Damascus is a city in Early 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. The population was 212 in the 2020 census, down from 254 in the 2010 census.

History

An early variant name was Kestler. An act of

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 ...

officially changed the name to Damascus in 1914. The present name is a transfer from nearby

Old Damascus The old city of Damascus () is the historic city centre of Damascus, Syria. The old city, which is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, contains numerous archaeological sites, including some historical churches and mosq ...

, which it was named for

Damascus Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

. Old Damascus would be bypassed when a new railroad line was being built through the area. In 2021, an

EF2 tornado The Enhanced Fujita scale (abbreviated EF-Scale) is a scale that rates tornado intensity based on the severity of the damage a tornado causes. It is used in the United States and France, among other countries. The EF scale is also unofficially ...

struck the area south of town, causing major damage and injuring five people. On June 14, 2023, a tornado struck the town destroying a home and slightly injuring three people.

Geography

Damascus is located in eastern Early County at (31.298580, -84.717429).

Georgia State Route 45 State Route 45 (SR 45) is a state highway that runs south-to-north through portions of Seminole, Miller, Early, Calhoun, Terrell, Webster, and Sumter counties in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of Georgia. The route connects I ...

passes through the community, leading north to

Arlington Arlington most often refers to: *Arlington, Virginia **Arlington National Cemetery, a United States military cemetery *Arlington, Texas Arlington may also refer to: Places Australia *Arlington light rail station, on the Inner West Light Rail in S ...

and south to Colquitt. Georgia State Route 200 also passes through the center of town, leading east to

Newton Newton most commonly refers to: * Isaac Newton (1642–1726/1727), English scientist * Newton (unit), SI unit of force named after Isaac Newton Newton may also refer to: People * Newton (surname), including a list of people with the surname * ...

and northwest to Blakely, the Early County seat. 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 ...

, Damascus has a total area of , of which , or 0.48%, is water.

Demographics

In 2020, the city had a population of 212, down from 254 in 2010 and 277 in 2000.

Education

Public school students are zoned to 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, ...

which operates three schools in Blakely: Early County Elementary School, Early County Middle School, and Early County High School. Damascus is home to Southwest Georgia Academy, which was founded in 1970 as a

segregation academy Segregation academies are private schools in the Southern United States that were founded in the mid-20th century by white parents to avoid having their children attend Racial segregation in the United States, desegregated public schools. They ...

and participates in the

Georgia Independent School Association The Georgia Independent School Association (GISA) is an association of private, independent, and parochial schools throughout the state of Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia ...

. Its property formerly housed Damascus High School.Welcome
" Southwest Georgia Academy. Retrieved on July 31, 2017.

Gallery

File:Early County Fire Damascus District 601.jpg, Early County Fire Damascus District fire station File:Damascus Post Office, Georgia.jpg, Damascus Post Office

Notable people

* Robbie Robinson, bodybuilder, actor, three-time Mr. Universe overall winner * Shawn Williams (American football), football player, Atlanta Falcons

References

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