Editing Albany, Georgia (section)

==History==
Albany is located in a region which was long inhabited by the [[Creek people|Creek Indians]], who called it ''Thronateeska'' after their word for "[[flint]]", the valuable mineral found in beds near the Flint River. They used it for making arrowheads and other tools.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.heritagecenter.org/about.html|title=Thronateeska Heritage Center|website=Heritagecenter.org|access-date=August 27, 2017|archive-date=September 16, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150916002339/http://www.heritagecenter.org/about.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> In 1830, [[U.S. Congress]] passed the [[Indian Removal Act]], and the United States made treaties to extinguish Creek and other Native American land claims in the Southeast. The U.S. Army forcibly removed most of the native peoples to [[Indian Territory]], lands west of the [[Mississippi River]].

===Nelson Tift===
[[File:"View of the City of Albany, GA. 'The Artesian City'" - County Seat of Dougherty County (1885).jpg|thumb|left|Albany in 1885]]
[[File:Nelson Tift.jpg|thumb|Nelson Tift (1810–1891), the founder of Albany]]
European-American settlement began with [[Nelson Tift]] of [[Groton, Connecticut]], who took land along the [[Flint River (Georgia)|Flint River]] in October 1836 after [[Indian removal]].  Tift and his colleagues named the new town Albany after [[Albany, New York|the capital]] of New York; noting that New York's Albany was a commercial center located at the headwaters of the [[Hudson River]], they hoped that their town near the headwaters of the Flint would prove to be just as successful. It proved to be nowhere near as prosperous. Alexander Shotwell laid out the town in 1836, and it was incorporated as a city by an act of the General Assembly of Georgia on December 27, 1838.<ref>[http://www.albany.ga.us/city_commission/cc_index.htm "City Commission"]. {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090310014656/http://www.albany.ga.us/city_commission/cc_index.htm|date=March 10, 2009}}.</ref>

Tift was the city's leading entrepreneur for decades. An ardent booster, he promoted education, business, and railroad construction. During the Civil War he provided naval supplies and helped build two ships.  He opposed [[Radical Reconstruction]] inside the state and in Congress, and was scornful of the [[Yankee]] [[carpetbaggers]] who came in. Historian John Fair concludes that Tift became "more Southern than many natives."<ref name="fair"/> His pro-slavery attitudes before the war and his support for [[Racial segregation|segregation]] afterward made him compatible with Georgia's white elite.<ref name="fair">Fair, John D. "Nelson Tift: A Connecticut Yankee in King Cotton's Court", ''Georgia Historical Quarterly'' (2004) 88#3 pp 338-374</ref>

This area was developed for cotton cultivation by planters, who used numerous enslaved African Americans to clear lands and process the cotton. As a result of the planters' acquisition of slave workers, by 1840 Dougherty County's majority population was black, composed overwhelmingly of slaves.  The market center for cotton [[plantations in the American South|plantations]], Albany was in a prime location for shipping cotton to other markets by [[steamboat]]s. In 1858, Tift hired [[Horace King (architect)|Horace King]], a former slave and bridge builder, to construct a [[toll bridge]] over the river. King's bridge toll house still stands.

Already important as a shipping port, Albany later became an important railroad hub in southwestern Georgia. Seven lines were constructed to the town. An exhibit on trains is located at the Thronateeska Heritage Center in the former [[railroad station]].

