Bibb County, Georgia

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History/Timeline

Logo.

1690s American Indians, mostly Cherokee lived in Bibb county area for centuries. By the time British traders established a trading post along the river about 1690, Georgia was inhabited mostly by American Indians, mostly Creek Indians. These Creeks over the years lost control of their lands as a result treaties and negotiations. ^[1][2]

1806 An Indian trading post and Fort Hawkins was built in East Macon, Georgia. Fort Hawkins was built as the far western outpost of civilization!.This was the beginning of the community that would grow into the City of Macon of present day. ^[3]

Fort Benjamin Hawkins

1821- 1821 the state of Georgia was in charge of the areas surrounding the Ocmulgee River. ^[1]

Dec 9, 1822 Bibb County was created by Georgia's Act of the State Legislature, ^[1]

surrounding counties.

1822- When Bibb County, Georgia was created, it received its name in honor of William Wyatt Bibb (1781-1820), a Georgia state House Representative, Senator, and Governor of Alabama Territory and Alabama State. Bibb County, Alabama is also named in his honor. Macon, Georgia is the County Seat.^[4]

March 20, 1823 The first court was held in a small log building which stood near the depot of the Western and Macon Railroad. Judge Shorter presided.^[3]

First settlers were Roland Bevins, Geo. B. Wardlaw, B. Bullock, C. Baitman, John Douglass, James Henderson, Jonathan Wilder, John Loving, Thompson Bird, Jeremy Stone, Thomas Howard, Leonard Sims, Benjamin Mariner, Henry Bailey, Jeremiah Burnett, Anson Kimberly, John Lamar, B. B. Lamar, Daniel Wadsworth, Jordon Witcher, Jeremiah Baugh, Timothy Matthews, James W. Allston, A. Meriwether, J. Bates. ^[3]

Dec 23 1823 The city of Macon was incorporated as a town and selected to be the County Seat. Georgia formed the county from the territories of Jones, Monroe, Houston, and Twiggs counties. Since formation, the County Seat has never been changed and no other subsequent county in the state has ever been created from Bibb County land.^[2] This 55th county was named in honor of Georgia-born Dr. William Bibb, the 1st elected governor of Alabama.^[5][1]

1823 Macon, Georgia was also named after the Hon. Nathaniel Macon, is the seat of justice. The first lots were sold in the town. It is located on both sides of the Ocmulgee River, about 32 miles from Milledgeville. The Municipal Government consists of a Mayor and eight Aldermen, elected annually. There are many handsome public buildings in Macon, namely, the Court-house, the various churches, as, the Presbyterian, Episcopalian, Methodist, Baptist, and Roman Catholic.^[3]

1833 Land from Twiggs county was added to Bibb County. 1834 land from Jones county was added to Bibb County. Jones and Twiggs are located on east, Houston county is on south, Crawford County is on the west and southwest. ^[3]

1838 - Railway linkage to Forsythe was completed.^[1]

1850's Bibb County is classified as one of the counties of the "Black Belt", meaning its fertile dark soil in the uplands. White Settlers with their African American slaves developed the area and began their antebellum cotton plantations.. Demand was high for cotton in the northern states' textile mills and England. Cotton as a cash crop brought a high profit.^[2][1]

1850 the county population was 12,699, with 5,637 slaves.The location on the fall line was advantageous for its growth.. ^[1]

1852 - Georgia Legislature appropriated building funds of $5,000 for the organizers of the Southern Botanico Medical Collage in Macon, Georgia. This was to build a building, obtain apparatus and begin operating.. The instructions were for one student from each Congressional District in the State to attend classes free of charge. A Female College, is in Macon with a brick building, 160 feet in length by 60 feet. ^[3]

1860- over 1,000,000 African American slaves were in Georgia, (the majority of the population). ^[2]

Nov 1864 - March, 1865 - Macon was the state capital of Georgia (from November 1864 through March 1865), when Milledgeville temporarily relinquished that title. ^[1]

