handsome two-story frame structure known as Government House, on the corner of Clarke and Greene streets. The new capital was a rather crude frontier community with simple clapboard houses, a multitude of inns and taverns, law offices, bordellos, and hostelries. The town attracted several blacksmiths, apothecaries, dry-goods merchants, and even booksellers. Travelers to the town were generally unimpressed, noting the ill-kept and overcrowded inns, the gambling, the dueling, and the bitter political feuds.
Public-spirited citizens such as Tomlinson Fort (mayor of Milledgeville, 1847–48) promoted better newspapers, learning academies, and banks. In 1837-42 the Georgia Lunatic Asylum (later the Central State Hospital
) was developed. Oglethorpe University
, where the poet Sidney Lanier
was educated, opened its doors in 1838. (The college, forced to close in 1862, was rechartered in 1913, with its campus in Atlanta.) The cotton boom also significantly increased the need for slave labor; planters bought slaves transported from the Upper South and by 1828, the town claimed 1,599 inhabitants: 789 free whites, 27 free blacks, and 783 African American slaves. The town market, where slave auctions were held, stood next to the Presbyterian church on Capital Square. Skilled black carpenters, masons, and laborers constructed most of the handsome antebellum structures in Milledgeville.
Two events epitomized Milledgeville's status as the political and social center of Georgia in these years. The first was the visit to the capital in 1825 by the Revolutionary War (1775–83) hero the Marquis de Lafayette. The receptions, barbecue, formal dinner, and grand ball for the veteran apostle of liberty seemed to mark Milledgeville's coming of age. The second event was the construction (1836-38/39) of the Governor's Mansion
, one of the most important examples of Greek revival architecture in America.
, to the accompaniment of wild celebration, bonfires, and illuminations on Milledgeville's Statehouse Square. Three years later, on a bitterly cold November day, Union general William T. Sherman and 30,000 Union troops marched into Milledgeville. When they left a couple of days later, they had ransacked the statehouse; destroyed the state arsenal and powder magazine; burned the penitentiary, the central depot, and the Oconee bridge; and devastated the surrounding countryside. In 1868, during Reconstruction, the legislature moved the capital to Atlanta—a city emerging as the symbol of the New South
as surely as Milledgeville symbolized the Old South
.
Milledgeville struggled to survive as a city after losing the business of the capital. Through the energetic efforts of local leaders, the Middle Georgia Military and Agricultural College (later Georgia Military College
) was established in 1879 on Statehouse Square. Where the crumbling remains of the old penitentiary stood, Georgia Normal and Industrial College (later Georgia College & State University
) was founded in 1889. In part because of these institutions, as well as Central State Hospital
, Milledgeville remained a less provincial town than many of its neighbors.
; epidemiologist Joseph Hill White; Woodrow Wilson's treasury secretary, William Gibbs McAdoo
; and Ulrich Bonnell Phillips
, a noted historian of the South.
The most famous 20th-century residents make up an unusual trio. In 1910 eighteen-year-old Oliver Hardy
, of Laurel and Hardy
fame, moved to Milledgeville, where his mother managed the stately old Baldwin Hotel, and stayed for three years. U.S. Congressman Carl Vinson
represented his hometown of Milledgeville and central Georgia for fifty years (1914–65). The writer Flannery O'Connor
came as a young girl with her family to Milledgeville from Savannah. O'Connor, a 1945 graduate of Georgia State College for Women, did much of her best writing in Milledgeville at her family's farm, Andalusia. (Today it offers public tours.) Her critically acclaimed short stories and novels have secured her reputation as a major American writer.
In the 1950s the Georgia Power Company completed a dam at Furman Shoals, about five miles (8 km) north of town, creating a huge reservoir called Lake Sinclair
. The lake community became an increasingly important part of the town's social and economic identity. In the 1980s and 1990s Milledgeville began to capitalize on its heritage by revitalizing the downtown and historic district. Another attraction, Lockerly Arboretum, offers tours of the facility's botanical gardens as well as educational programs and the Lockerly Heritage Festival each September. By 2000 the population of Milledgeville and Baldwin County combined had grown to 44,700. Community leaders have made concerted efforts to create a more diversified economic base, striving to wean the old capital from its dependence on government institutions such as Central State Hospital and state prisons - a task made more urgent by recent prison closures and job reductions at Central State, caused by tightening state budgets.
(Georgia's first public psychiatric hospital). See Central State Hospital Website. "Central State," as it is known in Milledgeville and Central Georgia, was founded in 1842.
. Milledgeville's public schools' website is Baldwin County Schools.
. Mary Vinson Memorial Library is located downtown. In addition, Georgia College & State University also has a library.
