Terrell County | |
|---|---|
 Terrell County Courthouse in Dawson | |
 Location within the U.S. state ofGeorgia | |
 Georgia's location within theU.S. | |
| Coordinates:31°47′N84°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 |
Terrell County is acounty located in thesouthwestern portion of theU.S. state ofGeorgia. As of the2020 census, the population was 9,185.[1] Thecounty seat isDawson.[2] Terrell County is included in theAlbany, GAmetropolitan statistical area.
Formed from portions ofRandolph andLee Counties on February 16, 1856, by an act of theGeorgia General Assembly, Terrell County is named forDr. William Terrell (1778–1855) ofSparta,Georgia, who served in theGeorgia General Assembly and theUnited States House of Representatives.[3]
During theAmerican Civil War, after Atlanta's capture by Union forces, arefugee settlement was established in Terrell County for civilians forced to flee the city. TheFosterville settlement, named after GeorgiaQuartermaster GeneralIra 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, theGeorgia 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 monthPrathia 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 theLincoln Memorial in Washington, DC.[11]
According to theU.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 theIchawaynochaway Creek sub-basin of theACF River Basin (Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River Basin). The county's northeastern third is located in theKinchafoonee-Muckalee sub-basin of the same larger ACF River Basin.[13]
| 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] | |||
| 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 orAlaska 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 orPacific 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 the2020 United States census, there were 9,185 people, 3,399 households, and 2,348 families residing in the county.
Terrell County has consistently been a Democratic county since the1992 presidential election, though the margins have historically been close. In 1940,Franklin D. Roosevelt received 100% of all votes cast in Terrell County.
| 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% |
Places adjacent to Terrell County, Georgia | ||||||||||||||||
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Municipalities and communities ofTerrell County, Georgia,United States | ||
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| Unincorporated communities | ||
| International | |
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