1862-65 10% of the white males of Bibb County were killed while serving in the Confederate States Army. Bibb County was attacked only once during the Civil War (1861-65). Slavery ended at the end of the war, which left most of the state in ruins. ^{[2] [1]}

1866-67- The railroads had been very important to the central region for transporting crops, produce out of the central region of the state to market, were destroyed during the Civil War. These and the economy of the Bibb County as well as Georgia required many years to entire region took decades to recover. ^[1]

1866 -early 1870's Reconstuction white voters were disenfranchised. Wartime Georgia unionists and freed slaves dominated the politics. ^[2][1]

mid 1870's- The rails were rebuilt, and central Georgia began to revive economically. White Democrats regained control of the state legislature and passed laws limiting the newly freed African Americans' voting rights as well as beginning segregation.. The new state constitution at the end of the 1890's disenfranchised the African American voters and poorers white male to guarantee democratic control.^[2]

Bib County's status as a transportation hub allowed it to become a center of manufacturing and the site of several hospitals and prisons. ^[1]

1899 Payne City, was founded as a mill town is Bibb's only other incorporated town.^[1]

1917-18 - World War I Camp Wheeler began as an army camp in the southeastern part of the county. It operated from July 1917 to December 1918. Camp Wheeler was reestablished during World War II (1941-45).^[1]

1915 The arrival of the boll weevil began, caused a drop in cotton prices following 1918 World War I. It threatened the cotton crops of the 1930's.. The boll weevil would play a role in the establishment of Delta Air Lines. ^[1]

C. E. Woolman, of Huff Daland Dusters, Incorporated, decided that central Georgia would be an great place to test crop dusting over fields of cotton to determine if it helped the cotton to survive. Huff Daland Dusters used one of Camp Wheelers' airline hangars at Camp Wheeler

1928 Delta Airlines evolved from Daland Dusters and had its headquarters in Monroe, Louisiana^[1]

1941 Delta Airlines then moved headquarters moved to Atlanta, Georgia^[1]

1941 - Robins Air force Base was established in nearby Houston County and has had an impact on Bibb County as well. Robins AF Base was originally known as the Georgia Air Depot, then has had several name changes..^[1]

1941-45 Robins AF Base name was renamed7 times, even acquiring "Warner Robins" funding the 5th name. The Town of Wellston was renamed to honor General Robins.^[1]

Robins Air Force Base became the largest employer of central Georgia. The Base caused a rapid increase of industries and retail stores in Bibb County. Population in 2010 in Bibb county was 155, 547. quickly became the largest employer in central Georgia, and it contributed to the rapid increase in the industrial and retail sectors in the area.^[1]

A population boom would last from the end of World War II until approximately 1960. ^[1]

Bibb County is proud of its 4 Colleges and Universities.

Wesleyan College (founded in 1836 is the world's 1st chartered college to grant degrees to women)

Mercer University

Macon State College

Central Georgia Technical College.^[1]

Length of Bibb County is 19 miles; width is 16 miles, with an area of 304 sq. mi. The Ocmulgee River is the chief stream. The creeks are Tobesofkee, Rocky, Savage, Echaconnee.</ref>^[3]

Macon Cotton factory is located in the southwestern part of Macon, Georgia on the road toward Columbus, Georgia. Cost of the factory was $125,000 for a brick building. ^[3]

Mill Children in Macon, Georgia 1909.

Industry

The Macon Knitting Company manufactures seamless cotton hosiery, while the Schofield Manufacturing Company makes men's ribbed underwear. The Manchester Manufacturing Company also makes hosiery.

The McCaw Manufacturing Company, with a capital of $500,000, makes cotton seed oil soap, and several by-products from the manufacture of the oil, among which is nitroglycerin.

• The Central Ice Company has the largest ice plant and cold storage ware-houses south of Cincinnati.

