Editing Sylvania, Georgia

{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2023}}
{{Infobox settlement
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|official_name            = Sylvania, Georgia
|other_name               = 
|native_name              = <!-- for cities whose native name is not in English -->
|nickname                 = "The Welcome Station City"<ref>{{cite web|url= http://georgia.gov/cities-counties/sylvania|title= Sylvania|publisher= Georgia Gov |access-date= September 5, 2012}}</ref>
|settlement_type          = [[City]]
|motto                    = "The Azalea & Dogwood City"<ref>{{cite web|url=   http://www.citysylvaniaga.net/|title= City of Sylvania Georgia |publisher= City of Sylvania Georgia |access-date= September 5, 2012}}</ref>

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|image_map                = Screven_County_Georgia_Incorporated_and_Unincorporated_areas_Sylvania_Highlighted.svg
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|map_caption              = Location in [[Screven County, Georgia|Screven County]] and the state of [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]]
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|subdivision_name         = United States
|subdivision_type1        = [[U.S. state|State]]
|subdivision_name1        = [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]]
|subdivision_type2        = [[List of counties in Georgia (U.S. state)|County]]
|subdivision_name2        = [[Screven County, Georgia|Screven]]
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|area_footnotes           = <ref name="CenPopGazetteer2020">{{cite web|title=2020 U.S. Gazetteer Files|url=https://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/maps-data/data/gazetteer/2020_Gazetteer/2020_gaz_place_13.txt|publisher=United States Census Bureau|accessdate=December 18, 2021}}</ref>
|area_total_km2           = 13.08
|area_land_km2            = 12.89
|area_water_km2           = 0.19
|area_total_sq_mi         = 5.05
|area_land_sq_mi          = 4.98
|area_water_sq_mi         = 0.07
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|area_blank1_sq_mi        = <!-- Population   ----------------------->
|population_as_of         = [[2020 United States census|2020]]
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|population_total         = 2634
|population_density_km2   = 204.31
|population_density_sq_mi = 529.13
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|timezone                 = [[North American Eastern Time Zone|Eastern (EST)]]
|utc_offset               = -5
|timezone_DST             = EDT
|utc_offset_DST           = -4
|coordinates              = {{coord|32|45|1|N|81|38|23|W|region:US-GA|display=inline,title}}
|elevation_footnotes      = <!--for references: use <ref> tags-->
|elevation_m              = 70
|elevation_ft             = 230
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|postal_code_type         = [[ZIP code]]
|postal_code              = 30467
|area_code                = [[Area code 912|912]]
|blank_name               = [[Federal Information Processing Standard|FIPS code]]
|blank_info               = 13-75160<ref name="GR2">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov|publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]]|access-date=2008-01-31|title=U.S. Census website}}</ref>
|blank1_name              = [[Geographic Names Information System|GNIS]] feature ID
|blank1_info              = 0323862<ref name="GR3">{{cite web|url=http://geonames.usgs.gov|access-date=2008-01-31|title=US Board on Geographic Names|publisher=[[United States Geological Survey]]|date=2007-10-25}}</ref>
|website                  = [http://www.citysylvaniaga.net/ City of Sylvania Georgia]
|footnotes                = 
|pop_est_as_of = 
|pop_est_footnotes = 
|population_est = 
}}
'''Sylvania''' is a city in and the [[county seat]] of [[Screven County, Georgia|Screven County]], [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]], United States.<ref name="GR6">{{cite web|url=http://www.naco.org/Counties/Pages/FindACounty.aspx|access-date=2011-06-07|title=Find a County|publisher=National Association of Counties}}</ref> The population was 2,634 in 2020.

