Editing Valdosta, Georgia (section)

===Civil War to Reconstruction===
The [[American Civil War]] began the year after the establishment of Valdosta. During the war, many of its male residents served in the [[Confederate States Army]].<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=Reconstruction |url=https://www.valdosta.edu/academics/library/depts/archives-and-special-collections/regional-history/reconstruction.php |access-date=2024-01-30 |website=Valdosta State University}}</ref> Three years after the beginning of the war, women rioted in the city after the refusal of [[Confederate States dollar|Confederate dollars]] as legal tender.<ref>{{Cite web |last=McClure |first=Britanny |date=2012-09-04 |title=Valdosta riots! The untold history of the Civil War |url=https://www.valdostadailytimes.com/news/local_news/valdosta-riots-the-untold-history-of-the-civil-war/article_c93a79dc-59cc-5251-881e-ad6083b9bbb9.html |access-date=2024-01-30 |website=Valdosta Daily Times |language=en}}</ref>

During the [[Reconstruction era]], more than 100 [[freedmen]], families of farmers, craftsmen, and laborers, emigrated from Lowndes County to [[Arthington, Liberia]], in 1871 and 1872, looking for a better life.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Antebellum to Reconstruction |url=https://valdostamuseum.com/exhibitions/online-exhibits-2/people/african-american-history-in-lowndes-county/antebellum-to-reconstruction/ |access-date=2024-01-30 |website=Lowndes County Historical Society Museum}}</ref> Since before the war, the [[American Colonization Society]] had supported the relocation of free blacks to Liberia, an American colony in West Africa established for this purpose. The first group from Lowndes County left in 1871, and were led by Jefferson Bracewell; the second group was led in 1872 by Aaron Miller.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.valdosta.edu/academics/library/depts/archives-and-special-collections/regional-history/liberia-emigrants.php |title=Lowndes County Georgia List of Emigrants to Arithington, Liberia |access-date=8 January 2008 |author=Eric Dewayne Jackson |year=2003}}</ref>

[[Image:Lowndes1915.jpg|thumb|[[Lowndes County Courthouse (Valdosta, Georgia)|Lowndes County Courthouse]] and Confederate Monument {{Circa|1915|lk=no}}|left]]

One notable event during Reconstruction was at a political meeting in front of the courthouse. A [[carpetbagger]] named J. W. Clift was running for United States Congress and was looking for support from former slaves. During Clift's speech he verbally attacked whites of Valdosta. In response five men planted explosives at the courthouse, planning on setting them off at Clift's next political rally. When other whites arrived at the courthouse unaware of the explosives the five men decided to stop the explosives but some still managed to go off. The explosion was small and no injuries occurred. The five men were arrested and were going to go on trial, but [[United States Army|federal soldiers]] took them to [[Savannah, Georgia|Savannah]] for trial, which was seen by residents as an overreach of authority and an endangerment for self-government.<ref name=":2" />

As mechanization was introduced, the number of agricultural jobs decreased and Valdosta became more industrialized by the 20th century. The world's second [[Coca-Cola]] bottling plant began bottling Coca-Cola in Valdosta in 1897.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.valdostadailytimes.com/local/local_story_272230343.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130205160028/http://www.valdostadailytimes.com/local/local_story_272230343.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=2013-02-05 |title=A trip through time |access-date=January 1, 2008 |author=Jessica Pope |date=2007-09-29 |work=The Valdosta Daily Times}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.valdostadailytimes.com/business/local_story_356231757.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130209000340/http://www.valdostadailytimes.com/business/local_story_356231757.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=2013-02-09 |title=Breathing fresh life into Downtown |access-date=January 1, 2008 |author=Billy Bruce |date=2007-12-22 |work=The Valdosta Daily Times}}</ref> In 1899, the [[cotton mill]] town of [[Remerton, Georgia|Remerton]] was established {{convert|2|mi|0}} from the center of Valdosta.