Macon was settled in the early 19th century. Voters approved the consolidation of the city of Macon andBibb County governments in a 2012 referendum. Macon became the state's fourth-largest city (afterAugusta) when the merger became official on January 1, 2014.[6]
Macon was founded on the site of the Ocmulgee Old Fields, where theCreek Indians lived in the 18th century. Their predecessors, theMississippian culture, built a powerful agriculture-basedchiefdom (950–1100 AD). The Mississippian culture constructedearthworkmounds for ceremonial, religious, and burial purposes.Indigenous peoples inhabited the areas along the Southeast's rivers for 13,000 years before Europeans arrived.[7]
Macon was developed at the site ofFort Benjamin Hawkins, built in 1809 at PresidentThomas Jefferson's direction after he forced the Creek to cede their lands east of theOcmulgee River. (Archeological excavations in the 21st century found evidence of two separate fortifications.)[8] The fort was named forBenjamin Hawkins, who served as superintendent of Indian Affairs for the Southeast territory south of the Ohio River for more than 20 years, had lived among theCreek, and was married to a Creek woman. Located at thefall line of the Ocmulgee River, the fort established a trading post with native peoples at the river's most inland point navigable from theLow Country.
Sholes' directory of the city of Macon, September 1, 1888
Fort Hawkins guarded the Lower Creek Pathway, an extensive and well-traveledAmerican Indian network that the U.S. government later improved as theFederal Road, linking Washington, DC, to the ports ofMobile, Alabama, andNew Orleans, Louisiana.[8] Used for trading with the Creek, the fort also was used by state militia and federal troops. It was a major military distribution point during theWar of 1812 and theCreek War of 1813. After the wars, it was a trading post and garrisoned troops until 1821. Decommissioned around 1828, it later burned to the ground. A replica of the southeast blockhouse, built in 1938, stands on an east Macon hill. Fort Hawkins Grammar School occupied part of the site. In the 21st century, archeological excavations have revealed more of the fort, increasing its historical significance, and led to further reconstruction planning for this major historical site.[8]
Child labor in Macon, 1909, photo byLewis Hine1863 twenty-five cent bill from Macon Savings Bank
With the arrival of more settlers,Fort Hawkins was renamed "Newtown". AfterBibb County's organization in 1822, the city was chartered as the county seat in 1823 and officially named Macon, in honor ofNathaniel Macon,[9] a statesman from North Carolina, from where many early Georgia residents hailed. City planners envisioned "a city within a park" and created a city of spacious streets and landscapes. Over 250 acres (1.0 km2) were dedicated for Central City Park, and ordinances required residents to plant shade trees in their front yards.
Because of the beneficial localBlack Belt geology and the availability ofslave labor, cotton became the mainstay of Macon's early economy.[10] The city's location on the Ocmulgee River aided initial economic expansion, providing shipping access to new markets. Cottonsteamboats, stagecoaches, and the 1843 arrival of therailroad increased marketing opportunities and contributed to Macon's economic prosperity.
Macon's growth had other benefits. In 1836, the Georgia Conference of theMethodist Episcopal Church chose Macon as the location forWesleyan College, the first U.S. college to grant women college degrees.[11] Nonetheless, Macon came in last in the 1855 referendum voting to be Georgia's capital city with 3,802 votes.[12]
"Map of Macon and Vicinity" during the American Civil War, showing the Confederate arsenals, as well asCamp Oglethorpe and "Graveyard of Union Prisoners" (NAID 305649)
During theAmerican Civil War, Macon served as the official arsenal of the Confederacy[10] manufacturingpercussion caps,friction primers, andpressedbullets.[13] Camp Oglethorpe was established as a prison for captured Union officers and enlisted men. Later, it held only officers, at one time numbering 2,300. The camp was evacuated in 1864.[14]
Macon City Hall served as the temporary state capitol in 1864 and was converted to a hospital for wounded Confederate soldiers. Union GeneralWilliam Tecumseh Sherman spared Macon on hismarch to the sea. His troops sacked the nearby state capital ofMilledgeville, and Maconites prepared for an attack. Sherman, however, passed by without entering Macon.
