Brooks County is a

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

located in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

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 ...

, on its southern border with Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 16,301. 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 ...

is Quitman. The county was created in 1858 from portions of Lowndes and

Thomas Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the A ...

counties by an act of the

Georgia General Assembly The Georgia General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is bicameral, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. Each of the General Assembly's 236 members serve two-year terms and are directly ...

and was named for pro-slavery U.S. Representative

Preston Brooks Preston Smith Brooks (August 5, 1819 – January 27, 1857) was an American politician and member of the U.S. House of Representatives from South Carolina, serving from 1853 until his resignation in July 1856 and again from August 1856 until his ...

after he severely beat abolitionist Senator Charles Sumner with a cane for delivering a speech attacking slavery. Brooks County is included in the

Valdosta Valdosta is a city in and the county seat of Lowndes County, Georgia, United States. As of 2019, Valdosta had an estimated population of 56,457. Valdosta is the principal city of the Valdosta Metropolitan Statistical Area, which in 2021 had a ...

, GA

Metropolitan Statistical Area In the United States, a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) is a geographical region with a relatively high population density at its core and close economic ties throughout the area. Such regions are neither legally Incorporated town, incorporate ...

History

Native Americans and the Spanish

Historic Native peoples occupying the area at the time of European encounter were the

Apalachee The Apalachee were an Indigenous people of the Southeastern Woodlands, specifically an Indigenous people of Florida, who lived in the Florida Panhandle until the early 18th century. They lived between the Aucilla River and Ochlockonee River,Bobby ...

and the

Lower Creek The Muscogee, also known as the Mvskoke, Muscogee Creek, and the Muscogee Creek Confederacy ( in the Muscogee language), are a group of related indigenous (Native American) peoples of the Southeastern Woodlandsmissionaries A missionary is a member of a religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Mi ...

from their colony in Florida, who arrived around 1570.

Early history

The area that was to become Brooks County was first opened up to European-American settlement in 1818 when Irwin County was established.

Coffee Road Coffee Road as it became known, was a supply trail cut through the southern Georgia frontier in the early 1820s by General John E. Coffee, with the help of Thomas Swain. After establishing the counties of Early, Irwin, and Appling in 1819, the Ge ...

was built through the region in the 1820s. Lowndes County's first court session was held at the tavern owned by Sion Hall on the Coffee Road, near what is now Morven, Georgia in Brooks County.

Establishment

Many residents of Lowndes County were unhappy when the Atlantic and Gulf Railroad announced June 17, 1858 that they had selected a planned route that would bypass Troupville, the county seat. On June 22 at 3:00 am, the Lowndes County courthouse at Troupville was set aflame by William B. Crawford, who fled to South Carolina after being released on bond. On August 9, a meeting convened in the academy building in Troupville, at which residents decided to divide Lowndes and create a new county to the west of the Withlacoochee River, to be called Brooks County. On December 11, 1858, Brooks County was officially organized by the state legislature from parts of Lowndes and Thomas counties. It was named for

, a member of Congress prior to the Civil War. He was very popular in the South because of his 1856 caning of abolitionist senator Charles Sumner, and the citizens of Georgia wanted to honor him.

Brooksville, Florida Brooksville is a city in western Florida and the county seat of Hernando County, Florida, United States. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 7,719, up from 7,264 at the 2000 census. Brooksville is home to historic buildings and residence ...

, and Brooksville, Virginia, also named or renamed themselves for Brooks. The county had been developed along the waterways for cotton plantations, dependent on enslaved laborers, many of whom were transported to the South in the

domestic slave trade The domestic slave trade, also known as the Second Middle Passage and the interregional slave trade, was the term for the domestic trade of enslaved people within the United States that reallocated slaves across states during the Antebellum perio ...

during the

Antebellum Antebellum, Latin for "before war", may refer to: United States history * Antebellum South, the pre-American Civil War period in the Southern United States ** Antebellum Georgia ** Antebellum South Carolina ** Antebellum Virginia * Antebellum ...

years. Cotton brought a high return from local and international markets, making large planters wealthy. At the time of the 1860 federal census, Brooks County had a white population of 3,067, a

Free people of color In the context of the history of slavery in the Americas, free people of color (French: ''gens de couleur libres''; Spanish: ''gente de color libre'') were primarily people of mixed African, European, and Native American descent who were not ...

population of 2, and a slave population of 3,282. The Atlantic and Gulf Railroad reached Quitman, the county seat, on October 23, 1860.

