Tifton, Georgia

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Tifton is a city in and the county seat of Tift County, Georgia, United States. The population was 17,045 at the 2020 census.<ref name="GR6">Template:Cite web</ref>

The area's public schools are administered by the Tift County School District. Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College has its main campus in Tifton. Southern Regional Technical College and the University of Georgia also have Tifton campuses.

Sites in the area include the Coastal Plain Research Arboretum, Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College, and the Georgia Museum of Agriculture & Historic Village. The Tifton Commercial Historic District and the Tifton Residential Historic District are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

History

File:Child Labor in Georgia, United States, 1909 (cropped).jpg

Child workers at Tifton Cotton Mills, 1909. Photographed by Lewis Hine.

Tifton was founded in 1872 in Berrien County at the junction of the Georgia Southern and Florida Railroad and the Brunswick and Western Railroad by sawmill owner Henry H. Tift. Tifton was incorporated as a city in 1890.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> In 1905, it was designated county seat of the newly formed Tift County.

Several Chicago-Florida and Cincinnati-Florida passenger trains made stops in Tifton: the Atlantic Coast Line's Seminole, Flamingo and City of Miami and the Southern Railway's Ponce de Leon and Royal Palm. With the discontinuance of the City of Miami in 1971, Tifton was left without passenger service.

Geography

Tifton is located in south central Georgia along Interstate 75, which runs north to south through the city, leading north Template:Convert to Atlanta and south Template:Convert to Valdosta. Other highways that pass through the city include U.S. Route 41, U.S. Route 82, U.S. Route 319, and Georgia State Route 125.

Climate

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Demographics

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Tifton racial composition as of 2020<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Race	Num.	Perc.
White (non-Hispanic)	7,367	43.22%
Black or African American (non-Hispanic)	6,349	37.25%
Native American	29	0.17%
Asian	434	2.55%
Other/Mixed	575	3.37%
Hispanic or Latino	2,291	13.44%

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 17,045 people, 5,906 households, and 3,779 families residing in the city.

Arts and culture

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Tifton Post Office

Libraries

Tifton has a public library,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> in addition to an extensive college library located at nearby Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College.

Points of interest

Until recently, Tifton was the home of the world's second largest magnolia tree, which was located in Magnolia Tree Park. In 2004, the tree was burned in a fire. The cause of the fire has never been given by local authorities. Currently, the tree and observation area are blocked from visitors by a gate.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Although it no longer grows, the tree still stands. It is not known where the new second largest magnolia tree resides.

Georgia Museum of Agriculture and Historic Village

Template:Main The Georgia Museum of Agriculture & Historic Village, formerly known as Agrirama, is located in Tifton, Georgia. It opened on July 4, 1976. The grounds consist of five areas: a traditional farm community of the 1870s, an 1890s progressive farmstead, an industrial sites complex, rural town, and national peanut complex; and the Museum of Agriculture Center. Over 35 structures have been relocated to the Template:Convert site and faithfully restored or preserved. Costumed interpreters explain and demonstrate the lifestyle and activities of this time in Georgia's history.

Historic districts

The Tifton Residential Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on April 30, 2008. It is bounded generally by 14th Street, Goff Street, 2nd Street and Forrest Avenue at coordinates Template:Coord. The Tifton Commercial Historic District and the Tift County Courthouse are also on the National Register.

Sports

In 2000, the boys 10u baseball team won the state championship with an undefeated season (24–0).

In 2010, the indoor football team Georgia Firebirds relocated from Waycross, Georgia to Tifton.

Education

File:Tift County Board of Education.jpg

Tift County School District headquarters

Tift County School District

The Tift County School District holds pre-school to grade twelve, and consists of, eight elementary schools, two middle schools, one high school, and an alternative school.<ref>Georgia Board of Education Template:Dead link, Retrieved June 28, 2010.</ref> The district has 467 full-time teachers and over 7,641 students.<ref>School Stats, Retrieved June 28, 2010.</ref>

Private schools

Tiftarea Academy, located in Chula, Georgia (PK–12)
Grace Baptist Christian School

Higher education

Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College - Main Campus<ref>Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College, Retrieved June 28, 2010.</ref>
Southern Regional Technical College - Tifton Campus<ref>Southern Regional Technical College- Tifton Campus, Retrieved September 9, 2020.</ref>
University of Georgia - Tifton Agricultural Campus<ref>University of Georgia- Tifton Agricultural Campus, Retrieved June 28, 2010.</ref>

Media

The Tifton Gazette is a weekly newspaper published Thursdays in Tifton, Georgia. It is operated by South Georgia Media Group, a division of Community Newspaper Holdings Inc. The Tifton Grapevine <ref>Template:Cite web</ref> is a twice-weekly online newspaper with an email circulation of 5,800. It is operated by Sayles Unlimited Marketing.

Infrastructure

File:WaterTowerTiftonGA.jpg

Tifton water tower seen from I-75

Transportation

Major highways

Airports

Henry Tift Myers Airport is a public airport located Template:Convert southeast of Tifton, serving the general aviation community, with no scheduled commercial airline service.