Sumter County | |
|---|---|
 Sumter County Courthouse in Americus | |
 Seal  Logo | |
 Location within the U.S. state ofGeorgia | |
 Georgia's location within theU.S. | |
| Coordinates:32°02′N84°12′W / 32.04°N 84.2°W /32.04; -84.2 | |
| Country |  United States |
| State |  Georgia |
| Founded | December 26, 1831; 194 years ago (1831) |
| Named after | Thomas Sumter |
| Seat | Americus |
| Largest city | Americus |
| Area | |
• Total | 493 sq mi (1,280 km2) |
| • Land | 483 sq mi (1,250 km2) |
| • Water | 10 sq mi (30 km2) 2.0% |
| Population (2020) | |
• Total | 29,616 |
| • Density | 61/sq mi (24/km2) |
| Time zone | UTC−5 (Eastern) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC−4 (EDT) |
| Congressional district | 2nd |
| Website | sumtercountyga.us |
Sumter County is acounty located in thewest-central portion of theU.S. state ofGeorgia. As of the2020 census, its population was 29,616.[1] Thecounty seat isAmericus.[2] The county was created on December 26, 1831.
Sumter County is part of the Americusmicropolitan statistical area.
Sumter County was established by an act of thestate legislature on December 26, 1831, four years after theCreek Indians were forced from the region when the state acquired the territory from them in the 1825Treaty of Indian Springs. Sumter, the state's 80th county, was created after population increases by a division ofLee County, now situated to its south. The county was named for former General andUnited States SenatorThomas Sumter (1734–1832) of South Carolina.[3] When the county was organized, Sumter was 97 years old and the last surviving general of theAmerican Revolution (1775–1783).
Shortly thereafter, a committee chose a central site for the county seat, and laid out what became the town ofAmericus. Many of the county's earliest white residents acquired their land through an 1827 stateland lottery. Like many other white settlers, they quickly developed their property for cotton cultivation. Since the invention of the cotton gin at the end of the 18th century, short-staple cotton was the crop of choice throughout theBlack Belt of the South.
The rich, black soil, combined with ready market access via theFlint River (bordering the county on the east) or theChattahoochee River (farther west), put Sumter among the state's most prosperous Black Belt counties by the 1840s and 1850s. Cotton agriculture was economically dependent onenslaved African Americans. By the1850 census, the demographic makeup of the county had become 6,469 whites, 3,835 enslaved African Americans, and 18free people of color. By the1860 census, the county had 4,536 whites, 4,890 enslaved African Americans and two free people of color.
During the American Civil War (1861–65), the small village named Andersonville, 9 mi (14 km) north of Americus on the county's northern edge, was selected by Confederate authorities as the site for aprisoner-of-war camp. TheAndersonville prison was built in neighboringMacon County, and became the largest such prison in the South. During the camp's 14 months of operations, some 45,000 Union prisoners suffered some of the worst conditions and highest casualties of any of the camps. Today, theAndersonville National Historic Site serves as a memorial to all American prisoners of war throughout the nation's history. The 495-acre (2.00 km2) park lies in both Macon and Sumter Counties and consists of the historic prison site and the National Cemetery, which originally was reserved for the Union dead.
Other areas of the county have attracted national attention in the 20th century for very different reasons. In 1942, twoBaptist ministers chose a farm in the western part of the county as the location for a Christian commune namedKoinonia, where Black and White workers lived and worked together for nearly 50 years, generating some hostility among local residents during its early years.
Sumter County counts a U.S. president among its native sons.Jimmy Carter was born and raised on a peanut farm inPlains, a small community on the county's western edge. His election to the presidency in 1976 brought the small town considerable attention from journalists and tourists, which it continues to receive as the Carters lived in Plains until their respective deaths and much of their family still makes Plains their home. TheJimmy Carter National Historical Park, which includes Carter's birthplace, childhood home, high school, train depot that served as his campaign headquarters along with the Carter family home and burial site, is located in and around Plains. All of the sites at the park are open for tours except for the Carter home and burial site, which are under renovation.
