Millen is a city, and the county seat of Jenkins 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 3,120 at the 2010 census, down from 3,492 at the 2000 census. The city is intersected by U.S. Route 25 and State Route 17.

History

Millen was first settled in 1835 along the border of what was then

Burke Burke (; ) is a Normans in Ireland, Norman-Irish surname, deriving from the ancient Anglo-Norman and Hiberno-Norman noble dynasty, the House of Burgh. In Ireland, the descendants of William de Burgh (''circa'' 1160–1206) had the surname'' de B ...

and Screven counties. It was originally named "79" due to its approximate distance in miles from the coastal city of

Savannah A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) biome and ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach th ...

. Planters cultivated cotton as a commodity crop. In 1854, the

Central of Georgia Railway The Central of Georgia Railway started as the Central Rail Road and Canal Company in 1833. As a way to better attract investment capital, the railroad changed its name to Central Rail Road and Banking Company of Georgia. This railroad was constr ...

and the

Georgia Railroad 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 peo ...

connected at 79. The town became known as "Millen's Junction" after McPherson B. Millen, the superintendent of the Central of Georgia Railway. During the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

, a site for a

prisoner-of-war camp A prisoner-of-war camp (often abbreviated as POW camp) is a site for the containment of enemy fighters captured as Prisoner of war, prisoners of war by a belligerent power in time of war. There are significant differences among POW camps, inte ...

to house Union soldiers was chosen about five miles from Millen's Junction. Camp Lawton included a hospital, fort and officer housing and had about 8,600 prisoners confined there on 14 November 1864, according to a detailed camp map made by a former prisoner. It was built in what is today

Magnolia Springs State Park Magnolia Springs State Park is a Georgia state park located between Perkins and Millen in Jenkins County. The park was built as a project of the Civilian Conservation Corps and opened in 1939. The park is well known for its crystal clear spri ...

, because the location was favorable due to the springs providing potable water and its proximity to the

Augusta and Savannah Railroad Augusta and Savannah Railroad was incorporated in Georgia by special act of the General Assembly, approved December 31, 1838, as Augusta and Waynesboro Railroad Company. The name was changed to Augusta and Savannah Railroad on February 16, 1856. ...

. On December 3, 1864, Sherman's March to the Sea passed through Millen. Prior to the arrival of Union forces, Confederate soldiers evacuated the Camp Lawton prisoners to Savannah. The Union soldiers destroyed Millen's Junction after finding the prison camp and to avoid use of the railway junction. The town was rebuilt after the war. In 1881, the city of Millen was incorporated by an act of the

Georgia State Legislature 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 directly ...

, becoming the county seat of the newly created Jenkins County in 1905. The summer of 1919 was called the

Red Summer The Red Summer was a period in mid-1919 during which Terrorism in the United States#White nationalism and white supremacy, white supremacist terrorism and Mass racial violence in the United States, racial riots occurred in more than three d ...

due to a number of race riots throughout America. Millen did not escape this and white mobs burned down and killed a number of people in Millen during the

Jenkins County, Georgia, riot of 1919 The Jenkins County riot of 1919 took place on Sunday, April 13, 1919, a black man killed two white police officers in an altercation during a traffic stop. In response, a white mob burned several buildings in the black community and killed four b ...

. The Downtown Millen Historic District was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1996. The county is largely rural and agricultural.

Geography

Millen is the only incorporated municipality in Jenkins County. It is located on the east side of the

Ogeechee River The Ogeechee River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 26, 2011 blackwater river in the U.S. state of Georgia. It heads at the confluence of its North and Sout ...

. U.S. Route 25 passes through the west side of the city, leading north to Waynesboro and south to Statesboro.

Georgia State Route 17 State Route 17 (SR 17) is a state highway that travels northwest–southeast in the east-central and northeastern parts of the U.S. state of Georgia. The highway connects the Savannah metro area to the North Carolina state line, no ...

passes through the center of the city, entering from the west as Winthrope Avenue and leaving to the south as Masonic Street. SR-17 leads northwest to

Louisville Louisville is the most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeast, and the 27th-most-populous city in the United States. By land area, it is the country's 24th-largest city; however, by populatio ...

and southeast to

. State Route 21 bypasses Millen to the northeast, ending at US 25 at the northern city limit. SR-21 leads east to Sylvania. 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 ...

, Millen has a total area of , of which , or 0.67%, are water.

Demographics

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 2,966 people, 1,113 households, and 563 families residing in the city.

Education

Jenkins County School District

The Jenkins County School District holds pre-school to grade twelve, and consists of one elementary school, one middle school, and one high school. The district has 119 full-time teachers and over 1,754 students. *Jenkins County Elementary School *Jenkins County Middle School * Jenkins County High School

Notable people

* Jim Busby,

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

player who retired to Millen after his coaching career was over. *

Nathan Deal John Nathan Deal (born August 25, 1942) is an American politician and former lawyer who served as the 82nd governor of Georgia from 2011 to 2019. A Republican, he previously served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives. Deal served ...

, 82nd

governor of Georgia The governor of Georgia is the head of government of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and the commander-in-chief of the state's Georgia National Guard, National Guard, when not in federal service, and Georgia State Defense Force, State Defense Fo ...

, born in Millen * Melvin E. Thompson, 70th governor of Georgia, born in Millen * Kountry Wayne, comedian, TV & film actor, social media influencer, and content creator born and raised in Millen.

References

External links

''The Millen News''
the city's weekly newspaper {{authority control Cities in Georgia (U.S. state) Cities in Jenkins County, Georgia County seats in Georgia (U.S. state)