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Macon, Georgia

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Template:Short description Template:Distinguish Template:Redirect-confused Template:For Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox settlement Macon (Template:IPAc-en Template:Respell), officially Macon–Bibb County, is a consolidated city-county in Georgia, United States. Situated near the fall line of the Ocmulgee River, it is Template:Convert southeast of Atlanta and near the state's geographic center—hence its nickname "The Heart of Georgia".

Macon's population was 157,346 in the 2020 census.<ref name="QuickFacts">Template:Cite web</ref> It is the principal city of the Macon metropolitan statistical area, which had 234,802 people in 2020.<ref name="2020Pop" /> It also is the largest city in the Macon–Warner Robins combined statistical area (CSA), which had about 420,693 residents in 2017, and adjoins the Atlanta metropolitan area to the northwest.

Voters approved the consolidation of the City of Macon and Bibb County governments in a 2012 referendum. Macon became the state's fourth-largest city (after Augusta) when the merger became official on January 1, 2014.<ref name=maconbibb>Template:Cite web</ref>

Macon is served by three interstate highways: I-16 (connecting to Savannah and Coastal Georgia), I-75 (connecting to Atlanta to the north and Valdosta to the south), and I-475 (a city bypass highway). The area has two, small, general-aviation airports, Middle Georgia Regional Airport and Herbert Smart Downtown Airport. Residents traveling to and from the area mainly use the large commercial airport in Atlanta, roughly 80 miles to the northwest.

The city has several institutions of higher education and numerous museums and tourism sites.

History

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Template:See also Macon was founded on the site of the Ocmulgee Old Fields, where the Creek Indians lived in the 18th century. Their predecessors, the Mississippian culture, built a powerful agriculture-based chiefdom (950–1100 AD). The Mississippian culture constructed earthwork mounds for ceremonial, religious, and burial purposes. Indigenous peoples inhabited the areas along the Southeast's rivers for 13,000 years before Europeans arrived.<ref name="georgiaencyclopedia1">Template:Cite web</ref>

Macon was developed at the site of Fort Benjamin Hawkins, built in 1809 at President Thomas Jefferson's direction after he forced the Creek to cede their lands east of the Ocmulgee River. (Archeological excavations in the 21st century found evidence of two separate fortifications.)<ref name="macon">Template:Cite web</ref> The fort was named for Benjamin Hawkins, who served as superintendent of Indian Affairs for the Southeast territory south of the Ohio River for more than 20 years, had lived among the Creek, and was married to a Creek woman. Located at the fall line of the Ocmulgee River, the fort established a trading post with native peoples at the river's most inland point navigable from the Low Country.

File:Sholes' directory of the city of Macon, September 1st, 1888. Volume III - DPLA - 479e385385443ba8674ba7fafe08c6b4.pdf
Sholes' directory of the city of Macon, September 1, 1888

Fort Hawkins guarded the Lower Creek Pathway, an extensive and well-traveled American Indian network that the U.S. government later improved as the Federal Road, linking Washington, DC, to the ports of Mobile, Alabama, and New Orleans, Louisiana.<ref name="macon"/> Used for trading with the Creek, the fort also was used by state militia and federal troops. It was a major military distribution point during the War of 1812 and the Creek War of 1813. After the wars, it was a trading post and garrisoned troops until 1821. Decommissioned around 1828, it later burned to the ground. A replica of the southeast blockhouse, built in 1938, stands on an east Macon hill. Fort Hawkins Grammar School occupied part of the site. In the 21st century, archeological excavations have revealed more of the fort, increasing its historical significance, and led to further reconstruction planning for this major historical site.<ref name="macon"/>

File:Mill Children in Macon 2.jpg
Child labor in Macon, 1909, photo by Lewis Hine
25-cent bill inscribed "THIS CERTIFIES THAT THERE HAS BEEN DEPOSITED IN THE MACON SAVINGS BANK IN CONFEDERATE TREASURY NOTES TWENTY FIVE CENTS. Payable to the Holder with FOUR PER CENT INTEREST. after thirty days notice in Confederate Treasury Notes when presented in sums of FIVE DOLLARS MACON, GA. March 16. 1863."
1863 twenty-five cent bill from Macon Savings Bank

With the arrival of more settlers, Fort Hawkins was renamed "Newtown". After Bibb County's organization in 1822, the city was chartered as the county seat in 1823 and officially named Macon, in honor of Nathaniel Macon,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> a statesman from North Carolina, from where many early Georgia residents hailed. City planners envisioned "a city within a park" and created a city of spacious streets and landscapes. Over Template:Convert were dedicated for Central City Park, and ordinances required residents to plant shade trees in their front yards.