There are five cotton-mills, 3 iron foundries, 3 cotton compresses, 3 cornice making establishments, 3 cotton-gin manufactories, 6 cotton press manufactories, 2 large cotton-oil companies, 1 large fertilizer factory, 1 large candy and cracker factory, 1 large ice plant, 1 barrel factory, 1 harness factory, 1 pants factory, 3 large lumber mills, including sash, door and blind factories, besides 4 flour and grist-mills on the Ocmulgee and tributaries. ^[3]

The first legal case against a free African American man, for retailing liquor. The first indictment was stabbing.^[3]

2006 -The first foreign Consulate in the county was established in Macon: The Royal Danish Consulate of the Kingdom of Denmark. The first Honorary Consul to the Principality of Liechtenstein was also established in Macon in 2007.^[2]

All the varieties of vegetables do well, and the truck farms produce sold in the county averages yearly between $35,000 and $40,000. The county raises 5,000 bushels of Irish potatoes, 66,000 bushels of sweet potatoes, and 1,000 pounds of upland rice. The finest peaches, plums and pears can be raised in this county. The county has 32,000 peach-trees, 4,600 apple-trees and of plum and peartrees about 2,000 each.^[3] Twenty-five dairy farms have Jersey cows. Bermuda grass grows readily, giving summer pasturage along with clover, Texas blue-grass, rye, oats, and wheat for winter pasturage. The timber products are oak, hickory, cherry, walnut grown in northern part of the county. Wild game, quail and doves are still available. ^[3]

Bibb county and location within Georgia.

Macon Georgia grew mostly on the westside of the Ocmulgee River. This was then incorporated as a town. Soon the first Macon academy was built. Steamboats did well in the area until the railroad arrived. When the city was served by the railways, the steamboat soon ceased operate.. Recently the last years steamboats are operating.^[3]

Downtown Macon, GA

Currently, Macon, Georgia is now beautiful city with well-paved streets, electrical lighting, public buildings, elegant private residences, first-class system of water-works, up-to-date electric plant, 2 lines of electric railway with tracks reaching every section of the city and suburbs. IThe 1900 cenus was 23,272, with the Vineville suburb district of 7,787, and East Macon outside of the corporate limits, 5,078, giving a population of 36,137 people.. It is has a unique mix of historic and contemporary attractions.The first framed building of Macon was built by Ingersoll and Ross^[1][3]

night skyline

Manufacturing includes 48 industries, with capital of $5,---,000 employing 4,500 people, with wages of $700,000 and $800,000 with an annual output of ten or eleven million dollars. ^[3]

82 factories, with an annual output worth $6,485,767

5 cotton-mills for spinning yarns

3 knitting-mills, one for making stockings and socks and two for making underwear

3 iron foundries, for iron castings of every description; brass and bronze machinery, repairing of engines and machinery

3 cotton compresses

3establishments for making cornices

3 cotton-gin manufactories

6 cotton press manufactories

2 large cotton-oil companies, one - capital of $500,000, employing 400 people, weekly pay-roll of $1,000 and an annual output of between $2,000,000 and $3,000,000

2nd Cotton oil company -employing 100 hands with a weekly pay-roll of $700

1 large fertilizer factory with a capital of $145.000, a weekly pay-roll of about $500, and an output worth $300,000

1 large sash, door and blind factories

1 large candy and cracker factory

1 successful ice plant. There is also a barrel factory, one for making pants and one for harness.

The Rutland Manufacturing Company operates a grist-mill, gin and stave factory.

http://genealogytrails.com/geo/bibb/countyhistory.html

Railroads -

Central of Georgia Railroad, Macon connects with Atlanta on the north and with Savannah and ocean transportation on the south; through the Southern system with Brunswick.

Southwestern branch of the Central of Georgia railway provides transportation to Albany, Columbus, Americas, and SW Georgia.

The Macon and Birmingham lines to the west for a direct route to Montgomery and New Orleans.

Georgia Southern and Florida, links some of the richest sections of the State, connecting Macon with Tifton, Valdosta and Florida cities.