==History==
The area was inhabited for thousands of years by various cultures of [[indigenous peoples]]. By the time of European encounter, it was occupied by the [[Yuchi]] peoples, but some Creeks, the Uchee's allies, moved into the area during Colonial times.<ref>Daniel T. Elliott and Rita Folse Elliott, "Mount Pleasant. An Eighteenth-Century Yuchi Native American Town, British Trader Outpost, and Military Garrison in Georgia", Watkinsville, GA: LAMAR Institute Publications, 1990</ref>

The town of Sylvania was founded in 1790 by settlers migrating to the area after the [[American Revolutionary War]]. The word "Sylvania" comes from the Latin word ''[[wikt:sylvan#English|sylvan]]'' or ''[[wikt:silva#Latin|sylva]] '' which means "forest land" or "place in the woods."<ref>{{cite book | url=http://www.kenkrakow.com/gpn/s.pdf| title=Georgia Place-Names: Their History and Origins | publisher=Winship Press | author=Krakow, Kenneth K. | year=1975 | location=Macon, GA | pages=218 | isbn=0-915430-00-2}}</ref>

Sylvania was part of the [[Black Belt (geological formation)|Black Belt]] of Georgia, developed for cultivation after the invention of the [[cotton gin]] made it easier to handle short-fiber cotton. Cotton was the most important commodity crop until late in the 19th century.  Planters imported many enslaved African Americans to cultivate the crops.  By 1830, the county was filled with people. The county seat was moved from [[Jacksonboro, Georgia|Jacksonborough]] to Sylvania in 1847.<ref>[http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-3099 "Sylvania, Georgia"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071013170335/http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-3099 |date=2007-10-13 }}, ''The New Georgia Encyclopedia''], accessed 10 Jun 2020</ref>

As part of the projects of the [[Works Progress Administration]], federally commissioned murals were produced from 1934 to 1943 in the United States through the [[Section of Painting and Sculpture]], later called the [[Section of Fine Arts]], of the [[United States Department of the Treasury|Treasury Department]]. In 1941, [[Caroline Speare Rohland]] painted a mural for the post office of Sylvania. The scene depicted was of a farming family and their African American farm hand. In the 1980s, complaints from the local [[NAACP]] chapter resulted in the removal of the mural. It was found in a closet of the post office in 1995 and restored. The mural is now on permanent loan from the federal government and is held by [[Georgia Southern University]] in [[Statesboro, Georgia|Statesboro]].<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Fogel|first1=Jared A.|last2=Stevens|first2=Robert L.|title=The Canvas Mirror: Painting as Politics in the New Deal|journal=[[OAH Magazine of History]]|date=Fall 2001|volume=16|issue=1|pages=19–20|jstor=25163482|publisher=Organization of American Historians by Oxford University Press|location=Oxford, England|doi=10.1093/maghis/16.1.17|issn=0882-228X}}</ref>

[[William Tecumseh Sherman|Sherman]]'s army moved through the area during the Civil War.

Sylvania calls itself the "Azalea and Dogwood City" and the "Welcome Station City."<ref>{{Cite web |title=City of Sylvania - History |url=http://www.citysylvaniaga.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=38&Itemid=1 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130118204954/http://www.citysylvaniaga.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=38&Itemid=1 |archive-date=18 January 2013 |access-date=2023-04-17 |website=www.citysylvaniaga.net}}</ref>

==Geography==
Sylvania is located at {{coord|32.750151|-81.639590|type:city_region:US|format=dms|display=inline}}.<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=2011-04-23|date=2011-02-12|title=US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990}}</ref>

[[U.S. Route 301 in Georgia|U.S. Route 301]] and [[Georgia State Route 21]] are the main routes through the city. U.S. 301 runs north–south as a western bypass of the downtown area, leading northeast 29&nbsp;mi (47&nbsp;km) to [[Allendale, South Carolina|Allendale]], [[South Carolina]] and southwest 23&nbsp;mi (37&nbsp;km) to [[Statesboro, Georgia|Statesboro]]. GA-21 runs along the western bypass of the city concurrent with U.S. 301, leading southeast 34&nbsp;mi (55&nbsp;km) to [[Springfield, Georgia|Springfield]] and west 19&nbsp;mi (31&nbsp;km) to [[Millen, Georgia|Millen]]. Additionally, [[Georgia State Route 73]] runs through the downtown area upon splitting from U.S. 301 south of downtown, but rejoins that route north of the city.

