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Jakin 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. Incorporated in 1895, Jakin's population was 131 in 2020.


History

Early County was created by an act of the General Assembly on December 15, 1818. Land lots of surveyed in 1819 and 1820 were distributed by the state in lotteries. Jakin is in the 26th land district in the southernmost end of the county. As early as 1817 settlers began moving into the area and began to build on the old Indian paths along the river. These old paths became the Old River Road in 1820 and a post road by the mid-1820s. The post riders were often harassed by Indians. As the forests along the river were cleared, large plantations and fine frame homes began to appear. The
Chattahoochee River The Chattahoochee River () is a river in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern United States. It forms the southern half of the Alabama and Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia border, as well as a portion of the Florida and Georgia border. It ...
, to the west, was the main source of transportation, bearing downstream huge square-cut timbers to
Apalachicola, Florida Apalachicola ( ) is a city and the county seat of Franklin County, Florida, United States, on the shore of Apalachicola Bay, an inlet of the Gulf of Mexico. The population was 2,341 at the 2020 census. History The Apalachicola Province, a ...
, for ship building and turpentine for export, and bearing cotton upstream to the cotton mills in Columbus. In 1821 the Armstrong and Attaway Company built the first
cotton gin A cotton gin—meaning "cotton engine"—is a machine that quickly and easily separates cotton fibers from their seeds, enabling much greater productivity than manual cotton separation.. Reprinted by McGraw-Hill, New York and London, 1926 (); ...
at nearby Saffold Navy Yard. The first families established here were the Allens, Rambos, Donalsons, Harrells, Shewmakes, Saffolds, Johnsons, Hayes, Gibsons, Crawfords, and Moodys. In 1828 a road was made from Blakely to Bainbridge on which settled the Hodges, Warrens, Minters, Easoms and Perrys. These families pioneered what became Jakin. In May 1878 C.A. Minter, a physician, purchased three lots, roughly of land, for $10 and a shotgun. The first mayor of Jakin, James Morris "Major" Bivings, named the town "Jakin" after one of the columns of
Solomon's temple Solomon's Temple, also known as the First Temple (), was a biblical Temple in Jerusalem believed to have existed between the 10th and 6th centuries Common Era, BCE. Its description is largely based on narratives in the Hebrew Bible, in which it ...
. In addition to small farm agriculture, Jakin's early economic growth resulted from
turpentine Turpentine (which is also called spirit of turpentine, oil of turpentine, terebenthine, terebenthene, terebinthine and, colloquially, turps) is a fluid obtainable by the distillation of resin harvested from living trees, mainly pines. Principall ...
. The unspoiled
longleaf pine The longleaf pine (''Pinus palustris'') is a pine species native to the Southeastern United States, found along the coastal plain from East Texas to southern Virginia, extending into northern and central Florida. In this area it is also known as ...
forests were prime resources, first for turpentine then lumber. Bivings and his partner, James W. Duke of
Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
, founded the Duke and Bivings Lumber Company complete with housing, commissary and post office. Bivings served as the first postmaster. On January 3, 1898, the Flowers Company purchased the lumber mill for $20,000. In addition to machines, buildings and materials, the purchase included of land and a railway. According to published town history, an estimated 1,000 workers were employed by the mill. In 1903 Jakin's population was 2,000.
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 ...
and deforestation led to the closure of the lumber mill in 1918. Agriculture served as Jakin's main industry until 1963, with Great Northern Nekoosa's purchase of a family-owned lumber mill which later became Great Southern Paper, which also ran a plywood mill in nearby Cedar Springs. Great Southern Paper was acquired by
Georgia-Pacific Georgia-Pacific LLC is an American pulp and paper company based in Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, and is one of the world's largest manufacturers and distributors of Tissue paper, tissue, Pulp (paper), pulp, paper, toilet and paper towe ...
in 1990. In 2005 GP was acquired by the privately held
Koch Industries Koch, Inc. () is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate corporation based in Wichita, Kansas, and is the second-largest privately held company in the United States, after Cargill. Its subsidiarie ...
. Despite changing ownership, the mill has operated continuously.


Geography

Jakin is located in southern Early County at (31.090574, -84.983179). U.S. Route 84 passes through the southern part of the town, leading southeast to Donalsonville and northwest to
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 ...
. Blakely, the Early County seat, is to the north via Jakin Road. 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 ...
, Jakin has a total area of , all land.


Demographics

As of the
census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...
of 2000, there were 157 people, 71 households, and 42 families residing in the city. In 2020, its population was 131.


Education

Jakin is served by 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, ...
schools in Blakely: Early County Elementary School, Early County Middle School, and Early County High School. It was formerly the site of Jakin High School.


Notable person

* Isabelle Daniels Holston, 1956 Olympic bronze medal winnerTennessee State University library, Holston biography
/ref>


References

* Centennial History Committee (1995) ''Jakin Remembers'' * Gretchen Geisinger (1999) ''On Solomon's Porch'' South Georgia Folklife Project, Valdosta State University


External links


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