According to the United States Census Bureau
, the city has a total area of 20.2 square miles (52.3 km²), of which, 20 square miles (51.8 km²) of it is land and 0.3 square mile (0.776996433 km²) of it (1.33%) is water.
Milledgeville is located on the noted Eastern Fall line
of the U.S. The Oconee River
flows a half mile east of downtown on its way south to the Altamaha River
and then south to the Atlantic Ocean
. Lake Sinclair
, a man-made lake, is about four miles (6 km) northeast of Milledgeville on the border of Baldwin
, Putnam
and Hancock County
.
Milledgeville is composed of two main districts: a heavily commercialized area extending from a few blocks north of Georgia College & State University to four miles (6 km) north of Milledgeville properly known to locals simply as "441", and the "Downtown" area, encompassing the college, buildings housing city government agencies, various bars and restaurants. This historic area was laid out in 1803, with streets named after other counties in Georgia.
of 2000, there were 18,757 people, 4,755 households, and 2,643 families residing in the city, although a 2005 study estimates there to be a population of 19,397. The population density
was 938.8 people per square mile (362.5/km²). There were 5,356 housing units at an average density of 268.1 per square mile (103.5/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 49.94% White, 47.68% African American, 0.13% Native American, 1.55% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.20% from other races
, and 0.50% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.23% of the population.
There were 4,755 households out of which 25.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 33.6% were married couples
living together, 18.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 44.4% were non-families. 31.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.35 and the average family size was 3.04.
In the city the population was spread out with 16.0% under the age of 18, 20.9% from 18 to 24, 32.3% from 25 to 44, 19.6% from 45 to 64, and 11.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females there were 166.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 173.2 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $30,484, and the median income for a family was $44,683. Males had a median income of $30,794 versus $23,719 for females. The per capita income
for the city was $12,782. About 14.8% of families and 24.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 28.8% of those under age 18 and 16.3% of those age 65 or over.
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 Baldwin County
Baldwin County, Georgia
Baldwin County is a county located in the U.S. state of Georgia. As of 2010, the population was 46,337. The county seat is Milledgeville.Baldwin County is part of the Milledgeville Micropolitan Statistical Area, which includes neighboring Hancock County....
in the U.S. state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
of 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...
. It is northeast of Macon
Macon, Georgia
Macon is a city located in central Georgia, US. Founded at the fall line of the Ocmulgee River, it is part of the Macon metropolitan area, and the county seat of Bibb County. A small portion of the city extends into Jones County. Macon is the biggest city in central Georgia...
, located just before Eatonton
Eatonton, Georgia
Eatonton is a city in Putnam County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 6,480. The city is the county seat of Putnam County. It was named after William Eaton, an officer and diplomat involved in the First Barbary War...
on the way to Athens
Athens, Georgia
Athens-Clarke County is a consolidated city–county in U.S. state of Georgia, in the northeastern part of the state, comprising the former City of Athens proper and Clarke County. The University of Georgia is located in this college town and is responsible for the initial growth of the city...
along U.S. Highway 441, and it is located on the Oconee River
Oconee River
The Oconee River is a river which has its origin in Hall County, Georgia, and terminates where it joins the Ocmulgee River to form the Altamaha River near Lumber City at the borders of Montgomery County, Wheeler County, and Jeff Davis County. South of Athens, two forks, known as the North Oconee...
. The relatively rapid current of the Oconee here made this an attractive location to build a city. It was the capital of Georgia from 1804 to 1868, notably during the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
. Milledgeville was preceded as the capital city by Louisville
Louisville, Georgia
Louisville is a city in Jefferson County, Georgia, United States. It is the former capital of Georgia and is the county seat of Jefferson County. It is located southwest of Augusta on the Ogeechee River, and its population was 2,712 at the 2000 census. The local pronunciation is the Americanized...
, and it was succeeded by Atlanta, the current capital.
The population of the town of Milledgeville was 18,757 at the 2000 census
United States Census, 2000
The Twenty-second United States Census, known as Census 2000 and conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States on April 1, 2000, to be 281,421,906, an increase of 13.2% over the 248,709,873 persons enumerated during the 1990 Census...
.
Milledgeville is along the route of the under-construction Fall Line Freeway
Fall Line Freeway
The Fall Line Freeway is a highway currently being constructed that will run the width of the state of Georgia from Columbus to Augusta, passing through several cities including Macon and Milledgeville. It will be designated State Route 540 upon completion, and it will be a four-lane divided...
