Smithville is a city in
Lee 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 593 in 2020. It is part of the
Albany, Georgia
Albany ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. Located on the Flint River, it is the county seat of Dougherty County, Georgia, Dougherty County, and is the sole incorporated city in that county. Located in Southwest Geo ...
metropolitan statistical area.
History
A post office was established at Smithville in 1871. The community was named after the local Smith family. The
Georgia General Assembly
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 directl ...
incorporated Smithville as a town in 1863.
The
Morgan Farm is located near Smithville, and is a late-19th century historic, rural African American
farmstead
A farmstead refers to the buildings and service areas associated with a farm. It consists of a house belonging to a farm along with the surrounding buildings. The characteristics of a specific farmstead reflect the local landscape, which provides ...
recognized as a
Centennial Farm (1995) by the state of Georgia, and listed as 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 ...
(1998).
[ With ]
Geography
Smithville is located in northwestern Lee County at (31.902073, -84.255336).
It is bordered to the north by the
Sumter County line.
U.S. Route 19 runs through the west side of the city, leading south to
Leesburg, the Lee
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 ...
, and north to
Americus.
Georgia State Route 118 passes through the center of Smithville, leading east to
Leslie and southwest to
Dawson.
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 , all of it recorded as land.
forms the northeast border of the city. The creek is a south-flowing tributary of
Muckalee Creek and part of the
Flint River watershed.
Demographics
As of the
2020 United States census, there were 593 people, 239 households, and 143 families residing in the city.
Education
Public schools are operated by the
Lee County School District. Students are zoned to
Lee County High School.
Notable people
*
Bessie Jones (1902–1984), gospel and folk singer
*
Bill McAfee (1907–1958), baseball player and mayor
*
Tampa Red
Hudson Whittaker (born Hudson Woodbridge; January 8, 1903March 19, 1981), known as Tampa Red, was an American Chicago blues musician.
His distinctive single-string slide guitar style, songwriting and bottleneck technique influenced other Chicago ...
(1904–1981), also known as
Hudson Woodbridge,
Chicago blues
Chicago blues is a form of blues music that developed in Chicago, Illinois. It is based on earlier blues idioms, such as Delta blues, but is performed in an urban style. It developed alongside the Great Migration of African Americans of the fi ...
and
hokum
Hokum is a particular song type of American blues music—a song which uses extended analogies or euphemistic terms to make humorous, sexual innuendos. This trope goes back to early dirty blues recordings, enjoyed huge commercial success in ...
musician in
Blues Hall of Fame
The Blues Hall of Fame is a music museum operated by the Blues Foundation at 421 S. Main Street in Memphis, Tennessee. Initially, the "Blues Hall of Fame" was not a physical building, but a listing of people who have significantly contributed to b ...
*
William J. Sears (1874–1944),
congressman
A member of congress (MOC), also known as a congressman or congresswoman, is a person who has been appointed or elected and inducted into an official body called a congress, typically to represent a particular constituency in a legislature. The t ...
, from
Florida
Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...
*
Ja'Lia Taylor (born 1989) first woman to run for mayor of Smithville, academia, social justice activist
Gallery
File:Dismuke_Public_Safety_Building,_Smithville_Police_Department.jpg, Dismuke Public Safety Building, houses the Smithville Police Department
File:Smithville_Post_Office.jpg, Smithville Post Office
References
External links
Smithville- State of Georgia
{{authority control
Cities in Georgia (U.S. state)
Cities in Lee County, Georgia
Albany metropolitan area, Georgia