Appling is a

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the count ...

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 Columbia 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. As of the 2020 census, its population is 658. It is part of the Augusta metropolitan area. Appling was formerly a city but, with the 1993 passage of legislation requiring cities to provide at least three municipal services, Appling was not able to remain incorporated. It was one of 187 inactive cities in Georgia that lost its charter on 1 June 1995.Columbia Court House
at Carl Vinson Institute of Government, University of Georgia, website. Accessed 15 February 2008. There was question as to whether it had ever been incorporated at all since it had no functioning corporate authorities.Ed Lightsey
"Columbia County: Supply and Demand."
''Georgia Trend''. January 2006. Accessed 15 February 2008. Columbia County government and judicial offices are in

Evans Evans may refer to: People *Evans (surname) *List of people with surname Evans Places United States *Evans Island, an island of Alaska *Evans, Colorado *Evans, Georgia *Evans County, Georgia *Evans, New York *Evans Mills, New York *Evans City, ...

with the Columbia County Government Center, the Government Complex Addition, and the Columbia County Courthouse Annex all located there. Appling retains its status as county seat but all governmental functions are carried out in Evans.

Geography

Appling is located at . Appling lies along U.S. Route 221 (Appling-Harlem Road) and is traversed by (Great) Kiokee Creek.

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 658 people, 311 households, and 145 families residing in the CDP.

2000 census

The following information applies to the

ZIP Code Tabulation Area ZIP Code Tabulation Areas (ZCTAs) are statistical entities developed by the United States Census Bureau for tabulating summary statistics. These were introduced with the Census 2000 and continued with the 2010 Census and 5 year American Community ...

(ZCTA) for ZIP Code 30802, which is centered immediately south of Appling. As of the

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 in ...

of 2000, there were 5,177 people, 1,745 households, and 1,387 families residing in the ZCTA. There were 1,745 housing units in the ZCTA. The racial makeup of the ZCTA was 76.0%

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 o ...

, 21.5%

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 ...

, 0.6% Native American, 0.6% Asian, 0.1%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of O ...

, 0.5% from

other races Other often refers to: * Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy Other or The Other may also refer to: Film and television * ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack * ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...

, and 0.8% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, 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 viceroyalties forme ...

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 1.1% of the population. There were 1,745 households, out of which 37.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 64.4% were married couples living together, 11.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 20.5% were non-families. 16.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 5.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.83 and the average family size was 3.20. In the ZCTA the population was spread out, with 26.6% under the age of 18, 7.5% from 18 to 24, 29.8% from 25 to 44, 24.4% from 45 to 64, and 11.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37.3 years. For every 100 females, there were 98.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.7 males. The median income for a household in the ZCTA was $40,467, and the median income for a family was $53,207. Males had a median income of $38,929 versus $21,700 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 ZCTA was $20,893. About 4.9% of families and 5.5% 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 6.5% of those under age 18 and 13.1% of those age 65 or over.

History

Appling was known as Columbia Courthouse when it received its original town charter in 1816. The town was renamed for local resident Colonel Daniel Appling, a decorated soldier in the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States, United States of America and its Indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom ...

, after he died in 1817. In the early 19th century, Appling was the political, educational, social, and religious center of Columbia County and home to nearby schools Carmel Academy and Columbia Institute. Carmel Academy was founded by the famous Southern educator Moses Waddel and attended by John C. Calhoun and

William H. Crawford William Harris Crawford (February 24, 1772 – September 15, 1834) was an American politician and judge during the early 19th century. He served as US Secretary of War and US Secretary of the Treasury before he ran for US president in the 1824 ...

. Columbia Institute was founded by Connecticut-born

David Bushnell David Bushnell (August 30, 1740 – 1824 or 1826), of Westbrook, Connecticut, was an American inventor, a patriot, one of the first American combat engineers, a teacher, and a medical doctor. Bushnell invented the first submarine to be used in ...

, inventor of the first naval wartime submarine, who moved to the area after serving in the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

. In the 1830s, when the

Georgia Railroad 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 ...

was established, it was decided that having a train pass through Appling would disturb the proceedings of the court, so the railway from Atlanta to Augusta was built to the south of Appling. In 1855, the courthouse in Appling received a major overhaul, and after the remodeling was complete in 1856, the building was in more or less its present form, a

vernacular A vernacular or vernacular language is in contrast with a "standard language". It refers to the language or dialect that is spoken by people that are inhabiting a particular country or region. The vernacular is typically the native language, n ...

structure with

Greek Revival The Greek Revival was an architectural movement which began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe and the United States and Canada, but a ...

and Italianate influences. Despite the extensive project, the shell of the 1809-1812 building was retained and the structure has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1980. Appling was nearly destroyed by a tornado in the 1870s, and it never regained the prestige it had prior to the tornado and the Civil War. Although there was an effort to organize the municipality in the early 20th century, the corporation remained inactive. Appling lost its charter in 1995.

Notes