Muscogee County, Georgia | |
|---|---|
 Columbus Consolidated Government Center | |
 Location within the U.S. state ofGeorgia | |
 Georgia's location within theU.S. | |
| Coordinates:32°31′N84°52′W / 32.51°N 84.87°W /32.51; -84.87 | |
| Country |  United States |
| State |  Georgia |
| Founded | June 9, 1826; 199 years ago (1826) |
| Named after | Muscogee people |
| Seat | Columbus |
| Largest city | Columbus |
| Area | |
• Total | 221 sq mi (570 km2) |
| • Land | 216 sq mi (560 km2) |
| • Water | 4.6 sq mi (12 km2) 2.1% |
| Population (2020) | |
• Total | 206,922 |
| • Density | 958/sq mi (370/km2) |
| Time zone | UTC−5 (Eastern) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC−4 (EDT) |
| Congressional districts | 2nd,3rd |
| Website | columbusga.gov |
Muscogee County is acounty located on the central western border of theU.S. state ofGeorgia named after theMuscogee that originally inhabited the land with its western border with the state ofAlabama that is formed by theChattahoochee River. As of the2020 census, thepopulation was 206,922.[1] Itscounty seat and only city isColumbus,[2] with which it has been aconsolidated city-county since the beginning of 1971.
Muscogee County is part of theColumbus, GA–AL, metropolitan statistical area. The only other city in the county wasBibb City, a company town that disincorporated in December 2000, two years after its mill closed permanently.Fort Benning, a large Army installation, takes up nearly one quarter of the county and extends southeast into neighboringChattahoochee County; it generates considerable economic power in the region.
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Inhabited for thousands of years by varying cultures ofindigenous peoples, this area was territory of the historicCreek people at the time of European encounter.
The land forLee, Muscogee,Troup,Coweta, andCarroll counties wasceded by a certain eight chiefs among theCreek people in the 1825Treaty of Indian Springs. The Creek Nation declared the land cession illegal, because it did not represent the will of the majority of the people. The United States Senate did not ratify it. The following year, the US government negotiated another treaty with the Creek, by which they ceded nearly as much territory under continued pressure from the state of Georgia and US land commissioners.
The counties' boundaries were created by theGeorgia General Assembly on June 9, but they were not named until December 14, 1826. The county was originally developed by American Indians for cotton plantations. In many areas of what became known as theBlack Belt for the fertility of soil and development of plantations, American Indians who were reclassified by the government as Colored/Negro made up the majority of population in many counties.
This county was named by American Indians for the nativeMuscogee or Creek people. Parts of the then-large county (which extended east to theFlint River) were later taken to create every other neighboring Georgia county, includingHarris County to the north in 1827[3] andChattahoochee County to the south in 1854.
According to theU.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 221 square miles (570 km2), of which 216 square miles (560 km2) is land and 4.6 square miles (12 km2) (2.1%) is water.[4]
The county is located on thefall line between theAtlantic coastal plain to the south and thePiedmont to the north. As such, the newly constructedFall Line Freeway runs across the northern portion of the county along JR Allen Parkway, and areas across the northern part of the county are hillier compared to the southern part of the county.