, which will link Milledgeville with Augusta
Augusta, Georgia
Augusta is a consolidated city in the U.S. state of Georgia, located along the Savannah River. As of the 2010 census, the Augusta–Richmond County population was 195,844 not counting the unconsolidated cities of Hephzibah and Blythe.Augusta is the principal city of the Augusta-Richmond County...
, Macon
Macon, Georgia
Macon is a city located in central Georgia, US. Founded at the fall line of the Ocmulgee River, it is part of the Macon metropolitan area, and the county seat of Bibb County. A small portion of the city extends into Jones County. Macon is the biggest city in central Georgia...
, Columbus
Columbus, Georgia
Columbus is a city in and the county seat of Muscogee County, Georgia, United States, with which it is consolidated. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 189,885. It is the principal city of the Columbus, Georgia metropolitan area, which, in 2009, had an estimated population of 292,795...
, and other Fall Line
Fall line
A fall line is a geomorphologic unconformity between an upland region of relatively hard crystalline basement rock and a coastal plain of softer sedimentary rock. A fall line is typically prominent when crossed by a river, for there will often be rapids or waterfalls...
cities with long histories from Colonial Georgia
Province of Georgia
The Province of Georgia was one of the Southern colonies in British America. It was the last of the thirteen original colonies established by Great Britain in what later became the United States...
.
Milledgeville is the principal city of the Milledgeville Micropolitan Statistical Area
Milledgeville micropolitan area
The Milledgeville Micropolitan Statistical Area, as defined by the United States Census Bureau, is an area consisting of two counties in Georgia, anchored by the city of Milledgeville....
, a micropolitan area
United States micropolitan area
United States Micropolitan Statistical Areas , as defined by the United States Office of Management and Budget, are urban areas in the United States based around a core city or town with a population of 10,000 to 49,999. The micropolitan area designation was created in 2003...
that covers Baldwin and Hancock
Hancock County, Georgia
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 10,076 people, 3,237 households, and 2,311 families residing in the county. The population density was 21 people per square mile . There were 4,287 housing units at an average density of 9 per square mile...
counties and had a combined population of 54,776 at the 2000 census
United States Census, 2000
The Twenty-second United States Census, known as Census 2000 and conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States on April 1, 2000, to be 281,421,906, an increase of 13.2% over the 248,709,873 persons enumerated during the 1990 Census...
.
History
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...
. It served as the state capital from 1804 to 1868. In 1803 an act of the Georgia legislature called for the establishment and survey of a town to be named in honor of the current governor, John Milledge. The land immediately west of the Oconee River had just been opened up by the Treaty of Fort Wilkinson (1802), in which the Creek people, hard pressed by debts to white traders, agreed to cede part of their ancient land. The restless white population of Georgia was pressing west and south in search of new farmland, and the town of Milledgeville was carved out of the Oconee wilderness to help accommodate their needs. The area was surveyed, and a town plat of 500 acres (2 km²) was divided into 84 4 acres (16,187.4 m²) squares. The survey also included four public squares of 20 acres (80,937.2 m²) each. In December 1804 Milledgeville was declared by the legislature to be the new capital of Georgia. The new planned town, modeled after Savannah
Savannah, Georgia
Savannah is the largest city and the county seat of Chatham County, in the U.S. state of Georgia. Established in 1733, the city of Savannah was the colonial capital of the Province of Georgia and later the first state capital of Georgia. Today Savannah is an industrial center and an important...
and Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, was located on the edge of the frontier, where the Upper Coastal Plain merges into the Piedmont.
In 1807 fifteen wagons, escorted by troops, left Louisville
Louisville, Georgia
Louisville is a city in Jefferson County, Georgia, United States. It is the former capital of Georgia and is the county seat of Jefferson County. It is located southwest of Augusta on the Ogeechee River, and its population was 2,712 at the 2000 census. The local pronunciation is the Americanized...
, the former capital, carrying the treasury and public records of the state. The new statehouse, though unfinished, was able to accommodate the legislators. Over the next thirty years the building was enlarged with a north and south wing. Its pointed arched windows and battlements marked it as America's first public building in the Gothic revival style.
Governor Jared Irwin soon moved into a handsome two-story frame structure known as Government House, on the corner of Clarke and Greene streets. The new capital was a rather crude frontier community with simple clapboard houses, a multitude of inns and taverns, law offices, bordellos, and hostelries. The town attracted several blacksmiths, apothecaries, dry-goods merchants, and even booksellers. Travelers to the town were generally unimpressed, noting the ill-kept and overcrowded inns, the gambling, the dueling, and the bitter political feuds.
