Oglethorpe is a city in Macon County, Georgia, United States. The population was 995 at the 2020 census, down from 1,328 in

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

. The city is 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 Macon County. It was named for

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 ...

's founder,

James Oglethorpe Lieutenant-General James Edward Oglethorpe (22 December 1696 – 30 June 1785) was a British Army officer, Tory politician and colonial administrator best known for founding the Province of Georgia in British North America. As a social refo ...

History

Oglethorpe was founded in 1838. It was located in the Black Belt of Georgia, where

slaves Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

outnumbered whites and did the work to support cultivation of

cotton Cotton (), first recorded in ancient India, is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure ...

as a commodity crop. Oglethorpe was incorporated as a town in 1849 and as a city in 1852. In 1857, the seat of Macon County was transferred to Oglethorpe from Lanier. Oglethorpe was once one of the largest cities in southwestern Georgia. Epidemics of

malaria Malaria is a Mosquito-borne disease, mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects vertebrates and ''Anopheles'' mosquitoes. Human malaria causes Signs and symptoms, symptoms that typically include fever, Fatigue (medical), fatigue, vomitin ...

and

smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by Variola virus (often called Smallpox virus), which belongs to the genus '' Orthopoxvirus''. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (W ...

caused high fatalities in the early 1860s; the remaining residents in Oglethorpe fled south to Americus to escape more disease.

Geography

Oglethorpe is located in south-central Macon County at (32.293328, -84.062616). It sits on high ground west of the

Flint River The Flint River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 15, 2011 river in the U.S. state of Georgia. The river drains of western Georgia, flowing south from th ...

, which forms the boundary between Oglethorpe and the larger city of Montezuma.

Georgia State Route 49 State Route 49 (SR 49) is a State highway (US), state highway that travels southwest-to-northeast through portions of Terrell County, Georgia, Terrell, Sumter County, Georgia, Sumter, Macon County, Georgia, Macon, Peach County, Georg ...

passes through the center of town as Chatham Street. It leads east into Montezuma and northeast to Marshallville, while to the southwest it leads to Americus. State Route 90 enters from the north on North Randolph Street and Sumter Street and leaves to the east on Chatham Street. It connects Oglethorpe with Rupert to the northwest and with

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

to the southeast. State Route 128 leaves Oglethorpe to the north with SR 90 but leads to Reynolds. State Route 26 (Riverview Drive) passes through the south side of Oglethorpe, leading east through Montezuma to

Hawkinsville Hawkinsville is a city in Middle Georgia and the county seat of Pulaski County, Georgia, United States. As of 2020, it has a population of 3,980. The city is known as the "Harness Horse Capital of Georgia" and holds an annual Harness Horse Fes ...

and west to Ellaville. According to the

U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The U.S. Census Bureau is part of the U ...

, Oglethorpe has a total area of , of which , or 2.34%, are water.

Demographics

Oglethorpe first appeared in the

1850 U.S. census The 1850 United States census was the seventh decennial United States Census Conducted by the Census Office, it determined the resident population of the United States to be 23,191,876—an increase of 35.9 percent over the 17,069,453 persons e ...

. As of the 2020 United States census, there were 995 people, 561 households, and 351 families residing in the city.

Education

Macon County School District

The Macon 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 129 full-time teachers and over 2,200 students.School Stats
Retrieved June 23, 2010. *Macon County Elementary School *Macon County Middle School *

Macon County High School Macon County High School is located in Montezuma, Georgia, United States, which is a part of Macon County. Enrollment as of the 2017- 2018 school year is 491. History Macon County High School was established in the late 1950s as a school for ...

References

External links

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