Editing Irwin County, Georgia

{{Short description|County in Georgia, United States}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2024}}
{{Infobox U.S. county
 | county               = Irwin County
 | state                = Georgia
 | seal                 = IrwinCountyGAseal.png
 | seal size            = 87px
 | founded              = {{start date and age|1818|12|15}}
 | seat wl              = Ocilla
 | largest city wl      = Ocilla
 | area_total_sq_mi     = 363
 | area_land_sq_mi      = 354
 | area_water_sq_mi     = 8.4
 | area percentage      = 2.3%
 | census yr            = 2020
 | pop                  = 9666
 | density_sq_mi        = 27
 | time zone            = Eastern
 | website              = {{URL|https://irwincounty-ga.gov/|irwincounty-ga.gov}}
 | ex image             = Irwin County Courthouse (East face).jpg
 | ex image cap         = Irwin County Courthouse, Ocilla
 | district             = 8th
}}

'''Irwin County''' is a [[County (United States)|county]] located in the [[U.S. state]] of [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]]. As of the [[2020 United States census|2020 census]], the population was 9,666.<ref>{{cite web|title=Census - Geography Profile: Irwin County, Georgia|url=https://data.census.gov/profile/Irwin_County,_Georgia?g=0500000US13155|publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]]|access-date=December 27, 2022}}</ref> The [[county seat]] is [[Ocilla, Georgia|Ocilla]].<ref name="GR6">{{cite web|url=http://www.naco.org/Counties/Pages/FindACounty.aspx |access-date=June 7, 2011 |title=Find a County |publisher=National Association of Counties |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110531210815/http://www.naco.org/Counties/Pages/FindACounty.aspx |archive-date=May 31, 2011 }}</ref> The county was created on December 15, 1818. It was named for Governor [[Jared Irwin]].<ref>{{cite book | url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ | title=The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States | publisher=Govt. Print. Off. | author=Gannett, Henry | year=1905 | pages=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ/page/n155 166]}}</ref>

In the last years of the American Civil War, Irwin County gained the nickname of the '''Republic of Irwin''' due to the [[Southern Unionist|Unionism]] of many of its residents.<ref>{{cite book |last= Wetherington |first= Mark V. |date= 2005|title= Plain Folk's Fight: The Civil War and Reconstruction in Piney Woods Georgia|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=f6RgeIx4ALwC&q=%22Republic+of+Irwin%22|location= Chapel Hill, North Carolina|publisher= The University of North Carolina Press|pages= 239–241|isbn=9780807877043}}</ref> The [[Jefferson Davis Memorial Historic Site|location where Jefferson Davis was captured]]<ref>{{cite web | url=http://gastateparks.org/info/jeffd | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080908065833/http://gastateparks.org/info/jeffd | archive-date=September 8, 2008 | title=Georgia State Parks - Jefferson Davis Memorial Historic Site }}</ref> is located in Irwin County near Irwinville.

==History==
The territories of [[Appling County, Georgia|Appling]], Irwin, and [[Early County, Georgia|Early]] counties were land newly ceded in 1814 and 1818. These counties were created by a legislative act on December 15, 1818. All or portions of Irwin's five adjacent counties were created from Irwin county along with all of [[Cook County, Georgia|Cook]], [[Colquitt County, Georgia|Colquitt]], [[Lanier County, Georgia|Lanier]], Lowndes, counties and portions of [[Atkinson County, Georgia|Atkinson]], [[Brooks County, Georgia|Brooks]], [[Echols County, Georgia|Echols]], Wilcox, and Worth counties. Irwin was divided into 16 districts of 20 miles and 10 chains square with lots of 70 chains square containing 490 acres according to the Act of 1818. In 1820 each lot was priced at $18, but by 1831 the price was down to $5 per lot.<ref>{{cite book | title=The History of Brooks County 1858-1948 | author=Huxford, Folks | year=1978 | pages=10| publisher=Reprint Company | isbn=0871522845 }}</ref>

Irwin County had 372 white residents and 39 slaves in 1820, when the census covered a large portion of central south Georgia. In 1825, Lowndes County was formed out of the 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th, 15th, and 16th land districts in what was then the southern half of the county. In 1830, the county had 1,066 whites, 109 slaves, and 5 [[free people of color]]. In 1840, Irwin County had 1,772 whites and 266 slaves. In 1850. Irwin County had 2,874 whites, 459 slaves, and 1 free person of color. In 1853, [[Worth County, Georgia|Worth County]] was formed out of part of Irwin County. In 1854, Coffee County was also formed from Irwin. In 1860, Irwin County had 1,453 whites and 246 slaves. It was one of a few counties in Georgia outside of mountainous northern Georgia with slaves accounting for a small percentage of its population.