Civil War

During the Civil War, the county was the main producer of food for the Confederacy; it became known as the "Smokehouse of the Confederacy." Some Confederate Army regiments were raised from the men of Brooks County. Plantation owners, county officials, and slave patrol members were exempt from military conscription, which caused some contention between the different economic classes in Brooks County. Civil War Slave Conspiracy Historical Marker

In August 1864, a local white man named John Vickery began plotting a

slave rebellion A slave rebellion is an armed uprising by enslaved people, as a way of fighting for their freedom. Rebellions of enslaved people have occurred in nearly all societies that practice slavery or have practiced slavery in the past. A desire for freedo ...

. His plan called for killing the slave owners, stealing what weapons they could find, setting fire to Quitman, going to Madison, Florida, burning the town, getting help from Union troops from the Gulf Coast, and then returning to Quitman. On the evening before the rebellion, a slave was arrested for theft and interrogated. Vickery was soon arrested as well. Vickery and four slave suspects were given a military trial by the local militia. Two Confederate deserters from Florida were also believed to have been involved, but were not caught by the time of the trial. On August 23, 1864, at 6:00 p.m., Vickery, and slaves Sam, Nelson, and George were publicly hanged in Quitman. The court could not reach a decision on the guilt of Warren, a slave held by Buford Elliot.

Post-Reconstruction and imposition of Jim Crow

After the war, many

freedmen A freedman or freedwoman is a formerly enslaved person who has been released from slavery, usually by legal means. Historically, enslaved people were freed by manumission (granted freedom by their captor-owners), abolitionism, emancipation (gra ...

worked as sharecroppers or tenant farmers. Following the war and the

Reconstruction era The Reconstruction era was a period in American history following the American Civil War (1861–1865) and lasting until approximately the Compromise of 1877. During Reconstruction, attempts were made to rebuild the country after the bloo ...

, Brooks County was one of the areas with a high rate of racial violence by whites against blacks. Its 20 deaths make it the county in Georgia that had the third-highest number of lynchings from 1870 to 1950. (From 1880 to 1930, Georgia had the highest number of such extrajudicial murders in the country). See, for example, the Brooks County race war of 1894. In May 1918, at least 13 African Americans were killed during a white manhunt and rampage after Sidney Johnson killed an abusive white planter. Johnson had been forced to work for the man under the state's abusive

convict lease Convict leasing was a system of forced penal labor which was practiced historically in the Southern United States, the laborers being mainly African-American men; it was ended during the 20th century. (Convict labor in general continues; f ...

system. Among those killed were Hayes Turner, and the next day his wife Mary Turner, who was eight months pregnant. They were the parents of two children. Mary Turner had condemned the mob's killing of her husband. She was abducted by the mob in Brooks County and brutally murdered at Folsom's Bridge on the Little River on the Lowndes County side; her unborn child was cut from her body and killed separately. During the next two weeks, at least another eleven blacks were killed by the mob. Johnson was killed in a shootout with police. As many as 500 African Americans fled Lowndes and Brooks counties to escape future violence. Mary Turner's lynching drew widespread condemnation nationally. It was a catalyst for the Anti-Lynching Crusaders campaign for the 1922 Dyer Bill, sponsored by Leonidas Dyer of

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

. It proposed to make lynching a federal crime, as southern states essentially never prosecuted the crimes. The Solid South Democratic block of white senators consistently defeated such legislation, aided by having disenfranchised most black voters in the South. In 2010,
state historical marker
encaptioned "Mary Turner and the Lynching Rampage," was installed at Folsom's Bridge in Lowndes County to commemorate these atrocities.

Modern history

In the 21st century, Brooks County is classified as being in the Plantation Trace tourist region.

Historical sites

* The Brooks County Courthouse was constructed in 1864 in the county seat of

Quitman, Georgia Quitman is a city in and the county seat of Brooks County, Georgia, United States. The population was 3,850 at the 2010 census. The Quitman Historic District is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Quitman was a home of James P ...

. It was designed by architect

John Wind John Wind was an architect who worked in southwest Georgia in the United States from approximately 1838 until his death in 1863. He was born in Bristol, England, in 1819. John Wind designed the Greenwood, Susina Plantation, Susina, Oak Lawn, Pebb ...

. Brooks County officials paid for the structure with $14,958 in Confederate money. The currency soon became useless. * The Brooks County Museum and Cultural Center, formerly a library, was adapted for use as a cultural center. It is the site of a series of music, art, and culinary events throughout the year.

