Butler 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 Taylor County,

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. Its population was 1,972 at the 2010 census, and 1,881 in 2020.

History

The

Central of Georgia Railway The Central of Georgia Railway started as the Central Rail Road and Canal Company in 1833. As a way to better attract investment capital, the railroad changed its name to Central Rail Road and Banking Company of Georgia. This railroad was constr ...

was built through the present area of Butler about 1850. The line is currently owned by

Norfolk Southern The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States. Headquartered in Atlanta, the company was formed in 1982 with the merger of the Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. The comp ...

and hosts three to four trains per day. Butler was incorporated on February 8, 1854, but the charter was not received until 1870. Taylor County was carved from the

Creek Indian The Muscogee, also known as the Mvskoke, Muscogee Creek or just Creek, and the Muscogee Creek Confederacy ( in the Muscogee language; English: ), are a group of related Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern WoodlandsMacon and

Columbus Columbus is a Latinized version of the Italian surname "''Colombo''". It most commonly refers to: * Christopher Columbus (1451–1506), the Italian explorer * Columbus, Ohio, the capital city of the U.S. state of Ohio * Columbus, Georgia, a city i ...

. Each town is approximately in either direction of Butler. The city of Butler, Georgia, was named for General William Orlando Butler, a distinguished soldier of the

Mexican–American War The Mexican–American War (Spanish language, Spanish: ''guerra de Estados Unidos-México, guerra mexicano-estadounidense''), also known in the United States as the Mexican War, and in Mexico as the United States intervention in Mexico, ...

and a candidate for

Vice President A vice president or vice-president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vi ...

on the ticket with General Lewis Cass of

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

. In late 2016, a 1070-acre 103 megawatt solar panel facility was completed. The Butler Solar Facility is owned by

First Solar First Solar, Inc. is a publicly traded American manufacturer of solar panels, and provider of utility-scale PV power plants, supporting services that include finance, construction, maintenance and end-of-life panel recycling. First Solar uses ...

Geography

Butler is located at (32.557, -84.239). The city is located along

U.S. Route 19 U.S. Route 19 or U.S. Highway 19 (US 19) is a north–south United States Numbered Highway in the Eastern United States. Despite encroaching Interstate Highways, the route has remained a long-haul road, connecting the Gulf of Mex ...

, which is the main route through the city. U.S. 19 leads north 28 mi (45 km) to Thomaston and south 24 mi (39 km) to Ellaville. The

Fall Line Freeway The Fall Line Freeway (FLF), also signed as State Route 540 (SR 540), is a highway designed to span the width of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia from Columbus, Georgia, Columbus at the Alabama state line to Augusta, ...

(GA-540) runs from west to east through the southern part of the city, concurrent with

Georgia State Route 96 State Route 96 (SR 96) is a state highway that travels west-to-east through portions of Talbot, Taylor, Crawford, Peach, Houston, Twiggs, and Wilkinson counties in the west-central and central parts of the U.S. state of Georgia. ...

. GA-540 and GA-96 lead east 9 mi (14 km) to Reynolds and west 14 mi (23 km) to Junction City. Georgia State Route 137 also runs through the city, leading northeast 20 mi (32 km) to

Roberta Roberta is a feminine version of the given names Robert and Roberto. It is a Germanic name derived from the stems *hrod meaning "famous", "glorious", "godlike" and *berht meaning "bright", "shining", "light". People with the name *Roberta Achtenbe ...

and southwest 25 mi (40 km) to Buena Vista. 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 0.31% is water.

Demographics

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 1,881 people, 762 households, and 447 families residing in the city.

Education

Taylor County School District

The Taylor County School District holds pre-school to grade twelve, and consists of two elementary schools, a middle school, and a high school. The district has 101 full-time teachers and over 1,735 students. *Taylor County Primary School *Taylor County Upper Elementary *Taylor County Middle School *Taylor County High School The Taylor County Girls' basketball team (1967–1972) holds the record for the nation's longest girl's high school basketball winning streak by winning 132 consecutive games, going undefeated for five years and winning five back-to-back state championships.

Notable people

Ella Little-Collins Ella Little-Collins (1914 – 1996, aged 82) was an American civil rights activist and the half-sister of Malcolm X. She was born in Butler, Georgia, to Earl Little and Daisy Little (née Mason); her paternal grandparents were John (Big Pa) Lee L ...

, civil rights activist

Gallery

File:Taylor County, GA Courthouse.JPG,

Taylor County Courthouse Taylor, Taylors or Taylor's may refer to: People * Taylor (surname) ** List of people with surname Taylor * Taylor (given name), including Tayla and Taylah * Taylor sept, a branch of Scottish clan Cameron * Justice Taylor (disambiguation) ...

was built in Butler in 1935. It was 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 ...

on June 14, 1995. File:Taylor County, GA Government Complex.JPG, Taylor County Government Complex File:Butler, GA Post Office (31006).JPG, Butler Post Office ( ZIP code: 31006) File:Taylor County, GA School District.JPG, Taylor County Board of Education File:Union Methodist Church Cemetery-Hays Campground Cemetery;.JPG, Located just north of Butler, the Union Methodist Church and cemetery were added to the

on September 6, 2001. File:Taylor County, GA Sheriff's Office.JPG, Taylor County Sheriff's OfficeTaylor County Sheriff's Office
/ref>

References

{{authority control Cities in Georgia (U.S. state) Cities in Taylor County, Georgia County seats in Georgia (U.S. state)