TheMacon Telegraph reported the city had furnished 23 companies of men for the Confederacy, but casualties were high. By the war's end, Maconite survivors fit for duty could fill only five companies.[15]
The city was taken by Union forces duringWilson's Raid on April 20, 1865.[16]
Railyards in Macon, 1943
Because of its central location, Macon developed as a state transportation hub. In 1895,The New York Times dubbed Macon "The Central City" because of its emergence as a railroad transportation and textile factory hub.[17]Terminal Station was built in 1916.[18] In the 20th century, Macon grew into a prospering town in Middle Georgia.
Downtown Macon in the early 1900s, looking northeast near the intersections of Cotton Avenue, First Street, and Poplar Street
Macon has been impacted by natural catastrophes. In 1994,Tropical Storm Alberto madelandfall inFlorida and flooded several Georgia cities. Macon, which received 24 inches (61 cm) of rain, suffered major flooding.[19]
OnMay 11, 2008, anEF2 tornado hit Macon. Touching down in nearby Lizella, the tornado moved along the southern shore ofLake Tobesofkee, continued into Macon, and lifted in Twiggs County. The storm's total path length was 18 miles (29 km), and its path width was 100 yards (91 m).[20] The tornado produced sporadic areas of major damage, with widespread straight-line wind damage to the south of its path. The most significant damage was along Eisenhower Parkway and Pio Nono Avenue in Macon, where two businesses were destroyed and several others were heavily damaged. The tornado also impacted Macon State College, where almost 50% of the campus's trees were snapped or uprooted and several buildings were damaged, with the gymnasium. The tornado's intensity varied from EF0 to EF2, with the EF2 damage and winds up to 130 miles per hour (210 km/h) occurring near the intersection of Eisenhower Parkway and Pio Nono Avenue.
Location of Macon within Bibb County before consolidation
On July 31, 2012, voters in Macon (57.8% approval) and Bibb County (56.7% approval) passed a referendum to merge the governments of the city of Macon and most of unincorporated Bibb County. The vote came after theGeorgia General Assembly passed House Bill 1171, authorizing the referendum earlier in the year;[6][21] Four previous consolidation attempts (in 1933, 1960, 1972, and 1976) failed.[22][23][24]
As a result of the referendum, the Macon and Bibb County governments were replaced with a mayor and a nine-member county commission elected by districts, and a portion of Macon extending into nearby Jones County was disincorporated.Robert Reichert was elected the first mayor ofMacon-Bibb in the September 2013 election, which required a runoff withC. Jack Ellis in October.[25][26][27][28]
TheOcmulgee River is a major river that runs through the city. Macon is one of Georgia's three majorFall Line cities, along withAugusta andColumbus. The Fall Line is where the hills of thePiedmontplateau meet the flat terrain of thecoastal plain. As such, Macon has a varied landscape of rolling hills on the north side and flat plains on the south. Thefall line, where the elevation drops noticeably, causes rivers and creeks in the area to flow rapidly toward the ocean. In the past, Macon and other Fall Line cities had manytextile mills powered by the rivers.
Macon has ahumid subtropical climate (Köppen climate classificationCfa). The normal monthly mean temperatures range from 46.3 °F (7.9 °C) in January to 81.8 °F (27.7 °C) in July. On average, 1–3 days have 100 °F (38 °C)+ highs,[a] and 83 days have 90 °F (32 °C)+ highs,[b] and 41 days with a low at or below freezing; the average window for freezing temperatures is October 18 thru April 19, allowing a growing season of 182 days.
The city has an average annual precipitation of 45.7 inches (1,160 mm). The wettest day on record was July 5, 1994, with 10.25 in (260 mm) of rain, and the wettest month on record was July 1994, with 18.16 in (461 mm) of rain. Since 1892, though, when precipitation records for the city began, two months, October 1961 and October 1963, did not even record a trace of precipitation in the city, and two other months, October 1939 and May 2007, only recorded a trace.[30] Snow is occasional, with about half of the winters receiving trace amounts or no snowfall, averaging 0.7 in (1.8 cm); the snowiest winter was 1972–73 with 16.5 in (42 cm).[30][31][32]
Macon-Bibb 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.
