Terrell County, Georgia

County in Georgia, United States

Not to be confused with Terrell, Georgia.

County in Georgia

Terrell County

County

Terrell County Courthouse in Dawson

Location within the U.S. state of Georgia

Georgia's location within the U.S.

Coordinates: 31°47′N 84°26′W﻿ / ﻿31.78°N 84.44°W﻿ / 31.78; -84.44
Country|  United States
State|  Georgia
Founded| February 16, 1856; 169 years ago (1856)
Named after| William Terrell
Seat| Dawson
Largest city| Dawson
Area

• Total

| 338 sq mi (880 km2)
• Land| 335 sq mi (870 km2)
• Water| 2.3 sq mi (6 km2)  0.7%
Population

(2020)

• Total

| 9,185
• Density| 27/sq mi (10/km2)
Time zone| UTC−5 (Eastern)
• Summer (DST)| UTC−4 (EDT)
Congressional district| 2nd
Website| www.terrellcounty-ga.com

Terrell County is a county located in the southwestern portion of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 9,185.[1] The county seat is Dawson.[2] Terrell County is included in the Albany, GA metropolitan statistical area.

## History

[edit]

Formed from portions of Randolph and Lee Counties on February 16, 1856, by an act of the Georgia General Assembly, Terrell County is named for Dr. William Terrell (1778–1855) of Sparta, Georgia, who served in the Georgia General Assembly and the United States House of Representatives.[3]

During the American Civil War, after Atlanta's capture by Union forces, a refugee settlement was established in Terrell County for civilians forced to flee the city. The Fosterville settlement, named after Georgia Quartermaster General Ira Roe Foster,[4] was according to author Mary Elizabeth Massey in her 2001 history, the "most ambitious refugee project approved by the Georgia General Assembly" [during that period].[5] On March 11, 1865, the Georgia General Assembly authorized General Foster to "continue to provide for maintenance of said exiles, or such of them as are unable by their labor to support themselves, or their families for the balance of the present year."[5]

During the civil rights era of the 1960s, the local white minority resisted change, sometimes violently; it subsequently became known as "Terrible Terrell County".[6] In 1958 the county refused to register a group of African-Americans including several teachers with Bachelors and master's degrees on the grounds that they couldn't read, and a college-educated marine who was refused registration on the grounds he could not write intelligibly.[7][8] The case eventually reached the supreme court, and the county was ordered to allow them to register, but they did not immediately comply. In 1960, testimony showed that Black voters were given more tests, and more difficult tests, than White voters, and that illiterate Whites were allowed to vote, while well-educated Blacks were falsely determined to be illiterate. The county asserted that this was not discriminatory.[9] In September 1962, an African-American church was burned down after it was used for voter registration meetings.[10] (Note: Like other southern states, Georgia had disenfranchised most blacks at the turn of the century by rules raising barriers to voter registration; they were still excluded from the political system.) That month Prathia Hall delivered a speech at the site of the ruins, using the repeated phrase "I have a dream." Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. attended her speech; afterward, he also began to use that phrase, including in his noted "I Have a Dream" speech in 1963 at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC.[11]

## Geography

[edit]

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 338 square miles (880 km2), of which 335 square miles (870 km2) is land and 2.3 square miles (6.0 km2) (0.7%) is water.[12]

The western and southern two-thirds of Terrell County is located in the Ichawaynochaway Creek sub-basin of the ACF River Basin (Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River Basin). The county's northeastern third is located in the Kinchafoonee-Muckalee sub-basin of the same larger ACF River Basin.[13]

### Major highways

[edit]

* U.S. Route 82
* State Route 32
* State Route 41
* State Route 45
* State Route 49
* State Route 50
* State Route 55
* State Route 118
* State Route 520

### Adjacent counties

[edit]

* Webster County \- north
* Sumter County \- northeast
* Lee County \- east
* Dougherty County \- southeast
* Calhoun County \- southwest
* Randolph County \- west

## Communities

[edit]

### City

[edit]

* Dawson

### Towns

[edit]

* Bronwood
* Parrott
* Sasser

## Demographics

[edit]

Historical population Census| Pop.| Note| %±

|
|
|

1860| 6,232| | —
1870| 9,053| | 45.3%
1880| 10,451| | 15.4%
1890| 14,503| | 38.8%
1900| 19,023| | 31.2%
1910| 22,003| | 15.7%
1920| 19,601| | −10.9%
1930| 18,290| | −6.7%
1940| 16,675| | −8.8%
1950| 14,314| | −14.2%
1960| 12,742| | −11.0%
1970| 11,416| | −10.4%
1980| 12,017| | 5.3%
1990| 10,653| | −11.4%
2000| 10,970| | 3.0%
2010| 9,315| | −15.1%
2020| 9,185| | −1.4%
2023 (est.)| 8,718| [14]| −5.1%
U.S. Decennial Census[15]
1790-1880[16] 1890-1910[17]
1920-1930[18] 1930-1940[19]
1940-1950[20] 1960-1980[21]
1980-2000[22] 2010[1]

