Jones County
County
Jones County Courthouse in Gray
Jones County Courthouse in Gray
Map of Georgia highlighting Jones County
Location within the U.S. state of Georgia
Map of the United States highlighting Georgia
Georgia's location within the U.S.
Coordinates: 33°02′N 83°34′W / 33.03°N 83.57°W / 33.03; -83.57
Country United States
State Georgia
FoundedDecember 10, 1807 (1807-12-10)
Named forJames Jones
SeatGray
Largest cityGray
Area
 • Total395 sq mi (1,020 km2)
 • Land394 sq mi (1,020 km2)
 • Water1.5 sq mi (4 km2)  0.4%
Population
 (2020)
 • Total28,347
 • Density72/sq mi (28/km2)
Time zoneUTC−5 (Eastern)
 • Summer (DST)UTC−4 (EDT)
Congressional district8th
Websitewww.jonescountyga.org

Jones County is a county in the central portion of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 28,347.[1] The county seat is Gray.[2] The county was created on December 10, 1807, and named after U.S. Representative James Jones.[3]

History

Jones County, along with Morgan County, Putnam County, and Old Randolph, were established by an act of the Georgia General Assembly on December 10, 1807, from land that had originally been part Baldwin County in 1803 and, earlier, part of the Creek Nation. Jones County was originally bounded by a line running north 56° east to Commissioners Creek, then north 15° west to Cedar Creek, then up the creek to corner Randolph County and Putnam County, then along a line to Ocmulgee River, then down the river to where the old county line between Wilkinson County and Baldwin County was.[4] It excluded parts of what is now Bibb County east of the Ocmulgee River, including the location of Fort Benjamin Hawkins, as they were part of a reserve guaranteed to the Creek Nation. Those areas were later added to Jones County after the Treaty of Indian Springs.[5]

During the initial months of the county's existence, a town known as Albany served as the county seat.[6] The town was renamed Clinton[7] and was established as the county seat by the Georgia General Assembly on December 22, 1808.[8] Clinton was incorporated as in 1816.[9] During the 1800s Clinton grew as a center of commerce and the cotton trade.[6] Clinton remained one of the most populous cities in Georgia in the mid-1800s.[7][10]

In December 1810 Jones County gained a portion of Putnam County between Cedar Creek and their original border.[11] In December 1822 Bibb County was established and Jones County lost some of its land to that county.

During the early 19th century, Jones County had a rapid population increase. The peak came around 1835, when the county ranked third or fourth among all of the state's counties in agricultural wealth. After 1835, soil erosion and lack of funds to develop property drove many farmers to newly opened land elsewhere in Georgia.[12]

Before the American Civil War, a few factories sprang up in the county, including a cotton gin factory at Griswoldville in the southern portion of the county and a woolen factory at Wallace. Griswoldville was founded by Samuel Griswold in the 1850s. During the Civil War, the cotton gin factory was reformatted so it could produce pistols and other weapons for the Confederate Army. Griswoldville was located on the railway linking Macon to Savannah, and became a prime target in 1864 as the Union Army moved through Georgia. On November 20, 1864, the town and the factories in it were burned as part of Sherman's March to the Sea. Days later the Battle of Griswoldville took place in the area. The town of Griswoldville was not rebuilt.

Many other areas in Jones County were damaged by the Union Army during that time period. The Jarrell Plantation State Historic Site in Jones County showcases one of the few and well-preserved antebellum plantations in Georgia.

In the 1890s a railroad line owned by the Central of Georgia Railway named the Macon & Northern Railroad was built through the county and bypassed Clinton by a mile after citizens wanted the line to not pass through the town. By the early 1900s the population had shifted northeastward and the city of Gray was established. On June 27, 1905, the citizens of Jones County voted on the issues of moving the county seat from Clinton to Gray. The results were 1,289 votes in favor of moving the county seat to Gray and 51 votes for keeping the county seat at Clinton. On August 9, 1905, Gray became the new county seat of Jones County.[13]

Father and son Alonzo and James D. Green were innocent African-Americans lynched near Round Oak and Wayside, Jones County in retaliation for the murder of popular white farmer Silas Hardin Turner on July 4, 1915. A third man, William Bostick, was also lynched on this day. None of those killed received a trial.[14]

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 395 square miles (1,020 km2), of which 394 square miles (1,020 km2) is land and 1.5 square miles (3.9 km2) (0.4%) is water.[15]