As of the official 2010 U.S.census,[3] the population of Macon was 91,351. In the last official census, in 2000, 97,255 people, 38,444 households, and 24,219 families were residing in the city. The population density was 1,742.8 inhabitants per square mile (672.9/km2). The 44,341 housing units had an average density of 794.6 per square mile (306.8/km2). Theracial makeup of the city was 67.94% African American, 28.56% White, 0.02% Native American, 0.65% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.46% from other races, and 0.77% from two or more races. Hispanics or Latinos of any race were 2.48% of the population. By the 2020 census, its population increased to 157,346.
Of the 38,444 households in 2000, 30.1% had children under 18 living with them, 33.0% were married couples living together, 25.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 37.0% were not families. About 31.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.1% had someone living alone who was 65 or older. The average household size was 2.44 and the average family size was 3.08.
In the city, the age distribution was 26.9% under 18, 11.3% from 18 to 24, 27.5% from 25 to 44, 20.0% from 45 to 64, and 14.3% who were 65 or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females, there were 79.7 males. For every 100 females 18 and over, there were 72.8 males.
Since 2020, crime has become a higher concern in the city. In 2022, Macon set a homicide record with 70.[53] In 2023, Macon had the highest crime rate in Georgia: 52.6 crimes per 1,000 residents.[54] Gang activity is a major reason for the crime problem in Macon.[55] TheGeorgia Bureau of Investigation expanded its Gang Task Force Office to Macon in 2023.[56] In 2024, Macon-Bibb County saw a decrease in homicides, with 39 reported compared to 40 in 2023 and 71 in 2022.[57][58]
The aerospace, advanced manufacturing, food processing, healthcare, professional services, and warehouse and distribution industries drive the economy in Macon-Bibb County. Long-standing large private employers includeMercer University,GEICO's Southeast Corporate Headquarters,YKK USA, andNorfolk Southern Railway's Brosnan Yard.
The decline of the textile industry in the South, along with the shuttering of other large manufacturing operations, such as the closing of theBrown and Williamson plant in 2006, caused a decline in the city's economy in the 2000s. In recent years, the city has successfully landed numerous new employers to diversify the economy, such as Irving Consumer Products and Kuhmo Tire manufacturing plants, as well as multiple aerospace employers at theMiddle Georgia Regional Airport, including anEmbraer aircraft maintenance facility.[59]
The health-care and social-assistance sector is the largest industry in Macon by number of employees,[60] with theAtrium Health Navicent and Piedmont Healthcare Macon hospital systems, two of the city's largest employers, making Macon the healthcare hub for the Middle and South Georgia regions.
The 2010 Census listed Macon's median household income as $28,366, below the state average of $49,347. The median family income was $37,268. Full-time working males had a median income of $34,163, higher than the $28,082 for females. The city'sper capita income was $17,010. About 24.1% of families and 30.6% of the population were below thepoverty line, including 43.6% of those under 18 and 18.4% of those over 65.[61]
The Mulberry Street Festival,[69] an arts and crafts festival, is held downtown the last weekend of March.
The Juneteenth Freedom Festival is an annual June performing-arts and educational celebration of the end of American slavery in 1865, celebrating black freedom and heritage both ancient and contemporary.[70]
Pan African Festival, an annual celebration of theAfrican diaspora and culture, is held in April.
Ocmulgee Indigenous Celebration, a celebration of the original residents of the land where Macon now sits, is held every third weekend in September[71] atOcmulgee Mounds National Historical Park.[72] Representatives from theCherokee,Chickasaw,Choctaw,Creek,Seminole, and other nations come to share stories, exhibit Native art, and perform traditional songs and dance.
Skydog[73] is a music festival celebrating the birthday, life, and music of Skydog (Duane Allman) held in November.
Fort Benjamin Hawkins, a major military outpost (1806–1821), was a command headquarters for the U.S. Army and Georgia militia on the boundary between U.S.-held and Native land, as well as a trading post or factory for theCreek Nation. It was a supply depot during U.S. campaigns of theWar of 1812 and the Creek andSeminole Wars.