Macon and Northern, branch of the Central of Georgia system, connects with Athens

• The government of Bibb County, Georgia is now a consolidated government with Macon, Georgia, Called Macon-Bibb County. ^[6]

Government Offices

• July 31, 2012, by a margin of 57% to 43%, voters in the county approved a measure to consolidate Bibb County with the county seat, Macon and dissolve the government of the only other incorporated municipality in the county, Payne City. This was tried (4) previous times (1933, 1960, 1972, and 1976, but failed those years. Payne City was officially dissolved by Governor Nathan Deal on March 27, 2015.^[7]

• 2014 -Macon and Bibb County were consolidated in January 2014. Since then, Macon-Bibb has been governed by a mayor, elected at-large (county-wide), along with a nine-member county commission with members elected from single-member districts. Bibb has an elected sheriff responsible for maintaining the jail and manage his law enforcement dudies.. His deputies are the city, county police force. David Davis is current sheriff. ^[8]

The first legal case against a free African American man, for retailing liquor. The first indictment was stabbing.^[3]

Bibb County's 1st Courthouse

March 20, 1823 The first court was held in a small log building which stood near the depot of the Western and Macon Railroad. Judge Shorter presided.^[3]

Bibb County's 2nd Courthouse

1864-65 Macon was temporarily Georgia's capital when Milledgeville temporarily relinquished that title.

Bibb County's 3rd Courthouse, 1909

1909 County Courthouse

The first legal case against a free African American man, for sellingliquor. The first indictment was stabbing.^[3]

Bibb County's 4th courthouse, 1924, is neoclassical removal architecture. It was remodeled in 1940 as a WPA project.

Bibb County Courthouse, 1924, remodeled 1940

• The government of Bibb County, Georgia is now a consolidated government with Macon, Georgia, Called Macon-Bibb County. ^[9]

Geography

Location - on the fall line, where the southern Piedmont meets the Coastal Plain.

Length of Bibb County is 19 miles; width is 16 miles

Size - area of 304 sq. mi. 254 square miles or 162,560 acre

Rivers, Creeks -The Ocmulgee River is the chief stream. The creeks are Tobesofkee, Rocky, Savage, Echaconnee.^[3]

Soil -red clay soil of the northern part of the county

Type -metamorphic and the gray, sandy land of the southern section to the tertiary formation. A ridge of sand hills runs diagonally through the county from northeast to southwest.

Land near Ocmulgee River - especially productive. I

Crops -seed cotton, 600 to 800 pounds; corn, 12 bushels; wheat, 15 bushels; oats, 25 bushels; barley, 40 bushels; rye, 13 bushels; crab-grass hay, 2,000 to 3,000 pounds; sugar-cane syrup, 100 to 300 gallons; field peas, 10 bushels; ground-peas, 25 bushels; sweet and Irish potatoes, 100 to 200 bushels.

Ocmulgee river, Tobesofkee, Echeconnee, Rock, Savage, Beaver Dam and "Walnut creeks drain into and away from the county.

Grasses -Bermuda grass and clover do well in the northern part of the county. On some of the lands 1,500 pounds/acre of seed cotton, other sections- 900 to 1,200 pounds.

River bottom land- yield 60 bushels corn/acre, 7,000 lbs Bermuda Hay, 8,000 german millet/acre.

Wild animalls-- wild game, quail and doves are still available.

• The finest peaches, plums and pears can be raised in this county.

Type the northern part of the county belongs to the metamorphic and the gray, sandy land of the southern section to the tertiary formation. A ridge of sand hills runs diagonally through the county from northeast to southwest.