### 2020 census

[edit]

Terrell County, Georgia – Racial and ethnic composition
Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos may be of any race. Race / Ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic) | Pop 2000[23] | Pop 2010[24] | Pop 2020[25] | % 2000  | % 2010  | % 2020

|
|
|
|
|
|

White alone (NH)  | 4,101  | 3,366  | 3,189  | 37.38%  | 36.14%  | 34.72%
Black or African American alone (NH)  | 6,614  | 5,683  | 5,540  | 60.29%  | 61.01%  | 60.32%
Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)  | 22  | 14  | 11  | 0.20%  | 0.15%  | 0.12%
Asian alone (NH)  | 31  | 29  | 57  | 0.28%  | 0.31%  | 0.62%
Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone (NH)  | 3  | 0  | 1  | 0.03%  | 0.00%  | 0.01%
Other race alone (NH)  | 4  | 3  | 11  | 0.04%  | 0.03%  | 0.12%
Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)  | 59  | 63  | 199  | 0.54%  | 0.68%  | 2.17%
Hispanic or Latino (any race)  | 136  | 157  | 177  | 1.24%  | 1.69%  | 1.93%
Total | 10,970 | 9,315 | 9,185 | 100.00% | 100.00% | 100.00%

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 9,185 people, 3,399 households, and 2,348 families residing in the county.

## Politics

[edit]

Terrell County has consistently been a Democratic county since the 1992 presidential election, though the margins have historically been close. In 1940, Franklin D. Roosevelt received 100% of all votes cast in Terrell County.

United States presidential election results for Terrell County, Georgia[26] Year  | Republican | Democratic | Third party(ies)

|
|
|

No.  | % | No.  | % | No.  | %
2024 | 2,075  | 47.80%  | 2,253  | 51.90% | 13  | 0.30%
2020 | 2,004  | 45.38%  | 2,376  | 53.80% | 36  | 0.82%
2016 | 1,874  | 44.58%  | 2,267  | 53.92% | 63  | 1.50%
2012 | 1,834  | 41.62%  | 2,544  | 57.73% | 29  | 0.66%
2008 | 1,890  | 42.75%  | 2,501  | 56.57% | 30  | 0.68%
2004 | 1,859  | 48.58%  | 1,951  | 50.98% | 17  | 0.44%
2000 | 1,504  | 48.31%  | 1,584  | 50.88% | 25  | 0.80%
1996 | 1,111  | 40.33%  | 1,509  | 54.77% | 135  | 4.90%
1992 | 1,143  | 32.90%  | 1,942  | 55.90% | 389  | 11.20%
1988 | 1,517  | 52.22% | 1,383  | 47.61%  | 5  | 0.17%
1984 | 1,744  | 52.18% | 1,598  | 47.82%  | 0  | 0.00%
1980 | 1,378  | 40.29%  | 2,010  | 58.77% | 32  | 0.94%
1976 | 1,168  | 33.22%  | 2,348  | 66.78% | 0  | 0.00%
1972 | 2,057  | 74.99% | 686  | 25.01%  | 0  | 0.00%
1968 | 545  | 15.06%  | 1,276  | 35.26%  | 1,798  | 49.68%
1964 | 1,921  | 77.15% | 569  | 22.85%  | 0  | 0.00%
1960 | 285  | 17.41%  | 1,352  | 82.59% | 0  | 0.00%
1956 | 203  | 13.51%  | 1,300  | 86.49% | 0  | 0.00%
1952 | 369  | 21.16%  | 1,375  | 78.84% | 0  | 0.00%
1948 | 100  | 10.52%  | 608  | 63.93% | 243  | 25.55%
1944 | 49  | 2.90%  | 1,639  | 97.10% | 0  | 0.00%
1940 | 0  | 0.00%  | 1,040  | 100.00% | 0  | 0.00%
1936 | 61  | 4.36%  | 1,336  | 95.50% | 2  | 0.14%
1932 | 24  | 2.34%  | 1,000  | 97.37% | 3  | 0.29%
1928 | 116  | 11.45%  | 897  | 88.55% | 0  | 0.00%
1924 | 45  | 6.47%  | 630  | 90.52% | 21  | 3.02%
1920 | 48  | 8.76%  | 500  | 91.24% | 0  | 0.00%
1916 | 13  | 1.78%  | 677  | 92.74% | 40  | 5.48%
1912 | 12  | 2.23%  | 500  | 93.11% | 25  | 4.66%

## Notable people

[edit]

* Benjamin J. Davis Jr., Harvard Law School graduate and elected to New York City Council. Defended Angelo Herndon in Georgia against insurrection charges for organizing a union, resulting in a U.S. Supreme Court case that ruled against Georgia's insurrection law as unconstitutional.[27]
* Walter Washington, activist and politician, elected as the first black mayor of Washington, D.C.[27] after Congress granted home rule to the city.
* Otis Redding, rhythm and blues singer; one of the first crossover artists appealing to both young blacks and whites in the post-World War II era.
* Cole Swindell, is an American country music singer and songwriter who attended Terrell Academy in Dawson, Georgia.

