McRae was a city in 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 Telfair 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. It was designated as the seat in 1871, after being established the previous year as a station on the

Macon and Brunswick Railroad The Macon and Brunswick Railroad ran from Macon, Georgia to Brunswick, Georgia. Its construction was interrupted by the American Civil War, and initially only ran from Macon to Cochran, Georgia. The gauge line was completed and extended to the ...

. Upon the city's merger with adjacent Helena in 2015, the new county seat is the combined city of McRae-Helena. As of the 2010 census, McRae had a population of 5,740, up from 2,682 at the 2000 census, due largely to expansion of the city limits to incorporate the area and prison population of the McRae Correctional Institution, a privately owned and operated prison under contract to the federal government. The prison is a low-security facility holding adult males; it is owned and operated by CoreCivic.

History

McRae was founded in 1870 as station number eleven on the

. In 1871, the seat of Telfair County was transferred to McRae from

Jacksonville Jacksonville ( ) is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida, northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, Florida, Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonv ...

. McRae was incorporated on March 3, 1874, and was named for a pioneering Scottish family. The community was named after Daniel M. McRae, the original owner of the town site. During the antebellum years and after the Civil War, the county had an economy largely based on cotton plantations, and McRae was a trading center. McRae was incorporated as a city in 1902. During the racial violence of the Red Summer of 1919 one Berry Washington, an elderly black man, was arrested and put in the McRae jail after defending two girls from assault. On May 25 a large mob led by a

Baptist Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...

minister conspired with a McRae deputy to seize Berry Washington from jail and lynch him over in Milan. McRae and Telfair County approved construction of a private prison in the early 21st century to hold federal prisoners, in the belief that it would provide jobs to local residents. McRae Correctional Facility, a low-security prison for adult males, has been owned and operated by CCA, the largest prison company in the United States in 2015, since it opened in 2003.

Geography

McRae is located in northern Telfair County at (32.064508, -82.898251). Helena is to the northwest. Several U.S. highways pass through McRae. U.S. Routes 23 and

341 __NOTOC__ Year 341 ( CCCXLI) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Marcellinus and Probinus (or, less frequently, year 1094 ''ab Urbe condita''). The denominati ...

pass through the city as Oak Street, leading northwest to Eastman and southeast to Hazlehurst, while U.S. Routes 280, 319, 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 ...

pass through as Third Avenue, crossing US 23/341 in the center of town. US 280 leads northeast to Vidalia and west to Cordele, while US 319/441 leads south to the small town of

and north to

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

. 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 , or 1.77%, is water. The Little Ocmulgee River flows just northeast of the city limits.

Sites of interest

Located in downtown McRae is Liberty Square, home of a

Statue of Liberty The Statue of Liberty (''Liberty Enlightening the World''; ) is a colossal neoclassical sculpture on Liberty Island in New York Harbor, within New York City. The copper-clad statue, a gift to the United States from the people of French Thir ...

replica that is one-twelfth the size of the original. It has a replica of the

Liberty Bell The Liberty Bell, previously called the State House Bell or Old State House Bell, is an iconic symbol of American Revolution, American independence located in Philadelphia. Originally placed in the steeple of Pennsylvania State House, now know ...

and a marble memorial to Telfair County residents who died in military service. On the outskirts of McRae is the Talmadge Home. This historic home was occupied by two former Georgia governors, Eugene Talmadge and Herman Eugene Talmadge. McRae was also the birthplace of Marion B. Folsom (1893–1976), a longtime executive of the Eastman Kodak Company who served as the

United States Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare The United States secretary of health and human services is the head of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, and serves as the principal advisor to the president of the United States on all health matters. The secretary is ...

during the Eisenhower administration. Famous railfan photographer William B. Folsom is buried in McRae. 1940–2008.

Education

Telfair County School District

The Telfair County School District holds pre-school to grade twelve, and consists of one elementary school, a middle school, and a high school. The district has 112 full-time teachers and over 1,648 students.School Stats
Retrieved June 27, 2010. *Telfair County Elementary School *Telfair County Middle School * Telfair County High School

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 2,682 people, 1,057 households, and 714 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 1,310 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 55.48%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 42.69%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.30% Asian, 1.12% from other races, and 0.41% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 1.57% of the population. There were 1,057 households, out of which 30.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 43.1% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 19.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.4% were non-families. 30.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 15.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.40 and the average family size was 2.94. In the city, the population was spread out, with 24.0% under the age of 18, 8.2% from 18 to 24, 24.9% from 25 to 44, 22.1% from 45 to 64, and 20.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females, there were 81.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 75.0 males. The median income for a household in the city was $27,236, and the median income for a family was $37,250. Males had a median income of $29,055 versus $20,321 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the city was $15,911. About 16.4% of families and 19.3% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 23.4% of those under age 18 and 25.2% of those age 65 or over.

References

* *

External links

City of McRae-Helena official website

Telfair County Chamber of Commerce

''Telfair Enterprise'' newspaper

Christiane Badgly, ''A Prison for McRae''
(50:29 minutes), 2003, made for Arte France; not yet aired in the US {{authority control Cities in Georgia (U.S. state) Cities in Telfair County, Georgia County seats in Georgia (U.S. state) Former municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state) Populated places disestablished in 2015