===Civil War===
During the [[American Civil War]], like the United States in general, Irwin County was also ideologically divided. The county was one of the poorest at the time in Georgia. It was home to a number of [[Southern Unionist]]s who opposed secession and the Confederacy. The county also provided several regiments to the Confederate Army including:
* Company F "Irwin Volunteers", 49th Regiment Georgia Infantry.

In May 1863, several companies of Duncan Lamont Clinch Jr's Fourth Georgia Cavalry were charged with searching Irwin County for deserters. They spent a month searching the county, but were only able to find twenty-two deserters on May 22, the day they arrived. The deserters were sent to Savannah for enlistment or prosecution.<ref>{{cite book |last1= Williams|first1= David|last2= Williams|first2= Teresa Crisp|last3= Carlson|first3= David|date= 2002 |title= Plain Folks in a Rich Man's War: Class and Dissent in Confederate Georgia|publisher= University Press of Florida|page= 171|isbn=0813028361}}</ref>

A prominent Unionist in the county was Willis Jackson Bone. He lived west of Irwinville, near the [[Alapaha River]]. He was a miller and operated a steam-powered mill on what was then Bones Pond and presently Crystal Lake. Because he was a gristmill operator, Bone was exempt from conscription. During the Civil War, he helped a number of escaped slaves, Confederate deserters, and escaped Union prisoners hide in the swamps along the river. In February 1865, Bone and a large assembly of others gathered in Irwinville. Those assembled declared Irwin County part of the Union again. A lieutenant of the local militia protested the action, but was knocked down with a musket by Bone. Three cheers for [[Abraham Lincoln]] followed. The assembly then took after the lieutenant and the enrolling officer Gideon Brown. They and other Confederate sympathizers were chased out of town and threatened with death if they should return.<ref>{{cite book |last1= Williams|first1= David|last2= Williams|first2= Teresa Crisp|last3= Carlson|first3= David|date= 2002 |title= Plain Folks in a Rich Man's War: Class and Dissent in Confederate Georgia|publisher= University Press of Florida|pages= 183–184|isbn=0813028361}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title= Disgraceful|url= http://sgnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/sgnewspapers/view?docId=bookreader/alp/alp1865/alp1865-0010.mets.xml;query=deserter;brand=sgnewspapers-brand#page/n0/mode/1up|newspaper= Albany Patriot|location= Albany, Georgia|date= February 23, 1865|access-date= September 2, 2016}}</ref> Willis Jackson Bone was hanged near his pond in late April 1865 after he killed a local justice of the peace named Jack Walker while Bone was bringing food to an escaped slave named Toney. Walker had tried to take Toney into custody.<ref>{{cite book |last= Clements|first= James Bagley |title= The History of Irwinville|url= http://www.usgennet.org/usa/ga/topic/news/books/icgh.pdf|pages= 133–138}}</ref>

A few months later, Irwinville became the site of the capture of [[President of the Confederate States of America|Confederate President]] [[Jefferson Davis]]. Davis was on his way from the capital of the [[Confederate States of America|Confederacy]] at [[Richmond, Virginia]] to board a ship with his family and flee to safety in [[England]], Davis stopped at a hotel in Irwinville owned by Doctor G.E. White on the evening of May 9, 1865. There he conversed and socialized with the locals and no one had suspected that they were in the presence of a man of such esteem. Davis and his family moved to an encampment beside a nearby creek bed only a couple of miles from the hotel after they were done talking with the citizens of Irwinville and sometime in the early morning of May 10, the encampment was alarmed by the sound of gunfire. Davis tried to escape towards the creek wearing an overcoat and his wife had tied her scarf around his shoulders, but members of the [[1st Wisconsin Volunteer Cavalry Regiment|First Wisconsin]] and [[4th Michigan Volunteer Cavalry Regiment|Fourth Michigan Cavalry Regiments]]  captured him. He was taken to [[Fort Monroe|Fortress Monroe]], Virginia and held for two years.<ref>{{cite book |last= Clements|first= James Bagley |title= The History of Irwinville|url= http://www.usgennet.org/usa/ga/topic/news/books/icgh.pdf|pages= 138–141}}</ref> The location is now the [[Jefferson Davis Memorial Historic Site]].

