Editing Hahira, Georgia (section)

==History==
According to legend, the town of Hahira was named after a local cotton plantation. The planter was said to have named his estate after a West African village, Hairaairee, which was described to him by an English traveler.<ref>[https://www.hahiraga.gov/hahira-s-name] - Hahira, official municipal website</ref><ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8F9aLbyWfPYC&pg=PA557 | title=The New Georgia Guide | publisher=University of Georgia Press | date=1996 | access-date=3 December 2013 | author=University of Georgia Press | pages=557| isbn=9780820317991 }}</ref> The name may be derived from [[Pi-Hahiroth|Pi-HaHiroth]], a place mentioned in the Hebrew Bible.<ref>{{cite book | url=http://www.kenkrakow.com/gpn/h.pdf | title=Georgia Place-Names: Their History and Origins | publisher=Winship Press | author=Krakow, Kenneth K. | year=1975 | location=Macon, GA | pages=101 | isbn=0-915430-00-2}}</ref> According to a local legend, the name originated with a locomotive engineer called Hira, who was hailed by friends with, "Hey, Hira."

The [[Georgia General Assembly]] incorporated Hahira in 1891, with Henry Briggs Lawson serving as the first mayor until 1907.<ref>{{cite book|title=Acts and Resolutions of the General Assembly of the State of Georgia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SAY8Y9o5JaQC&pg=PA819|year=1892|publisher=Clark & Hines, State Printers|page=819}}</ref> By the time of its incorporation, several stores had already been established due to an influx of residents in the mid-1880s. In 1904, a bank was opened, followed by a newspaper in 1906. Prior to 1904, there was one practicing doctor in the town during the 1890s.

As a predominantly agricultural area, Hahira residents largely relied on their own vegetable gardens, raised hogs for meat, and owned milk cows. The primary [[cash crop]] was cotton, which remained so until the early 1920s when a [[Boll weevil]] infestation devastated the crop.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Boyd |first=Thressea |date=2017-09-18 |title=Hahira: Respecting Its Past, Embracing the Future |url=https://sgamag.com/index.php/2017/09/17/hahira-respecting-its-past-embracing-the-future/ |access-date=2023-06-06 |website=South Georgia Magazine |language=en-US}}</ref> Subsequently, [[tobacco]] became the main source of income for farmers despite traditionally only been grown in [[Virginia]] and [[North Carolina]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=History |url=https://www.hahiraga.gov/history |access-date=2023-06-06 |website=www.hahiraga.gov}}</ref>

In the late 1920s, a group of tobacco businessmen in Hahira established a cigarette manufacturing facility instead of shipping their products to the northern U.S. Their cigarette packs featured a [[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]] man on the front and a [[wigwam]] on the back. However, during the [[Great Depression in the United States|Great Depression]], the cigarette manufacturers sold their shares in the company to the Julep Cigarette Company. Hahira then became the manufacturing site for nationally distributed "Happy Days" cigarettes for several years. The cigarette factory was situated alongside the [[Norfolk Southern Railway|Norfolk Southern Railroad]] on Coleman Road and remained in operation until 1998. In 2002, the building was demolished, and many of its old bricks, as well as [[heart pine]] lumber from its foundation beams and flooring, were salvaged for reuse.

Additionally, timber and its by-products played a significant role in the local economy, with woodlands abundant in large [[yellow pine]] or heart pine trees. In the late 1920s and early 1930s, Hahira also gained prominence in the [[boxing]] scene through local fight promotions. 
[[File:Hahira Square entrance.jpg|border|left|thumb|225x225px|Hahira Square entrance]]
This period also marked the growth of the [[beekeeping]] industry in the area.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2015-07-06 |title=WTXL Road Trip: A History of Hahira |url=https://www.wtxl.com/news/wtxl-road-trip-a-history-of-hahira/article_5911fd90-2389-11e5-9546-7f75ff7c033f.html |access-date=2023-06-06 |website=WTXL ABC 27 Tallahassee News |language=en}}</ref> When settlers first arrived in South Georgia, there were no honeybees to pollinate their crops. Beekeeping was introduced by W. L. Morgan in [[Troupville, Georgia|Troupville]]. The [[European dark bee|black bee]] was brought from Germany or Holland, while the yellow bee originated from Italy. J. E. Williams established an [[apiary]] in the region that is now [[Cook County, Georgia|Cook County]], near [[Sparks, Georgia]], and became the first recorded commercial beekeeper in Lowndes County. The Puett Co. and Garnett Puett Sr. are recognized as pioneers in the Hahira beekeeping industry.

Hahira has largely remained an agricultural community, with tobacco cultivation continuing as one of its main crops, though production has fallen significantly since its peak in the 20th century.