Geography

According to the

U.S. 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 county has a total area of , of which is land and (1.0%) is water. The eastern boundary of the county is made up of the

Little River (Withlacoochee River) The Little River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 18, 2011 tributary of the Withlacoochee River in the U.S. state of Georgia. Via the Withlacoochee and the Suw ...

and the Withlacoochee River, which together meander along a distance of over to form that boundary. These river boundaries are shared with Cook and Lowndes counties. The southern boundary of the county has a mutual east–west interface of about with Florida, although it is not continuous. The county is discontinuous along the Florida border, with the easternmost section about a mile east of the rest of the county. This section presently consists of one parcel, recorded as , although it has a border with Florida of almost . The county shares a north–south boundary about in length with Thomas County to the west. It also shares an east–west boundary of and a north–south boundary of with Colquitt County to the northwest. The county has over 10,000 parcels of land, with 19 over and two more than . The county is home to several endangered plant and animal species, including the Pond Spicebush, the Wood Stork, and the Eastern Indigo snake. The majority of Brooks County, including the northwestern portion, all of central Brooks County, and the southeastern corner, is located in the Withlacoochee River sub-basin of the

Suwannee River The Suwannee River (also spelled Suwanee River) is a river that runs through south Georgia southward into Florida in the southern United States. It is a wild blackwater river, about long.U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset hig ...

basin. Most of the southern edge of the county is located in the

Aucilla River The Aucilla River rises in Brooks County, Georgia, USA, close to Thomasville, and passes through the Big Bend region of Florida, emptying into the Gulf of Mexico at Apalachee Bay. Some early maps called it the Ocilla River. It is long and h ...

sub-basin of the larger Aucilla- Waccasassa basin. The county's northeastern portion, centered on Morven and including

Barney Barney may refer to: People and fictional characters * Barney (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Barney (surname), a list of people Film and television * the title character of ''Barney & Friends'', an American live actio ...

, is located in the

Little River Little River may refer to several places: Australia Streams New South Wales *Little River (Dubbo), source in the Dubbo region, a tributary of the Macquarie River * Little River (Oberon), source in the Oberon Shire, a tributary of Coxs River (Haw ...

sub-basin of the same Suwannee River basin.

Adjacent counties

Cook County Cook County is the most populous county in the U.S. state of Illinois and the second-most-populous county in the United States, after Los Angeles County, California. More than 40% of all residents of Illinois live within Cook County. As of 20 ...

- northeast (created 1918 from Berrien County) * Lowndes County - east (created 1825 from Irwin County) * Madison County,

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

- southeast * Jefferson County,

- southwest * Thomas County - west (created 1825 from Early and Decatur counties) * Colquitt County - northwest (created in 1856 from Thomas and Lowndes counties)

Transportation

Major highways

U.S. Route 84 U.S. Route 84 (US 84) is an east–west U.S. Highway that started as a short Georgia–Alabama route in the original 1926 scheme. Later, in 1941, it had been extended all the way to Colorado. The highway's eastern terminus is a short dista ...

U.S. Route 221 U.S. Route 221 (US 221) is a Spur route, spur of U.S. Route 21. It travels from Perry, Florida, at U.S. Route 19 in Florida, US 19/U.S. Route 98 in Florida, US 98/U.S. Route 27 Alternate (Florida), US 27 Alternate to Lyn ...

State Route 33 * Georgia 38

State Route 38 * Georgia 76

State Route 76 * Georgia 122

State Route 122 * Georgia 133

State Route 133 * Georgia 333

State Route 333

Railroads

CSX CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The railroad operates approximately 21,000 route miles () of track. ...

GA Bike Route 10

Georgia State Bicycle Route 10 is one of 14 bike routes across Georgia. Route 10 is long and goes from Lake Seminole in the west to Jekyll Island in the east. It runs a west–east route, of approximately , through the county and passes through downtown Quitman.

Airport

BROOKS CO (4J5) Runway length 5000' Lights, CTAF 122.9 FSS Macon 122.4

Demographics

As a result of the demand for slave labor to work the cotton plantations, the county was majority black from before the Civil War well into the 20th century. Starting in the early 1900s, hundreds of blacks left the county in the Great Migration to northern and midwestern industrial cities to gain better opportunities and escape the oppressive

Jim Crow The Jim Crow laws were state and local laws enforcing racial segregation in the Southern United States. Other areas of the United States were affected by formal and informal policies of segregation as well, but many states outside the Sout ...

conditions, including the highest rate of lynchings of blacks in Georgia from 1880 to 1930.

2000 census

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 incl ...

of 2000, there were 16,450 people, 6,155 households, and 4,370 families residing in the county. The population density was . There were 7,118 housing units at an average density of 14 per square mile (6/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 57.36%

Caucasian Caucasian may refer to: Anthropology *Anything from the Caucasus region ** ** ** ''Caucasian Exarchate'' (1917–1920), an ecclesiastical exarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church in the Caucasus region * * * Languages * Northwest Caucasian l ...

, 39.34%

Black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have o ...

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 ...

, 0.30% Native American, 0.26%

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 ...

, 0.02%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe the original p ...

