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Homerville is a city 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 ...
of Clinch 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 2,456 at the 2010 census, a decrease of 12.38% from 2,803 in 2000. It was incorporated February 15, 1869.


History

Clinch County was created on February 14, 1850, 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 ...
, and was named for General
Duncan Lamont Clinch Duncan Lamont Clinch (April 6, 1787 – December 4, 1849) was an American army officer and slave-plantation owner who served as a commander during the War of 1812, and First and Second Seminole Wars. In 1816, he led an attack on Negro Fort, th ...
, a decorated United States brigadier general and Georgia congressman who had recently died. Clinch, Georgia's 95th county, was formed from land originally inhabited by the
Oconee people Oconee was a tribal town of Mikasuki language, Hitchiti-speaking Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands during the 17th and 18th centuries. First mentioned by the Spanish Florida, Spanish as part of the Apalachicola Province on the Chat ...
and consolidated portions of Ware County and Lowndes County. The act creating the county named Elijah Mattox, Simon W. Nichol, Timothy Kirkland, Benjamin Sirmans, and John J. Johnson as commissioners charged with selecting a county seat and constructing a courthouse. The designated commissioners quickly settled on a site just southwest of the present-day Homerville, and in memory of President
James K. Polk James Knox Polk (; November 2, 1795 – June 15, 1849) was the 11th president of the United States, serving from 1845 to 1849. A protégé of Andrew Jackson and a member of the Democratic Party, he was an advocate of Jacksonian democracy and ...
decided to name the county seat "Polk". Two years later, however, the Georgia General Assembly inexplicably changed the name of the county seat to "
Magnolia ''Magnolia'' is a large genus of about 210 to 340The number of species in the genus ''Magnolia'' depends on the taxonomic view that one takes up. Recent molecular and morphological research shows that former genera ''Talauma'', ''Dugandiodendr ...
", just as the county's first courthouse was completed. The first courthouse was quite small and was destroyed in 1856 when a citizen, presumably dissatisfied with legal proceedings brought against him, decided to destroy the courthouse by fire. In February 1853, Dr. John Homer Mattox and his family moved from their former home on 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 ...
and settled on a tract of land adjacent to the Magnolia stage route. In recognition of his family name, he called the settlement Homersville. Shortly thereafter the Atlantic and Gulf Railroad expansion replaced the stage route, and Mattox's settlement was simply known as "Station No.11". Over time the settlement grew, and in 1860 approximately 275 citizens of Clinch County petitioned the Georgia General Assembly to move the county seat from the nearby Magnolia to Mattox's settlement. Later the same year, the legislature relented and officially named Station No. 11 the county seat of Clinch County. By 1863, the town of Homersville was known as Forest. It would take approximately nine more years for the legislature to officially recognize the name Homerville and incorporate the city; however, Homerville shows up as the name of the county seat in newspapers by March 1864. Dr. John Homer Mattox's original dwelling is now the home of the Clinch County Chamber of Commerce and Welcome Center. The home recently underwent an extensive restoration that not only restored many of the rooms to their former glory but also added modern plumbing and central heat and air for the convenience of visitors. The structure now holds the administrative offices of the chamber and a museum dedicated to the early days of Clinch County.


Geography

Homerville is located in north-central Clinch County at (31.036832, -82.751302). U.S. Routes 84 and
441 __NOTOC__ Year 441 (Roman numerals, CDXLI) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Cyrus of Panopolis, Seleucus without colleague (or, less frequently, year 119 ...
cross in the center of town. US 84 leads east to Waycross and west to Valdosta, while US 441 leads north to Douglas, Georgia, and south to
Lake City, Florida Lake City is a city in and the county seat of Columbia County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city's population was 12,329, up from 12,046 at the 2010 census. It is the principal city of the Lake City Micropolitan Statistica ...
. 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 , or 0.50%, is water. Wooded areas and swampy marshes surround the city.


Demographics

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 2,344 people, 983 households, and 610 families residing in the city.


Education


Clinch County School District

The Clinch County School District holds pre-school to grade twelve, and consists of a headstart, elementary/middle school, and a high school. The district has 96 full-time teachers and over 1,499 students.School Stats
Retrieved June 4, 2010.
*Clinch County Elementary School *Clinch County Middle School * Clinch County High School


References

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