File:Wesleyan College, circa 1877 - DPLA - 6098fed0d90914d03c98118db843e638.jpg
Wesleyan College circa 1877

Because of the beneficial local Black Belt geology and the availability of slave labor, cotton became the mainstay of Macon's early economy.<ref name="search.ebscohost.com">Template:Cite journal</ref> The city's location on the Ocmulgee River aided initial economic expansion, providing shipping access to new markets. Cotton steamboats, stagecoaches, and the 1843 arrival of the railroad increased marketing opportunities and contributed to Macon's economic prosperity.

Macon's growth had other benefits. In 1836, the Georgia Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church chose Macon as the location for Wesleyan College, the first U.S. college to grant women college degrees.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Nonetheless, Macon came in last in the 1855 referendum voting to be Georgia's capital city with 3,802 votes.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

File:RG77 CWMF N76 04.jpg
"Map of Macon and Vicinity" during the American Civil War, showing the Confederate arsenals, as well as Camp Oglethorpe and "Graveyard of Union Prisoners" (NAID 305649)

During the American Civil War, Macon served as the official arsenal of the Confederacy<ref name="search.ebscohost.com"/> manufacturing percussion caps, friction primers, and pressed bullets.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Camp Oglethorpe was established as a prison for captured Union officers and enlisted men. Later, it held only officers, at one time numbering 2,300. The camp was evacuated in 1864.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Macon City Hall served as the temporary state capitol in 1864 and was converted to a hospital for wounded Confederate soldiers. Union General William Tecumseh Sherman spared Macon on his march to the sea. His troops sacked the nearby state capital of Milledgeville, and Maconites prepared for an attack. Sherman, however, passed by without entering Macon.

The Macon Telegraph reported the city had furnished 23 companies of men for the Confederacy, but casualties were high. By the war's end, Maconite survivors fit for duty could fill only five companies.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

The city was taken by Union forces during Wilson's Raid on April 20, 1865.<ref>"The Last Battle of the Civil War". Digital Gallery, University of South Georgia.</ref>

File:Georgia - Macon - NARA - 23937141 (cropped).jpg
Railyards in Macon, 1943

Because of its central location, Macon developed as a state transportation hub. In 1895, The New York Times dubbed Macon "The Central City" because of its emergence as a railroad transportation and textile factory hub.<ref>Template:Cite webTemplate:Dead link</ref> Terminal Station was built in 1916.<ref name="railga.com">Template:Cite web</ref> In the 20th century, Macon grew into a prospering town in Middle Georgia.

Template:Wide image

Macon has been impacted by natural catastrophes. In 1994, Tropical Storm Alberto made landfall in Florida and flooded several Georgia cities. Macon, which received Template:Convert of rain, suffered major flooding.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

On May 11, 2008, an EF2 tornado hit Macon. Touching down in nearby Lizella, the tornado moved along the southern shore of Lake Tobesofkee, continued into Macon, and lifted in Twiggs County. The storm's total path length was Template:Convert, and its path width was Template:Convert.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The tornado produced sporadic areas of major damage, with widespread straight-line wind damage to the south of its path. The most significant damage was along Eisenhower Parkway and Pio Nono Avenue in Macon, where two businesses were destroyed and several others were heavily damaged. The tornado also impacted Macon State College, where almost 50% of the campus's trees were snapped or uprooted and several buildings were damaged, with the gymnasium. The tornado's intensity varied from EF0 to EF2, with the EF2 damage and winds up to Template:Convert occurring near the intersection of Eisenhower Parkway and Pio Nono Avenue.