Life in the antebellum capital
After 1815 Milledgeville became increasingly prosperous and more respectable. Wealth and power gravitated toward the capital, and the surrounding countryside was caught up in the middle of a cotton boom. Streets were lined with cotton bales waiting to be shipped downriver to Darien. Such skilled architects as John Marlor and Daniel Pratt were designing elegant houses; colossal porticos, cantilevered balconies, pediments adorned with sunbursts, and fanlighted doorways all proclaimed the Milledgeville Federal style of architecture. The major congregations built fine new houses of worship on Statehouse Square. The completion in 1817 of the Georgia Penitentiary heralded a new era of penal reform.Public-spirited citizens such as Tomlinson Fort (mayor of Milledgeville, 1847–48) promoted better newspapers, learning academies, and banks. In 1837-42 the Georgia Lunatic Asylum (later the Central State Hospital
Central State Hospital
The following hospitals are known as Central State Hospital:*Central State Hospital *Central State Hospital *Central State Hospital *Central State Hospital for the Insane *Central State Hospital...
) was developed. Oglethorpe University
Oglethorpe University
Oglethorpe University is a private liberal arts college in Brookhaven, Georgia, an inner suburb of Atlanta. It was chartered in 1835 and named after James Edward Oglethorpe, the state's founder.-History:...
, where the poet Sidney Lanier
Sidney Lanier
Sidney Lanier was an American musician and poet.-Biography:Sidney Lanier was born February 3, 1842, in Macon, Georgia, to parents Robert Sampson Lanier and Mary Jane Anderson; he was mostly of English ancestry. His distant French Huguenot ancestors immigrated to England in the 16th century...
was educated, opened its doors in 1838. (The college, forced to close in 1862, was rechartered in 1913, with its campus in Atlanta.) The cotton boom also significantly increased the need for slave labor; planters bought slaves transported from the Upper South and by 1828, the town claimed 1,599 inhabitants: 789 free whites, 27 free blacks, and 783 African American slaves. The town market, where slave auctions were held, stood next to the Presbyterian church on Capital Square. Skilled black carpenters, masons, and laborers constructed most of the handsome antebellum structures in Milledgeville.
Two events epitomized Milledgeville's status as the political and social center of Georgia in these years. The first was the visit to the capital in 1825 by the Revolutionary War (1775–83) hero the Marquis de Lafayette. The receptions, barbecue, formal dinner, and grand ball for the veteran apostle of liberty seemed to mark Milledgeville's coming of age. The second event was the construction (1836-38/39) of the Governor's Mansion
Governor's Mansion
Governor's Mansionis a common term for the official residence of a U.S. state governor, and is used in other places, tooin India* Portuguese Governor’s Mansion, Pondicherry, Indiain Russia...
, one of the most important examples of Greek revival architecture in America.
The Civil War and its aftermath
On January 19, 1861, Georgia convention delegates passed the Ordinance of Secession, and the "Republic of Georgia" joined the Confederate States of AmericaConfederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
, to the accompaniment of wild celebration, bonfires, and illuminations on Milledgeville's Statehouse Square. Three years later, on a bitterly cold November day, Union general William T. Sherman and 30,000 Union troops marched into Milledgeville. When they left a couple of days later, they had ransacked the statehouse; destroyed the state arsenal and powder magazine; burned the penitentiary, the central depot, and the Oconee bridge; and devastated the surrounding countryside. In 1868, during Reconstruction, the legislature moved the capital to Atlanta—a city emerging as the symbol of the New South
New South
New South, New South Democracy or New South Creed is a phrase that has been used intermittently since the American Civil War to describe the American South, after 1877. The term "New South" is used in contrast to the Old South of the plantation system of the antebellum period.The term has been used...
as surely as Milledgeville symbolized the Old South
Old South
Geographically, Old South is a subregion of the American South, differentiated from the "Deep South" as being the Southern States represented in the original thirteen American colonies, as well as a way of describing the former lifestyle in the Southern United States. Culturally, the term can be...
.
Milledgeville struggled to survive as a city after losing the business of the capital. Through the energetic efforts of local leaders, the Middle Georgia Military and Agricultural College (later Georgia Military College
Georgia Military College
Georgia Military College is a United States Military Junior College, high school, and middle school in Milledgeville, Georgia. GMC is one of five military junior colleges that participates in the Army's Early Commissioning Program. Cadets who graduate from GMC's two-year, military science-oriented...
) was established in 1879 on Statehouse Square. Where the crumbling remains of the old penitentiary stood, Georgia Normal and Industrial College (later Georgia College & State University
Georgia College & State University
Georgia College & State University is a public liberal arts university in Milledgeville, Georgia, United States, with approximately 7,000 students...