River lands near the Ocmulgee river produce crops: seed cotton, 600 to 800 pounds; corn, 12 bushels; wheat, 15 bushels; oats, 25 bushels; barley, 40 bushels; rye, 13 bushels; crab-grass hay, 2,000 to 3,000 pounds; sugar-cane syrup, 100 to 300 gallons; field peas, 10 bushels; ground-peas, 25 bushels; sweet and Irish potatoes, 100 to 200 bushels. Bermuda grass and clover do well in the northern part of the county. Land varies from 900 to 1,200 to 1,500 pounds of seed cotton/acre, The river bottom lands readily yield 60 bushels of corn to the acre. On some of these "bottom" lands 7,000 pounds of Bermuda hay and 8,000 of German millet have been cut to the acre.

Minerals are pottery clay, ochre, granite and limestone with 2 granite quarries.

Crops - all vegetables, truck gardens, Irish potatoes, sweet potatoes, upland rice, Peach Trees, apple Trees, plum, and pear Trees. old in the county averages yearly between $35,000 and $40,000. The county raises 5,000 bushels of Irish potatoes, 66,000 bushels of sweet potatoes, and 1,000 pounds of upland rice.

There are 32,000 peach-trees, 4,600 apple-trees and of plum and peartrees about 2,000 each.

Adjacent counties

• Jones County - northeast
• Twiggs County - east
• Houston County - south
• Peach County - south-southwest
• Crawford County - southwest
• Monroe County - northwest

Protected areas

• Bond Swamp National Wildlife Refuge

• Ocmulgee National Monument

Earthworks built before 1000 CE by the southeastern Native American South Appalachian Mississippian culture. Varying cultures of prehistoric indigenous peoples settled on what is called the Macon Plateau at the Fall Line, where the rolling hills of the Piedmont met the Atlantic Coastal Plain.

Demographics

In 1900 population of Bibb county by sex and color, according to the census of 1900: white males, 11,373; white females, 11,705; total white, 23,078; colored males, 12,003; colored females, 14,952; total colored, 27,395.^[10]

In 2000 there were 153,887 people in the county with a population density of 616 people/sq. mi. The racial makeup of the county was 50.13% White, 47.32% Black or African American, 0.18% Native American, 1.08% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.46% from other races, and 0.81% from two or more races. 1.31% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. In 2010, there were 155,547 people in the county with population density of 622.8 people/sq.mi. The median income for a household in the county was $38,798 and the median income for a family was $52,158. Males had a median income of $41,219 versus $31,477 for females. The per capita income for the county was $21,436. About 16.4% of families and 22.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 33.0% of those under age 18 and 12.8% of those age 65 or over.^[11]

• Bibb County is part of the Macon, GA Metropolitan Statistical Area.
• Robert Reichert was the first mayor of Macon-Bibb, January 1, 2014

• Macon's eight banks have an aggregate capital, surplus and undivided profits of $2,063,500.

Among her commercial houses are some of the most extensive in Georgia, reaching out for the trade of a very large section of the State.

• The fire department is unsurpassed in efficiency.
• Appleton Home, orphanage operates under the Episcopal Church. Vineland has 2 similar homes,
• Orphan Home of the South Georgia Conference of the Methodist Church is in Vineland
• Mumford's Industrial Home.

Hospital - Macon City Hospital, on Pine Street

• Julia Parkman Jones Home for indigent ladies, under the auspices of the Episcopal Church
• Roff Home, with hospitals attached for the poor of Bibb county
• Home for the Friendless
• Door of Hope, a place of refuge for fallen women who seek to be restored to a life of purity.

Education
Excellent system of public schools for city and county, and by private schools and colleges.

81 public schools for whites

18 schools for African Americans

Attendance -3,296 white pupils and 2,200 African Americans.

• Mercer University for boys
• Wesleyan Female College, the oldest college for ladies in the United States, and probably in the world
• St. Stanislaus (formerly called Pio Nono), is a Roman Catholic college for priests
• Mount de Sales Academy is a school for girls under the auspices of the Roman Catholic Church. *Normal school for ladies at the Alexander school building
• Ballard Normal School is for African American pupils.

• The Academy for the Blind is a State institution with 2 departments, one for whites and one for African Americans, under the same management and superintendence, but located on separate lots in sections of the city remote from each other.