==Geography==
According to the [[U.S. Census Bureau]], the county has a total area of {{convert|363|sqmi}}, of which {{convert|354|sqmi}} is land and {{convert|8.4|sqmi}} (2.3%) is water.<ref name="GR1">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/geographies/reference-files/time-series/geo/gazetteer-files.html|publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]]|access-date=April 23, 2011|date=February 12, 2011|title=US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990}}</ref>

The majority and entire central and western portion of Irwin County, bordered by a line running southeast from [[Fitzgerald, Georgia|Fitzgerald]], is located in the [[Alapaha River]] sub-basin of the [[Suwannee River]] basin. The eastern corner of the county is located in the [[Satilla River]] sub-basin of the [[St. Marys River (Florida–Georgia)|St. Marys]]-Satilla River basin<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gaswcc.org/maps/ |title=Georgia Soil and Water Conservation Commission Interactive Mapping Experience |publisher=Georgia Soil and Water Conservation Commission |access-date=November 27, 2015 |archive-date=October 3, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181003004639/http://www.gaswcc.org/maps/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===Major highways===
{{div col}}
* [[File:US 129.svg|23px]] [[U.S. Route 129 in Georgia|U.S. Route 129]]
* [[File:US 319.svg|23px]] [[U.S. Route 319 in Georgia|U.S. Route 319]]
* [[File:Georgia 11.svg|20px]] [[Georgia State Route 11|State Route 11]]
* [[File:Georgia 32.svg|20px]] [[Georgia State Route 32|State Route 32]]
* [[File:Georgia 35.svg|20px]] [[Georgia State Route 35|State Route 35]]
* [[File:Georgia 90.svg|20px]] [[Georgia State Route 90|State Route 90]]
* [[File:Georgia 107.svg|25px]] [[Georgia State Route 107|State Route 107]]
* [[File:Georgia 125.svg|25px]] [[Georgia State Route 125|State Route 125]]
* [[File:Georgia 158.svg|25px]] [[Georgia State Route 158|State Route 158]]
* [[File:Georgia 206.svg|25px]] [[Georgia State Route 206|State Route 206]]
{{div col end}}

===Adjacent counties===
* [[Ben Hill County, Georgia|Ben Hill County]] (north)  (created 1906 from Irwin and [[Wilcox County, Georgia|Wilcox]] counties)
* [[Coffee County, Georgia|Coffee County]] (east)  (created in 1854 from [[Clinch County, Georgia|Clinch]], Irwin, [[Telfair County, Georgia|Telfair]], and [[Ware County, Georgia|Ware]] counties.)
* [[Berrien County, Georgia|Berrien County]] (south)  (created in 1856 from Coffee, Irwin, and [[Lowndes County, Georgia|Lowndes]] counties)
* [[Tift County, Georgia|Tift County]] (southwest)  (created 1905 from Berrien, Irwin, and [[Worth County, Georgia|Worth]] counties.)
* [[Turner County, Georgia|Turner County]] (northwest)  (created from [[Dooly County, Georgia|Dooly]], Irwin, Wilcox, and [[Worth County, Georgia|Worth]] counties)

=== Communities ===

==== City ====
* [[Ocilla, Georgia|Ocilla]]
* [[Fitzgerald, Georgia|Fitzgerald]] (portion)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www2.census.gov/geo/maps/DC2020/DC20BLK/st13_ga/place/p1329528_fitzgerald/DC20BLK_P1329528.pdf|title=2020 CENSUS - CENSUS BLOCK MAP (INDEX): Fitzgerald city, GA|publisher=[[U.S. Census Bureau]]|access-date=2024-09-25}}</ref>

==== Unincorporated communities ====
* [[Abba, Georgia|Abba]] (portion)
* Arp
* Holt
* [[Irwinville, Georgia|Irwinville]]
* Lax (portion)
* [[Mystic, Georgia|Mystic]]
* Osierfield
* Pinetta
* [[Waterloo, Georgia|Waterloo]]
* [[Wray, Georgia|Wray]]