Consolidation

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File:Bibb County Georgia Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Macon Highlighted.svg
Location of Macon within Bibb County before consolidation

On July 31, 2012, voters in Macon (57.8% approval) and Bibb County (56.7% approval) passed a referendum to merge the governments of the city of Macon and most of unincorporated Bibb County. The vote came after the Georgia General Assembly passed House Bill 1171, authorizing the referendum earlier in the year;<ref name=maconbibb/><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Four previous consolidation attempts (in 1933, 1960, 1972, and 1976) failed.<ref name="City-County Consolidation Proposals, 1921 - Present">Template:Cite report</ref><ref>Template:Cite report</ref><ref name=autogenerated3>Consolidation pass for Macon and Bibb county in the 2012 vote. "Consolidation of City and County Governments: Attempts in Five Cities". Template:Webarchive. Retrieved September 14, 2010.</ref>

As a result of the referendum, the Macon and Bibb County governments were replaced with a mayor and a nine-member county commission elected by districts, and a portion of Macon extending into nearby Jones County was disincorporated. Robert Reichert was elected the first mayor of Macon-Bibb in the September 2013 election, which required a runoff with C. Jack Ellis in October.<ref name="redsignedGovernment">Template:Cite newsTemplate:Subscription required</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="ReichertMaconBibb">Template:Cite newsTemplate:Subscription required</ref>

Geography

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File:Maconbibbcourthouse.jpg
The Macon-Bibb County Courthouse

The Ocmulgee River is a major river that runs through the city. Macon is one of Georgia's three major Fall Line cities, along with Augusta and Columbus. The Fall Line is where the hills of the Piedmont plateau meet the flat terrain of the coastal plain. As such, Macon has a varied landscape of rolling hills on the north side and flat plains on the south. The fall line, where the elevation drops noticeably, causes rivers and creeks in the area to flow rapidly toward the ocean. In the past, Macon and other Fall Line cities had many textile mills powered by the rivers.

Macon is located at Template:Coord (32.834839, −83.651672).<ref name="GR1">Template:Cite web</ref> According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of Template:Convert, of which Template:Convert (0.82%) is covered by water. Macon is about Template:Convert above mean sea level.<ref name="GR3" />

Climate

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Macon has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen climate classification Cfa). The normal monthly mean temperatures range from Template:Convert in January to Template:Convert in July. On average, 4.8 days have Template:Convert+ highs,Template:Efn and 83 days have Template:Convert+ highs,Template:Efn and 43 days with a low at or below freezing; the average window for freezing temperatures is November 7 thru March 22, allowing a growing season of 228 days.

The city has an average annual precipitation of Template:Convert. The wettest day on record was July 5, 1994, with Template:Convert of rain, and the wettest month on record was July 1994, with Template:Convert of rain. Since 1892, though, when precipitation records for the city began, two months, October 1961 and October 1963, did not even record a trace of precipitation in the city, and two other months, October 1939 and May 2007, only recorded a trace.<ref name = NCDC/> Snow is occasional, with about half of the winters receiving trace amounts or no snowfall, averaging Template:Convert; the snowiest winter was 1972−73 with Template:Convert.<ref name = NCDC/><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=WeatherRef1 >Template:Cite web</ref> Template:Clear <section begin="weather box" />Template:Weather box<section end="weather box" />

Surrounding cities and towns

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Template:Main Template:Wide image

Demographics

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Template:US Census population

Locator map of the Macon-Warner Robins-Fort Valley CSA in central Georgia
Location of the Macon-Warner Robins-Fort Valley CSA and its components: Template:Legend Template:Legend

Macon is the largest principal city in the Macon-Warner Robins-Fort Valley CSA, a combined statistical area that includes the Macon metropolitan area (Bibb, Crawford, Jones, Monroe, and Twiggs Counties) and the Warner Robins metropolitan area (Houston, Peach, and Pulaski Counties) with a combined population of 411,898 in the 2010 census.<ref name="GR2" />

