Midway, Georgia

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Coordinates: 31°48′0″N 81°24′44″W / 31.8, -81.41222
Midway, Georgia
Location in Liberty County and the state of Georgia
Country	United States
State	Georgia
County	Liberty
Area
- Total	5.6 sq mi (14.5 km²)
- Land	5.6 sq mi (14.4 km²)
- Water	0 sq mi (0.1 km²)
Elevation	10 ft (3 m)
Population (2000)
- Total	1,100
- Density	196.4/sq mi (75.9/km²)
Time zone	Eastern (EST) (UTC-5)
- Summer (DST)	EDT (UTC-4)
ZIP code	31320
Area code(s)	912
FIPS code	13-51352^[1]
GNIS feature ID	0356389^[2]

Midway is a city in Liberty County, Georgia, United States. It is a part of the Hinesville-Fort Stewart metropolitan statistical area. The population was 1,100 at the 2000 census.

Midway has several museums including, the Midway Museum and Cemetery and the Dorchester Museum. Midway is surrounded by wetlands. There are also two islands, Colonel's Island and Dolphin Island. Midway is situated near Savannah, Brunswick, St. Simons Island, and Jekyll Island.

As of 2006, the mayor of Midway is Don Emmons.

1 History
2 Present
3 Geography
4 Demographics
5 References
6 External links
7 State of Georgia Links

[edit] History

Midway has a long and distinguished history dating back as far as the 1700s. English Puritans founded the Midway Society on August 28, 1754 in a log meeting house on Midway Neck. The Midway Society was a strongly religious Congregationalist group. These Puritans migrated to St. John's Parish, Georgia from Dorchester, South Carolina in 1752 and established new Dorchester and another nearby settlement what was later to become the Midway Community. In 1752 the Council of Georgia granted the settlers 31,950 acres primarily because colonial officials wanted a large number of settlers there to protect them from the Creek Indians. The original settlers were primarily rice planters and the Midway settlers developed a strong agricultural economy.

Declaration of Independence Signers from Midway, Georgia

The settlers in the area took an early stand for independence. In May of 1775, Lyman Hall (a Midway Church member) was sent to the Continental Congress as a delegate from the parish of St. John. A year later Hall and St. John's Parish resident Button Gwinnett (along with George Walton of Augusta) signed the Declaration of Independence. Another Midway resident, Nathan Brownson, served in the Continental Congress from 1776 to 1778, but was absent from the Signing. In 1777 St. John's Parish, St. Andrew's Parish, and St. James' Parish combined to become Liberty County. Puritans also settled in this area.

Established in 1752, the Midway Congregational Church building was destroyed during the Revolutionary War. British in the area burned it, but it was rebuilt. The present building (which still stands) was completed in 1792. The religious welfare of the slaves was given high consideration. The "colored" members of the church worshiped with whites throughout the entire existence of the church. On Sundays, the two races worshiped together, with the blacks in the galleries and the whites in the pews below. Every April, the Midway Society conducts an annual service commemorating the town's settlement. The Church and the adjacent cemetery were placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973. Among those buried here are Daniel Stewart and James Screven, two American Generals of the Revolutionary War. In the center of the cemetery there is a large monument dedicated to these men. The monument was dedicated in 1915.

The Midway Museum is home to documents, exhibits, and furnishings which commemorate and affirm the love of Liberty which distinguishes the Midway Society from the Colonial period through its last meeting in December, 1865. The Midway Museum is Georgia's only colonial museum.

The City of Midway was Incorporated in 1925.

[edit] Present

Today, Midway is a growing town of just over 1100 residents. It has a major industrial park with nine manufacturing facilities. These include a roof and floor truss company, an above-ground pool company, a warehouse and distribution firm, a boat manufacturing firm, a technical glass and ceramics firm, a blasting and coating company, two chemical manufacturing companies and a gift-wrap printing company. In early 2007, Target opened a 1.5 million square-foot regional distribution center which will eventually employ nearly 1000 people.

[edit] Geography

Midway is located at 31°47′60″N, 81°24′44″W (31.799873, -81.412298)^[3].

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 5.6 square miles (14.5 km²), of which, 5.6 square miles (14.4 km²) of it is land and 0.04 square miles (0.1 km²) of it (0.71%) is water.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^[1] of 2000, there were 1,100 people, 331 households, and 241 families residing in the city. The population density was 197.8 people per square mile (76.4/km²). There were 395 housing units at an average density of 71.0/sq mi (27.4/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 58.82% White, 37.18% African American, 0.55% Native American, 1.27% Asian, 0.18% Pacific Islander, 0.45% from other races, and 1.55% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.36% of the population.

There were 331 households out of which 38.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.1% were married couples living together, 16.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.9% were non-families. 20.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 6.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.81 and the average family size was 3.21.

In the city the population was spread out with 25.7% under the age of 18, 7.2% from 18 to 24, 30.7% from 25 to 44, 18.8% from 45 to 64, and 17.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 92.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.2 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $29,205, and the median income for a family was $31,607. Males had a median income of $27,014 versus $20,313 for females. The per capita income for the city was $13,078. About 15.2% of families and 19.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 25.3% of those under age 18 and 20.6% of those age 65 or over.