Calhoun County, Georgia

Calhoun County is a rural county in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of Georgia. Its county seat is Morgan and its population was 5,573 in 2020.

History

Calhoun County was named for John C. Calhoun, the seventh Vice President of the United States.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> It was created from parts of Early and Baker counties on February 20, 1854.<ref name="New Georgia Encyclopedia">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Georgia Historical Society">Template:Cite web</ref>

Rival political factions disagreed about whether the county seat should be in Concord, a community north of present-day Leary, or in Dickey, then known as Whitney. As a compromise, a spot halfway between Concord and Whitney was chosen for the county seat, and the town of Morgan was established there.<ref name="New Georgia Encyclopedia"/>

In 1923 the state legislature moved the county seat to Arlington as directed by a county referendum. This decision was reversed in 1929, restoring Morgan as the county seat.<ref name="New Georgia Encyclopedia"/>

Calhoun Memorial Hospital, a 25-bed critical access hospital in Arlington originally founded as a Hill-Burton hospital,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> closed in 2013 after 62 years of operation.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 2008, members of the Downtown Business Authority in Arlington founded the South Georgia Regional Information Technology Authority (SGRITA) with help from the state government to provide wireless broadband service to several counties in rural southwest Georgia.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2017 SGRITA moved its office to Blakely in Early County.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Geography

The county seat is Morgan,<ref name="GR6">Template:Cite web</ref> where the historic Calhoun County Courthouse is located. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of Template:Convert, of which Template:Convert is land and Template:Convert (1.1%) is water.<ref name="GR1">Template:Cite web</ref>

The vast majority of Calhoun County is in the Ichawaynochaway Creek sub-basin of the ACF River Basin (Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River Basin). The county's western and southwestern corner, from Arlington running northwest to west of Edison, is in the Spring Creek sub-basin of the same larger ACF River Basin.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The United States Department of Agriculture has designated most of the county's land as prime farmland.<ref name="New Georgia Encyclopedia"/> Agricultural, forestry, and wildlife plantations line the county's eastern edge.<ref name="county website">Template:Cite web</ref>

Adjacent counties

• Terrell County (northeast)
• Dougherty County (east)
• Baker County (southeast)
• Early County (southwest)
• Clay County (west)
• Randolph County (northwest)

Communities

Cities

• Arlington (Partly in Early County)
• Edison
• Leary
• Morgan

Unincorporated communities

• Dickey
• Williamsburg

Demographics

Calhoun County, Georgia – Racial and ethnic composition
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Race / Ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic)	Pop 2000<ref name=2000CensusP004>Template:Cite web</ref>	Pop 2010<ref name=2010CensusP2>Template:Cite web</ref>	Template:Partial<ref name=2020CensusP2>Template:Cite web</ref>	% 2000	% 2010	Template:Partial
White alone (NH)	2,368	2,250	1,766	37.47%	33.61%	31.69%
Black or African American alone (NH)	3,726	4,092	3,569	58.96%	61.13%	64.04%
Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)	9	9	8	0.14%	0.13%	0.14%
Asian alone (NH)	4	30	19	0.06%	0.45%	0.34%
Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone (NH)	0	0	0	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%
Other race alone (NH)	0	2	1	0.00%	0.03%	0.02%
Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)	24	49	61	0.38%	0.73%	1.09%
Hispanic or Latino (any race)	189	262	149	2.99%	3.91%	2.67%
Total	6,320	6,694	5,573	100.00%	100.00%	100.00%

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 5,573 people, 1,736 households, and 1,152 families residing in the county. Of these people, 4.0% were under 5 years old, 16.9% were under 18, and 16.6% were 65 or over. The population was 39.3% female. The foreign-born population was 4.1% of the total. Of residents aged 5 or older, 7.7% spoke a language other than English at home.

There were 1,736 households. The average household size was 2.56. The county had 2,406 housing units, of which 65.6% were owner-occupied.<ref name="QF">Template:Cite web</ref>

Economy

Many farms in Calhoun County grow corn, oats, sorghum, and wheat.<ref name="New Georgia Encyclopedia" /> Calhoun State Prison in Morgan is a major employer. Calhoun Nursing Home, a 60-bed long-term care facility in Edison, is now operated by Miller County.

Education

The Calhoun County School District has an elementary school and a middle-high school all in Edison. The district has about 530 students.<ref name="School Grades">Template:Cite web</ref>

Pataula Charter Academy opened in 2010 in Edison as a tuition-free public charter school serving several counties in southwest Georgia. It has about 609 students in kindergarten through 12th grade.<ref name="Pataula Charter Academy">Template:Cite web</ref>

The Calhoun County Library in Edison is part of the Kinchafoonee Regional Library System.<ref name="Calhoun County Library">Template:Cite web</ref>

Government

Calhoun County has a council-manager government with five commissioners elected by district.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Politics

Calhoun County is staunchly Democratic in US presidential elections. The last Republican candidate to win the county was Richard Nixon in 1972.Template:PresHead Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresFoot

Transportation

Major highways

• File:Georgia 37.svg State Route 37
• File:Georgia 41.svg State Route 41
• File:Georgia 45.svg State Route 45
• File:Georgia 55.svg State Route 55
• File:Georgia 62.svg State Route 62
• File:Georgia 216.svg State Route 216
• File:Georgia 234.svg State Route 234

See also

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Calhoun County, Georgia

External links

• Calhoun County historical marker