Quitman County is a county located in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 2,235,[1] making it the second-least populous county in Georgia. The county seat is Georgetown.[2] The county was created on December 10, 1858, and named after General John A. Quitman, leader in the Mexican–American War, and once Governor of Mississippi. In November 2006, residents voted to consolidate the city government of Georgetown and the county government of Quitman into a consolidated city-county.
Quitman County | |
|---|---|
 Quitman County Courthouse in Georgetown | |
 Seal | |
 Location within the U.S. state of Georgia | |
 Georgia's location within the U.S. | |
| Coordinates: 31°52′N 85°01′W / 31.86°N 85.01°W | |
| Country |  United States |
| State |  Georgia |
| Founded | December 10, 1858 |
| Named for | John A. Quitman |
| Seat | Georgetown |
| Largest city | Georgetown |
| Area | |
• Total | 161 sq mi (420 km2) |
| • Land | 151 sq mi (390 km2) |
| • Water | 9.3 sq mi (24 km2) 5.8% |
| Population (2020) | |
• Total | 2,235 |
| • Density | 15/sq mi (6/km2) |
| Time zone | UTC−5 (Eastern) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC−4 (EDT) |
| Congressional district | 2nd |
| Website | gqc-ga.org |
Geography
editAccording to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 161 square miles (420 km2), of which 151 square miles (390 km2) is land and 9.3 square miles (24 km2) (5.8%) is water.[3] The entirety of Quitman County is located in the Middle Chattahoochee River–Walter F. George Lake sub-basin of the ACF River Basin (Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River Basin).[4]
Major highways
edit
Adjacent counties
edit- Stewart County (north)
- Randolph County (east)
- Clay County (south)
- Barbour County, Alabama (west/CST Border)
National protected area
editCommunities
editCity
edit- Georgetown (county seat)
Unincorporated community
editDemographics
edit| Census | Pop. | Note | %± |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1860 | 3,499 | — | |
| 1870 | 4,150 | 18.6% | |
| 1880 | 4,392 | 5.8% | |
| 1890 | 4,471 | 1.8% | |
| 1900 | 4,701 | 5.1% | |
| 1910 | 4,594 | −2.3% | |
| 1920 | 3,417 | −25.6% | |
| 1930 | 3,820 | 11.8% | |
| 1940 | 3,435 | −10.1% | |
| 1950 | 3,015 | −12.2% | |
| 1960 | 2,432 | −19.3% | |
| 1970 | 2,180 | −10.4% | |
| 1980 | 2,357 | 8.1% | |
| 1990 | 2,209 | −6.3% | |
| 2000 | 2,598 | 17.6% | |
| 2010 | 2,513 | −3.3% | |
| 2020 | 2,235 | −11.1% | |
| 2023 (est.) | 2,280 | [5] | 2.0% |
| U.S. Decennial Census[6] 1790-1880[7] 1890-1910[8] 1920-1930[9] 1930-1940[10] 1940-1950[11] 1960-1980[12] 1980-2000[13] 2010[14] | |||
2020 census
edit| Race / Ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic) | Pop 2000[15] | Pop 2010[16] | Pop 2020[17] | % 2000 | % 2010 | % 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| White alone (NH) | 1,351 | 1,265 | 1,190 | 52.00% | 50.34% | 53.24% |
| Black or African American alone (NH) | 1,213 | 1,198 | 917 | 46.69% | 47.67% | 41.03% |
| Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH) | 5 | 3 | 13 | 0.19% | 0.12% | 0.58% |
| Asian alone (NH) | 1 | 2 | 12 | 0.04% | 0.08% | 0.54% |
| Pacific Islander alone (NH) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.00% |
| Other race alone (NH) | 1 | 0 | 9 | 0.04% | 0.00% | 0.40% |
| Mixed race or Multiracial (NH) | 14 | 11 | 63 | 0.54% | 0.44% | 2.82% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 13 | 34 | 31 | 0.50% | 1.35% | 1.39% |
| Total | 2,598 | 2,513 | 2,235 | 100.00% | 100.00% | 100.00% |
As of the 2020 United States census, there were 2,235 people, 842 households, and 577 families residing in the county.
Education
editQuitman County School District operates area public schools, including Quitman County High School.