The western half of Jones County, west of Gray, is located in the Upper Ocmulgee River sub-basin of the Altamaha River basin. The northeastern quarter of the county, north of Gray, is located in the Upper Oconee River sub-basin of the same Altamaha River basin, while the southeastern corner of Jones County is located in the Lower Oconee River sub-basin of the larger Altamaha River basin.[16]

Major highways

Rivers

  • Ocmulgee River

Adjacent counties

National protected areas

Communities

Demographics

Historical population
CensusPop.Note%±
18108,597—
182016,57092.7%
183013,345−19.5%
184010,065−24.6%
185010,2241.6%
18609,107−10.9%
18709,4363.6%
188011,61323.1%
189012,7099.4%
190013,3585.1%
191013,103−1.9%
192013,2691.3%
19308,992−32.2%
19408,331−7.4%
19507,538−9.5%
19608,46812.3%
197012,21844.3%
198016,57935.7%
199020,73925.1%
200023,63914.0%
201028,66921.3%
202028,347−1.1%
U.S. Decennial Census[17]
1790-1880[18]1890-1910[19]
1920-1930[20] 1930-1940[21]
1940-1950[22] 1960-1980[23]
1980-2000[24] 2010[25]
Jones County racial composition as of 2020[26]
Race Num. Perc.
White (non-Hispanic) 20,074 70.82%
Black or African American (non-Hispanic) 6,739 23.77%
Native American 46 0.16%
Asian 138 0.49%
Pacific Islander 7 0.02%
Other/mixed 867 3.06%
Hispanic or Latino 476 1.68%

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 28,347 people, 10,701 households, and 7,670 families residing in the county.

Education

Politics

United States presidential election results for Jones County, Georgia[27]
Year Republican Democratic Third party
No. %No. %No. %
2020 9,940 66.53% 4,882 32.68% 118 0.79%
2016 8,305 65.98% 3,961 31.47% 321 2.55%
2012 7,744 63.90% 4,274 35.27% 101 0.83%
2008 7,782 62.46% 4,572 36.69% 106 0.85%
2004 6,939 63.91% 3,855 35.50% 64 0.59%
2000 4,850 60.11% 3,102 38.45% 116 1.44%
1996 3,272 46.80% 3,195 45.70% 525 7.51%
1992 2,770 38.05% 3,338 45.86% 1,171 16.09%
1988 3,618 57.41% 2,662 42.24% 22 0.35%
1984 3,401 55.01% 2,781 44.99% 0 0.00%
1980 1,828 35.02% 3,239 62.05% 153 2.93%
1976 1,317 27.51% 3,471 72.49% 0 0.00%
1972 2,483 74.25% 861 25.75% 0 0.00%
1968 693 19.42% 1,105 30.97% 1,770 49.61%
1964 1,805 56.67% 1,380 43.33% 0 0.00%
1960 489 25.68% 1,415 74.32% 0 0.00%
1956 382 24.03% 1,208 75.97% 0 0.00%
1952 278 16.30% 1,427 83.70% 0 0.00%
1948 103 9.25% 588 52.78% 423 37.97%
1944 196 22.82% 661 76.95% 2 0.23%
1940 101 14.13% 613 85.73% 1 0.14%
1936 23 4.33% 508 95.67% 0 0.00%
1932 0 0.00% 553 99.46% 3 0.54%
1928 100 19.46% 414 80.54% 0 0.00%
1924 26 5.87% 414 93.45% 3 0.68%
1920 31 26.27% 87 73.73% 0 0.00%
1916 6 1.39% 398 92.34% 27 6.26%
1912 3 0.66% 426 93.42% 27 5.92%

