Americus, Georgia

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

You have new messages (last change).
The Windsor Hotel in downtown Americus
The Windsor Hotel in downtown Americus

Americus is a city in Sumter County, Georgia, United States. The population was 17,013 at the 2000 census. Americus is the birthplace and international headquarters to Habitat for Humanity International.

The city is the county seat of Sumter CountyGR6.

Contents

[edit] Geography

Americus is located at 32°4′31″N, 84°13′36″W (32.075221, -84.226602)GR1.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 27.7 km² (10.7 mi²). 27.1 km² (10.5 mi²) of it is land and 0.5 km² (0.2 mi²) of it (1.87%) is water.

[edit] History

[edit] Early Years

Americus, Georgia, was named and chartered by Sen. Lovett B. Smith in 1832.

For its first two decades Americus was a small courthouse town. The arrival of the railroad in 1854 and, three decades later, local attorney Samuel H. Hawkins' construction of the only privately financed railroad in state history, made Americus the eighth largest city in Georgia into the twentieth century. It was known as the "Metropolis of Southwest Georgia," a reflection of its status as a cotton distribution center. In 1890, Georgia's first chartered electric street car system went into operation in Americus. One of its restored cars is on permanent display at the Lake Blackshear Regional Library.

The town was already graced with an abundance of antebellum and Victorian architecture when local capitalists opened the Windsor Hotel in 1892. A five-story High Victorian or Queen Anne edifice, it was designed by a Swedish architect, Gottfried L. Norrman, in Atlanta. Vice-President Thomas R. Marshall gave a speech from the balcony in 1917 and soon to be N.Y. Gov. Franklin D. Roosevelt spoke in the dining room in 1928.

[edit] Into the 20th Century

For the local black community, Rev. Dr. Major W. Reddick established the Americus Institute for secondary education (1897-1932). Booker T. Washington was a guest speaker there in May 1908. Rev. Alfred S. Staley was responsible for locating the state Masonic Orphanage in Americus, which served its function from 1898 to 1940. Both men engineered the unification of the General Missionary Baptist Convention of Georgia in 1915, the former as president and the latter as recording secretary. The public school named in honor of A.S. Staley was designated a National School of Excellence in 1990.

Two other institutions of higher learning were also established in Americus, the Third District Agricultural and Mechanical School in 1906 (now Georgia Southwestern State University), and the South Georgia Trade and Vocational School in 1948 (now South Georgia Technical College).

In World War I, an Army Air Corps training facility, Souther Field, was commissioned northeast of the city limits. Charles A. Lindbergh, the "Lone Eagle," bought his first airplane and made his first solo flight there during a two-week stay in May 1923. Recommissioned for World War II, Souther Field ended the war as a German prisoner-of-war camp.

[edit] Americus and the Civil Rights Movement

Koinonia Farms, an interracial Christian community, was organized near Americus in 1942. Founder Clarence Jordan was a mentor to Millard and Linda Fuller, who founded Habitat for Humanity International at Koinonia in 1976 before moving into Americus the following year. In 2005, they founded the Fuller Center for Housing, also in Americus.

The Civil Rights Era in Americus was a time of great turmoil; violent opposition to Koinonia by racist elements led to the bombing of a store uptown in 1957. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. spent a weekend in the courthouse jail in 1961, after an arrest in Albany. The "Sumter Movement" to end racial segregation was organized and led by Rev. Joseph R. Campbell in 1963. As a direct result, two Georgia laws were subsequently declared unconstitutional by a federal tribunal meeting in Americus. Color barriers were first removed in 1965 when J.W. Jones and Henry L. Williams joined the Americus police force. Lewis M. Lowe was elected as the first black city councilman ten years later. With their election in 1995, Eloise R. Paschal and Eddie Rhea Walker broke the gender barrier on the city's governing body.

In 1971, the city was featured in a Marshall Frady article, "Discovering One Another in a Georgia Town," in "Look Magazine." The portrayal of the city's school integration was relatively benign, especially considering the community's checkered past on race relations. Americus' nadir in this respect had occurred in 1913, when Will Redding was lynched by a mob uptown because he had shot Police Chief W.C. Barrow, who later died of his wounds.

[edit] Notable Facts

This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards.
Please discuss this issue on the talk page or replace this tag with a more specific message.
This article has been tagged since March 2007.

Americus is the birthplace and international headquarters to Habitat for Humanity International. It is also home to the Fuller Center for Housing and Georgia Southwestern State University. Koinonia Partners is currently located southwest of Americus on Hwy. 49.

Nationally prominent citizens of Americus include four U.S. Congressmen: former Speaker of the House Gen. Howell Cobb (1849-51); Gen. Philip Cook (1871-81) and Speaker Charles F. Crisp (1891-95), both of whom have Georgia counties named for them; and the latter's son, Ways and Means Committee chairman Charles R. Crisp (1912-32). Other Americus natives include Ruby Muhammad, widow of Nation of Islam founder Elijah Muhammad; playwright and actor Lonne Elder III ("Sounder" and "Ceremonies in Dark Old Men"); Millard and Linda Fuller, founders (in 1976) of Habitat for Humanity International and the Fuller Center for Housing (in 2005); Rev. Dr. M. William Howard, Jr., one-time president of the National Council of Churches and the New York Theological Seminary; baseball player "Shoeless" Joe Jackson (1923); Angel Myers-Martino, 1992 Olympic gold medalist swimmer; and Joanna Moore, movie and television actress ("The Andy Griffith Show").

Several Major League Baseball players were born in Americus, including Jeff McCleskey and Mo Sanford.

Two notable National Football League (NFL) players were born and raised in Americus, including Kent Hill, offensive lineman and five time pro-bowler for the LA RAMS and HOUSTON OILERS and Dan Reeves, running back for the DALLAS COWBOYS and later Head Coach of DENVER BRONCOS, NEW YORK GIANTS and ATLANTA FALCONS.

Americus has been facing a large bat infestation since the mid-1990's; millions of bats are estimated to reside in the historic mansions there. ¹

Americus was the unfortunate target of a tornado around 9:00 P.M. on March 1, 2007. It destroyed parts of Sumter Regional Hospital, forcing the evacuations of all of the patients there. There were 2 fatalities. Georgia governor Sonny Perdue said, "It was worse that I had feared. The hospital was hit, but the devastation within the area of Sumter Co. and Americus was more than I imagined. The businesses around the hospital are totally destroyed. Power is still not restored in many places. It's just a blessing frankly that we didn't have more fatalities than we did." [1]

[edit] Demographics

As of the censusGR2 of 2000, there were 17,013 people, 6,374 households, and 4,149 families residing in the city. The population density was 626.8/km² (1,623.1/mi²). There were 7,053 housing units at an average density of 259.8/km² (672.9/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 39.05% White, 58.26% African American, 0.23% Native American, 0.86% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.90% from other races, and 0.69% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.49% of the population.

There were 6,374 households out of which 32.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 34.2% were married couples living together, 27.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.9% were non-families. 29.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.52 and the average family size was 3.14.

In the city the population was spread out with 28.0% under the age of 18, 14.1% from 18 to 24, 26.1% from 25 to 44, 18.0% from 45 to 64, and 13.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 30 years. For every 100 females there were 79.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 70.4 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $26,808, and the median income for a family was $32,132. Males had a median income of $27,055 versus $20,169 for females. The per capita income for the city was $14,168. About 23.4% of families and 27.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 44.1% of those under age 18 and 19.8% of those age 65 or over.

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../a/m/e/Americus%2C_Georgia_3427.html"
In other languages