Sparta is a city in and the
county seat
A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...
of
Hancock County,
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to the ...
, United States.
It is part of the
Milledgeville Micropolitan Statistical Area. The city's population was 1,400 at the 2010
census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...
.
History
Sparta was founded in 1795 in the newly formed Hancock County. The town was designated county seat in 1797. It was incorporated as a town in 1805 and as a city in 1893. The community was named after
Sparta
Sparta ( Doric Greek: Σπάρτα, ''Spártā''; Attic Greek: Σπάρτη, ''Spártē'') was a prominent city-state in Laconia, in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (, ), while the name Sparta referre ...
, a city-state in
Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece ( el, Ἑλλάς, Hellás) was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity ( AD 600), that comprised a loose collection of cult ...
.
Geography
Sparta is located at (33.2773, -82.9715).
According to the
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...
, the city has a total area of , all land.
Major Highways
*
State Route 15
*
State Route 16
*
State Route 22
Demographics
2020 census
As of the
2020 United States census
The United States census of 2020 was the twenty-fourth decennial United States census. Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2020. Other than a pilot study during the 2000 census, this was the first U.S. census to of ...
, there were 1,357 people, 669 households, and 419 families residing in the city.
2010 census
According to the 2010
census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...
estimate, there were 1,522 people, 617 households and 385 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 725 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 4.5%
White
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...
, 95.70%
African American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
, 0.13%
Native American, 0.33%
Asian
Asian may refer to:
* Items from or related to the continent of Asia:
** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia
** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia
** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...
, and 0.46% from two or more races.
Hispanic
The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad.
The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...
or
Latino
Latino or Latinos most often refers to:
* Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America
* Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States
* The people or cultures of Latin America;
** Latin A ...
of any race were 0.70% of the population.
There were 617 households, of which 26.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 25.4% were
married couples
Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between t ...
living together, 31.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 37.6% were non-families. 35.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 17.7% 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 3.20.
Age distribution was 27.4% under the age of 18, 9.1% from 18 to 24, 23.1% from 25 to 44, 24.6% from 45 to 64, and 15.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females, there were 83.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 74.3 males.
The
median household income
The median income is the income amount that divides a population into two equal groups, half having an income above that amount, and half having an income below that amount. It may differ from the mean (or average) income. Both of these are ways of ...
was $21,664, and the median family income was $24,044. Males had a median income of $21,375 versus $17,375 for females. The
per capita income
Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population.
Per capita i ...
for the city was $11,403. About 31.8% of families and 34.8% of the population were below the
poverty line
The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...
, including 46.2% of those under age 18 and 38.4% of those age 65 or over.
Economy
Sparta is the site of Georgia's
Hancock State Prison
Hancock State Prison is a Georgia Department of Corrections state prison for men located in Hancock County, Georgia. The facility opened in 1991 and currently has a capacity of 1191 prisoners.
In 2010, Hancock state prison participated in the 2 ...
.
Education
Hancock County School District
The
Hancock County School District holds pre-school to grade twelve, and consists of one elementary school, a middle school, and a high school. The district has 103 full-time teachers and over 1,659 students.
*Lewis Elementary School
*Hancock Central Middle School
*
Hancock Central High School
*
John Hancock Academy
Notable people
*
Thomas "Pee Wee" Butts – professional baseball player
*
George Darden
George Washington "Buddy" Darden III (born November 22, 1943) is an American politician and lawyer from Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. He served in the state house and then for more than five terms as Congressman from Georgia.
Early life
Darden ...
–
United States Representative from Georgia who went to high school in Sparta
*
Harvey Grant
Harvey Grant (born July 4, 1965) is an American former professional National Basketball Association basketball player. He is the identical twin brother of Horace Grant, also a former NBA player.
College
Grant transferred to Oklahoma after a year ...
– professional basketball player
*
Horace Grant
Horace Junior Grant Sr. (born July 4, 1965) is an American former professional basketball player who is a special advisor for Michael Reinsdorf, the president and chief operating officer of the Chicago Bulls. He attended and played college baske ...
– professional basketball player
*
Tommy Hurricane Jackson
Thomas "Tommy" Jackson (August 9, 1931 – February 14, 1982), often known as "Hurricane" Jackson, was an American professional boxer who competed from 1951 to 1961. In July 1957, he fought Floyd Patterson for the heavyweight championship. Jackso ...
– professional boxer
*
Adella Hunt Logan
Adella Hunt Logan (February 10, 1863 – December 10, 1915) was an African-American writer, educator, administrator and suffragist. ''Includes image'' ''Indicates that she has sufficient notability to be covered in two of OUP's biographical wor ...
– suffragist
*
Jean Toomer
Jean Toomer (born Nathan Pinchback Toomer; December 26, 1894 – March 30, 1967) was an American poet and novelist commonly associated with the Harlem Renaissance, though he actively resisted the association, and with modernism. His reputatio ...
–
Harlem Renaissance
The Harlem Renaissance was an intellectual and cultural revival of African American music, dance, art, fashion, literature, theater, politics and scholarship centered in Harlem, Manhattan, New York City, spanning the 1920s and 1930s. At the t ...
writer and poet, once served as a principal in Sparta
*
Angeria Paris VanMichaels - dragqueen and contestant on RuPaul's Dragrace season 14
See also
*
Central Savannah River Area
The Central Savannah River Area (CSRA) is a Media market, trading and marketing region in the U.S. states of Georgia (U.S. State), Georgia and South Carolina, spanning fourteen counties in Georgia and seven in South Carolina. The term was coined ...
*
Rossiter-Little House - Oldest house in Sparta
References
Further reading
"History of Sparta, Georgia" ''Georgia Encyclopedia'' (John Rozier, Emory University), 12/5/2008
* Kent Anderson Leslie, ''Woman of Color, Daughter of Privilege: Amanda America Dickson, 1849-1893'' (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1995).
* John Rozier, ''Black Boss: Political Revolution in a Georgia County'' (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1982).
* John Rozier, ''The Houses of Hancock, 1785-1865'' (Decatur, Ga.: privately printed, 1996).
* John Rozier, ed., ''The Granite Farm Letters: The Civil War Correspondence of Edgeworth and Sallie Bird'' (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1988).
* Forrest Shivers, ''The Land Between: A History of Hancock County, Georgia, to 1940'' (Spartanburg, S.C.: Reprint Co., 1990).
External links
Spartahistorical marker
Sparta Cemeteryhistorical marker
Pierce Memorial Methodist Churchhistorical marker
{{authority control
Cities in Georgia (U.S. state)
Cities in Hancock County, Georgia
County seats in Georgia (U.S. state)
Milledgeville micropolitan area, Georgia