Cannonball House, a historic home on the National Register of Historic Places.[75]
The Allman Brothers Band Museum – the "Big House" used by the Allman Brothers Band in the early 1970s, now a museum of Allman Brothers history and artifacts
The Georgia Children's Museum[78] – interactive education, located in the downtown Museum District
Douglass Theatre, named for its founder Charles Henry Douglass. An entrepreneur from a prominent black family, he was an established theatre developer well versed in the vaudeville and entertainment business. The theatre has undergone modern renovations and hosts numerous theatrical events.
U.S. SenatorAugustus Bacon, of Georgia, in his 1911 will, devised land in Macon in trust, to be used as a public park for the exclusive benefit of white people. The park, known as Baconsfield, was operated in that manner for many years.[85] InEvans v. Newton,[86] theSupreme Court of the United States held that the park could not continue to be operated on a racially discriminatory basis. TheSupreme Court of Georgia thereupon declared "that the sole purpose for which the trust was created has become impossible of accomplishment" and remanded the case to the trial court, which heldcy-près doctrine to be inapplicable, since the park's segregated character was an essential and inseparable part of Bacon's plan. The trial court ruled that the trust failed and that the property reverted to Bacon's heirs. The Supreme Court of Georgia[87] and the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed.[88] The 50-acre (20 ha) park was lost and commercially developed.[89]
Prior to 2013, the city government consisted of a mayor and city council.Robert Reichert was elected the first mayor of the consolidated Macon-Bibb County in October 2013.[28] There are also 9 County Commissioners elected from districts within the county.[25]
On March 15, 2019, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission charged the former County Manager, Dale M. Walker, with fraud.[90]
Macon is home to several private high schools, many of which were established assegregation academies for parents wishing to avoid the desegregation of private schools, with the exception of Mount de Sales Academy.[99]
In "Bart on the Road", a Season 7 episode ofThe Simpsons, characterNelson Muntz suggests the boys take a road trip to Macon. Later he reminds the group that none of their troubles would have happened had they chosen Macon overKnoxville, Tennessee.
The city of Macon is visited inThe Walking Dead episodic adventure game byTelltale Games and its standalone DLC400 Days.
InSeason One, the city is portrayed as a small rural town and is visited by the main characters as they temporarily set up camp in the city. The city is the hometown of the game's main protagonist and the playable character throughout the game,Lee Everett. He and the other survivors barricade themselves inside his family's pharmacy as they are besieged by zombies. After one of the survivors dies, the group heads to a motel on the outskirts of Macon where they set up camp for two more episodes, before eventually deciding to leave the city forSavannah.
In400 Days, the city is briefly shown in the episode "Vince's Story" as a flashback to when the episode's main character, Vince, fatally shoots an unseen and unnamed resident of the city before fleeing into the night before the apocalypse began. This murder would ultimately lead to Vince's arrest and the events that occurred at the beginning of the zombie apocalypse.
InJim Croce's "Walkin' Back to Georgia" on his albumYou Don't Mess Around With Jim, Croce mentions Macon in the lyric "But she's the girl who said she loved me on that hot dusty Macon road."[105]
TheMacon Transit Authority (MTA) is Macon's public-transit system, operating the Public Transit City Bus System throughout Macon-Bibb County. As of 2022, the MTA has a total of 10 city bus routes, operating out of theTerminal Station hub.[110]
Greyhound Lines provides intercity bus service. In 2019, they moved from a stand-alone bus station to the Terminal Station to be in the same hub as the local mass transit busses.[111]
Macon grew as a center of rail transport after the 1846 opening of theMacon and Western Railroad.[112] Two of the most note-worthy train companies operating through the city were theCentral of Georgia Railway and theSouthern Railway. The city continued to be served by passenger trains at Terminal Station until 1971. TheFrisco Railroad'sKansas City–Florida Special served the city until 1964.[113] The Southern'sRoyal Palm ran from Cincinnati, through Macon, toMiami, Florida until 1966. (A truncated route served to Valdosta, Georgia until 1970.) The Central of Georgia'sNancy Hanks ran through Macon, fromAtlanta toSavannah, until 1971.Since at least 2006, Macon has been included in the proposedGeorgia Rail Passenger Program to restore inter-city rail service but as of 2020, Georgia lacks any inter-city passenger rail service other than the federally funded inter-stateAmtrak services. In 2022,Amtrak announced a new fifteen-year plan to expand its services, which included Macon.[114]
^The record number of triple-digit (Fahrenheit) readings is 24 in 1954,[30]
^The historical range is 31 in 1994 to 116 in 2011.[30]
^Mean monthly maxima and minima (i.e. the highest and lowest temperature readings during an entire month or year) calculated based on data at said location from 1991 to 2020.
