Dublin, Georgia

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Coordinates: 32°32′15″N 82°55′6″W / 32.5375, -82.91833
Dublin, Georgia, USA
Location in Laurens County and the state of Georgia
Country	United States
State	Georgia
County	Laurens
Government
- Mayor	Phil Best
Area
- Total	13.3 sq mi (34.4 km²)
- Land	13.2 sq mi (34.2 km²)
- Water	0.1 sq mi (0.2 km²)
Elevation	220 ft (67 m)
Population (2000)
- Total	15,857
- Density	1,200.7/sq mi (203.9/km²)
Time zone	EST (UTC-5)
- Summer (DST)	EDT (UTC-4)
ZIP codes	31021, 31027, 31040
Area code(s)	478
FIPS code	13-24376^[1]
GNIS feature ID	0313692^[2]
Website: http://www.cityofdublin.org/

Dublin is a city in Laurens County, Georgia, United States. The population was 15,857 at the 2000 census. By 2005 the population is estimated to be 16,924. ^[3] The city is the county seat of Laurens County^[4].

1 History
2 Geography
3 Education
4 Demographics
5 TV and Radio
6 Pageants
7 St. Patrick's Festival Events
8 Redneck Game's
9 References
10 External links

[edit] History

Because of Dublin's location as a midpoint between Savannah and Atlanta, the town in recent decades became home to a small assortment of industrial distribution centers, which complemented various industries -- textiles, furniture, and paper, among others -- that had already established themselves there in the second half of the 20th century. Historically, however, Dublin's economy was based on the local cotton, corn, and soybean trades, which blossomed as the town's central location enabled it to thrive with the growth of the railroad.

Originally, Dublin and the surrounding area was home to Native Americans of the Muskogee people, also known as Creek peoples. Like their brethren throughout much of the southeast, most of the Muskogee fled westward with the arrival of European settlers, many of them organizing themselves into armed resistance units, which fought government forces and white militias to protect their native territory well into the early 1800s. Ultimately, most of the Muskogee diaspora settled in what is now Oklahoma.

Despite the Irish ancestry of Dublin's first non-indigenous settlers, the town, like most of Middle Georgia, by the late 1800s had evolved into a hodgepodge of mixed ethnicities. Area whites descended from Scottish, English, and other western European immigrants. The considerable African-American population descended from freed slaves, most of whose roots lay in Angola or elsewhere in west Africa. By the end of the 20th century, the town had also become home to a growing population of recent immigrants, many of them professionals from India, Korea, and Latin America. As labor migrations from Mexico and Central America shifted from the southwest U.S. to much of the southeast, many immigrants from those regions also moved to Dublin in the first decade of the 21st century.

Dublin, according to a historical marker ^[5] at the town's main Oconee bridge, was one of the last encampments at which Confederate President Jefferson Davis and his family stayed before being captured by Union forces in May 1865.

Dublin is known for its St Patrick’s festival which takes place during all of March.^[6] Also the Redneck Games take place in nearby East Dublin,Ga.

[edit] Geography

Dublin is located at 32°32′15″N, 82°55′6″W (32.537463, -82.918358)^[7]. The town, named such because the Middle Georgia piedmont reminded Irish settlers of terrain in their native country, was founded on the Oconee river, which starts in the foothills of the Blue Ridge mountains in northern Georgia before combining with the Ocmulgee River to form the Altamaha, a river which then proceeds to its mouth on the Atlantic Ocean.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 13.3 square miles (34.4 km²), of which, 13.2 square miles (34.2 km²) of it is land and 0.1 square miles (0.2 km²) of it (0.45%) is water.

[edit] Education

High Schools

Dublin (9-12)

Dublin High School's football team tied Charlton County in the 2006 State Football Championships. The town, along with a reference to the Oconee river and Laurens County, is mentioned in the opening paragraph of James Joyce's Finnegans Wake: "nor had topsawyer's rocks by the stream Oconee exaggerated themselves to Laurens County's gorgios while they went doublin their mumper all the time." (Joyce explained in a letter: "Dublin, Laurens Co, Georgia, founded by a Dubliner, Peter Sawyer, on r. Oconee. Its motto: Doubling all the time.")^[8]

East Laurens (9-12)
Trinity Christian (9-12)
West Laurens (9-12)

Middle

Dublin (6-8)
East Laurens (6-8)
Trinity Christian (6-8)
West Laurens (6-8)

Elementary

Hillcrest (pre k)
Susie Dasher (k-1)
Saxon (2-3)
Moore Street (4-5)
East Laurens Primary (Pre k-2)
East Laurens Elementary (3-5)
Southwest Laurens (Pre k-5)
Northwest Laurens (Pre k-5)
Trinity Christian Lower school (pre k-5)

Higher Education

Dublin is home to the Dublin Center, a unit of the University System of Georgia. Middle Georgia College offers Freshman and Sophomore level classes while Georgia Southern University ( Located in Statesboro, GA) offers upper-level courses.

The Heart of Georgia Technical College offers various technical degrees and certificates.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^[1] of 2000, there were 15,857 people, 6,130 households, and 4,027 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,200.7 people per square mile (463.5/km²). There were 6,977 housing units at an average density of 528.3/sq mi (203.9/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 45.54% White, 51.42% African American, 0.20% Native American, 1.75% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 0.29% from other races, and 0.76% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.14% of the population.

There were 6,130 households out of which 31.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 39.2% were married couples living together, 23.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.3% were non-families. 31.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.44 and the average family size was 3.05.

In the city the population was spread out with 26.7% under the age of 18, 9.0% from 18 to 24, 24.8% from 25 to 44, 22.2% from 45 to 64, and 17.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 85.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 80.2 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $28,532, and the median income for a family was $36,463. Males had a median income of $30,830 versus $21,553 for females. The per capita income for the city was $16,560. About 22.5% of families and 27.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 41.1% of those under age 18 and 21.2% of those age 65 or over.

[edit] TV and Radio

TV 35 is an independent tv station in Dublin, Georgia

[edit] Pageants

Dublin is home to a few scholarship pageants:

The Miss Saint Patricks Scholarship pageant, ran by the Pilots Club, is held every year in March to run in conjunction with the Saint Patrick's Day celebration.
Dublin and Laurens County's America's Junior Miss Pageant is a scholarship competition held yearly for high school juniors. The winners of both the Dublin and Laurens County pageants advance to the state pageant.
The Miss and Outstanding Teen Irish Capital Scholarship Pageant is an official Miss America Preliminary pageant and is held in the fall. In June of each year, the winners compete in Columbus, Georgia for the titles of Miss Georgia and Miss Georgia's Outstanding Teen.