) was founded in 1889. In part because of these institutions, as well as Central State Hospital
Central State Hospital (Georgia)
Central State Hospital , located in Milledgeville, Georgia, is the state's largest facility for treatment of mental illness and developmental disabilities...
, Milledgeville remained a less provincial town than many of its neighbors.
Twentieth century
As the old capital moved into the 20th century, it produced a number of people who would attain national prominence. Among these were the distinguished chemist Charles HertyCharles Herty
Charles Holmes Herty, Sr. was an American academic, scientist and businessman. Serving in academia as a chemistry professor to begin his career, Herty concurrently promoted collegiate athletics including creating the first varsity football team at the University of Georgia...
; epidemiologist Joseph Hill White; Woodrow Wilson's treasury secretary, William Gibbs McAdoo
William Gibbs McAdoo
William Gibbs McAdoo, Jr. was an American lawyer and political leader who served as a U.S. Senator, United States Secretary of the Treasury and director of the United States Railroad Administration...
; and Ulrich Bonnell Phillips
Ulrich Bonnell Phillips
Ulrich Bonnell Phillips was an American historian who studied the American antebellum South and slavery. Phillips concentrated on the large plantations that dominated the Southern economy, and he did not investigate the numerous small farmers who held few slaves...
, a noted historian of the South.
The most famous 20th-century residents make up an unusual trio. In 1910 eighteen-year-old Oliver Hardy
Oliver Hardy
Oliver Hardy was an American comic actor famous as one half of Laurel and Hardy, the classic double act that began in the era of silent films and lasted nearly 30 years, from 1927 to 1955.-Early life:...
, of Laurel and Hardy
Laurel and Hardy
Laurel and Hardy were one of the most popular and critically acclaimed comedy double acts of the early Classical Hollywood era of American cinema...
fame, moved to Milledgeville, where his mother managed the stately old Baldwin Hotel, and stayed for three years. U.S. Congressman Carl Vinson
Carl Vinson
Carl Vinson was a United States Representative from Georgia. He was a Democrat and the first person to serve for more than 50 years in the United States House of Representatives...
represented his hometown of Milledgeville and central Georgia for fifty years (1914–65). The writer Flannery O'Connor
Flannery O'Connor
Mary Flannery O'Connor was an American novelist, short-story writer and essayist. An important voice in American literature, O'Connor wrote two novels and 32 short stories, as well as a number of reviews and commentaries...
came as a young girl with her family to Milledgeville from Savannah. O'Connor, a 1945 graduate of Georgia State College for Women, did much of her best writing in Milledgeville at her family's farm, Andalusia. (Today it offers public tours.) Her critically acclaimed short stories and novels have secured her reputation as a major American writer.
In the 1950s the Georgia Power Company completed a dam at Furman Shoals, about five miles (8 km) north of town, creating a huge reservoir called Lake Sinclair
Lake Sinclair
Lake Sinclair is a man-made lake in central Georgia near Milledgeville. It is operated by Georgia Power.- Location :Located in the central region of Georgia, on the Oconee River, Lake Sinclair stretches through the counties of Baldwin, Hancock, and Putnam, Lake Sinclair was created in 1953...
. The lake community became an increasingly important part of the town's social and economic identity. In the 1980s and 1990s Milledgeville began to capitalize on its heritage by revitalizing the downtown and historic district. Another attraction, Lockerly Arboretum, offers tours of the facility's botanical gardens as well as educational programs and the Lockerly Heritage Festival each September. By 2000 the population of Milledgeville and Baldwin County combined had grown to 44,700. Community leaders have made concerted efforts to create a more diversified economic base, striving to wean the old capital from its dependence on government institutions such as Central State Hospital and state prisons - a task made more urgent by recent prison closures and job reductions at Central State, caused by tightening state budgets.
Current day industries and occupations
Milledgeville is the location of the Central State HospitalCentral State Hospital (Georgia)
Central State Hospital , located in Milledgeville, Georgia, is the state's largest facility for treatment of mental illness and developmental disabilities...
(Georgia's first public psychiatric hospital). See Central State Hospital Website. "Central State," as it is known in Milledgeville and Central Georgia, was founded in 1842.
Educational institutions, colleges and universities
Milledgeville's public school system is governed by the Baldwin County School DistrictBaldwin County School District (Georgia)
The Baldwin County School District is a public school district in Baldwin County, Georgia, USA, based in Milledgeville, Georgia. It serves the communities of Midway-Hardwick, and Milledgeville, Georgia.-Schools:...
. Milledgeville's public schools' website is Baldwin County Schools.