• The Georgia Academy for the Blind is located in this city.^[3]

COLLEGES:

Wesleyan College (founded in 1836 is the world's 1st chartered college to grant degrees to women)

Mercer University

Macon State College

Central Georgia Technical College.

Communities

• Macon

• Lizella
• Payne
• Walden
• Sofkee
• Franklinton
• Avondale

Notables

• poet and author Sidney Lanier
• musician Otis Redding.

County Resources

• Lake Tobesofkee 10 miles west of Macon, has 3 parks. Claystone, Sandy Beach, and Arrowhead Parks, each with a beach, and children's playgrounds. Sandy Beach has lighted tennis courts, a water park, and a softball field.

Census

1830 --- 7,154 —

1840 --- 9,802 37.0%

1850 --- 12,699 29.6%

1860 --- 16,291 28.3%

1870 --- 21,255 30.5%

1880 --- 27,147 27.7%

1890 --- 42,370 56.1%

1900 --- 50,473 19.1%

1910 --- 56,646 12.2%

1920 --- 71,304 25.9%

1930 --- 77,042 8.0%

1940 --- 83,783 8.7%

1950 --- 114,079 36.2%

1960 --- 141,249 23.8%

1970 --- 143,418 1.5%

1980 --- 150,256 4.8%

1990 --- 149,967 −0.2%

2000 --- 153,887 2.6%

2010 --- 155,547 1.1%

Est. 2016 --- 152,760

Cemeteries

• Avondale Baptist Church Cemetery

• Macon Memorial Park Cemetery

• Macon Memorial Park

• Riverside Cemetery

• Rose Hill Cemetery

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 1.17 1.18 1.19 1.20 1.21 1.22} http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/counties-cities-neighborhoods/bibb-county
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7} https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bibb_County%2C_Georgia
3. ↑ ^{3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 3.14 3.15 3.16 3.17 3.18 3.19} http://genealogytrails.com/geo/bibb/countyhistory.html

   Image:Bibb County Georgia-1.jpg

   Macon, GA at night

   Other communities stood independently in Bibb County, such as Vineville and Huguenin Heights. These were gradually annexed to Macon, Georgia. <ref></ref>

   1826 The Creeks ceded their Georgia lands after the 2nd Treaty of Washington occurred. <ref></ref>

   1829 Steamboats arrived to Bibb County. However the boats were unable to navigate the Ocmulgee River past Macon. <ref></ref>

   1830's The Cherokee were relocated to Oklahoma during the Indian Removal of 1830's, while Andrew Jackson was President. The Indian tribes call this the "Trail of Tears" as many died during this march to Oklahoma. <ref></ref> <ref>http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~gajones/hawkins.htm</li>

   <li id="_note-0">[[#_ref-0|↑]] http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~gabibb/history/history.htm</li> <li id="_note-1">[[#_ref-1|↑]] georgiainfo.galileo.usg.edu/topics/counties/bibb</li> <li id="_note-2">[[#_ref-2|↑]] shared by [[Ivey-594|Karen Ivey Herndon]] with ~~~~</li> <li id="_note-3">[[#_ref-3|↑]] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bibb_County%2C_Georgia</li> <li id="_note-4">[[#_ref-4|↑]] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bibb_County%2C_Georgia</li> <li id="_note-5">[[#_ref-5|↑]] shared by [[Ivey-594|Karen Ivey Herndon]] with ~~~~</li> <li id="_note-6">[[#_ref-6|↑]] http://genealogytrails.com/geo/bibb/countyhistory.html</li>

   <li id="_note-7">[[#_ref-7|↑]] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bibb_County%2C_Georgia</li></ol></ref>

• A History of Georgia: From Its First Discovery by Europeans to the Adoption of the Present Constitution in MDCCXCVIII, Vol 1, by William Bacon Stevens January 1, 1847 New York : D. Appleton

• http://genealogytrails.com/geo/bibb/countyhistory.html
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bibb_County%2C_Georgia