## See also

[edit]

* State of Georgia portal

* Dawson Five
* National Register of Historic Places listings in Terrell County, Georgia
* USS Terrell County (LST-1157)
* List of counties in Georgia

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b "U. S. Census Bureau". United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on December 18, 2021. Retrieved October 26, 2022.
2. ^ "Find a County". National Association of Counties. Retrieved June 7, 2011.
3. ^ Krakow, Kenneth K. (1975). Georgia Place-Names: Their History and Origins (PDF). Macon, GA: Winship Press. p. 224\. ISBN 0-915430-00-2. Archived (PDF) from the original on September 17, 2003.
4. ^ Lisa Tendrich Frank (2008). Women in the American Civil War. ABC-CLIO. p. 113\. ISBN 978-1-85109-600-8.
5. ^ a b Mary Elizabeth Massey (2001). Refugee Life in the Confederacy. Louisiana State University Press. p. 246\. ISBN 978-0-8071-2688-2.
6. ^ Wicker, Tom (August 14, 1977). "Still 'Terrible Terrell'". The New York Times.
7. ^ "Terrell County Georgia Civil Rights Act vote register". The Macon Telegraph. September 5, 1958. p. 1.
8. ^ "High Court revives Terrell voting suit". The Atlanta Constitution. March 1960. p. 1.
9. ^ "Vote testing said unfair". The Macon Telegraph. June 29, 1960. p. 1.
10. ^ "Welcome to the Civil Rights Digital Library". crdl.usg.edu. Retrieved March 22, 2018.
11. ^ Holsaert, Faith et al. Hands on the Freedom Plow: Personal Accounts by Women in SNCC. University of Illinois Press, 2010, p. 180.
12. ^ "US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990". United States Census Bureau. February 12, 2011. Retrieved April 23, 2011.
13. ^ "Georgia Soil and Water Conservation Commission Interactive Mapping Experience". Georgia Soil and Water Conservation Commission. Archived from the original on October 3, 2018. Retrieved November 24, 2015.
14. ^ "Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for Counties: April 1, 2020 to July 1, 2023". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved March 31, 2024.
15. ^ "Decennial Census of Population and Housing by Decades". United States Census Bureau.
16. ^ "1880 Census Population by Counties 1790-1800" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. 1880.
17. ^ "1910 Census of Population - Georgia" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. 1910.
18. ^ "1930 Census of Population - Georgia" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. 1930.
19. ^ "1940 Census of Population - Georgia" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. 1940.
20. ^ "1950 Census of Population - Georgia -" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. 1950.
21. ^ "1980 Census of Population - Number of Inhabitants - Georgia" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. 1980.
22. ^ "2000 Census of Population - Population and Housing Unit Counts - Georgia" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. 2000.
23. ^ "P004: Hispanic or Latino, and Not Hispanic or Latino by Race – 2000: DEC Summary File 1 – Terrell County, Georgia". United States Census Bureau.
24. ^ "P2: Hispanic or Latino, and Not Hispanic or Latino by Race – 2010: DEC Redistricting Data (PL 94-171) – Terrell County, Georgia". United States Census Bureau.
25. ^ "P2: Hispanic or Latino, and Not Hispanic or Latino by Race – 2020: DEC Redistricting Data (PL 94-171) – Terrell County, Georgia". United States Census Bureau.
26. ^ Leip, David. "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections". uselectionatlas.org. Retrieved March 22, 2018.
27. ^ a b "An Overview of the Brazier Case", Georgia Civil Rights Cold Cases Project, Emory University, accessed April 6, 2016

## External links

[edit]

* terrellcounty.georgia.gov
* The New Georgia Encyclopedia Terrell County entry Archived March 7, 2006, at the Wayback Machine

* v
* t
* e

Places adjacent to Terrell County, Georgia

|  | Webster County | Sumter County

|
|

|  |
Randolph County |

Terrell County, Georgia

| Lee County
|  |
Calhoun County |  | Dougherty County

* v
* t
* e

Municipalities and communities of Terrell County, Georgia, United States

County seat: Dawson

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* Dawson

Map of Georgia highlighting Terrell County

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* Bronwood
* Parrott
* Sasser

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* Doverel
* Graves
* Herod

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31°47′N 84°26′W﻿ / ﻿31.78°N 84.44°W﻿ / 31.78; -84.44
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