Muscogee County, Georgia

Muscogee County is a county located on the central western border of the U.S. state of Georgia named after the Muscogee that originally inhabited the land with its western border with the state of Alabama that is formed by the Chattahoochee River. As of the 2020 census, the population was 206,922.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Its county seat and only city is Columbus,<ref name="GR6">Template:Cite web</ref> with which it has been a consolidated city-county since the beginning of 1971.

Muscogee County is part of the Columbus, GA–AL, metropolitan statistical area.

The only other city in the county was Bibb City, a company town that disincorporated in December 2000, two years after its mill closed permanently. Fort Benning, a large Army installation, takes up nearly one quarter of the county and extends southeast into neighboring Chattahoochee County; it generates considerable economic power in the region.

History

Template:One source Inhabited for thousands of years by varying cultures of indigenous peoples, this area was territory of the historic Creek people at the time of European encounter.

The land for Lee, Muscogee, Troup, Coweta, and Carroll counties was ceded by a certain eight chiefs among the Creek people in the 1825 Treaty of Indian Springs. The Creek Nation declared the land cession illegal, because it did not represent the will of the majority of the people. The United States Senate did not ratify it. The following year, the US government negotiated another treaty with the Creek, by which they ceded nearly as much territory under continued pressure from the state of Georgia and US land commissioners.

The counties' boundaries were created by the Georgia General Assembly on June 9, but they were not named until December 14, 1826. The county was originally developed by American Indians for cotton plantations. In many areas of what became known as the Black Belt for the fertility of soil and development of plantations, American Indians who were reclassified by the government as Colored/Negro made up the majority of population in many counties.

This county was named by American Indians for the native Muscogee or Creek people. Parts of the then-large county (which extended east to the Flint River) were later taken to create every other neighboring Georgia county, including Harris County to the north in 1827<ref>"Muscogee County History" Template:Webarchive, University of Georgia</ref> and Chattahoochee County to the south in 1854.

Geography

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 (2.1%) is water.<ref name="GR1">Template:Cite web</ref>

The county is located on the fall line between the Atlantic coastal plain to the south and the Piedmont to the north. As such, the newly constructed Fall Line Freeway runs across the northern portion of the county along JR Allen Parkway, and areas across the northern part of the county are hillier compared to the southern part of the county.

The majority of Muscogee County, from north of Columbus running northeast in the direction of Ellerslie, is located in the Middle Chattahoochee River-Walter F. George Lake subbasin of the ACF River Basin (Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River Basin). The northwestern corner of the county, south of Fortson, is located in the Middle Chattahoochee River-Lake Harding subbasin of the same ACF River Basin.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Major highways

• File:I-14 (GA).svg Interstate 14 (Extension is coming)
• File:I-185 (GA).svg Interstate 185
• File:US 27.svg U.S. Route 27
• File:US 27 Alternate.svg U.S. Route 27 Alternate
• File:US 80.svg U.S. Route 80
• File:US 280.svg U.S. Route 280
• File:Georgia 1.svg State Route 1
• File:Georgia 22.svg State Route 22
• File:Georgia 22 Connector.svg State Route 22 Connector
• File:Georgia 22 Spur.svg State Route 22 Spur
• File:Georgia 85.svg State Route 85
• File:Georgia 219.svg State Route 219
• File:Georgia 411.svg State Route 411 (unsigned designation for I-185)
• File:Georgia 520.svg State Route 520
• File:Georgia 540.svg State Route 540 (Fall Line Freeway)

Adjacent counties

• Harris County (north)
• Talbot County (northeast)
• Chattahoochee County (south)
• Russell County, Alabama (southwest/CST border except for Phenix City as the city is jointed by the Columbus Metropolitan Area)
• Lee County, Alabama (west/CST border)

Communities

Cities

• Columbus (county seat)

Former incorporated communities

• Bibb City

Unincorporated communities

• Fort Benning (military base)