, 1.76% 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 0.94% from two or more races. 3.07% of the population were

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 ...

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. There were 6,155 households, out of which 31.60% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.30% 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, 18.10% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.00% were non-families. 25.20% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.00% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.61 and the average family size was 3.11. In the county, the population was spread out, with 26.90% under the age of 18, 8.90% from 18 to 24, 26.90% from 25 to 44, 22.30% from 45 to 64, and 15.00% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 92.20 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.80 males. The median income for a household in the county was $26,911, and the median income for a family was $32,382. Males had a median income of $26,303 versus $18,925 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 county was $13,977. About 19.10% of families and 23.40% 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 32.40% of those under age 18 and 20.10% of those age 65 or over.

2010 census

As of the

2010 United States Census The United States census of 2010 was the twenty-third United States national census. National Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2010. The census was taken via mail-in citizen self-reporting, with enumerators servin ...

, there were 16,243 people, 6,457 households, and 4,379 families residing in the county. The population density was . There were 7,706 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 59.9% white, 35.3% black or African American, 0.3% Asian, 0.3% American Indian, 0.1% Pacific islander, 2.9% from other races, and 1.2% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 5.3% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 16.3% were

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

, 8.3% were

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

, 6.4% were

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

, and 5.9% were

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

. Of the 6,457 households, 31.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.2% were married couples living together, 16.8% had a female householder with no husband present, 32.2% were non-families, and 27.6% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.52 and the average family size was 3.06. The median age was 40.3 years. The median income for a household in the county was $41,309 and the median income for a family was $47,599. Males had a median income of $38,791 versus $25,006 for females. The per capita income for the county was $20,346. About 14.7% of families and 17.0% of the population were below the

, including 21.5% of those under age 18 and 22.3% of those age 65 or over.

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 16,301 people, 6,335 households, and 4,015 families residing in the county.

Education

The Brooks County School District offers pre-school to grade twelve. There are two elementary schools, a middle school and a high school,

Brooks County High School Brooks County High School is a high school serving Quitman, Georgia, United States. It won several Georgia Interscholastic Association state football championships. The school offers community service clubs, technology and career clubs, and honors ...

. The district has 167 full-time teachers and over 2,563 students. * North Brooks Elementary School * Quitman Elementary School * Brooks County Middle School *

The county is serviced by the

Brooks County Public Library The Brooks County Public Library is a single branch public library system serving county of Brooks, located in Georgia. The library is located in Quitman, Georgia. The library is a member of PINES, a program of the Georgia Public Library Service ...

Government

The Government consists of a five-member Board of Commissioners. Under the guidelines of the Commissioners is a County Administrator, a Sheriff and Tax Commissioner, the Judicial System and other Boards and Authorities.

Recreation

Brooks County is well known for its wildlife. Quail, dove, ducks, and deer abound in the fields and forests. Brooks County also offers excellent fishing in its many lakes and streams, which are open to the public.

Hospital

Brooks County Hospital, a part of Archbold Medical Center, a 25-bed facility was established in 1935 and has 24-hour emergency facilities.

Communities

Cities

* Barwick (partly in

Thomas County, Georgia Thomas County is a county located in the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2010 census the population was 44,720. The county seat is Thomasville. Thomas County comprises the Thomasville, GA Micropolitan Statistical Area. History Thomas Count ...

) * Morven * Pavo (partly in

) * Quitman

Unincorporated communities

Dixie Dixie, also known as Dixieland or Dixie's Land, is a nickname for all or part of the Southern United States. While there is no official definition of this region (and the included areas shift over the years), or the extent of the area it cover ...

Grooverville Grooverville is an unincorporated community in Brooks County, Georgia, United States. It was once known as Key and was located at the crossing of the Thomasville and Madison and Sharpe's Store Road, which was in Thomas County prior to the creatio ...

* Pidcock

References

External links

Brooks County Board of Tax Assessors

Brooks County Public Library

Brooks County Criminal Court

Brooks County
historical marker
Columbia Primitive Baptist Church
historical marker {{Coord, 30, 47, 5, N, 83, 33, 39, W, type:adm2nd_region:US-GA, display=title 1858 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state) Georgia (U.S. state) counties Valdosta metropolitan area counties Populated places established in 1858 Communities named for Preston Brooks

History

Native Americans and the Spanish

Early history

Establishment

Civil War

Post-Reconstruction and imposition of Jim Crow

Modern history

Historical sites

Geography

Adjacent counties

Transportation

Major highways

Railroads

GA Bike Route 10

Airport

Demographics

2000 census

2010 census

2020 census

Education

Government

Recreation

Hospital

Communities

Cities

Unincorporated communities

See also

References

External links