Public elementary schools
- Blandy Hills Elementary School
- Creekside Elementary School
- Eagle Ridge Elementary School
- Midway Elementary School
Private schools
- Georgia Military CollegeGeorgia Military CollegeGeorgia Military College is a United States Military Junior College, high school, and middle school in Milledgeville, Georgia. GMC is one of five military junior colleges that participates in the Army's Early Commissioning Program. Cadets who graduate from GMC's two-year, military science-oriented...
Prep School (grades 6 - 12) - John Milledge Academy (grades K-12), JMA's Website
- Sinclair Christian Academy (grades Pre-K - 12)
Schools for higher education
- Georgia Military CollegeGeorgia Military CollegeGeorgia Military College is a United States Military Junior College, high school, and middle school in Milledgeville, Georgia. GMC is one of five military junior colleges that participates in the Army's Early Commissioning Program. Cadets who graduate from GMC's two-year, military science-oriented...
- Georgia College & State UniversityGeorgia College & State UniversityGeorgia College & State University is a public liberal arts university in Milledgeville, Georgia, United States, with approximately 7,000 students...
- (commonly known as Georgia College) - Central Georgia Technical CollegeCentral Georgia Technical CollegeCentral Georgia Technical College is a community college governed by The Technical College System of Georgia . CGTC serves people in Baldwin, Bibb, Crawford, Jones, Monroe, and Twiggs counties in Central Georgia. CGTC's main campus is located in Macon, Georgia with a satellite campus in...
Libraries
Milledgeville's public library system is part of the Twin Lakes Library SystemTwin Lakes Library System
The Twin Lakes Library System is a single-county public library system that services the citizens of Milledgeville and BaldwinCounty, Georgia with two facilities...
. Mary Vinson Memorial Library is located downtown. In addition, Georgia College & State University also has a library.
Historic schools
The school system building facilities were revamped during the 1990s and first decade of the 21st century, with all new buildings, including a new Board of Education office. This required relocation and merging of older schools. The concept of a middle school was introduced, whereas previously 6th through 9th grades were housed in separate schools. Closed older schools include:- Northside Elementary School
- Southside Elementary School
- West End Elementary School
- Harrisburg Elementary School
- Baldwin Middle School (was located in old Baldwin High School)
- Boddie Junior High School (8th and 9th grades)
- Baldwin High School (old location)
- Carver Elementary School (5th and 6th grades / now an alternate school)
- Sallie Davis Middle School (7th grade)
Notable natives and residents
- Blind Willie McTellBlind Willie McTellBlind Willie McTell , was an influential Piedmont and ragtime blues singer and guitarist. He played with a fluid, syncopated fingerstyle guitar technique, common among many exponents of Piedmont blues, although, unlike his contemporaries, he used exclusively a twelve-string guitar...
, influential blues guitarist, died in Milledgeville. - Kevin Brown, Willie GreeneWillie GreeneWillie Louis Greene was a professional baseball player for nine years in the Major Leagues and during that time he played for four different teams...
, and Rondell WhiteRondell WhiteRondell Bernard White is an outfielder and designated hitter in Major League Baseball. His career batting average currently stands at .284 and his career slugging percentage is .462....
, professional baseball players, were all born in Milledgeville. - Oliver HardyOliver HardyOliver Hardy was an American comic actor famous as one half of Laurel and Hardy, the classic double act that began in the era of silent films and lasted nearly 30 years, from 1927 to 1955.-Early life:...
, vaudevilleVaudevilleVaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...
actor and motion picture comedian, began his career in Milledgeville. - Flannery O'ConnorFlannery O'ConnorMary Flannery O'Connor was an American novelist, short-story writer and essayist. An important voice in American literature, O'Connor wrote two novels and 32 short stories, as well as a number of reviews and commentaries...
, author, spent her adolescence and parts of her later life in Milledgeville (at Andalusia) and is buried in Milledgeville's Memory Hill CemeteryMemory Hill CemeteryMemory Hill Cemetery is an American cemetery in Milledgeville, Georgia. The cemetery opened in 1804.-Notable Interments:*Thomas Petters Carnes, United States Representative for Georgia and state court judge....
. - Earnest BynerEarnest BynerEarnest Alexander Byner is a former American football running back in the National Football League and is currently a running backs coach for the Jacksonville Jaguars...
, Professional football player, was born and raised here. - Carl VinsonCarl VinsonCarl Vinson was a United States Representative from Georgia. He was a Democrat and the first person to serve for more than 50 years in the United States House of Representatives...
, Congressman, was from Milledgeville. - Barry ReeseBarry ReeseBarry Reese is a librarian and American writer. He is best known for his work on The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe for Marvel Comics, D6 Space: Fires of Amatsumara Worldbook for West End Games and the Rook Universe series of novels...