The headquarters ofHabitat for Humanity International, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to eliminatehomelessness, is located in Americus, the home of its founder,Millard Fuller. In addition to Habitat's socially impactful activities, Koinonia Partners publishes a bimonthly newsletter for the Prison and Jail Project promoting prisoner reform and education. Americus is also home to two colleges.Georgia Southwestern State University, a public four-year institution established in 1906, is part of theUniversity System of Georgia.South Georgia Technical College, which stands nearSouther Field, was a training base for American and British aviators duringWorld War I (1917–18).Charles Lindbergh learned to fly here and assembled a military surplus "Jenny" aircraft with the help of mechanics at Souther Field. Downtown Americus boasts two prominent examples of historic restoration: theWindsor Hotel, built in 1892, and the Rylander Theatre, which originally opened in 1921.
According to theU.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 493 sq mi (1,280 km2), of which 483 sq mi (1,250 km2) are land and 10 sq mi (26 km2) (2.0%) are covered by water.[4]
Muckalee Creek flows through Sumter County, which also containsLake Blackshear andKinchafoonee Creek.
The western two-thirds of Sumter County, from northeast of Americus to southwest ofLeslie, is located in theKinchafoonee-Muckalee subbasin of theACF River Basin (Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River Basin). The eastern third of the county is located in the MiddleFlint River subbasin of the same ACF River Basin.[5]
| Census | Pop. | Note | %± |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1840 | 5,759 | — | |
| 1850 | 10,322 | 79.2% | |
| 1860 | 9,428 | −8.7% | |
| 1870 | 16,559 | 75.6% | |
| 1880 | 18,239 | 10.1% | |
| 1890 | 22,107 | 21.2% | |
| 1900 | 26,212 | 18.6% | |
| 1910 | 29,092 | 11.0% | |
| 1920 | 29,640 | 1.9% | |
| 1930 | 26,800 | −9.6% | |
| 1940 | 24,502 | −8.6% | |
| 1950 | 24,208 | −1.2% | |
| 1960 | 24,652 | 1.8% | |
| 1970 | 26,931 | 9.2% | |
| 1980 | 29,360 | 9.0% | |
| 1990 | 30,228 | 3.0% | |
| 2000 | 33,200 | 9.8% | |
| 2010 | 32,819 | −1.1% | |
| 2020 | 29,616 | −9.8% | |
| 2023 (est.) | 28,890 | [6] | −2.5% |
| U.S. Decennial Census[7] 1790-1880[8] 1890-1910[9] 1920-1930[10] 1930-1940[11] 1940-1950[12] 1960-1980[13] 1980-2000[14] 2010[15] 2020[16] | |||
| Race / Ethnicity(NH = Non-Hispanic) | Pop 2000[17] | Pop 2010[15] | Pop 2020[16] | % 2000 | % 2010 | % 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| White alone (NH) | 15,672 | 13,413 | 11,528 | 47.20% | 40.87% | 38.92% |
| Black or African American alone (NH) | 16,196 | 16,894 | 15,051 | 48.78% | 51.48% | 50.82% |
| Native American orAlaska Native alone (NH) | 73 | 95 | 40 | 0.22% | 0.29% | 0.14% |
| Asian alone (NH) | 193 | 418 | 503 | 0.58% | 1.27% | 1.70% |
| Native Hawaiian orPacific Islander alone (NH) | 6 | 9 | 4 | 0.02% | 0.03% | 0.01% |
| Other race alone (NH) | 10 | 12 | 55 | 0.03% | 0.04% | 0.19% |
| Mixed race or Multiracial (NH) | 159 | 261 | 665 | 0.48% | 0.80% | 2.25% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 891 | 1,717 | 1,770 | 2.68% | 5.23% | 5.98% |
| Total | 33,200 | 32,819 | 29,616 | 100.00% | 100.00% | 100.00% |
As of the2020 United States census, there were 29,616 people, 11,510 households, and 7,256 families residing in the county.