The city is located roughly halfway between the major cities of [[Savannah, Georgia|Savannah]] and [[Augusta, Georgia|Augusta]].

According to the [[United States Census Bureau]], the city has a total area of {{convert|3.8|sqmi|km2}}, all land. Sylvania's elevation is 230 feet and is slightly higher than most of the land throughout Screven County.

The city's flora include pine, oak, and most notably, dogwood, thus the slogan "The Dogwood City." Although [[Spanish moss]] is not as prevalent as in nearby Savannah, it can still be seen in Sylvania and the surrounding countryside.

==Demographics==
{{US Census population
|1880= 314
|1890= 338
|1900= 545
|1910= 1400
|1920= 1413
|1930= 1781
|1940= 2531
|1950= 2939
|1960= 3469
|1970= 3199
|1980= 3352
|1990= 2871
|2000= 2675
|2010= 2956
|2020= 2634
|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 Decade|publisher=[[US Census Bureau]]|access-date=}}</ref><br> 1850-1870<ref name=1870CensusGA>{{Cite web|first= |last= |authorlink=   |title= 1870 Census of Population - Georgia - Population of Civil Divisions less than Counties |website=[[US Census Bureau]]|date= 1870|url=https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/decennial/1870/population/1870a-13.pdf |accessdate=|archive-url=| archive-date=|page=}}</ref> 1870-1880<ref name=1880CensusGA>{{Cite web|first= |last= |authorlink=   |title= 1880 Census of Population - Georgia - Population of Civil Divisions less than Counties |website=[[US Census Bureau]]|date= 1880|url=https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/decennial/1880/vol-01-population/1880_v1-09.pdf |accessdate=|archive-url=| archive-date=|page=}}</ref><br> 1890-1910<ref name=1910CensusGA>{{Cite web|first= |last= |authorlink=   |title= 1910 Census of Population - Georgia  |website=[[US Census Bureau]]|date= 1930|url=https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/decennial/1910/abstract/supplement-ga.pdf |accessdate=|archive-url=| archive-date=|page=}}</ref> 1920-1930<ref name=1930CensusGA>{{Cite web|first= |last= |authorlink=   |title= 1930 Census of Population - Georgia  |website=[[US Census Bureau]]|date= 1930|url=https://www2.census.gov/prod2/decennial/documents/03815512v1ch04.pdf |accessdate=|archive-url=| archive-date=|pages=251–256}}</ref><br> 1940<ref name=1940CensusGA>{{Cite web|first= |last= |authorlink=   |title= 1940 Census of Population - Georgia  |website=[[US Census Bureau]]|date= 1940|url=https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/decennial/1940/population-volume-1/33973538v1ch04.pdf |accessdate=|archive-url=| archive-date=}}</ref> 1950<ref name=1950CensusGA>{{Cite web|first= |last= |authorlink=   |title= 1950 Census of Population - Georgia |website=[[US Census Bureau]]|date= 1980|url=https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/decennial/1950/population-volume-2/37779083v2p11ch2.pdf |accessdate=|archive-url=| archive-date=}}</ref> 1960<ref name=1960CensusGA>{{Cite web|first= |last= |authorlink=   |title= 1960 Census of Population - Population of County Subdivisions - Georgia  |website=[[US Census Bureau]]|date= 1960|url=https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/decennial/1960/population-volume-1/vol-01-12-c.pdf|accessdate=|archive-url=| archive-date=}}</ref><br> 1970<ref name=1970CensusGA>{{Cite web|first= |last= |authorlink=   |title= 1970 Census of Population - Population of County Subdivisions - Georgia  |website=[[US Census Bureau]]|date= 1970|url=https://www2.census.gov/prod2/decennial/documents/1970a_ga-01.pdf|accessdate=|archive-url=| archive-date=}}</ref> 1980<ref name=1980CensusGA>{{Cite web|first= |last= |authorlink=   |title= 1980 Census of Population - Number of Inhabitants - Georgia  |website=[[US Census Bureau]]|date= 1980|url=https://www2.census.gov/prod2/decennial/documents/1980a_gaABC-01.pdf|accessdate=|archive-url=| archive-date=}}</ref> 1990<ref name=1990CensusGA>{{Cite web|first= |last= |authorlink=   |title= 1990 Census of Population - Summary Social, Economic, and Housing Characteristics - Georgia |website=[[US Census Bureau]]|date= 1990|url=https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/decennial/1990/cph-5/cph-5-12.pdf|accessdate=|archive-url=| archive-date=}}</ref><br> 2000<ref name=2000CensusGA>{{Cite web|first= |last= |authorlink=   |title= 2000 Census of Population - General Population Characteristics - Georgia  |website=[[US Census Bureau]]|date= 2000|url=https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/2003/dec/phc-3-12.pdf |accessdate=|archive-url=| archive-date=}}</ref>
}}