, author, was born and raised here. - Joel GodardJoel GodardJoel Clinton Godard, Jr. is an American television presenter, best known as the announcer for Late Night with Conan O'Brien during its entire 16-year run from 1993 to 2009.-Early life:...
, an announcer for the Late Night with Conan O'BrienLate Night with Conan O'BrienLate Night with Conan O'Brien is an American late-night talk show hosted by Conan O'Brien that aired 2,725 episodes on NBC between 1993 and 2009. The show featured varied comedic material, celebrity interviews, and musical and comedy performances. Late Night aired weeknights at 12:37 am...
TV show, was born and raised here. - Melvin Adams, Jr., better known as Fish ScalesFish ScalesMelvin Adams or better known by his stage name Fish Scales is a rapper. He is currently in the Kentucky-based quintet alternative southern rap group Nappy Roots. He attended Western Kentucky University between 1995 and 1997 on a basketball scholarship...
from the band Nappy RootsNappy RootsNappy Roots is an American alternative Southern rap quintet that originated in Bowling Green, Kentucky in 1995 and is best known for its hit single "Awnaw."...
. - Tennessee TitansTennessee TitansThe Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. They are members of the South Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Previously known as the Houston Oilers, the team began play in 1960 as a charter...
cornerback Nick HarperNick Harper (American football)Nicholas Necosi Harper is a currently a free agent American football cornerback in the National Football League. He was signed by the Hamilton Tiger-Cats as an street free agent in 2000. He played college football at Fort Valley State University in Fort Valley, Georgia.Harper has played for the... - Francis Gary Powers, the CIA U-2Lockheed U-2The Lockheed U-2, nicknamed "Dragon Lady", is a single-engine, very high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft operated by the United States Air Force and previously flown by the Central Intelligence Agency . It provides day and night, very high-altitude , all-weather intelligence gathering...
pilot shot down over the USSR in 1960 - might have served in the USAF near Milledgeville. - J.T. Wall, from Milledgeville, played fullback for the University of GA and had short stints with the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Indianapolis Colts.
- Leroy HillLeroy HillLeroy Hill, Jr. is an American football linebacker for the Seattle Seahawks. He played high school football in Milledgeville, GA for the Baldwin High School Braves...
, Seattle Seahawks linebacker, played high school football at Baldwin High School in Milledgeville. - Bill MinerBill MinerEzra Allen Miner , more popularly known as Bill Miner, was a noted American criminal, originally from Bowling Green, Kentucky, who served several prison terms for stagecoach robbery. Known for his unusual politeness while committing robberies, he was widely nicknamed The Gentleman Robber or The...
, Canada's first train robber, is buried in Milledgeville's Memory Hill CemeteryMemory Hill CemeteryMemory Hill Cemetery is an American cemetery in Milledgeville, Georgia. The cemetery opened in 1804.-Notable Interments:*Thomas Petters Carnes, United States Representative for Georgia and state court judge....
. - Ellis Paul TorranceEllis Paul TorranceEllis Paul Torrance was an American psychologist from Milledgeville, Georgia.After completing his undergraduate degree at Mercer University, he went on to complete a Master's degree at the University of Minnesota, and then a doctorate from the University of Michigan...
, psychologist, grew up in Milledgeville and taught at Georgia Military College. - Walt FaulknerWalt FaulknerWalt Faulkner was an American racing driver from Tell, Texas, who moved to Milledgeville, Georgia at the age of two-and-a-half, and to Lake Wales, Florida at the age of eight. He then moved to Los Angeles, California in 1936. Faulkner competed mainly in the National Championship and in stock car...
, race car driver, lived in Milledgeville from 1920 to 1926. - Lucius SanfordLucius SanfordLucius M. Sanford is a former American football linebacker who played ten seasons in the National Football League with the Buffalo Bills and Cleveland Browns. He played collegiately for the Georgia Tech football team. Was a six year winner and two year runner up of the Milledgeville mean-mug award...
, middle linebacker, was born in Milledgeville. He was All-American at Georgia Tech and later played for the Buffalo Bills and the Cleveland Browns. - Milledgeville was referenced in the movie, Pretty WomanPretty WomanPretty Woman is a 1990 romantic comedy film set in Los Angeles, California. Written by J.F. Lawton and directed by Garry Marshall, this motion picture features Richard Gere and Julia Roberts, and also Hector Elizondo, Ralph Bellamy, and Jason Alexander in supporting roles. Roberts played the only...
, starring Julia RobertsJulia RobertsJulia Fiona Roberts is an American actress. She became a Hollywood star after headlining the romantic comedy Pretty Woman , which grossed $464 million worldwide...