The majority of Muscogee County, from north ofColumbus running northeast in the direction ofEllerslie, is located in the MiddleChattahoochee River-Walter F. George Lake subbasin of theACF River Basin (Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River Basin). The northwestern corner of the county, south of Fortson, is located in the MiddleChattahoochee River-Lake Harding subbasin of the same ACF River Basin.[5]
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Interstate 14 (Extension is coming).svg)
Interstate 185
U.S. Route 27
U.S. Route 27 Alternate
U.S. Route 80
U.S. Route 280
State Route 1
State Route 22
State Route 22 Connector
State Route 22 Spur
State Route 85
State Route 219
State Route 411 (unsigned designation for I-185)
State Route 520
State Route 540 (Fall Line Freeway)| Census | Pop. | Note | %± |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1830 | 3,508 | — | |
| 1840 | 11,699 | 233.5% | |
| 1850 | 18,578 | 58.8% | |
| 1860 | 16,584 | −10.7% | |
| 1870 | 16,663 | 0.5% | |
| 1880 | 19,322 | 16.0% | |
| 1890 | 27,761 | 43.7% | |
| 1900 | 29,836 | 7.5% | |
| 1910 | 36,227 | 21.4% | |
| 1920 | 44,195 | 22.0% | |
| 1930 | 57,558 | 30.2% | |
| 1940 | 75,494 | 31.2% | |
| 1950 | 118,028 | 56.3% | |
| 1960 | 158,623 | 34.4% | |
| 1970 | 167,377 | 5.5% | |
| 1980 | 170,108 | 1.6% | |
| 1990 | 179,278 | 5.4% | |
| 2000 | 186,291 | 3.9% | |
| 2010 | 189,885 | 1.9% | |
| 2020 | 206,922 | 9.0% | |
| 2024 (est.) | 201,830 | [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] | |||
| Race | Num. | Perc. |
|---|---|---|
| White (non-Hispanic) | 79,083 | 38.22% |
| Black or African American (non-Hispanic) | 94,701 | 45.77% |
| Native American | 488 | 0.24% |
| Asian | 5,546 | 2.68% |
| Pacific Islander | 517 | 0.25% |
| Other/mixed | 10,074 | 4.87% |
| Hispanic orLatino | 16,513 | 7.98% |
According to the2000 U.S. census, there were 186,291 people, 69,819 households, and 47,686 families living in the county. The population density was 861 inhabitants per square mile (332/km2).[17] In 2010, there were 189,885 people, 74,081 households, and 47,742 families living in the county.[18] By the2020 United States census, there were 206,922 people, 73,134 households, and 45,689 families residing in the city.
Muscogee County School District serves all parts of the county exceptFort Moore for grades K-12. Fort Moore children are zoned toDepartment of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) schools for grades K-8.[24] However, high school students attend the public high schools in the respective counties they are located in.[25]
In regards tohomeschooling, theOfficial Code of Georgia Annotated states the following:
Required Subjects: A basic academic educational program that includes, but is not limited to,reading,language arts,math,social studies, andscience. [Ga. Code Ann. § 20-2-690(c)(4).]
Muscogee County has voted for Democratic candidates by increasing margins since 1992, although partisan leanings have become increasingly stratified by race, class, and in-county migration after 1965. The county has not supported a Republican for president since 1988, but broke free ofSolid South voting patterns earlier than most counties in Georgia. In 2020,Joe Biden won 61.4% of the vote, the best performance by a Democrat since 1976.
| Year | Republican | Democratic | Third party(ies) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | % | No. | % | No. | % | |
| 1880 | 930 | 38.10% | 1,511 | 61.90% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1884 | 590 | 23.22% | 1,951 | 76.78% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1888 | 611 | 35.24% | 1,107 | 63.84% | 16 | 0.92% |
| 1892 | 540 | 20.35% | 2,062 | 77.69% | 52 | 1.96% |
| 1896 | 501 | 25.06% | 1,365 | 68.28% | 133 | 6.65% |
