Baldwin County, Georgia

Baldwin County, Georgia
Location in the U.S. state of Georgia
Georgia's location in the U.S.
Founded	1803
Named for	Abraham Baldwin
Seat	Milledgeville
Largest city	Milledgeville
Area
• Total	267 sq mi (692 km2)
• Land	258 sq mi (668 km2)
• Water	9.6 sq mi (25 km2), 3.6%
Population
• (2010)	45,720
• Density	177/sq mi (68/km²)
Congressional district	10th
Time zone	Eastern: UTC-5/-4
Website	www.baldwincountyga.com

Baldwin County is a county located in the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2010 census, the population was 46,337.^[1] The county seat is Milledgeville.^[2]

Baldwin County is part of the Milledgeville, GA Micropolitan Statistical Area.

History

For centuries the land was occupied by the Creek Nation, and for thousands of years before them, varying cultures of indigenous peoples.

Part of the land ceded by the Creek Nation in the Treaty of Fort Wilkinson in 1802 was used to create Baldwin County on May 11, 1803, by the Georgia General Assembly, the state's legislative body.

The land west of the Oconee River was organized as Baldwin and Wilkinson counties. The Treaty of Washington with the Creek in 1805 extended the state's western boundary to the Ocmulgee River. A legislative act on June 26, 1806, added some of this additional land to both counties.

The state legislature subsequently passed an act on December 10, 1807 that created four new counties from Baldwin County's 1806 borders. It expanded Baldwin to the east with land from Hancock and Washington counties. The new counties were Morgan, Jones, Putnam, and present-day Jasper (originally named Randolph County at the time of the act).

The county is named for Abraham Baldwin, a signer of the United States Constitution, U.S. congressman representing Georgia, and the founder of the University of Georgia. Euroepan-American settlers moved rapidly into the area and developed large cotton plantations, made possible by the labor of slaves. Since the invention of the cotton gin, short-staple cotton could be profitably processed, and it was well-suited to the uplands of Georgia. What became known as the Black Belt of Georgia, an arc of fertile soil, was one of the destinations for slaves being sold from the Upper South, as well as from the Low Country.

The county seat of Milledgeville is the former state capital of Georgia (1804–1868). Other than Washington, DC, it is the only planned capital city in the United States.

Because of its central location within the state and its abundant supply of water from the Oconee River, Milledgeville grew rapidly into a bustling frontier settlement. On November 2, 1807, the state legislature held its first session in the newly completed statehouse in Milledgeville. Georgia's first state penitentiary was also built within the historic city limits of Milledgeville in 1817. This site is now used as part of the campus of Georgia College and State University. In 1837 the General Assembly provided for the establishment of the state's first mental asylum, today known as Central State Hospital.

When the state of Georgia seceded from the Union in January 1861 during a legislative session held in Milledgeville, Baldwin County became a target for Union forces. When Union general William T. Sherman's made his devastating March to the Sea through Georgia, his troops occupied the capital city in November 1864. Sherman and his Union armies burned the state penitentiary, vandalized the city, and held a mock session of the legislature in the statehouse to repeal the state's ordinance of secession.

In 1868, after the Civil War (1861–65), Georgia's capital was moved from Milledgeville to its present location in Atlanta. Today Milledgeville is home to two institutions of higher education: Georgia College and State University and Georgia Military College. Founded in 1889 as the Georgia Normal and Industrial College for Women, Georgia College and State University has since grown to become the state's premier public liberal arts university. Georgia Military College, founded in 1879, now occupies the Old Capitol Building.

In addition to the Old Capitol and Governor's Mansion, visitors to Baldwin County can explore Andalusia, writer Flannery O'Connor's family farm; Milledgeville's historic district; and the Lockerly Arboretum, a botanical garden and nature education center that hosts the Lockerly Heritage Festival each September.

Notable residents

• Carl Vinson, who served for fifty years in the U.S. Congress, was born in Baldwin County.
• Oliver Hardy, comedian and film director, began his career in the Milledgeville Opera House.
• Flannery O'Connor, novelist and short-story writer, lived in Milledgeville. She is buried in her family plot in the city's historic Memory Hill Cemetery.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 267 square miles (690 km²), of which 258 square miles (670 km²) is land and 9.6 square miles (25 km²) (3.6%) is water.^[3]

The majority of Baldwin County, south of Lake Sinclair, is located in the Lower Oconee River sub-basin of the Altamaha River basin. The northern portion of the county is located in the Upper Oconee River sub-basin of the same Altamaha River basin.^[4]

Major highways

Adjacent Counties

• Putnam County, Georgia - north
• Hancock County, Georgia - northeast
• Washington County, Georgia - east
• Wilkinson County, Georgia - south
• Jones County, Georgia - west

Demographics

2000 census

As of the census^[10] of 2010, there were 46,337 people, 14,758 households, and 9,843 families residing in the county. The population density was 173 people per square mile (67/km²). There were 17,173 housing units at an average density of 66 per square mile (26/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 54.17% White, 43.38% Black or African American, 0.21% Native American, 1.01% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.48% from other races, and 0.74% from two or more races. 1.36% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 14,758 households out of which 31.00% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 43.90% were married couples living together, 18.20% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.30% were non-families. 25.60% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.80% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.50 and the average family size was 3.02.