. A sign was erected referencing this near the University in 1999.
Geography
Milledgeville is located at 33°5′16"N 83°14′0"W (33.087755, -83.233401) and is 301 feet (91.7 m) above sea level.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 20.2 square miles (52.3 km²), of which, 20 square miles (51.8 km²) of it is land and 0.3 square mile (0.776996433 km²) of it (1.33%) is water.
Milledgeville is located on the noted Eastern Fall line
Fall line
A fall line is a geomorphologic unconformity between an upland region of relatively hard crystalline basement rock and a coastal plain of softer sedimentary rock. A fall line is typically prominent when crossed by a river, for there will often be rapids or waterfalls...
of the U.S. The Oconee River
Oconee River
The Oconee River is a river which has its origin in Hall County, Georgia, and terminates where it joins the Ocmulgee River to form the Altamaha River near Lumber City at the borders of Montgomery County, Wheeler County, and Jeff Davis County. South of Athens, two forks, known as the North Oconee...
flows a half mile east of downtown on its way south to the Altamaha River
Altamaha River
The Altamaha River is a major river of the American state of Georgia. It flows generally eastward for 137 miles from its origin at the confluence of the Oconee River and Ocmulgee River towards the Atlantic Ocean, where it empties into the ocean near Brunswick, Georgia. There are no dams...
and then south to the Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
. Lake Sinclair
Lake Sinclair
Lake Sinclair is a man-made lake in central Georgia near Milledgeville. It is operated by Georgia Power.- Location :Located in the central region of Georgia, on the Oconee River, Lake Sinclair stretches through the counties of Baldwin, Hancock, and Putnam, Lake Sinclair was created in 1953...
, a man-made lake, is about four miles (6 km) northeast of Milledgeville on the border of Baldwin
Baldwin County, Georgia
Baldwin County is a county located in the U.S. state of Georgia. As of 2010, the population was 46,337. The county seat is Milledgeville.Baldwin County is part of the Milledgeville Micropolitan Statistical Area, which includes neighboring Hancock County....
, Putnam
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...
and Hancock County
Hancock County, Georgia
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 10,076 people, 3,237 households, and 2,311 families residing in the county. The population density was 21 people per square mile . There were 4,287 housing units at an average density of 9 per square mile...
.
Milledgeville is composed of two main districts: a heavily commercialized area extending from a few blocks north of Georgia College & State University to four miles (6 km) north of Milledgeville properly known to locals simply as "441", and the "Downtown" area, encompassing the college, buildings housing city government agencies, various bars and restaurants. This historic area was laid out in 1803, with streets named after other counties in Georgia.
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 18,757 people, 4,755 households, and 2,643 families residing in the city, although a 2005 study estimates there to be a population of 19,397. 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 938.8 people per square mile (362.5/km²). There were 5,356 housing units at an average density of 268.1 per square mile (103.5/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 49.94% White, 47.68% African American, 0.13% Native American, 1.55% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.20% 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 0.50% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.23% of the population.
There were 4,755 households out of which 25.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 33.6% 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, 18.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 44.4% were non-families. 31.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.35 and the average family size was 3.04.
In the city the population was spread out with 16.0% under the age of 18, 20.9% from 18 to 24, 32.3% from 25 to 44, 19.6% from 45 to 64, and 11.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females there were 166.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 173.2 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $30,484, and the median income for a family was $44,683. Males had a median income of $30,794 versus $23,719 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 $12,782. About 14.8% of families and 24.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 28.8% of those under age 18 and 16.3% of those age 65 or over.
Points of interest
- Lockerly ArboretumLockerly ArboretumLockerly Arboretum is a private, nonprofit arboretum located on Business Highway 441 South, Milledgeville, Georgia. It is open daily, except Sundays, without charge....
- Bartram ForestBartram ForestBartram Educational Forest is an educational program component of the Baldwin Forest, a state forest in Baldwin County, Georgia, United States. The forest was named in honor of naturalists John Bartram and his son William Bartram .It is located in the city of Milledgeville at geographic...
- Old Governor's MansionOld Governor's Mansion (Milledgeville, Georgia)The Governor's Mansion , also known as Old Governor's Mansion or Executive Mansion, is a mansion in Milledgeville, Georgia....
External links
- Official Website: City of Milledgeville Georgia
- Milledgeville GA Convention and Visitors Bureau - Tourism
- Welcome to Milledgeville
- One Stop Shop for Small Business and Entrepreneurs
- Deep Roots Festival
- New Georgia Encyclopedia: Milledgeville
- Milledgeville Historic Newspapers Archive Digital Library of Georgia