Notable people

  • Terrance Gore, professional baseball player with the Kansas City Royals, Chicago Cubs, New York Yankees,Atlanta Braves and New York Mets; part of the World Series team with Kansas City in 2015 and Atlanta Braves in 2021.
  • William Lee, early Alabama politician; immigrated to Jones County from England
  • Sadie Gray Mays (1900-1969), social worker and wife of college president Benjamin Mays; born in Gray
  • Otis Redding, singer, lived on a ranch he owned in Jones County during the height of his music career. A marker in downtown Gray pays tribute to Redding.[28]
  • John T. Edge, writer, commentator, director of the Southern Foodways Alliance, and most visibly, host of the SEC Network’stravel and food show, *True South*. Edge is author of several books on Southern food and contributes regularly to the Oxford American, the New York Times, and Garden & Gun.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Census - Geography Profile: Jones County, Georgia". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved December 27, 2022.
  2. ↑ "Find a County". National Association of Counties. Archived from the original on May 31, 2011. Retrieved June 7, 2011.
  3. ↑ Gannett, Henry (1905). The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States. Govt. Print. Off. p. 170.
  4. ↑ "Acts of the State of Georgia Passed in 1807". Article An Act To lay out and identify, six new counties out of the counties of Baldwin and Wilkinson., Act No. 1 of 10 December 1807.
  5. ↑ "Acts of the General Assembly of the State of Georgia: Passed at Milledgville, At an Extra Session, In April and May, 1821". Article An Act To dispose of and distribute the lands lately acquired by the United States for the use of Georgia, of the Creek Nation of Indians, by a treaty made and concluded at the Indian Spring, on the eighth day of January, eighteen hundred and twenty-one; and to add the Reserve at Fort Hawkins to the county of Jones., Act No. 1 of 15 May 1821.
  6. 1 2 "Jones County, Georgia." Advisory Council on Historic Preservation website. Retrieved 30 March 2022.
  7. 1 2 Kenneth K. Krakow. "Clinton" entry in Georgia Place-Names: Their History and Origins. 3rd ed. Winship Press, 1999. p. 46. ISBN 0-915430-00-2
  8. ↑ "Acts of the General Assembly of the State of Georgia: Passed at Milledgville, At An Annual Session, In November and December, 1808". Article To establish the site of public buildings in the county of JONES, and to appropriate the money arising from the sale of lots., Act of 22 December 1808. ...the site of public buildings in and for the county of Jones shall be in the town called and known by the name of Clinton in said county...
  9. ↑ "Acts of the General Assembly of the State of Georgia: Passed at Milledgville, At An Annual Session, In November and December, 1816". Article To Incorporate the town of Clinton, in the county of Jones, and for the appointment of Commissioners for the better regulation and government of said town., Act No. 45 of 4 December 1816.
  10. ↑ William Bragg. "Jones County." New Georgia Encyclopedia. 31 October 2018.
  11. ↑ "Acts of the General Assembly of the State of Georgia: Passed at Milledgville in November and December 1810". Article To add a part of Putnam county to Jones county., Act No. 29 of 15 December 1810.
  12. ↑ David D. Long; et al. (1914). "Soil Survey of Jones County, Georgia" (PDF). Nrcs.usda.gov. Archived (PDF) from the original on September 26, 2015. Retrieved July 11, 2018.
  13. ↑ "Acts and Resolutions of the General Assembly of the State of Georgia 1905". Article Jones County, County Site Changed from Clinton to Gray., Act No. 64 of 9 August 1905.
  14. ↑ Rogers 2019.
  15. ↑ "US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990". United States Census Bureau. February 12, 2011. Retrieved April 23, 2011.
  16. ↑ "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 20, 2015.
  17. ↑ "Decennial Census of Population and Housing by Decades". US Census Bureau.
  18. ↑ "1880 Census Population by Counties 1790-1800" (PDF). US Census Bureau. 1880.
  19. ↑ "1910 Census of Population - Georgia" (PDF). US Census Bureau. 1910.
  20. ↑ "1930 Census of Population - Georgia" (PDF). US Census Bureau. 1930.
  21. ↑ "1940 Census of Population - Georgia" (PDF). US Census Bureau. 1940.
  22. ↑ "1950 Census of Population - Georgia -" (PDF). US Census Bureau. 1950.
  23. ↑ "1980 Census of Population - Number of Inhabitants - Georgia" (PDF). US Census Bureau. 1980.
  24. ↑ "2000 Census of Population - Population and Housing Unit Counts - Georgia" (PDF). US Census Bureau. 2000.
  25. ↑ "State & County QuickFacts". United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on June 7, 2011. Retrieved February 16, 2014.
  26. ↑ "Explore Census Data". data.census.gov. Retrieved December 18, 2021.
  27. ↑ Leip, David. "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections". uselectionatlas.org. Retrieved March 20, 2018.
  28. ↑ "Otis Redding's legacy will be remembered with permanent road marker in Jones County". Music.blog.ajc.com. Retrieved July 11, 2018.

33°02′N 83°34′W / 33.03°N 83.57°W / 33.03; -83.57

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