Blakely 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 parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

Early County, Georgia Early County is a County (United States), county located on the southwest border of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 10,854. The county seat is Blakely, Georgi ...

, United States. As of 2020, its population was 5,371. It is located approximately halfway between Columbus and

Tallahassee, Florida Tallahassee ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of and the only incorporated municipality in Leon County, Florida, Leon County. Tallahassee became the capital of Fl ...

on U.S. Route 27.

History

Blakely was

plat In the United States, a plat ( or ) (plan) is a cadastral map, drawn to scale, showing the divisions of a piece of land. United States General Land Office surveyors drafted township plats of Public Lands Survey System, Public Lands Surveys to ...

ted in 1825 as the county seat for Early County. It was named for Johnston Blakeley, an officer in the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...

. Between 1881 and 1947 at least seven African-Americans were lynched in Blakely, including at least two veterans. One of these, Wilbur Little, was murdered upon returning from service in

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

by whites who detested seeing a black person in uniform. In 1960 an African-American veteran from New Jersey who was traveling through the county was convicted of rape and sentenced to death 3 days after his arrest in a trial that featured no defense counsel and no jury. The story was chronicled in the movie ''Fair Game''.A month after the article appeared in the Chicago Defender the NAACP sent Monroe N. Work to Blakely to investigate the incident. On June 7, 1919, Work sent a telegram to NAACP officer J.R. Shillady stating "Have investigated report. Blakely, Georgia, lynching does not appear to have ." Work concluded his investigation by recommending that allegations of a lynching be dropped. However, further review by the organization found that it had in fact occurred.

Geography

Blakely is located at (31.376728, -84.933873). The city is located in southwestern Georgia along U.S. Route 27,

Georgia State Route 62 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 peo ...

, and Georgia State Route 39. Blakely is located approximately south of Columbus, southwest of Albany, and northwest of

and 24 miles northeast of

Dothan, Alabama Dothan is a city in and the county seat of Houston County, Alabama, Houston County in the U.S. state of Alabama. A slight portion of the city extends into Dale County, Alabama, Dale and Henry County, Alabama, Henry counties. It had a population ...

. 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 ...

, this town has a total area of , of which is land and (0.74%) is water.

Demographics

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 5,371 people, 1,584 households, and 1,065 families residing in the city. Blakely City Hall

Education

Early County School District

The

Early County School District The Early County School District is a public school district in Early County, Georgia, Early County, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States, based in Blakely, Georgia, Blakely. It serves the communities of Arlington, Georgia, Arlington, ...

holds grades pre-school to grade twelve, and consists of one elementary school, a middle school, and a high school. The district has 156 full-time teachers and over 2,764 students.School Stats
Retrieved June 8, 2010. *Early County Elementary School *Early County Middle School * Early County High School

Alternative School

*Learning and Opportunity Academy

References

External links

City of Blakely
{{authority control Cities in Georgia (U.S. state) Cities in Early County, Georgia County seats in Georgia (U.S. state)