Macon-Bibb County, Georgia – Racial and ethnic composition
Template:Nobold
Race / Ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic) Pop 2000<ref name=2000CensusP004>Template:Cite web</ref> Pop 2010<ref name=2010CensusP2>Template:Cite web</ref> Template:Partial<ref name=2020CensusP2>Template:Cite web</ref> % 2000 % 2010 Template:Partial
White alone (NH) 34,050 25,296 56,787 35.01% 27.69% 36.09%
Black or African American alone (NH) 60,503 61,768 85,234 62.21% 67.62% 54.17%
Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH) 177 146 281 0.18% 0.16% 0.18%
Asian alone (NH) 608 683 3,209 0.63% 0.75% 2.04%
Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone (NH) 27 28 42 0.03% 0.03% 0.03%
Other race alone (NH) 60 97 602 0.06% 0.11% 0.38%
Mixed race or multiracial (NH) 664 1,069 4,454 0.68% 1.17% 2.83%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 1,166 2,264 6,737 1.20% 2.48% 4.28%
Total 97,255 91,351 157,346 100.00% 100.00% 100.00%

As of the official 2010 U.S. census,<ref name="GR2" /> the population of Macon was 91,351. In the last official census, in 2000, 97,255 people, 38,444 households, and 24,219 families were residing in the city. The population density was Template:Convert. The 44,341 housing units had an average density of Template:Convert. The racial makeup of the city was 67.94% African American, 28.56% White, 0.02% Native American, 0.65% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.46% from other races, and 0.77% from two or more races. Hispanics or Latinos of any race were 2.48% of the population. By the 2020 census, its population increased to 157,346.

Of the 38,444 households in 2000, 30.1% had children under 18 living with them, 33.0% were married couples living together, 25.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 37.0% were not families. About 31.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.1% had someone living alone who was 65 or older. The average household size was 2.44 and the average family size was 3.08.

In the city, the age distribution was 26.9% under 18, 11.3% from 18 to 24, 27.5% from 25 to 44, 20.0% from 45 to 64, and 14.3% who were 65 or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females, there were 79.7 males. For every 100 females 18 and over, there were 72.8 males.

Crime

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Since 2020, crime has become a higher concern in the city. In 2022, Macon set a homicide record with 70.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2023, Macon had the highest crime rate in Georgia: 52.6 crimes per 1,000 residents.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Gang activity is a major reason for the crime problem in Macon.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The Georgia Bureau of Investigation expanded its Gang Task Force Office to Macon in 2023.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> As of 2024, crime has reduced in Macon compared to 2022 and 2023.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Economy

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The aerospace, advanced manufacturing, food processing, healthcare, professional services, and warehouse and distribution industries drive the economy in Macon-Bibb County. Long-standing, large, private employers include Mercer University, GEICO's Southeast Corporate Headquarters, YKK USA, and Norfolk Southern Railway's Brosnan Yard.

The decline of the textile industry in the South, along with the shuttering of other large manufacturing operations, such as the closing of the Brown and Williamson plant in 2006, caused a decline in the city's economy in the 2000s. In recent years, the city has successfully landed numerous new employers to diversify the economy, such as Irving Consumer Products and Kuhmo Tire manufacturing plants, as well as multiple aerospace employers at the Middle Georgia Regional Airport, including an Embraer aircraft maintenance facility.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The health-care and social-assistance sector is the largest industry in Macon by number of employees,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> with the Atrium Health Navicent and Piedmont Healthcare Macon hospital systems, two of the city's largest employers, making Macon the healthcare hub for the Middle and South Georgia regions.

Personal income

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The 2010 Census listed Macon's median household income as $28,366, below the state average of $49,347. The median family income was $37,268. Full-time working males had a median income of $34,163, higher than the $28,082 for females. The city's per capita income was $17,010. About 24.1% of families and 30.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 43.6% of those under 18 and 18.4% of those over 65.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Retail

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Malls include The Shoppes at River Crossing, Macon Mall, and Eisenhower Crossing. TraditionalTemplate:Clarify shopping centers are in the downtown area and Ingleside Village.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Military

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Macon is the headquarters of the 48th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, Georgia Army National Guard. The largest single-site industrial complex in Georgia,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Robins Air Force Base, is 10 miles south of Macon on Highway 247, just east of Warner Robins.

