Roberta is a city in Crawford 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 1,007 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Macon metropolitan statistical area.

History

Creek Agency

In the early nineteenth century,

Indian agent In United States history, an Indian agent was an individual authorized to interact with American Indian tribes on behalf of the U.S. government. Agents established in Nonintercourse Act of 1793 The federal regulation of Indian affairs in the Un ...

Benjamin Hawkins built his plantation on the Flint River near Roberta. This was also a

trading post A trading post, trading station, or trading house, also known as a factory in European and colonial contexts, is an establishment or settlement where goods and services could be traded. Typically a trading post allows people from one geogr ...

and the Creek Agency.

New Knoxville

Originally in Crawford County, Knoxville was the only stop in the county, until the A&F Railroad bypassed it by about a mile to the southwest when it was built in 1888. A train station was built, and a new town sprang up. People migrated towards this new town, called "New Knoxville." Hiram David McCrary allowed the railroad to use part of his land, and was given naming rights to the town, which he named "Roberta" for his 7-year-old daughter. McCrary later became the owner of the first general store in Roberta, was its first elected mayor, co-owned its first motel, and served as tax collector and a railroad station agent. In 1910, Roberta was incorporated as a city and was expanded in every direction by 1200 yards. In 1949, the original train depot burned. It was replaced about a year later by a smaller concrete block building. A replica of the original depot was built in 2003 and currently houses the Chamber of Commerce Welcome Center.

Rise and demise

With the construction of the A&F Railroad and U.S. Highway 341, Roberta became a rapidly growing tourist town, with restaurants and hotels springing up. However, in the 1940s, passenger rail service ended in Roberta, ending one of the two main traffic flows. A decade later,

Interstate 75 Interstate 75 (I-75) is a major north–south Interstate Highway in the Great Lakes and Southeastern regions of the United States. As with most Interstates that end in 5, it is a major cross-country, north–south route, traveling from S ...

bypassed Roberta to the east, diverting much traffic. After these events, Roberta relaxed into a more small-town setting.

Geography

Roberta is located near the center of Crawford County at (32.721283, -84.012512). U.S. Route 80 passes through the city, leading east to Macon and west to Columbus. U.S. Route 341 crosses US 80 in the city center, leading north to Barnesville and southeast to

Perry Perry or pear cider is an alcoholic beverage made from fermented pears, traditionally in England (particularly Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, and Worcestershire), parts of South Wales, France (especially Normandy and Anjou), Canada, Austral ...

. The city is located roughly on the

fall line A fall line (or fall zone) is the area where an upland region and a coastal plain meet and is noticeable especially the place rivers cross it, with resulting rapids or waterfalls. The uplands are relatively hard crystalline basement rock, and the ...

of the eastern U.S., meaning that it is located between the hillier

Piedmont Piedmont ( ; ; ) is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the northwest Italy, Northwest of the country. It borders the Liguria region to the south, the Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna regions to the east, and the Aosta Valley region to the ...

region to the north and the flatter

Atlantic coastal plain The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

to the south. 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 ...

, Roberta has a total area of , of which , or 1.11%, is water.

Demographics

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 813 people, 354 households, and 206 families residing in the city.

Education

Crawford County School District

The Crawford County School District holds grades pre-school to grade twelve, and consists of one elementary school, a middle school, and a high school. The district has 127 full-time teachers and over 2,090 students.School Stats
Retrieved June 6, 2010. *Crawford County Elementary School *Crawford County Middle School * Crawford County High School

Tourism

The city has a restored 1962 Seaboard Coastline

caboose A caboose is a crewed North American railroad car coupled at the end of a freight train. Cabooses provide shelter for crew at the end of a train, who were formerly required in switching and shunting; as well as in keeping a lookout for load ...

next to the railroad depot in the downtown area. The caboose holds a small history of Roberta's railroad heritage and a memorial to employees of Southern Railroad. Also in the downtown block is the Benjamin Hawkins Monument, constructed in 1931.

References

External links

City of Roberta official website
{{authority control Cities in Georgia (U.S. state) Cities in Crawford County, Georgia Macon metropolitan area, Georgia