The city of Sandersville is the county seat of Washington 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 5,813 in 2020. It is also a part of the Central Savannah River Area. Sandersville is known as the "Kaolin Capital of the World" due to its abundance of

kaolin Kaolinite ( ; also called kaolin) is a clay mineral, with the chemical composition Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4. It is a layered silicate mineral, with one tetrahedral sheet of silica () linked through oxygen atoms to one octahedral sheet of alumina (). ...

History

Established by British settlers in Creek territory in the 18th century, shortly after the American Revolution, the town of Sandersville became the county seat of Washington County in 1796. Creek leaders had not yet ceded their territory when Sandersville was settled. According to a book on Georgia place names, the city was named after M. Saunders, a local store owner. The settlement was located at an intersection of Native American Indian trails, and later the site of Saunders' general store. The town appears on Anthony Finley's 1827 map of Georgia. In 1864, 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 ...

, General

William T. Sherman William is a masculine given name of Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle Ages and into the modern era. It is ...

skirmished and then paused in Sandersville during his March to the Sea. Brief resistance to the advancing Union forces was centered on the courthouse. As they left, Sherman's troops burned both it and the jail, but left the rest of the town intact. A new Washington County Courthouse was built in 1869. The

Sandersville Railroad The Sandersville Railroad was originally operated from Tennille, Georgia, to Sandersville, Georgia and chartered in 1893 as a subsidiary of the Central of Georgia Railroad. Location It was extended north five miles from Sandersville to a kaolin ...

was built in 1893 as a part of 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 ...

, but still operates today as a privately owned shortline that connects to

Norfolk Southern Railway The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States. Headquartered in Atlanta, the company was formed in 1982 with the merger of the Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. The comp ...

's Georgia Division Savannah District at

Tennille, Georgia Tennille is a city in Washington County, Georgia, United States. The population was 1,469 in 2020. It is considered a suburb of Sandersville. History The Georgia General Assembly incorporated Tennille in 1875. The community was named after Fr ...

, 4 miles to the south. According to the U.S. National Archive, Nation of Islam leader

Elijah Muhammad Elijah Muhammad (born Elijah Robert Poole; October 7, 1897 – February 25, 1975) was an American religious leader, black separatist, and self-proclaimed Messenger of Allah who led the Nation of Islam (NOI) from 1933 until his death in 197 ...

grew up in Sandersville in the 1890s and 1900s. He is reported to have said that, in Sandersville, he witnessed three lynchings before the age of 10.

Geography

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 (0.87%) is water. The area is along the "Fall Line" that separates the Piedmont Plateau and the Atlantic Coastal Plain and is characterized by rolling hills, red clay, pine and hardwood forest, swamplands, and sand beds. The area tapers off from north to south and becomes more flat. Heading north it becomes more hilly with higher elevations.

Climate

Demographics

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 5,813 people, 2,213 households, and 1,425 families residing in the city.

Economy

The economy of Sandersville was based on agriculture, particularly cotton, for many years. In the 1950s, an industry developed based on the mining and processing of

found in the area. Sandersville is home to the

Education

Washington County School District

The Washington County School District holds pre-school to grade twelve, and consists of a primary and elementary school, a middle school, and a high school. The district has 220 full-time teachers and over 3,821 students. *Ridge Road Primary School *Ridge Road Elementary School *T. J. Elder Middle School * Washington County High School

Private education

* Brentwood School (grades K-3 through 12)

Higher education

Oconee Fall Line Technical College Oconee Fall Line Technical College (OFTC) is a public community college with its main campuses in Sandersville and Dublin, Georgia. It is part of the Technical College System of Georgia and provides education services for an eleven-county servi ...

- Main Campus orth Campus *

Georgia Military College Georgia Military College (GMC) is a Public college, public military junior college in Milledgeville, Georgia. It is divided into the junior college, a military junior college program, high school, middle school, and elementary school. It was ori ...

- Extension Centre

Sports

Sandersville was home to the

minor league baseball Minor League Baseball (MiLB) is a professional baseball organization below Major League Baseball (MLB), constituted of teams affiliated with MLB clubs. It was founded on September 5, 1901, in response to the growing dominance of the National Le ...

teams, the Sandersville Giants (1955–1956) and Sandersville Wacos (1953–1954). Sandersville played in the Class D

Georgia State League The Georgia State League was an American Class D minor league in professional baseball that existed in 1906, 1914, 1920–1921 and 1948–1956. During its last incarnation, it existed alongside two nearby Class D circuits, the Georgia–Florida Le ...

(GSL) from 1953 to 1956 and played at Sandersville Baseball Park.

Baseball Hall of Fame The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, operated by a private foundation. It serves as the central collection and gathering space for the history of baseball in the United S ...

inductee

Willie McCovey Willie Lee McCovey (January 10, 1938 – October 31, 2018), nicknamed "Stretch" and "Willie Mac", was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a first baseman from 1959 to 1980, most notably as a member of ...

played for the Sandersville Giants in 1955. The team folded along with the Georgia State League following the 1956 season. Sandersville was an affiliate of the

Milwaukee Braves The Milwaukee Braves were a Major League Baseball club that played in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, from 1953 to 1965, having previously played in Boston, Massachusetts, as the Boston Braves. After relocating to Atlanta, Georgia, in 1966 they were rename ...

(1953) and

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...

(1955–1956).

Newspaper

Sandersville has two newspapers: ''The Sandersville Progress'' and "The Spotlight". They both are published weekly. The Sandersville Progress began publication in 1870.

Notable people

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 ...

Doris Duke Doris Duke (November 22, 1912 – October 28, 1993) was an American billionaire tobacco heiress, philanthropist, and socialite. She was often called "the richest girl in the world". Her great wealth, luxurious lifestyle, and love life attracted ...

, soul singer * Robert Edwards, professional football player * Terrence Edwards, professional football player * Thomas W. Hardwick, lawyer and 63rd

Herbert Jefferson Jr. {{BLP sources, date=March 2013 {{Infobox person , name = Herbert Jefferson Jr. , image = Herbert Jefferson, Jr. by Gage Skidmore.jpg , caption = Herbert Jefferson Jr., at the 2012 Phoenix Comicon , birth_date = {{birth date and age, mf=yes, 1946, ...

, actor * Marvin Lane, professional baseball player * Greg Minor, professional basketball player *

, Leader of the Nation of Islam *

Takeo Spikes Takeo Gerard Spikes (; born December 17, 1976) is an American former professional American football, football player who was a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for Auburn Tigers football, Auburn Tiger ...

, professional football player * Coot Veal, professional baseball player *

Allisha Gray Allisha Gray ( ; born January 12, 1995) is an American professional basketball player for the Atlanta Dream of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She won a gold medal in Basketball at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Women's 3x3 tou ...

, professional basketball player and Olympic gold medalist

References

External links

Official website for the City of Sandersville

Sandersville page on Georgia.govOfficial website for the Washington County Board of Education
{{authority control Cities in Georgia (U.S. state) Cities in Washington County, Georgia County seats in Georgia (U.S. state)