Arts and culture

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Template:Promotional

Musical heritage

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Macon has been home for numerous musicians and composers, including Emmett Miller, The Allman Brothers Band, Randy Crawford, Mark Heard, Lucille Hegamin, Ben Johnston, Otis Redding, Little Richard, Mike Mills,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and Bill Berry of R.E.M., as well as more recent artists like violinist Robert McDuffie and country artist Jason Aldean.Template:Clarify Capricorn Records, run by Macon natives Phil Walden and briefly Alan Walden, made the city a Southern rock music production center in the late 1960s and 1970s.<ref name=HallOfFame>Georgia Music Hall of Fame. "Alan Walden - Georgia Music Hall of Fame 2003 Inductee" Template:Webarchive. Georgiamusicstore.com. Retrieved August 27, 2008.</ref>

The Macon Symphony Orchestra,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> a youth symphony, and the Middle Georgia Concert Band perform at the Grand Opera House in downtown Macon.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The Georgia Music Hall of Fame was located in Macon from 1996 to 2011.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Festivals

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File:Chblossomfest.JPG
Cherry Blossom Festival
File:2004-03121sunset.jpg
Georgia State Fair
  • International Cherry Blossom Festival, a 10-day celebration, is held every mid-March in Macon.
  • The Mulberry Street Festival,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> an arts and crafts festival, is held downtown the last weekend of March.
  • The Juneteenth Freedom Festival is an annual June performing-arts and educational celebration of the end of American slavery in 1865, celebrating black freedom and heritage both ancient and contemporary.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
  • Pan African Festival, an annual celebration of the African diaspora and culture, is held in April.
  • Ocmulgee Indigenous Celebration, a celebration of the original residents of the land where Macon now sits, is held every third weekend in September<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> at Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Representatives from the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, Seminole, and other nations come to share stories, exhibit Native art, and perform traditional songs and dance.
  • Skydog<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> is a music festival celebrating the birthday, life, and music of Skydog (Duane Allman) held in November.
  • The Georgia Music Hall of Fame hosts Georgia Music Week in September.
  • Macon's annual Bragg Jam festival features an Art and Kids' Festival along the Ocmulgee Heritage Trail and a nighttime pub crawl.
  • Macon Film Festival<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> is an annual celebration of independent films, held the third weekend in July.

Points of interest

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File:Fort Hawkins Macon, Georgia.jpg
Fort Benjamin Hawkins

Historical sites

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Museums

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Community

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  • City Hall, Georgia's capital for part of the Civil War
File:Macon Auditorium.JPG
Macon City Auditorium - featuring the world's largest true copper dome
  • Douglass Theatre, named for its founder Charles Henry Douglass. An entrepreneur from a prominent black family, he was an established theatre developer well versed in the vaudeville and entertainment business. The theatre has undergone modern renovations and hosts numerous theatrical events.
  • The Grand Opera House, where the Macon Symphony Orchestra performs
  • Hay House - also known as the "Johnston-Felton-Hay House," it has been referred to as the "Palace of the South"<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
  • City Auditorium, the world's largest true copper dome<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
  • Macon Coliseum
  • Macon Little Theatre, established in 1934, is the area's oldest community theatre, producing seven plays/musicals per season
  • Waddell Barnes Botanical Gardens
  • Theatre Macon, in the old Ritz Theatre; they perform around nine shows a year

Sports

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Macon is home to the Mercer Bears, with NCAA Division I teams in soccer (men's and women's), football, baseball, basketball (men's and women's), tennis, and lacrosse. Central Georgia Technical College competes in men's and women's basketball. Wesleyan College, a women's school, has basketball, soccer, cross country, tennis, softball, and volleyball teams.