| 1900 | 272 | 17.89% | 1,245 | 81.91% | 3 | 0.20% |
| 1904 | 164 | 9.51% | 1,522 | 88.28% | 38 | 2.20% |
| 1908 | 459 | 20.94% | 1,599 | 72.95% | 134 | 6.11% |
| 1912 | 102 | 5.18% | 1,817 | 92.23% | 51 | 2.59% |
| 1916 | 44 | 2.21% | 1,833 | 92.25% | 110 | 5.54% |
| 1920 | 101 | 6.86% | 1,372 | 93.14% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1924 | 218 | 9.03% | 2,067 | 85.59% | 130 | 5.38% |
| 1928 | 1,574 | 42.86% | 2,098 | 57.14% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1932 | 230 | 6.27% | 3,413 | 93.07% | 24 | 0.65% |
| 1936 | 455 | 8.32% | 5,009 | 91.56% | 7 | 0.13% |
| 1940 | 702 | 11.51% | 5,392 | 88.38% | 7 | 0.11% |
| 1944 | 1,344 | 17.14% | 6,498 | 82.86% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1948 | 2,443 | 23.94% | 5,920 | 58.02% | 1,840 | 18.03% |
| 1952 | 7,814 | 41.05% | 11,220 | 58.95% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1956 | 8,176 | 50.05% | 8,160 | 49.95% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1960 | 9,578 | 52.83% | 8,553 | 47.17% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1964 | 21,025 | 62.81% | 12,446 | 37.18% | 3 | 0.01% |
| 1968 | 11,193 | 32.36% | 7,593 | 21.95% | 15,804 | 45.69% |
| 1972 | 28,449 | 77.55% | 8,234 | 22.45% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1976 | 13,496 | 35.91% | 24,092 | 64.09% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1980 | 15,203 | 38.42% | 23,272 | 58.82% | 1,091 | 2.76% |
| 1984 | 23,816 | 53.34% | 20,835 | 46.66% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1988 | 23,058 | 54.90% | 18,772 | 44.70% | 170 | 0.40% |
| 1992 | 21,386 | 41.70% | 25,476 | 49.68% | 4,418 | 8.62% |
| 1996 | 19,360 | 41.86% | 24,867 | 53.77% | 2,021 | 4.37% |
| 2000 | 23,479 | 45.01% | 28,193 | 54.05% | 491 | 0.94% |
| 2004 | 30,850 | 48.16% | 32,867 | 51.31% | 335 | 0.52% |
| 2008 | 29,568 | 39.87% | 44,158 | 59.54% | 436 | 0.59% |
| 2012 | 27,510 | 38.90% | 42,573 | 60.20% | 632 | 0.89% |
| 2016 | 26,976 | 38.80% | 39,851 | 57.32% | 2,698 | 3.88% |
| 2020 | 30,107 | 37.39% | 49,446 | 61.40% | 975 | 1.21% |
| 2024 | 30,616 | 38.04% | 49,413 | 61.39% | 462 | 0.57% |
| Senators | Name | Party | Assumed office | Level | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Senate Class 2 | Jon Ossoff | Democratic | 2021 | Senior Senator | |
| Senate Class 3 | Raphael Warnock | Democratic | 2021 | Junior Senator | |
| Representatives | Name | Party | Assumed office | ||
| District 2 | Sanford Bishop | Democratic | 1993 | ||
| District 3 | Brian Jack | Republican | 2025 | ||
| District | Name | Party | Assumed office | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15 | Ed Harbison | Democratic | 2013 | |
| 29 | Randy Robertson | Republican | 2019 | |
| District | Name | Party | Assumed office | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 133 | Vance Smith | Republican | 2019 | |
| 134 | Richard H. Smith | Republican | 2005 | |
| 140 | Teddy Reese | Democratic | 2023 | |
| 141 | Carolyn Hugley | Democratic | 1993 | |
| 137 | Debbie Buckner | Democratic | 2003 | |
Places adjacent to Muscogee County, Georgia | ||||||||||||||||
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Municipalities and communities ofMuscogee County, Georgia,United States | ||
|---|---|---|
| Cities |  | |
| Neighborhoods | ||
| Military base | ||
| Footnotes | ‡ This symbol represents that the indicated city is part of two or more counties. | |
| Central cities/largest cities |  Columbus, Georgia Metropolitan Statistical Area Auburn, Alabama Metropolitan Statistical Area Tuskegee, Alabama Micropolitan Statistical Area (defunct) | |
|---|---|---|
| Cities in Georgia | ||
| Cities in Alabama | ||
| Counties in Georgia | ||
| Counties in Alabama | ||
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
