Bainbridge is a city in

Decatur County Decatur County is the name of various past and present counties in the United States, all named for Stephen Decatur Commodore (United States), Commodore Stephen Decatur Jr. (; January 5, 1779 – March 22, 1820) was a United States Navy of ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

, United States. The city is the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

of Decatur County. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 14,468, up from 12,697 at the 2010 census. It is the principal city of the Bainbridge, Georgia Micropolitan Statistical Area and a principal city in the Tallahassee—Bainbridge, FL-GA Combined Statistical Area.

History

The first European settlement in what is today Bainbridge was a

trading post A trading post, trading station, or trading house, also known as a factory in European and colonial contexts, is an establishment or settlement where goods and services could be traded. Typically a trading post allows people from one geogr ...

set up by James Burges in the late 18th century. From him comes the name Burges's Bluff. The town was named after U.S. Navy Commodore

William Bainbridge Commodore William Bainbridge (May 7, 1774July 27, 1833) was a United States Navy officer. During his long career in the young American navy he served under six presidents beginning with John Adams and is notable for his many victories at sea. ...

, commander of the USS ''Constitution'' ("Old Ironsides"), and was incorporated on December 22, 1829. In 1824, Bainbridge was designated seat of the newly formed Decatur County. On October 10, 2018, Bainbridge fell victim to

Hurricane Michael Hurricane Michael was a powerful and destructive tropical cyclone that became the first Category 5 hurricane to make landfall in the contiguous United States since Andrew in 1992. It was the third-most intense Atlantic hurricane to make ...

. The storm left widespread damage through the city limits, including downed trees, power lines, and structural damage. Many residents affected suffered severe damage to their homes.

Geography

Bainbridge is located in the center of Decatur County. The city is in southwestern Georgia along U.S. Routes 27 and 84, which form a bypass around the southern part of the city. U.S. Route 27 leads southeast to

Tallahassee Tallahassee ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of and the only incorporated municipality in Leon County. Tallahassee became the capital of Florida, then the Florida Territory, in 1824. In 2024, the est ...

, Florida, and north to Columbus. U.S. Route 84 leads east to Thomasville and northwest to Dothan, Alabama. Other highways which run through the city include Georgia State Routes 97,

253 __NOTOC__ Year 253 ( CCLIII) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Volusianus and Claudius (or, less frequently, year 1006 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denominati ...

309 __NOTOC__ Year 309 ( CCCIX) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. In the Roman Empire, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Licinianus and Constantius (or, less frequently, year 1062 ''Ab urbe condita''). The ...

, and 311. According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the city has a total area of , of which is land and , or 6.40%, is water. Bainbridge is located on the

Flint River The Flint River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 15, 2011 river in the U.S. state of Georgia. The river drains of western Georgia, flowing south from th ...

, which flows southwest to meet the

Chattahoochee The Chattahoochee River () is a river in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern United States. It forms the southern half of the Alabama and Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia border, as well as a portion of the Florida and Georgia border. It ...

. Together they form the

Apalachicola River The Apalachicola River is a river, approximately long, in the state of Florida. The river's large drainage basin, watershed, known as the ACF River Basin, Apalachicola, Chattahoochee and Flint (ACF) River Basin, drains an area of approximately ...

which flows to the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico () is an oceanic basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, mostly surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north, and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States; on the southw ...

. At the junction of the two rivers, the

Jim Woodruff Dam Jim Woodruff Dam is a hydroelectric dam on the Apalachicola River, about south of that river's origin at the confluence of the Flint and Chattahoochee Rivers. The dam impounds Lake Seminole on the common border of Florida and Georgia. The dam ...

forms

Lake Seminole Lake Seminole (, ) is a reservoir located in the southwest corner of Georgia along its border with Florida, maintained by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The Chattahoochee and Flint rivers join in the lake, before flowing from the Jim Woodr ...

. A system of locks at the dam allows barge traffic to travel between the inland port at Bainbridge and the Gulf of Mexico.

Demographics

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 14,468 people, 4,471 households, and 3,111 families residing in the city.

Economy

It was announced in December 2019 that Brazil-based gun manufacturer

Taurus Taurus is Latin for 'bull' and may refer to: * Taurus (astrology), the astrological sign ** Vṛṣabha, in vedic astrology * Taurus (constellation), one of the constellations of the zodiac * Taurus (mythology), one of two Greek mythological ch ...

had been granted a $39 million tax-incentive package to move from the Miami, Florida area to Bainbridge in return for creating 300 jobs. The package includes $20 million for construction, $7.9 million in tax credits, $4.5 million for infrastructure, $4.3 million in property-tax abatements, and $3 million for equipment, in addition to a land lease arrangement of $1/year for of land. The subsidy totals $130,000 per job.