Club Sport League Venue
Macon Bacon<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Baseball Coastal Plain League Luther Williams Field
Macon Mayhem Ice hockey SPHL Macon Coliseum

Former teams

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Club Sport League Venue Active
Macon State College Blue Storm Various NCCAA Various 2009–2013
Macon Central City/Hornets Baseball Southern League Central City Park 1892–1894
Macon Highlanders/Brigands/Peaches/Tigers Baseball South Atlantic League Central City Park and Luther Williams Field 1904–1917, 1923–1930
Macon Peaches/Dodgers/Redbirds/Pirates Baseball Southeastern League (1932), South Atlantic League (1936–42, 1946–60, 1962–63, 1980–87), Southern Association (1961), Southern League (1964, 1966–67) Luther Williams Field 1932, 1936–1942, 1946–1960, 1961–1964, 1966–1967, 1980–1982
Macon Braves Baseball South Atlantic League Luther Williams Field 1991–2002
Macon Peaches Baseball Southeastern League Luther Williams Field 2003
Macon Music Baseball South Coast League Luther Williams Field 2007
Macon Pinetoppers Baseball Peach State League Luther Williams Field 2010
Macon Blaze Basketball World Basketball Association Macon Coliseum 2005
Macon Whoopees Ice hockey Southern Hockey League Macon Coliseum 1974
Macon Whoopee Ice hockey Central Hockey League (1996–2001), ECHL (2001–02) Macon Coliseum 1996–2002
Macon Trax Ice hockey Atlantic Coast Hockey League (2002–03), World Hockey Association 2 (2003–04), Southern Professional Hockey League (2004–05) Macon Coliseum 2002–2005
Macon Knights Arena football af2 Macon Coliseum 2001–2006
Macon Steel Indoor football American Indoor Football Macon Coliseum 2012
Georgia Doom Indoor football American Arena League Macon Coliseum 2018–2019
Middle Georgia United Soccer UPSL Cavalier Fields 2021-2021

Parks and recreation

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The city maintains several parks and community centers.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

File:OcmulgeeRiverWalk.jpg
Ocmulgee Riverwalk
File:Macon Skatepark Bowl.jpg
Central City Skatepark
File:Central City Park, circa 1877 - DPLA - 98e6a4d7a40d9c7f6b21a448aed97c08.jpeg
Central City Park, 1877
  • Ocmulgee Heritage Trail - a green way of parks, plazas, and landmarks along the Ocmulgee River in downtown Macon
  • Bloomfield Park
  • East Macon Park
  • Frank Johnson Recreation Center
  • Freedom Park
  • L.H. Williams Community School Center
  • Memorial Park
  • North Macon Park
  • Rosa Jackson
  • Senior Center
  • John Drew Smith Tennis Center
  • Tattnall Square Tennis Center
  • Charles H. Jones Gateway Park<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
  • Carolyn Crayton Park (formerly Central City Park)<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
  • Central City Skatepark

Baconsfield Park

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U.S. Senator Augustus Bacon, of Georgia, in his 1911 will, devised land in Macon in trust, to be used as a public park for the exclusive benefit of white people. The park, known as Baconsfield, was operated in that manner for many years.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In Evans v. Newton,<ref>382 U.S. 296 (1966),</ref> the Supreme Court of the United States held that the park could not continue to be operated on a racially discriminatory basis. The Supreme Court of Georgia thereupon declared "that the sole purpose for which the trust was created has become impossible of accomplishment" and remanded the case to the trial court, which held cy-près doctrine to be inapplicable, since the park's segregated character was an essential and inseparable part of Bacon's plan. The trial court ruled that the trust failed and that the property reverted to Bacon's heirs. The Supreme Court of Georgia<ref>224 Ga. 826, 165 S.E.2d 160 (1968)</ref> and the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed.<ref>Evans v. Abney, 396 U.S. 435 (1970).</ref> The 50-acre (20 ha) park was lost and commercially developed.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Government

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Template:See also

File:City Hall Macon.jpg
Macon City Hall

Prior to 2013, the city government consisted of a mayor and city council. Robert Reichert was elected the first mayor of the consolidated Macon-Bibb County in October 2013.<ref name="ReichertMaconBibb" /> There are also 9 County Commissioners elected from districts within the county.<ref name="redsignedGovernment" />

On March 15, 2019, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission charged the former County Manager, Dale M. Walker, with fraud.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Education

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File:Mercer University Administration Building.jpg
Mercer University
File:Georgia Academy for the Blind on Vineville, Macon Georgia USA, September 2021 - 02.jpg
Georgia Academy for the Blind

Public schools

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Bibb County Public School District operates district public schools.