==Education==
{{Main|Irwin County School District}}

==Demographics==
{{US Census population
|1820= 411
|1830= 1180
|1840= 2038
|1850= 3334
|1860= 1699
|1870= 1837
|1880= 2696
|1890= 6316
|1900= 13645
|1910= 10461
|1920= 12670
|1930= 12199
|1940= 12936
|1950= 11973
|1960= 9211
|1970= 8036
|1980= 8988
|1990= 8649
|2000= 9931
|2010= 9538
|2020= 9666
|estyear=2023
|estimate=9120
|estref=<ref name="USCensusEst2023">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/data/tables.html|title=Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for Counties: April 1, 2020 to July 1, 2023|publisher=United States Census Bureau|access-date=March 31, 2024}}</ref>
|align-fn=center
|footnote=U.S. Decennial Census<ref name="DecennialCensus">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census/decade.html|title=Decennial Census of Population and Housing by Decades|publisher=United States Census Bureau|access-date=}}</ref><br>1790-1880<ref name=1880CensusGACty>{{Cite web|first= |last= |authorlink=   |title= 1880 Census Population by Counties 1790-1800 |publisher=United States Census Bureau|date= 1880|url=https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/decennial/1880/vol-01-population/1880_v1-08.pdf|accessdate=|archive-url=| archive-date=|page=}}</ref> 1890-1910<ref name=1910CensusGA>{{Cite web|first= |last= |authorlink=   |title= 1910 Census of Population - Georgia  |publisher=United States Census Bureau|date= 1910|url=https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/decennial/1910/abstract/supplement-ga.pdf |accessdate=|archive-url=| archive-date=|page=}}</ref><br> 1920-1930<ref name=1930CensusGA>{{Cite web|first= |last= |authorlink=   |title= 1930 Census of Population - Georgia  |publisher=United States Census Bureau|date= 1930|url=https://www2.census.gov/prod2/decennial/documents/03815512v1ch04.pdf |accessdate=|archive-url=| archive-date=|page=}}</ref> 1930-1940<ref name=1940CensusGA>{{Cite web|first= |last= |authorlink=   |title= 1940 Census of Population - Georgia  |publisher=United States Census Bureau|date= 1940|url=https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/decennial/1940/population-volume-1/33973538v1ch04.pdf |accessdate=|archive-url=| archive-date=}}</ref><br> 1940-1950<ref name=1950CensusGA>{{Cite web|first= |last= |authorlink=   |title= 1950 Census of Population - Georgia - |publisher=United States Census Bureau|date= 1950|url=https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/decennial/1950/population-volume-2/37779083v2p11ch2.pdf |accessdate=|archive-url=| archive-date=}}</ref> 1960-1980<ref name=1980CensusGA>{{Cite web|first= |last= |authorlink=   |title= 1980 Census of Population - Number of Inhabitants - Georgia  |publisher=United States Census Bureau|date= 1980|url=https://www2.census.gov/prod2/decennial/documents/1980a_gaABC-01.pdf|accessdate=|archive-url=| archive-date=}}</ref><br> 1980-2000<ref name=2000CensusGA>{{Cite web|first= |last= |authorlink=   |title= 2000 Census of Population - Population and Housing Unit Counts - Georgia  |publisher=United States Census Bureau|date= 2000|url=https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/2003/dec/phc-3-12.pdf |accessdate=|archive-url=| archive-date=}}</ref> 2010<ref name="QF">{{cite web|title=State & County QuickFacts|url=http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/13/13155.html|publisher=United States Census Bureau|access-date=June 23, 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110607130436/http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/13/13155.html|archive-date=June 7, 2011}}</ref>
}}

{| class="wikitable"
|+Irwin County racial composition as of 2020<ref>{{Cite web|title=Explore Census Data|url=https://data.census.gov/cedsci/table?g=0500000US13155&tid=DECENNIALPL2020.P2|access-date=December 18, 2021|website=data.census.gov}}</ref>
!Race
!Num.
!Perc.
|-
|[[White (U.S. Census)|White]] (non-Hispanic)
|6,402
|66.23%
|-
|[[African American (U.S. Census)|Black or African American]] (non-Hispanic)
|2,224
|23.01%
|-
|[[Native American (U.S. Census)|Native American]]
|15
|0.16%
|-
|[[Asian (U.S. Census)|Asian]]
|119
|1.23%
|-
|[[Pacific Islander (U.S. Census)|Pacific Islander]]
|1
|0.01%
|-
|[[Race (United States Census)|Other/Mixed]]
|242
|2.5%
|-
|[[Hispanic (U.S. Census)|Hispanic]] or [[Latino (U.S. Census)|Latino]]
|663
|6.86%
|}
As of the [[2020 United States census]], there were 9,666 people, 3,329 households, and 2,090 families residing in the county.