Arts and culture

Arts

* The Firehouse Gallery Art Gallery * Bainbridge Little Theatre

Annual cultural events

River Town Days is held each year the second weekend of March. The Swine Time Festival and Decatur County Fall Festival and Fair are annual events.

National Register of Historic Places

The Decatur County Courthouse was constructed in 1902, and is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

. Also listed on the Register is the First African Missionary Baptist Church. with

Public library

The Decatur County Gilbert H. Gragg Library is located in Bainbridge. The library serves the population of Decatur County and acts as the headquarters for the

Southwest Georgia Regional Library The Southwest Georgia Regional Library (SWGRL) is a public library system serving the counties of Decatur County, Georgia, Decatur, Miller County, Georgia, Miller, and Seminole County, Georgia, Seminole, in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. State) ...

Education

Decatur County School District

The Decatur County School District holds pre-school to grade 12, and consists of two primary schools, one elementary school, one middle school, and a high school. The district has 384 full-time teachers and over 5,782 students. Schools include: *Jones-Wheat Primary School (grades PreK-2) *West Bainbridge Primary School (grades PreK-2) *Hutto Elementary School (grades 3–5) *Bainbridge Middle School (grades 6–8) * Bainbridge High School (grades 9–12)

Other schools

*Grace Christian Academy (PreK-12) *Spring Creek Charter Academy (PreK-10)

Parks and recreation

The Bainbridge-Decatur County

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organisation based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It has nearly 90,000 staff, some 920,000 volunteers and 12,000 branches w ...

opened on September 15, 1986. Its building had a cost of $1,000,000. - Author was the interim CEO of the YMCA.

Infrastructure

Transportation

The city is a seaport linked to the

via Florida's

. Officially known as Port Bainbridge, these facilities are managed entirely by the

Georgia Ports Authority The Georgia Ports Authority (GPA) is the port authority for the State of Georgia. It was founded by an act of the Georgia General Assembly in 1945 and chaired by Blake R. Van Leer. The GPA operates all seven of Georgia's rail and sea port fac ...

. The

Decatur County Industrial Air Park Decatur County Industrial Air Park is a county-owned public-use airport located six nautical miles (11 km) northwest of the central business district of Bainbridge, a city in Decatur County, Georgia, United States. Facilities and aircraf ...

, located northwest of the city, provides general aviation service to the community.

Notable people

* James Butler, NFL player * Alfred Corn, poet and essayist; born Bainbridge, raised in Valdosta *

Marvin Griffin Samuel Marvin Griffin, Sr. (September 4, 1907 – June 13, 1982) was an American politician from the U.S. state of Georgia. A lifelong Democrat, Griffin was a native of Bainbridge, Georgia and publisher of the ''Bainbridge Post-Searchlig ...

, former Georgia governor *

Miriam Hopkins Ellen Miriam Hopkins (October 18, 1902 – October 9, 1972) was an American actress known for her versatility. She signed with Paramount Pictures in 1930. She portrayed a pickpocket in Ernst Lubitsch's romantic comedy '' Trouble in Paradise'', ...

, Academy Award-nominated film actress * Paul Kwilecki, documentary photographer * Jason Lancaster, Singer and guitarist of Mayday Parade, singer of Go Radio, and solo career * Dameon Pierce, NFL player - Houston Texans * Brian Powell, former MLB pitcher - Drafted by

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. One of the AL's eight chart ...

* David Ross,

MLB Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the catc ...

, two-time World Series champion, ''

Dancing with the Stars ''Strictly Come Dancing (widely known as Dancing with the Stars)'' is an international television franchise based on the format of the British TV series '' Strictly Come Dancing,'' itself a successor to the show ''Come Dancing'' (1950–1998) ...

'' contestant *

Kirby Smart Kirby Paul Smart (born December 23, 1975) is an American football coach and former player. He is the current head football coach at the University of Georgia, his alma mater. As head coach, he led the Bulldogs to back-to-back national champion ...

, head football coach for the

University of Georgia The University of Georgia (UGA or Georgia) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Athens, Georgia, United States. Chartered in 1785, it is the oldest public university in th ...

* Travis Smith, former drummer of Trivium *

Young Stribling William Lawrence Stribling Jr. (December 26, 1904 – October 3, 1933), known as Young Stribling, was an American professional boxer who fought from Featherweight to Heavyweight. His 1931 fight against Max Schmelling for Schmeling's world heavy ...

, professional heavyweight boxer

References

External links

City of Bainbridge official website"Bainbridge" entry
in ''New Georgia Encyclopedia''
South Georgia Historic Newspapers Archive
- Digital Library of Georgia {{authority control Cities in Georgia (U.S. state) Cities in Decatur County, Georgia County seats in Georgia (U.S. state) Bainbridge, Georgia