Public high schools include:

Georgia Academy for the Blind, operated by the state of Georgia, is a statewide school for blind students.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Also operated by Bibb County Public Schools:

Private high schools

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Macon is home to several private high schools, many of which were established as segregation academies for parents wishing to avoid the desegration of private schools, with the exception of Mount de Sales Academy.<ref name="mansis">Template:Cite book</ref>

State public charter schools

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Colleges and universities

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Approximately 30,000 college students live in the greater Macon area.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Media

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Template:See also Macon has a substantial number of local television and radio stations. It is also served by two local papers.

Newspapers and magazines

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  • The 11th Hour
  • Gateway Macon (web portal), The Local's Guide for Things To Do in Macon
  • Macon Business Journal, a journal chronicling the business community in the Middle Georgia region
  • Macon Community News, a monthly positive news print newspaper
  • The Mercer Cluster
  • The Telegraph, a daily newspaper published in Macon
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The Simpsons

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In "Bart on the Road", the Season 7 episode of The Simpsons, character Nelson Muntz suggests the boys take a road trip to Macon. Later he reminds the group that none of their trouble would have happened had they chosen Macon over Knoxville, Tennessee.

Gone with the Wind

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In Margaret Mitchell's novel Gone with the Wind, Aunt Pittypat's coachman, Uncle Peter, protected her when she fled to Macon during Sherman's assault on Atlanta.

Telltale's The Walking Dead

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The city of Macon is visited in The Walking Dead episodic adventure game by Telltale Games and its standalone DLC 400 Days.

In Season One, the city is portrayed as a small rural town and is visited by the main characters as they temporarily set up camp in the city. The city is the hometown of the game's main protagonist and the playable character throughout the game, Lee Everett. He and the other survivors barricade themselves inside his family's pharmacy as they are besieged by zombies. After one of the survivors dies, the group heads to a motel on the outskirts of Macon where they set up camp for two more episodes, before eventually deciding to leave the city for Savannah.

In 400 Days, the city is briefly shown in the episode "Vince's Story" as a flashback to when the episode's main character, Vince, fatally shoots an unseen and unnamed resident of the city before fleeing into the night before the apocalypse began. This murder would ultimately lead to Vince's arrest and the events that occurred at the beginning of the zombie apocalypse.

"Walkin' Back to Georgia"

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In Jim Croce's "Walkin' Back to Georgia" on his album You Don't Mess Around With Jim, Croce mentions Macon in the lyric "But she's the girl who said she loved me on that hot dusty Macon road."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Goin' to Georgia by The Mountain Goats

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The Mountain Goats mention crossing Macon County line in their song Going to Georgia.

Infrastructure

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Hospitals

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Transportation

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Template:Anchor

Airports

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Highways

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Interstates:

U.S. Routes:

State Routes:

Mass transit

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File:Macon Transit Authority MAC City Bus.jpg
MTA-MAC City Bus

The Macon Transit Authority (MTA) is Macon's public-transit system, operating the Public Transit City Bus System throughout Macon-Bibb County. As of 2022, the MTA has a total of 10 city bus routes, operating out of the Terminal Station hub.<ref name="ridingMacon">Template:Cite newsTemplate:Subscription required</ref>

Intercity bus and rail

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Greyhound Lines provides intercity bus service. In 2019, they moved from a stand-alone bus station to the Terminal Station to be in the same hub as the local mass transit busses.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Macon grew as a center of rail transport after the 1846 opening of the Macon and Western Railroad.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Two of the most note-worthy train companies operating through the city were the Central of Georgia Railway and the Southern Railway. The city continued to be served by passenger trains at Terminal Station until 1971. The Frisco Railroad's Kansas City–Florida Special served the city until 1964.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The Southern's Royal Palm ran from Cincinnati, through Macon, to Miami, Florida until 1966. (A truncated route served to Valdosta, Georgia until 1970.) The Central of Georgia's Nancy Hanks ran through Macon, from Atlanta to Savannah until 1971. Since at least 2006 Macon has been included in the proposed Georgia Rail Passenger Program to restore inter-city rail service but as of 2020, Georgia lacks any inter-city passenger rail service other than the federally funded inter-state Amtrak services. In 2022, Amtrak announced a new fifteen-year plan to expand its services, which Macon was included in.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Pedestrians and cycling