==Politics==
{{PresHead|place=Irwin County, Georgia|source=<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS|title=Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections|last=Leip|first=David|website=uselectionatlas.org|access-date=March 20, 2018}}</ref>}}
<!-- PresRow should be {{PresRow|Year|Winning party|GOP vote #|Dem vote #|3rd party vote #|State}} -->
{{PresRow|2024|Republican|3,340|986|16|Georgia}}
{{PresRow|2020|Republican|3,134|1,008|26|Georgia}}
{{PresRow|2016|Republican|2,716|891|63|Georgia}}
{{PresRow|2012|Republican|2,538|1,141|35|Georgia}}
{{PresRow|2008|Republican|2,605|1,197|38|Georgia}}
{{PresRow|2004|Republican|2,347|1,051|20|Georgia}}
{{PresRow|2000|Republican|1,720|1,105|27|Georgia}}
{{PresRow|1996|Democratic|1,085|1,225|230|Georgia}}
{{PresRow|1992|Democratic|973|1,366|481|Georgia}}
{{PresRow|1988|Republican|1,226|918|7|Georgia}}
{{PresRow|1984|Republican|1,330|905|0|Georgia}}
{{PresRow|1980|Democratic|1,056|1,555|21|Georgia}}
{{PresRow|1976|Democratic|561|2,012|0|Georgia}}
{{PresRow|1972|Republican|1,851|335|0|Georgia}}
{{PresRow|1968|American Independent|430|475|1,955|Georgia}}
{{PresRow|1964|Republican|2,017|740|0|Georgia}}
{{PresRow|1960|Democratic|352|1,625|0|Georgia}}
{{PresRow|1956|Democratic|312|1,554|0|Georgia}}
{{PresRow|1952|Democratic|516|1,475|0|Georgia}}
{{PresRow|1948|Democratic|146|946|263|Georgia}}
{{PresRow|1944|Democratic|259|862|0|Georgia}}
{{PresRow|1940|Democratic|197|962|3|Georgia}}
{{PresRow|1936|Democratic|110|1,025|6|Georgia}}
{{PresRow|1932|Democratic|22|1,416|1|Georgia}}
{{PresRow|1928|Democratic|162|917|0|Georgia}}
{{PresRow|1924|Democratic|35|268|21|Georgia}}
{{PresRow|1920|Democratic|114|525|0|Georgia}}
{{PresRow|1916|Democratic|24|503|31|Georgia}}
{{PresFoot|1912|Democratic|45|428|6|Georgia}}

==See also==
{{Portal|State of Georgia}}
* [[National Register of Historic Places listings in Irwin County, Georgia]]
*[[List of counties in Georgia]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://georgiainfo.galileo.usg.edu/topics/historical_markers/county/irwin/dorminys-meeting-house Dorminy's Meeting House] historical marker
* [http://georgiainfo.galileo.usg.edu/topics/historical_markers/county/irwin/irwin-county Irwin County] historical marker

{{Geographic Location
|Centre    = Irwin County, Georgia
|North     = [[Ben Hill County, Georgia|Ben Hill County]]
|Northeast =
|East      = [[Coffee County, Georgia|Coffee County]]
|Southeast =
|South     = [[Berrien County, Georgia|Berrien County]]
|Southwest = [[Tift County, Georgia|Tift County]]
|West      =
|Northwest = [[Turner County, Georgia|Turner County]]
}}
{{Irwin County, Georgia}}
{{Georgia (U.S. state)}}
{{Authority control}}
{{Coord|31.60|-83.27|display=title|type:adm2nd_region:US-GA_source:UScensus1990}}

[[Category:Irwin County, Georgia| ]]
[[Category:Georgia (U.S. state) counties]]
[[Category:1818 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state)]]
[[Category:Populated places established in 1818]]
[[Category:Fitzgerald, Georgia micropolitan area]]
[[Category:Southern Unionists in the American Civil War]]