County students attended Stewart-Quitman High School (now Stewart County High School) from 1978, until Quitman County High opened,[18] in 2009.[citation needed]
Politics
edit| Year | Republican | Democratic | Third party(ies) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | % | No. | % | No. | % | |
| 2024 | 656 | 57.54% | 480 | 42.11% | 4 | 0.35% |
| 2020 | 604 | 54.61% | 497 | 44.94% | 5 | 0.45% |
| 2016 | 575 | 55.08% | 461 | 44.16% | 8 | 0.77% |
| 2012 | 510 | 45.21% | 612 | 54.26% | 6 | 0.53% |
| 2008 | 509 | 45.61% | 597 | 53.49% | 10 | 0.90% |
| 2004 | 409 | 42.38% | 543 | 56.27% | 13 | 1.35% |
| 2000 | 348 | 38.50% | 542 | 59.96% | 14 | 1.55% |
| 1996 | 224 | 28.11% | 514 | 64.49% | 59 | 7.40% |
| 1992 | 284 | 30.80% | 523 | 56.72% | 115 | 12.47% |
| 1988 | 296 | 40.11% | 436 | 59.08% | 6 | 0.81% |
| 1984 | 361 | 42.42% | 490 | 57.58% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1980 | 240 | 28.67% | 589 | 70.37% | 8 | 0.96% |
| 1976 | 313 | 31.62% | 677 | 68.38% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1972 | 502 | 78.19% | 140 | 21.81% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1968 | 90 | 12.05% | 198 | 26.51% | 459 | 61.45% |
| 1964 | 377 | 62.11% | 230 | 37.89% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1960 | 67 | 14.73% | 388 | 85.27% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1956 | 31 | 8.03% | 355 | 91.97% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1952 | 93 | 21.88% | 332 | 78.12% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1948 | 19 | 5.26% | 246 | 68.14% | 96 | 26.59% |
| 1944 | 16 | 4.31% | 355 | 95.69% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1940 | 19 | 5.54% | 324 | 94.46% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1936 | 19 | 5.08% | 355 | 94.92% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1932 | 0 | 0.00% | 239 | 98.35% | 4 | 1.65% |
| 1928 | 41 | 19.07% | 174 | 80.93% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1924 | 8 | 5.33% | 138 | 92.00% | 4 | 2.67% |
| 1920 | 4 | 2.88% | 135 | 97.12% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1916 | 15 | 10.56% | 125 | 88.03% | 2 | 1.41% |
| 1912 | 7 | 4.27% | 152 | 92.68% | 5 | 3.05% |
From the 1940s to 1960s Joe Hurst dominated politics in Quitman County, delivering votes for statewide officials, state judges, and prosecuting attorneys, under the County unit system which gave Quitman two units, a third as many as the biggest counties in the state. He hand-delivered state welfare checks and prevented secret ballots. In 1962 he stuffed the ballot box for future President Jimmy Carter's opponent in a state senate primary. Carter won a series of court cases to remove his Democratic primary opponent's name from the general election ballot. There was no Republican candidate. Both candidates used radio ads to ask voters to vote by write-in, and Carter won the general election. Hurst was later convicted of fraud in an earlier primary, for which he had a fine and three years probation. He was also convicted of selling moonshine, for which he went to prison.[20] [21]
See also
edit
References
edit- ^ "Census - Geography Profile: Quitman County, Georgia". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved December 28, 2022.
- ^ "Find a County". National Association of Counties. Archived from the original on May 31, 2011. Retrieved June 7, 2011.
- ^ "US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990". United States Census Bureau. February 12, 2011. Retrieved April 23, 2011.
- ^ "Georgia Soil and Water Conservation Commission Interactive Mapping Experience". Georgia Soil and Water Conservation Commission. Retrieved November 24, 2015.
- ^ "Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for Counties: April 1, 2020 to July 1, 2023". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved March 31, 2024.
- ^ "Decennial Census of Population and Housing by Decades". United States Census Bureau.
- ^ "1880 Census Population by Counties 1790-1800" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. 1880.
- ^ "1910 Census of Population - Georgia" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. 1910.
- ^ "1930 Census of Population - Georgia" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. 1930.
- ^ "1940 Census of Population - Georgia" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. 1940.
- ^ "1950 Census of Population - Georgia -" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. 1950.
- ^ "1980 Census of Population - Number of Inhabitants - Georgia" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. 1980.
- ^ "2000 Census of Population - Population and Housing Unit Counts - Georgia" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. 2000.
- ^ "State & County QuickFacts". United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on June 7, 2011. Retrieved June 25, 2014.
- ^ "P004: Hispanic or Latino, and Not Hispanic or Latino by Race – 2000: DEC Summary File 1 – Quitman County, Georgia". United States Census Bureau.
- ^ "P2: Hispanic or Latino, and Not Hispanic or Latino by Race – 2010: DEC Redistricting Data (PL 94-171) – Quitman County, Georgia". United States Census Bureau.
- ^ "P2: Hispanic or Latino, and Not Hispanic or Latino by Race – 2020: DEC Redistricting Data (PL 94-171) – Quitman County, Georgia". United States Census Bureau.
- ^ "Stewart - Quitman County High School is Splitting Up". WTVM. August 14, 2008. Retrieved May 21, 2021.
- ^ Leip, David. "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections". uselectionatlas.org. Retrieved March 22, 2018.
- ^ Carter, Jimmy (1992). Turning point: a candidate, a state, and a nation come of age (1 ed.). New York: Times Books. pp. 74–204. ISBN 978-0-8129-2079-6.
- ^ Bourne, Peter G. (1997). Jimmy Carter: a comprehensive biography from Plains to postpresidency. New York: A Lisa Drew book Scribner. pp. 113–132. ISBN 978-0-684-19543-8.
Further reading
edit- Adiel Sherwood (1860), "Quitman County", A Gazetteer of Georgia (4th ed.), Georgia – via HathiTrust
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - Allen D. Candler; Clement A. Evans, eds. (1906). "Quitman County". Georgia: Comprising Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions, and Persons Arranged in Cyclopedic Form. Vol. 3. Atlanta: State Historical Association. p. 144 – via HathiTrust.
External links
edit- Georgetown-Quitman County Consolidated Government
- Quitman County Sheriff
- "Quitman County", New Georgia Encyclopedia, Georgia Humanities Council
- Digital Public Library of America. Assorted items related to Quitman County