Coffee County is a

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

located in the southeastern part of 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 so ...

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 ...

. As of the 2020 census, the population was 43,092, up from 42,356 at the 2010 census. 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 ...

is Douglas. Coffee County comprises the Douglas, Georgia micropolitan statistical area.

History

Coffee County was created 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 directl ...

on February 9, 1854, from portions of Clinch,

Irwin Irwin may refer to: Places ;United States * Irwin, California * Irwin, Idaho * Irwin, Illinois * Irwin, Iowa * Irwin, Nebraska * Irwin, Ohio * Irwin, Pennsylvania * Irwin, South Carolina * Irwin County, Georgia * Irwin Township, Venango Co ...

, Telfair, and

Ware WARE (1250 AM) is a commercial radio station broadcasting a classic hits format. Licensed to Ware, Massachusetts, United States, the station serves the Springfield radio market. The station is currently owned by Success Signal Broadcasting ...

counties. These lands were originally ceded by the Creek in the Treaty of Fort Jackson in (1814) and the Treaty of the Creek Agency (1818) and apportioned to the above counties before becoming Coffee County. Berrien (1856), Jeff Davis (1905), and Atkinson (1917) counties were subsequently formed from sections of Coffee County. The county is named for

General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

John E. Coffee, a state legislator and a

U.S. representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

. Coffee County Correctional Facility is located in Nicholls, Georgia. It is privately owned and operated by CoreCivic, the largest prison company in the nation. Many of the early settlers of what is now Coffee County are buried in historic cemeteries across the region, including the cemetery at Lone Hill United Methodist Church—located at 6833 Broxton-West Green Highway, some 10 miles northeast of Douglas. The church and its cemetery date to the 1840s, with the earliest marked grave dated 1848. A majestic Eastern Redcedar has graced the cemetery for generations and is recognized as the nation's largest of this species through American Forests’ Champion Trees program. (see:) In July 2018 the tree was recognized as 2018's Great American Tree by American Grove. (See:) Having been nominated by Mark McClellan of the Georgia Forestry Commission, the tree has been featured in such publications as the

Smithsonian Magazine ''Smithsonian'' is a magazine covering science, history, art, popular culture and innovation. The first issue was published in 1970. History The history of ''Smithsonian'' began when Edward K. Thompson, the retired editor of ''Life'' magazine ...

and Janisse Ray's Wild Card Quilt. The circumference of the tree exceeds 20 feet.

Geography

According to the

U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, 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 U.S. Census Bureau is part of the U ...

, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (4.6%) is water. The vast majority of Coffee County is located in the Satilla River sub-basin of the St. Marys-Satilla River basin. The northern corner of the county, well north of Broxton, an area bisected by State Route 107, is located in the Lower

Ocmulgee River The Ocmulgee River () is a western tributary of the Altamaha River, approximately 255 mi (410 km) long, in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the westernmost major tributary of the Altamaha.Altamaha River The Altamaha River is a major river in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It flows generally eastward for from its Source (river or stream), origin at the confluence of the Oconee River and Ocmulgee River towards the Atlantic Oce ...

basin. The very southwestern corner of Coffee County, northeast of Alapaha, is located in the Alapaha River sub-basin of the

Suwannee River The Suwannee River (also spelled Suwanee River or Swanee 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 Hydrog ...

basin.

Highways

U.S. Route 221 * US 319

U.S. Route 319 * US 441

U.S. Route 441 * Georgia 31

State Route 31 * Georgia 32

State Route 32 * Georgia 64

State Route 64 * Georgia 90

State Route 90 * Georgia 107

State Route 107 * Georgia 135

State Route 135 * Georgia 158

State Route 158 * Georgia 206

State Route 206 * Georgia 206 Connector

State Route 206 Connector * Georgia 268

State Route 268

Adjacent counties

* Telfair County – north * Jeff Davis County – northeast * Bacon County – east * Ware County – southeast * Atkinson County – south * Berrien County – southwest * Irwin County – west * Ben Hill County – west

Communities

Cities

Ambrose Ambrose of Milan (; 4 April 397), venerated as Saint Ambrose, was a theologian and statesman who served as Bishop of Milan from 374 to 397. He expressed himself prominently as a public figure, fiercely promoting Roman Christianity against Ari ...

* Broxton * Douglas * Nicholls

Unincorporated communities

* Bethel * Blystone * Bridgetown * Broxton Junction * Bushnell * Chatterton * Fales (portion) * Green Acres * Huffer * Lax (portion) * Lotts * Mora * Oak Park * Pridgen * Relee * Saginaw * Sapps Still * Satilla * Stokesville (portion) * Upton * West Green * Wilsonville

Demographics

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 43,092 people, 14,438 households, and 9,913 families residing in the county.

Education

Douglas is home to South Georgia State College, the oldest two-year institution under the University System of Georgia.

Politics

Like most of the

Solid South The Solid South was the electoral voting bloc for the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party in the Southern United States between the end of the Reconstruction era in 1877 and the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In the aftermath of the Co ...

, Coffee County voted with the Democrats until 1964, when Republican

Barry Goldwater Barry Morris Goldwater (January 2, 1909 – May 29, 1998) was an American politician and major general in the United States Air Force, Air Force Reserve who served as a United States senator from 1953 to 1965 and 1969 to 1987, and was the Re ...

carried the county as well as the state. Democrat

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (October 1, 1924December 29, 2024) was an American politician and humanitarian who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party ...

, who came from Georgia, carried the county twice. No Democrat has carried the county since then.

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...

was the last Democrat to get over forty percent of the county's vote, in 1996. His two bids for president are the only times since Carter that a Democrat has kept the margin within single digits, and

Michael Dukakis Michael Stanley Dukakis ( ; born November 3, 1933) is an American politician and lawyer who served as governor of Massachusetts from 1975 to 1979 and from 1983 to 1991. He is the longest-serving governor in Massachusetts history and only the s ...

is the only other Democrat since Carter to garner 40 percent of the county's vote.

References

External links

The New Georgia Encyclopedia entry for Coffee County

Coffee County
historical marker {{Coord, 31.55, -82.85, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-GA_source:UScensus1990 1854 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state) Georgia (U.S. state) counties