===Carey Wentworth Styles===
After the war, [[Carey Wentworth Styles]] moved to Albany and founded the newspaper ''Albany News''. In the early years following the war, Styles, like Tift, took great exception to the [[Radical Reconstruction]] program then in force, and advocated for a more moderate response based on his interpretation of Georgia's rights under the [[Constitution of the United States|Constitution]].<ref name="Davis2012">{{cite book|author=Jefferson Davis|title=The Papers of Jefferson Davis: 1871-1879|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AKq2AgAAQBAJ&pg=PA37|date=March 12, 2012|publisher=LSU Press|isbn=978-0-8071-3907-3|pages=37–38}}</ref>  Styles backed "constitutional reconstruction" advanced by [[Benjamin H. Hill]] and sought support for the idea from the national [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic party]].<ref name="Davis2012" /><ref name="Nixon">{{cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/?clipping_id=19556720&fcfToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJmcmVlLXZpZXctaWQiOjM5NzkxNTk5MSwiaWF0IjoxNTU0NjA4NTYyLCJleHAiOjE1NTQ2OTQ5NjJ9.g8sYKoPF93l05M2pRKS_i3DlmYYd_T8ANWxQsr4movU|title=Constitution's Founder Fought for Georgia with Pen and Sword|publisher=The Atlanta Constitution|author=Raymond B. Nixon|date=June 17, 1945|access-date=April 7, 2019}}</ref> While on a trip to [[Atlanta, Georgia|Atlanta]] in May 1868, to meet with Democratic party leaders, Styles took measure of the contemporary Atlanta newspapers, and found them lacking.<ref name="AJC">{{cite web|url=https://www.ajc.com/about/ajc-history/|title=AJC History: The Story of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution|publisher=The Atlanta Journal-Constitution|date=2019|access-date=April 7, 2019|archive-date=April 1, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190401125441/https://www.ajc.com/about/ajc-history/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Styles believed them to be little more than organs for the [[Radical Republican]] reconstruction agenda.<ref name="chron_amer">{{cite web |url=http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85035943/ |title=About The Constitution. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1868–1869 |work=Chronicling America |publisher=Library of Congress |access-date=January 18, 2011}}</ref><ref name="Fishwrapper">{{cite web |title=The Atlanta Constitution |url=https://blog.newspapers.com/the-atlanta-constitution/ |website=Fishwrap |access-date=June 16, 2018 |date=June 16, 2018}}</ref> He resolved to bring a paper aligned with the Democratic party viewpoint to the Atlanta market, one supporting his constitutional reconstruction ideals.<ref name="Nixon" /><ref name="AJC" /><ref name="chron_amer" /><ref name="Fishwrapper" /> Styles moved from Albany to Atlanta, and on May 9 he announced that he had obtained the necessary financial backing to purchase the ''Daily Opinion''.<ref name="Oakland">{{cite web|url=https://oaklandcemetery.com/the-founders-of-the-atlanta-constitution-at-oakland-cemetery/|title=The Founders of the Atlanta Constitution at Oakland Cemetery|publisher=Historic Oakland Cemetery Foundation|date=June 18, 2018|access-date=April 8, 2019}}</ref>

On June 16, 1868, the ''new Democratic daily'' (as he described it) printed its first edition, under the name ''The Constitution''.<ref name="AJC" /> Styles' tenure at the ''[[The Atlanta Journal-Constitution|Atlanta Constitution]]'' would be brief. Unable to pay for his portion of the purchase, when the sale of his ''Albany News'' fell through, Styles was forced to surrender his interest in the paper to his joint venture partners. Styles returned to Albany as editor of the ''News''. In 1872, he was elected to the [[Georgia Senate]], representing Augusta and surrounding communities, in an ironic turn of events, having killed a member of the [[Georgia House of Representatives]] in his earlier years.<ref name="Davis2012" /><ref name="Nixon" /><ref>{{cite web|url=https://findingaids.library.emory.edu/documents/styles231/|title=Carey Wentworth Styles papers, 1860-1945|date=October 5, 2007|publisher=Emory University - Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library|access-date=April 8, 2019}}</ref> After his legislative service, Styles sold the Albany newspaper in 1876 and returned to Atlanta.

===20th century to present===
[[File:Washington Street Looking South at Night Albany, Georgia GA Postcard.jpg|left|upright|thumb|Albany in 1936]]
While integral to the economic life of the town, the Flint River has flooded regularly. It caused extensive property damage in 1841 and 1925. The city has also been subject to [[tornado]]es. On February 10, 1940, a severe tornado hit Albany, killing eighteen people and causing large-scale damage.

====1940 tornado gallery====
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Georgia - Albany - NARA - 23936957 (cropped).jpg
</gallery>

On April 11, 1906, the [[Carnegie Library]], created by matching funds from the philanthropist [[Andrew Carnegie]], was opened downtown.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Carnegie Library Historical Marker |url=https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=186949 |access-date=2024-01-30 |website=www.hmdb.org |language=en}}</ref> Originally a [[Racial segregation in the United States|segregated]] facility under [[Jim Crow]] laws, it was not open to African Americans until after the passage of the [[Civil Rights Act of 1964]]. It functioned as a library through 1985. In 1992, after renovation, the building was reopened as the headquarters of the Albany Area Arts Council.

In 1912, the downtown U.S. Post Office and courthouse building opened. Other federal projects have been important to the city and region. In 1937, Chehaw Park was constructed as a part of a [[New Deal]] program under the administration of President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] during the [[Great Depression]].

Major changes came with the expansion of military facilities in the city, secured by the powerful [[Southern Block]] in Congress. A [[U.S. Army Air Corps]] training base was built near Albany on land owned by the city and leased to the Air Corps for $1 a year.  Construction of the base and airfield by the [[United States Army Corps of Engineers|Army Corps of Engineers]] began on March 25, 1941. After being used during World War II, the airfield was temporarily deactivated between August 15, 1946, and September 1, 1947.

