Editing Sumter County, Georgia (section)

==History==

=== Foundation and antebellum years ===
Sumter County was established by an act of the [[Georgia state legislature|state legislature]] on December 26, 1831, four years after the [[Creek Indians]] were forced from the region when the state acquired the territory from them in the 1825 [[Treaty of Indian Springs (1825)|Treaty of Indian Springs]]. Sumter, the state's 80th county, was created after population increases by a division of [[Lee County, Georgia|Lee County]], now situated to its south. The county was named for former General and [[United States Senate|United States Senator]] [[Thomas Sumter]] (1734–1832) of South Carolina.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=REtEXQNWq6MC&pg=PA216 | title=Historical Gazetteer of the United States | publisher=Routledge | date=May 13, 2013 | access-date=November 30, 2013 | author=Hellmann, Paul T. | pages=216| isbn=978-1135948597 }}</ref> When the county was organized, Sumter was 97 years old and the last surviving general of the [[American Revolution]] (1775–1783).

Shortly thereafter, a committee chose a central site for the county seat, and laid out what became the town of [[Americus, Georgia|Americus]]. Many of the county's earliest white residents acquired their land through an 1827 state [[land lottery]]. Like many other white settlers, they quickly developed their property for cotton cultivation. Since the invention of the cotton gin at the end of the 18th century, short-staple cotton was the crop of choice throughout the [[Black Belt in the American South|Black Belt of the South]].

The rich, black soil, combined with ready market access via the [[Flint River (Georgia)|Flint River]] (bordering the county on the east) or the [[Chattahoochee River]] (farther west), put Sumter among the state's most prosperous Black Belt counties by the 1840s and 1850s. Cotton agriculture was economically dependent on [[Slavery in the United States|enslaved African Americans]]. By the [[1850 United States census|1850 census]], the demographic makeup of the county had become 6,469 whites, 3,835 enslaved African Americans, and 18 [[free people of color]]. By the [[1860 United States census|1860 census]], the county had 4,536 whites, 4,890 enslaved African Americans and two free people of color.

===Civil War years===
During the American Civil War (1861–65), the small village named Andersonville, {{convert|9|mi|km|abbr=on}} north of Americus on the county's northern edge, was selected by Confederate authorities as the site for a [[prisoner-of-war]] camp. The [[Andersonville prison]] was built in neighboring [[Macon County, Georgia|Macon County]], and became the largest such prison in the South. During the camp's 14 months of operations, some 45,000 Union prisoners suffered some of the worst conditions and highest casualties of any of the camps. Today, the [[Andersonville National Historic Site]] serves as a memorial to all American prisoners of war throughout the nation's history. The {{convert|495|acre|km2|adj=on}} park lies in both Macon and Sumter Counties and consists of the historic prison site and the National Cemetery, which originally was reserved for the Union dead.

===Into modernity===
Other areas of the county have attracted national attention in the 20th century for very different reasons. In 1942, two [[Baptist church|Baptist]] ministers chose a farm in the western part of the county as the location for a Christian commune named [[Koinonia Partners|Koinonia]], where Black and White workers lived and worked together for nearly 50 years, generating some hostility among local residents during its early years.

Sumter County counts a U.S. president among its native sons. [[Jimmy Carter]] was born and raised on a peanut farm in [[Plains, Georgia|Plains]], a small community on the county's western edge. His election to the presidency in 1976 brought the small town considerable attention from journalists and tourists, which it continues to receive as the Carters lived in Plains until their respective deaths and much of their family still makes Plains their home. The [[Jimmy Carter National Historical Park]], which includes Carter's birthplace, childhood home, high school, train depot that served as his campaign headquarters along with the Carter family home and burial site, is located in and around Plains. All of the sites at the park are open for tours except for the Carter home and burial site, which are under renovation.

The headquarters of [[Habitat for Humanity International]], a nonprofit organization whose mission is to eliminate [[homelessness]], is located in Americus, the home of its founder, [[Millard Fuller]]. In addition to Habitat's socially impactful activities, Koinonia Partners publishes a bimonthly newsletter for the Prison and Jail Project promoting prisoner reform and education. Americus is also home to two colleges. [[Georgia Southwestern State University]], a public four-year institution established in 1906, is part of the [[University System of Georgia]]. [[South Georgia Technical College]], which stands near [[Souther Field]], was a training base for American and British aviators during [[World War I]] (1917–18). [[Charles Lindbergh]] learned to fly here and assembled a military surplus "Jenny" aircraft with the help of mechanics at Souther Field. Downtown Americus boasts two prominent examples of historic restoration: the [[Windsor Hotel (Americus, Georgia)|Windsor Hotel]], built in 1892, and the Rylander Theatre, which originally opened in 1921.