In the county the population was spread out with 21.70% under the age of 18, 14.50% from 18 to 24, 31.20% from 25 to 44, 21.90% from 45 to 64, and 10.60% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 117.30 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 119.70 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $35,159, and the median income for a family was $42,736. Males had a median income of $31,227 versus $22,718 for females. The per capita income for the county was $16,271. About 11.80% of families and 16.80% of the population were below the poverty line, including 22.80% of those under age 18 and 13.00% of those age 65 or over.

2010 census

As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 45,720 people, 16,788 households, and 10,373 families residing in the county.^[11] The population density was 177.3 inhabitants per square mile (68.5/km²). There were 20,159 housing units at an average density of 78.2 per square mile (30.2/km²).^[12] The racial makeup of the county was 54.9% white, 41.5% black or African American, 1.3% Asian, 0.2% American Indian, 0.8% from other races, and 1.2% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 2.0% of the population.^[11] In terms of ancestry, 24.0% were American, 7.9% were English, and 6.8% were Irish.^[13]

Of the 16,788 households, 30.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 38.0% were married couples living together, 19.2% had a female householder with no husband present, 38.2% were non-families, and 26.9% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.45 and the average family size was 2.97. The median age was 34.1 years.^[11]

The median income for a household in the county was $37,237 and the median income for a family was $47,714. Males had a median income of $36,158 versus $26,576 for females. The per capita income for the county was $17,488. About 16.8% of families and 25.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 31.6% of those under age 18 and 10.8% of those age 65 or over.^[14]

Government

Baldwin State Prison (previously Georgia Women's Correctional Institution) of the Georgia Department of Corrections is located in Milledgeville.^[15][16][17]

Education

Communities

• Hardwick
• Milledgeville
• Scottsboro

See also

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Baldwin County, Georgia

References

Further reading

• Anna Maria Green Cook, The History of Baldwin County, Georgia. (1925) Spartanburg, SC: Reprint Co., 1978.

External links

• Baldwin County website
• Georgia Encyclopedia Baldwin County entry

		Putnam County	Hancock County
	Jones County		Washington County
		Baldwin County, Georgia
		Wilkinson County

Municipalities and communities of Baldwin County, Georgia, United States
County seat: Milledgeville
City	Milledgeville
CDP	Hardwick

State of Georgia
Atlanta (capital)
Topics	Index Geology History Congressional delegations Government Law People Music Elections Geography State Parks Symbols Transportation Visitor Attractions
Society	Culture Crime Demographics Economy Education Politics Sports
Regions	Atlantic coastal plain Blue Ridge Central Georgia Cumberland Plateau Golden Isles Historic South Lower Coastal Plain Metro Atlanta North Georgia North Georgia Mountains Northeast Georgia Piedmont Ridge and Valley Sea Islands Southern Rivers Southeast Georgia Southwest Georgia Tennessee Valley Wiregrass Region
Largest cities	Albany Atlanta Athens Augusta Columbus Johns Creek Macon Marietta Roswell Sandy Springs Savannah Valdosta Warner Robins
Counties	Appling Atkinson Bacon Baker Baldwin Banks Barrow Bartow Ben Hill Berrien Bibb Bleckley Brantley Brooks Bryan Bulloch Burke Butts Calhoun Camden Candler Carroll Catoosa Charlton Chatham Chattahoochee Chattooga Cherokee Clarke Clay Clayton Clinch Cobb Coffee Colquitt Columbia Cook Coweta Crawford Crisp Dade Dawson Decatur DeKalb Dodge Dooly Dougherty Douglas Early Echols Effingham Elbert Emanuel Evans Fannin Fayette Floyd Forsyth Franklin Fulton Gilmer Glascock Glynn Gordon Grady Greene Gwinnett Habersham Hall Hancock Haralson Harris Hart Heard Henry Houston Irwin Jackson Jasper Jeff Davis Jefferson Jenkins Johnson Jones Lamar Lanier Laurens Lee Liberty Lincoln Long Lowndes Lumpkin Macon Madison Marion McDuffie McIntosh Meriwether Miller Mitchell Monroe Montgomery Morgan Murray Muscogee Newton Oconee Oglethorpe Paulding Peach Pickens Pierce Pike Polk Pulaski Putnam Quitman Rabun Randolph Richmond Rockdale Schley Screven Seminole Spalding Stephens Stewart Sumter Talbot Taliaferro Tattnall Taylor Telfair Terrell Thomas Tift Toombs Towns Treutlen Troup Turner Twiggs Union Upson Walker Walton Ware Warren Washington Wayne Webster Wheeler White Whitfield Wilcox Wilkes Wilkinson Worth (Campbell) (Milton)

Coordinates: 33°04′N 83°15′W / 33.07°N 83.25°W / 33.07; -83.25