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  • Heritage Trail
  • Ocmulgee Heritage Trail

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Notable people

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Sister cities

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Macon has six sister cities, as designated by Sister Cities International, Inc. (SCI):<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Template:Div col

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See also

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Notes

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References

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Bibliography

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Template:Refbegin Published in 19th century

Published in 20th century

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  • Ida Young, Julius Gholson, and Clara Nell Hargrove. History of Macon, Georgia (Macon, Ga.: Lyon, Marshall & Brooks, 1950).
  • John A. Eisterhold. "Commercial, Financial, and Industrial Macon, Georgia, During the 1840s", The Georgia Historical Quarterly, Winter 1969, Vol. 53 Issue 4, pp 424–441
  • James H. Stone. "Economic Conditions in Macon, Georgia in the 1830s", The Georgia Historical Quarterly, Summer 1970, Vol. 54 Issue 2, pp 209–225
  • Bowling C. Yates. "Macon, Georgia, Inland Trading Center 1826–1836", The Georgia Historical Quarterly, Fall 1971, Vol. 55 Issue 3, pp 365–377
  • McInvale, Morton Ray "Macon, Georgia: The War Years, 1861–1865" (Ph.D. dissertation, Florida State University, 1973)
  • Roger K. Hux. "The Ku Klux Klan in Macon 1919–1925", The Georgia Historical Quarterly, Summer 1978, Vol. 62 Issue 2, pp 155–168
  • Nancy Anderson, Macon: A Pictorial History (Virginia Beach, Va.: Donning, 1979).
  • Donnie D. Bellamy. "Macon, Georgia, 1823–1860: A Study in Urban Slavery", Phylon 45 (December 1984): 300–304, 308–309
  • Kristina Simms. Macon, Georgia's Central City: An Illustrated History (Chatsworth, Calif.: Windsor, 1989).
  • Titus Brown. "Origins of African American Education in Macon, Georgia 1865–1866", Journal of South Georgia History, Oct 1996, Vol. 11, pp 43–59
  • Macon: An Architectural Historical Guide (Macon, Ga.: Middle Georgia Historical Society, 1996).
  • Macon's Black Heritage: The Untold Story (Macon, Ga.: Tubman African American Museum, 1997).
  • Matthew W. Norman. "James H. Burton and the Confederate States Armory at Macon", The Georgia Historical Quarterly, Winter 1997, Vol. 81 Issue 4, pp 974–987
  • Titus Brown. "A New England Missionary and African-American Education in Macon: Raymond G. Von Tobel at the Ballard Normal School, 1908–1935", The Georgia Historical Quarterly, Summer 1998, Vol. 82 Issue 2, pp 283–304
  • Robert S. Davis. Cotton, Fire, & Dreams: The Robert Findlay Iron Works and Heavy Industry in Macon, Georgia, 1839–1912 (Macon, Ga., 1998)
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Published in 21st century

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  • Robert Scott Davis. "A Cotton Kingdom Retooled for War: The Macon Arsenal and the Confederate Ordnance Establishment", The Georgia Historical Quarterly, Fall 2007, Vol. 91 Issue 3, pp 266–291
  • Candace Dyer, Street Singers, Soul Shakers, Rebels with a Cause: Music from Macon (Macon, Ga.: Indigo Publishing Group, 2008).
  • Mara L. Keire. For Business and Pleasure: Red-Light Districts and the Regulation of Vice in the United States, 1890–1933 (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2010); 248 pages; History and popular culture of districts in Macon, Ga., and other cities
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  • Wynne, Ben, Something in the Water: A History of Music in Macon, Georgia, 1823-1980 (Mercer University Press, 2021)

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