^Official records for Macon were kept at downtown from October 1892 to 7 April 1899, the Weather Bureau from 8 April 1899 to November 1948, and at Middle Georgia Regional Airport since December 1948. For more information, seeThreadEx.
George E. Waring, Jr.; U.S. Department of the Interior,Census Office (1887),"Georgia: Macon",Report on the Social Statistics of Cities: Southern and the Western States, Washington DC: Government Printing Office, pp. 169–172
"Macon",Rand, McNally & Co.'s Handy Guide to the Southeastern States, Chicago: Rand, McNally & Co., 1899 – via Internet Archive
Published in 20th century
Allen D. Candler;Clement A. Evans, eds. (1906). "Macon".Georgia: Comprising Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions, and Persons Arranged in Cyclopedic Form. Vol. 2. Atlanta: State Historical Association. pp. 511+.hdl:2027/mdp.39015027784332.
Ida Young, Julius Gholson, and Clara Nell Hargrove. History of Macon, Georgia (Macon, Ga.: Lyon, Marshall & Brooks, 1950).
John A. Eisterhold. "Commercial, Financial, and Industrial Macon, Georgia, During the 1840s",The Georgia Historical Quarterly, Winter 1969, Vol. 53 Issue 4, pp 424–441
James H. Stone. "Economic Conditions in Macon, Georgia in the 1830s",The Georgia Historical Quarterly, Summer 1970, Vol. 54 Issue 2, pp 209–225
Bowling C. Yates. "Macon, Georgia, Inland Trading Center 1826–1836",The Georgia Historical Quarterly, Fall 1971, Vol. 55 Issue 3, pp 365–377
McInvale, Morton Ray "Macon, Georgia: The War Years, 1861–1865" (Ph.D. dissertation, Florida State University, 1973)
Roger K. Hux. "The Ku Klux Klan in Macon 1919–1925",The Georgia Historical Quarterly, Summer 1978, Vol. 62 Issue 2, pp 155–168
Nancy Anderson, Macon: A Pictorial History (Virginia Beach, Va.: Donning, 1979).
Donnie D. Bellamy. "Macon, Georgia, 1823–1860: A Study in Urban Slavery",Phylon 45 (December 1984): 300–304, 308–309
Kristina Simms. Macon, Georgia's Central City: An Illustrated History (Chatsworth, Calif.: Windsor, 1989).
Titus Brown. "Origins of African American Education in Macon, Georgia 1865–1866",Journal of South Georgia History, Oct 1996, Vol. 11, pp 43–59
Macon's Black Heritage: The Untold Story (Macon, Ga.: Tubman African American Museum, 1997).
Matthew W. Norman. "James H. Burton and the Confederate States Armory at Macon",The Georgia Historical Quarterly, Winter 1997, Vol. 81 Issue 4, pp 974–987
Titus Brown. "A New England Missionary and African-American Education in Macon: Raymond G. Von Tobel at the Ballard Normal School, 1908–1935",The Georgia Historical Quarterly, Summer 1998, Vol. 82 Issue 2, pp 283–304
Robert S. Davis.Cotton, Fire, & Dreams: The Robert Findlay Iron Works and Heavy Industry in Macon, Georgia, 1839–1912 (Macon, Ga., 1998)
Robert Scott Davis. "A Cotton Kingdom Retooled for War: The Macon Arsenal and the Confederate Ordnance Establishment",The Georgia Historical Quarterly, Fall 2007, Vol. 91 Issue 3, pp 266–291
Candace Dyer, Street Singers, Soul Shakers, Rebels with a Cause: Music from Macon (Macon, Ga.: Indigo Publishing Group, 2008).
Mara L. Keire.For Business and Pleasure: Red-Light Districts and the Regulation of Vice in the United States, 1890–1933 (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2010); 248 pages; History and popular culture of districts in Macon, Ga., and other cities
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