{| class="wikitable"
|+Sylvania racial composition as of 2020<ref>{{Cite web|title=Explore Census Data|url=https://data.census.gov/cedsci/table?g=1600000US1375160&tid=DECENNIALPL2020.P2|access-date=2021-12-15|website=data.census.gov}}</ref>
!Race
!Num.
!Perc.
|-
|[[White (U.S. Census)|White]] (non-Hispanic)
|1,254
|47.61%
|-
|[[African American (U.S. Census)|Black or African American]] (non-Hispanic)
|1,175
|44.61%
|-
|[[Native American (U.S. Census)|Native American]]
|4
|0.15%
|-
|[[Asian (U.S. Census)|Asian]]
|36
|1.37%
|-
|[[Pacific Islander (U.S. Census)|Pacific Islander]]
|1
|0.04%
|-
|[[Race (United States Census)|Other/Mixed]]
|98
|3.72%
|-
|[[Hispanic (U.S. Census)|Hispanic]] or [[Latino (U.S. Census)|Latino]]
|66
|2.51%
|}
As of the [[2020 United States census]], there were 2,634 people, 1,092 households, and 672 families residing in the city.

==Arts and culture==

===Annual events===
Sylvania hosts an Annual Livestock Festival in April.

== Education ==
The [[Screven County School District]] holds grades pre-school to grade 12 and consists of one elementary school, a middle school and a high school.<ref>[http://www.doe.k12.ga.us/ReportingFW.aspx?PageReq=111&PID=62&PTID=69&CountyId=724&T=0&FY=2009 Georgia Board of Education]{{Dead link|date=June 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=no }}, Retrieve June 26, 2010.</ref> The district has 186 full-time teachers and over 3,130 students. Dr. Jim Thompson is the superintendent.<ref>[http://www.school-stats.com/GA/SCREVEN/SCREVEN_COUNTY.html School Stats], Retrieved June 26, 2010.</ref>

==Notable people==
* [[William Lovett Anderson]], U.S. Navy Rear Admiral and Navy Cross recipient
* [[Bob Waters]], American football player, coach and college administrator

==References==
<references />

==Further reading==<!--consensus reached to standardize this heading per WP:WikiProject Cities/US Guideline -->
* C. Dixon Hollingsworth, ''The History of Screven County Georgia'' (Curtis Media, 1989)

==External links==
{{Commons category}} <!-- for current and future use if material is uploaded -->
* [http://www.citysylvaniaga.net/ City of Sylvania Georgia] Portal style website, Government, Business, Library, Recreation and more
* [http://www.city-data.com/city/Sylvania-Georgia.html City-Data.com] Comprehensive Statistical Data and more about Sylvania

{{Screven County, Georgia}}
{{Georgia county seats}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Cities in Georgia (U.S. state)]]
[[Category:Cities in Screven County, Georgia]]
[[Category:County seats in Georgia (U.S. state)]]