After the beginning of the [[Cold War]] and the founding of the [[U.S. Air Force]] in late 1947, the airfield was reactivated and upgraded with runways for a U.S. Air Force base.  It was named [[Turner Air Force Base]]. The Air Force used this base for heavy bomber jets, such as the [[B-52 Stratofortress]]. A number of other Air Force units were also housed at this base.<ref>{{cite web
| url=http://www.strategic-air-command.com/bases/Turner_AFB.htm
| title=Turner AFB
| access-date=May 11, 2006| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20060513110048/http://www.strategic-air-command.com/bases/Turner_AFB.htm| archive-date= May 13, 2006 | url-status= live}}</ref> Among them were the 1370th Photomapping Group,<ref>{{cite web
 |url         = http://www.1370th.com/index.htm
 |title       = 1370th Photomapping and Charting Group
 |access-date  = May 11, 2006
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20060517174305/http://www.1370th.com/index.htm
 |archive-date = May 17, 2006
 |url-status     = dead
 |df          = mdy-all
}}</ref> and refueling and maintenance functions.

In 1951, the [[U.S. Marine Corps]] established a logistics base on the eastern outskirts of Albany. During the 1950s and 1960s, so many white servicemen and associated workers arrived that the city briefly became majority white for the first time since 1870.

In 1960, the population of Albany reached 50,000 people. During 1961–1962, African Americans in Albany played a prominent role in the [[Civil Rights Movement]] (see the [[Albany Movement]]). They led protests and non-violent demonstrations to end segregation of public facilities, gain the right to vote, and advance social justice. Assisted by activists from [[Southern Christian Leadership Conference|SCLC]], [[Congress of Racial Equality|CORE]], [[SNCC]], and the [[NAACP]], African Americans and supporters took a stand to fight segregation through nonviolence. The city repealed its [[Jim Crow]] laws in 1963,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://casetext.com/case/anderson-v-city-of-albany|title=Anderson v. City of Albany|author=United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit|publisher=Casetext|date=September 12, 1963|accessdate=May 24, 2021}}</ref> but African Americans did not recover the ability to exercise their voting rights until Congress passed enforcement authority with the [[Voting Rights Act of 1965]].

In 1967, the Air Force closed all its operations at the base, which was transferred to the [[U.S. Navy]] and renamed Naval Air Station Albany.  NAS Albany was used as the shore base of nearly all the Navy's [[RA-5C Vigilante]] twin-jet, carrier-based reconnaissance aircraft. In 1974, the base was closed and the property was returned to the city.

In 1979, the Miller Brewing Company purchased part of the old naval base's property to build a new brewery.<ref>{{cite web
| url=http://www.turnerfield-miller.com
| title=History of Turner Field Albany Georgia
| access-date=May 11, 2006| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20060524015648/http://www.turnerfield-miller.com/| archive-date= May 24, 2006 | url-status= live}}</ref>

The decline in military bases and railroad restructuring nationwide both led to job losses in the Albany area. Much of the remaining white population moved to suburbs and newer housing out of the city, which became majority African American in the 1970s. Struggling with a poor economy, in 1988 Albany made national headlines as the "Murder Capital of America", with the highest murder rate per capita in the United States. Other cities have since taken that title.

Some late twentieth-century floods have been extreme. In 1994, a severe flood was caused by rainfall from [[Tropical Storm Alberto (1994)#Impact|Tropical Storm Alberto]]; it killed 14 people and displaced 22,000. The state supported a $150 million renovation of the [[Albany State University]] campus to repair storm damage and complete upgrades. New housing was built on the south side of town to replace what had been destroyed. In 1998, the Flint River crested at {{convert|35|ft|m}} above its bed and flooded parts of the city.

Because of such flooding, the city has decided against redeveloping areas along the riverfront floodplain for commercial or residential purposes. This area is being improved for other uses, with a riverfront walkway and a new aquarium built over a tributary creek.

On January 2 and 22, 2017, violent tornadoes passed through the area, claiming several lives and destroying mobile home parks in the process.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.spc.noaa.gov/climo/reports/170122_rpts.html|title=Storm Prediction Center Storm Reports Page|publisher=NOAA |website=Spc.noaa.gov}}</ref> On October 10, 2018 [[Hurricane Michael]], the first major hurricane (Category 3+) to directly impact Georgia since the 1890s, plowed through South Georgia leaving widespread devastation in its path.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.weather.gov/ffc/2018_hurricane_michael | title=Hurricane Michael Hits Georgia | publisher=National Weather Service | date=October 10, 2018}}</ref>