Moultrie is the county seat and largest city of Colquitt 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 is the third largest city in Southwest Georgia, behind Thomasville and Albany. As of the 2020 census, Moultrie's population was 14,638. It was originally known as Ochlockoney until it was incorporated by the Georgia General Assembly in 1859. Moultrie is an agricultural community set in the Southern Rivers part of Georgia. Downtown Moultrie contains the Moultrie Commercial Historic District, 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 ...

. The district includes the Colquitt Theatre. It is well known for its boutiques and farming industry. Moultrie is the home of former US Senator

Saxby Chambliss Clarence Saxby Chambliss (; born November 10, 1943) is an American lawyer and retired politician who was a United States Senate, United States Senator from Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia from 2003 to 2015. A member of the Republican Party (Unite ...

History

The city was named after Gen. William Moultrie, the Revolutionary War hero after whom

Fort Moultrie Fort Moultrie is a series of fortifications on Sullivan's Island, South Carolina, built to protect the city of Charleston, South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina. The first fort, formerly named Fort Sullivan, built of Cabbage Pal ...

was named following the successful defense of

Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the List of municipalities in South Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint of South Carolina's coastline on Charleston Harbor, an inlet of the Atla ...

, against the British under Peter Parker, an anniversary subsequently celebrated as Carolina Day. Colquitt County became the 115th county in Georgia by an act of the Legislature on February 25, 1856. It was named after Walter Terry Colquitt, a minister, statesman and lawyer who was a military leader in the mid-1800s. In 1879, a charter was adopted and in the center of the county was declared the county seat. Founders of

naval stores Naval stores refers to the industry that produces various chemicals collected from conifers. The term was originally applied to the compounds used in building and maintaining wooden sailing ships. Presently, the naval stores industry are used to ...

started harvesting timber in the late 1890s. They set up

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 ...

stills and built tram roads, allowing for the railroad to come into the territory. The Boston & Albany line, which later became the Georgia Northern Railway, was the first through town, bringing with it growth and prosperity for the county. Practically every train brought new residents interested in supplying naval stores or working in the sawmills. By 1900, through the work of businessmen, bankers and speculators, the county was becoming a farmer's paradise. Land was cleared and development companies began dividing the forested area into farm tracts. Experienced farmers from north Georgia and the Carolinas were invited to come and develop the land. The county's agriculture industry thrives today.

Geography

Located in southwest Georgia, Moultrie is in the center of Colquitt County, west of Interstate 75, and about south of

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

and northeast of

Tallahassee, Florida Tallahassee ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of and the only incorporated municipality in Leon County, Florida, Leon County. Tallahassee became the capital of Fl ...

. The city is located between Albany to the northwest, Tifton to the northeast, Thomasville to the southwest, and Valdosta to the southeast. 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 1.15%, is water. Moultrie is located at (31.170188, -83.783601).

Demographics

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 14,638 people, 4,945 households, and 2,988 families residing in the city.

Education

Colquitt County School District

Moultrie public schools are controlled by the Colquitt County Board of Education. The Colquitt County School District holds grades pre-school to grade twelve, consisting of ten elementary schools, a middle school, a junior high school, and one high school. As of November 27, 2020, the district had more than 9,100 students and 1,351 staff, which includes both certified and classified staff. Elementary schools *Cox Elementary School *Doerun Elementary School *Funston Elementary School *G.E.A.R. Gifted Center *Hamilton Elementary School *Norman Park Elementary School *Odom Elementary School *Okapilco Elementary School *Stringfellow Elementary School *Sunset Elementary School *Wright Elementary School *Pre-K Program Middle schools * Williams Middle School Junior high schools * C. A. Gray Junior High School High schools * Colquitt County High School Alternative schools * Colquitt County Achievement Center

Private schools

Colquitt County also has a small, private Christian School, Colquitt Christian Academy, which is located at Calvary Baptist Church.

Higher education

Southern Regional Technical College Southern Regional Technical College is a public community college with its main campus in Thomasville, Georgia. It is part of the Technical College System of Georgia and provides education services for a seven-county service area in southwest Ge ...

– Main Campus *

Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College (ABAC) is a public college in Tifton, Georgia. It is part of the University System of Georgia and offers bachelor's degree, baccalaureate and associate degrees. The college is named after Abraham Baldwin, a ...

– Moultrie Campus * Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine – South Georgia Campus. PCOM South Georgia opened in August 2019, offering a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (DO) degree, and added a Master of Science in Biomedical Sciences in the fall of 2020.

Industry

Industry in the Moultrie area grew considerably when Sanderson Farms opened a processing plant in 2006 that now employs over 1,000 workers, over 10 percent of the local workforce. The manufacturer of light, single-engined

STOL A short takeoff and landing (STOL) aircraft is a fixed-wing aircraft that can takeoff/land on short runways. Many STOL-designed aircraft can operate on airstrips with harsh conditions (such as high altitude or ice). STOL aircraft, including tho ...

aircraft, the Maule Air, is also located in Moultrie.

Telecommunications

There are three radio channels and three television stations located in Moultrie. *Radio ** WMTM-1300 AM News/Talk ** WMTM-93.9 FM Oldies Cruisin' 94 ** WWGW-LP 102.5 FM *Television ** WSWG CBS TV' ** CW44 CW TV ** WSWG2 My Network TV

Historic sites

Moultrie is home to several sites on the National Register of Historic Places listings in Colquitt County, Georgia of the

.Colquitt County Historic Buildings
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Points of interest

* Museum of Colquitt County History * Reed Bingham State Park – offers camping, hiking, fishing, birding, and boating on a 375-acre lake. Wildlife includes bald eagles, alligators, and gopher tortoises. * Ellen Payne Odom Genealogy Library * Spence Field * Colquitt County Arts Center – home to permanent collections, theatre groups, concerts, art education, and the Fall Quilt Exhibition * Tom White Linear Park – a 7.5 mile "Rails to Trails" project, for walkers and cycle enthusiasts * St. Mark's Anglican Church

Transportation

Moultrie is served by

US 319 U.S. Route 319 (US 319) is a spur of US 19. It runs for from US 98 at the foot of the John Gorrie Memorial Bridge across from downtown Apalachicola, Florida to US 1/ SR 4 in Wadley, Georgia, through the Panhandle of Florida and the souther ...

, which connects to Interstate 75 and

Interstate 10 Interstate 10 (I-10) is the southernmost transcontinental highway in the Interstate Highway System of the United States. It is the fourth-longest Interstate in the country at , following I-90, I-80, and I-40. It was part of the origina ...

. State Road 37 and State Road 111 also run through Moultrie. Moultrie has two public airports used primarily for general aviation, Moultrie Municipal Airport and Spence Airport.

Notable people

References

External links

*
Moultrie-Colquitt County Chamber of CommerceOlde Greenfield Church and Historic Cemetery
historical marker {{Authority control Cities in Georgia (U.S. state) Cities in Colquitt County, Georgia Micropolitan areas of Georgia (U.S. state) County seats in Georgia (U.S. state) 1879 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state) Populated places established in 1879