Sumter remains largely a rural county. According to USDA/Georgia Agricultural Statistics Service 2001 figures, cotton remains its major crop, with up to 35,000 acres (140 km2) under cultivation, followed by wheat, peanuts, and corn, which when combined, roughly equal the county's acreage in cotton.
Its major employers includeCooper Lighting,Georgia Southwestern State University, Magnolia Manor, Phoebe Sumter Medical Center, andWalmart.[18]
Sumter County was a swing county in presidential elections. Since 1960, it has voted Democratic eight times, including in 1976, when Sumter County nativeJimmy Carter was elected, Republican six times, and for a third-party candidate (George Wallace) once. The last candidate to carry the county by more than 10 points wasBill Clinton in 1996.
The county voted for the winner of the presidential election each year from 1984 to 2012, sticking with the Democrats (Carter's party) in 2016 whenHillary Clinton won a plurality of the vote. In 2024,Kamala Harris won the county with a majority, despite losing Georgia and the presidential election.
| Year | Republican | Democratic | Third party(ies) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | % | No. | % | No. | % | |
| 2024 | 5,869 | 48.44% | 6,136 | 50.64% | 112 | 0.92% |
| 2020 | 5,733 | 47.19% | 6,314 | 51.97% | 103 | 0.85% |
| 2016 | 5,276 | 47.76% | 5,520 | 49.97% | 251 | 2.27% |
| 2012 | 5,378 | 45.36% | 6,375 | 53.77% | 103 | 0.87% |
| 2008 | 5,717 | 46.65% | 6,454 | 52.66% | 84 | 0.69% |
| 2004 | 5,688 | 50.35% | 5,562 | 49.23% | 48 | 0.42% |
| 2000 | 4,847 | 49.98% | 4,748 | 48.96% | 102 | 1.05% |
| 1996 | 3,358 | 41.64% | 4,239 | 52.57% | 467 | 5.79% |
| 1992 | 3,616 | 39.44% | 4,489 | 48.96% | 1,063 | 11.59% |
| 1988 | 4,289 | 55.93% | 3,332 | 43.45% | 47 | 0.61% |
| 1984 | 4,607 | 55.29% | 3,725 | 44.71% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1980 | 2,957 | 36.69% | 4,956 | 61.49% | 147 | 1.82% |
| 1976 | 2,053 | 27.81% | 5,328 | 72.19% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1972 | 4,533 | 78.14% | 1,268 | 21.86% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1968 | 1,383 | 21.04% | 1,701 | 25.88% | 3,489 | 53.08% |
| 1964 | 3,774 | 68.61% | 1,727 | 31.39% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1960 | 962 | 29.73% | 2,274 | 70.27% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1956 | 730 | 25.36% | 2,149 | 74.64% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1952 | 1,068 | 30.32% | 2,455 | 69.68% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1948 | 256 | 11.94% | 1,018 | 47.48% | 870 | 40.58% |
| 1944 | 194 | 11.12% | 1,550 | 88.88% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1940 | 118 | 6.97% | 1,561 | 92.26% | 13 | 0.77% |
| 1936 | 58 | 3.00% | 1,870 | 96.69% | 6 | 0.31% |
| 1932 | 57 | 3.37% | 1,619 | 95.69% | 16 | 0.95% |
| 1928 | 294 | 19.20% | 1,237 | 80.80% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1924 | 124 | 8.48% | 1,225 | 83.79% | 113 | 7.73% |
| 1920 | 296 | 21.57% | 1,076 | 78.43% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1916 | 40 | 3.50% | 1,065 | 93.18% | 38 | 3.32% |
| 1912 | 19 | 1.81% | 1,004 | 95.89% | 24 | 2.29% |
Sumter County School District operates public schools.[20]
Southland Academy is a private school in Americus.
Places adjacent to Sumter County, Georgia | |
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Municipalities and communities ofSumter County, Georgia,United States | ||
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| Cities |  | |
| Unincorporated communities | ||
| Ghost town | ||
| International | |
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| National | |
| Other | |