Demographics

Muscogee County racial composition as of 2020<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Race	Num.	Perc.
White (non-Hispanic)	79,083	38.22%
Black or African American (non-Hispanic)	94,701	45.77%
Native American	488	0.24%
Asian	5,546	2.68%
Pacific Islander	517	0.25%
Other/mixed	10,074	4.87%
Hispanic or Latino	16,513	7.98%

According to the 2000 U.S. census, there were 186,291 people, 69,819 households, and 47,686 families living in the county. The population density was Template:Convert.<ref name="GR8">Template:Cite web</ref> In 2010, there were 189,885 people, 74,081 households, and 47,742 families living in the county.<ref name="census-dp1">Template:Cite web</ref> By the 2020 United States census, there were 206,922 people, 73,134 households, and 45,689 families residing in the city.

Education

Higher education

Public

• Columbus State University
• Columbus Technical College<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Troy University<ref>Troy University at Columbus Template:Webarchive</ref> - main campus in Troy, Alabama

Private

• Rivertown School of Beauty<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Southeastern Beauty School<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Meadows Junior CollegeTemplate:Citation needed
• University of Phoenix<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Primary and secondary education

Public schools

Muscogee County School District serves all parts of the county except Fort Moore for grades K-12. Fort Moore children are zoned to Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) schools for grades K-8.<ref>Template:Cite web - Text list - "Fort Benning Schools" refers to the DoDEA schools on Fort Benning. The document states that the county schools have high school zoning.</ref> However, high school students attend the public high schools in the respective counties they are located in.<ref name=SchoolsonFortBenning>Template:Cite web - The document states that the county schools have high school zoning.</ref>

Private and religion-based schools

• Brookstone School (K-12)
• Calvary Christian School (Christian, K-12)
• Edgewood Christian School (Baptist, K-12)
• Grace Christian School (Christian, K-12)
• Hallie Turner Private School (9–12)
• Kip Christian Academy (Christian, K-8)
• New Bethel Christian Academy (Seventh-day Adventist, K-8)
• Our Lady of Lourdes School (Catholic, K-8)
• Our Redeemer Christian Academy (Christian, K-12)
• Pinehurst Christian School (Baptist, K-8)
• St. Anne‒Pacelli Catholic School (Catholic, K-12)
• St. Luke School (Christian, K-8)
• Victory Academy (K-8)
• Westminster Christian School (Christian, K-8)
• Wynnbrook Christian School (Baptist, K-12)

Homeschooling

In regards to homeschooling, the Official Code of Georgia Annotated states the following:

Government and politics

Template:See also Muscogee County has voted for Democratic candidates by increasing margins since 1992, although partisan leanings have become increasingly stratified by race, class, and in-county migration after 1965. The county has not supported a Republican for president since 1988, but broke free of Solid South voting patterns earlier than most counties in Georgia. In 2020, Joe Biden won 61.4% of the vote, the best performance by a Democrat since 1976.

United States Congress

Senators		Name	Party	Assumed office	Level
	Senate Class 2	Jon Ossoff	Democratic	2021	Senior Senator
	Senate Class 3	Raphael Warnock	Democratic	2021	Junior Senator
Representatives		Name	Party	Assumed office
	District 2	Sanford Bishop	Democratic	1993
	District 3	Brian Jack	Republican	2025

Georgia General Assembly

Georgia State Senate

District		Name	Party	Assumed office
	15	Ed Harbison	Democratic	2013
	29	Randy Robertson	Republican	2019

Georgia House of Representatives

District		Name	Party	Assumed office
	133	Vance Smith	Republican	2019
	134	Richard H. Smith	Republican	2005
	140	Teddy Reese	Democratic	2023
	141	Carolyn Hugley	Democratic	1993
	137	Debbie Buckner	Democratic	2003

<ref name='State House Directory'>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name='State Senate Directory'>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name='District List'>Template:Cite web</ref>

See also

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Muscogee County, Georgia
• List of counties in Georgia

External links

• Documents from Muscogee County in the Digital Library of Georgia