Blakely, Georgia

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Blakely is a city in and the county seat<ref name="GR6">Template:Cite web</ref> of Early County, Georgia, United States. As of 2020, its population was 5,371. It is located approximately halfway between Columbus and Tallahassee, Florida on U.S. Route 27.

History

Blakely was platted in 1825 as the county seat for Early County.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> It was named for Johnston Blakeley, an officer in the War of 1812.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Between 1881 and 1947 at least seven African-Americans were lynched in Blakely,<ref name="UGA Lynching Project">Template:Cite web</ref> including at least two veterans. One of these, Wilbur Little, was murdered upon returning from service in World War I by whites who detested seeing a black person in uniform.<ref>Template:Citation. Cites "Army Uniform Cost Soldier His Life," Chicago Defender, April 5, 1919, p. 1.</ref> In 1960 an African-American veteran from New Jersey who was traveling through the county was convicted of rape and sentenced to death 3 days after his arrest in a trial that featured no defense counsel and no jury. The story was chronicled in the movie Fair Game.A month after the article appeared in the Chicago Defender the NAACP sent Monroe N. Work to Blakely to investigate the incident. On June 7, 1919, Work sent a telegram to NAACP officer J.R. Shillady stating "Have investigated report. Blakely, Georgia, lynching does not appear to have Template:Sic." Work concluded his investigation by recommending that allegations of a lynching be dropped.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> However, further review by the organization found that it had in fact occurred.<ref name="Du Bois">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name=Mikkelsen>Template:Cite thesis</ref>

Geography

Blakely is located at Template:Coord (31.376728, -84.933873).<ref name="GR1">Template:Cite web</ref> The city is located in southwestern Georgia along U.S. Route 27, Georgia State Route 62, and Georgia State Route 39. Blakely is located approximately Template:Convert south of Columbus, Template:Convert southwest of Albany, and Template:Convert northwest of Tallahassee, Florida and 24 miles northeast of Dothan, Alabama.

According to the United States Census Bureau, this town has a total area of Template:Convert, of which Template:Convert is land and Template:Convert (0.74%) is water.

Demographics

Template:US Census population

Blakely racial composition as of 2020<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Race	Num.	Perc.
White (non-Hispanic)	1,444	26.89%
Black or African American (non-Hispanic)	3,706	69.0%
Native American	12	0.22%
Asian	32	0.6%
Other/Mixed	113	2.1%
Hispanic or Latino	64	1.19%

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 5,371 people, 1,584 households, and 1,065 families residing in the city.

File:Blakely City Hall.jpg

Blakely City Hall

Education

Early County School District

The Early County School District holds grades pre-school to grade twelve, and consists of one elementary school, a middle school, and a high school.<ref>Georgia Board of Education Template:Dead link, Retrieved June 8, 2010.</ref> The district has 156 full-time teachers and over 2,764 students.<ref>School Stats, Retrieved June 8, 2010.</ref>