Jones County, Georgia

Jones County
Jones County
County
	Jones County Courthouse in Gray
	Location within the U.S. state of Georgia
	Georgia's location within the U.S.
	Coordinates: 33°02′N 83°34′W / 33.03°N 83.57°W
Country	United States
State	Georgia
Founded	December 10, 1807; 216 years ago
Named for	James Jones
Seat	Gray
Largest city	Gray
Area
• Total	395 sq mi (1,020 km2)
• Land	394 sq mi (1,020 km2)
• Water	1.5 sq mi (4 km2) 0.4%
Population (2020)
• Total	28,347
• Density	72/sq mi (28/km2)
Time zone	UTC−5 (Eastern)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−4 (EDT)
Congressional district	8th
Website	www.jonescountyga.org

Jones County is a county in the central portion of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 28,347.^[1] The county seat is Gray.^[2] The county was created on December 10, 1807, and named after U.S. Representative James Jones.^[3]

History

Jones County, along with Morgan County, Putnam County, and Old Randolph, were established by an act of the Georgia General Assembly on December 10, 1807, from land that had originally been part Baldwin County in 1803 and, earlier, part of the Creek Nation. Jones County was originally bounded by a line running north 56° east to Commissioners Creek, then north 15° west to Cedar Creek, then up the creek to corner Randolph County and Putnam County, then along a line to Ocmulgee River, then down the river to where the old county line between Wilkinson County and Baldwin County was.^[4] It excluded parts of what is now Bibb County east of the Ocmulgee River, including the location of Fort Benjamin Hawkins, as they were part of a reserve guaranteed to the Creek Nation. Those areas were later added to Jones County after the Treaty of Indian Springs.^[5]

During the initial months of the county's existence, a town known as Albany served as the county seat.^[6] The town was renamed Clinton^[7] and was established as the county seat by the Georgia General Assembly on December 22, 1808.^[8] Clinton was incorporated as in 1816.^[9] During the 1800s Clinton grew as a center of commerce and the cotton trade.^[6] Clinton remained one of the most populous cities in Georgia in the mid-1800s.^[7]^[10]

In December 1810 Jones County gained a portion of Putnam County between Cedar Creek and their original border.^[11] In December 1822 Bibb County was established and Jones County lost some of its land to that county.

During the early 19th century, Jones County had a rapid population increase. The peak came around 1835, when the county ranked third or fourth among all of the state's counties in agricultural wealth. After 1835, soil erosion and lack of funds to develop property drove many farmers to newly opened land elsewhere in Georgia.^[12]

Before the American Civil War, a few factories sprang up in the county, including a cotton gin factory at Griswoldville in the southern portion of the county and a woolen factory at Wallace. Griswoldville was founded by Samuel Griswold in the 1850s. During the Civil War, the cotton gin factory was reformatted so it could produce pistols and other weapons for the Confederate Army. Griswoldville was located on the railway linking Macon to Savannah, and became a prime target in 1864 as the Union Army moved through Georgia. On November 20, 1864, the town and the factories in it were burned as part of Sherman's March to the Sea. Days later the Battle of Griswoldville took place in the area. The town of Griswoldville was not rebuilt.

Many other areas in Jones County were damaged by the Union Army during that time period. The Jarrell Plantation State Historic Site in Jones County showcases one of the few and well-preserved antebellum plantations in Georgia.

In the 1890s a railroad line owned by the Central of Georgia Railway named the Macon & Northern Railroad was built through the county and bypassed Clinton by a mile after citizens wanted the line to not pass through the town. By the early 1900s the population had shifted northeastward and the city of Gray was established. On June 27, 1905, the citizens of Jones County voted on the issues of moving the county seat from Clinton to Gray. The results were 1,289 votes in favor of moving the county seat to Gray and 51 votes for keeping the county seat at Clinton. On August 9, 1905, Gray became the new county seat of Jones County.^[13]

Father and son Alonzo and James D. Green were innocent African-Americans lynched near Round Oak and Wayside, Jones County in retaliation for the murder of popular white farmer Silas Hardin Turner on July 4, 1915. A third man, William Bostick, was also lynched on this day. None of those killed received a trial.^[14]

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 395 square miles (1,020 km²), of which 394 square miles (1,020 km²) is land and 1.5 square miles (3.9 km²) (0.4%) is water.^[15]

The western half of Jones County, west of Gray, is located in the Upper Ocmulgee River sub-basin of the Altamaha River basin. The northeastern quarter of the county, north of Gray, is located in the Upper Oconee River sub-basin of the same Altamaha River basin, while the southeastern corner of Jones County is located in the Lower Oconee River sub-basin of the larger Altamaha River basin.^[16]

Major highways

Rivers

Ocmulgee River

Adjacent counties

Jasper County - north
Putnam County - northeast
Baldwin County - east
Twiggs County - southeast
Wilkinson County - southeast
Bibb County - south
Monroe County - west

National protected areas

Oconee National Forest (part)
Piedmont National Wildlife Refuge (part)

Communities

City

Gray (county seat)

Unincorporated communities

Extinct town

Blountsville

Demographics

Historical population
Census	Pop.	Note	%±
1810	8,597		—
1820	16,570		92.7%
1830	13,345		−19.5%
1840	10,065		−24.6%
1850	10,224		1.6%
1860	9,107		−10.9%
1870	9,436		3.6%
1880	11,613		23.1%
1890	12,709		9.4%
1900	13,358		5.1%
1910	13,103		−1.9%
1920	13,269		1.3%
1930	8,992		−32.2%
1940	8,331		−7.4%
1950	7,538		−9.5%
1960	8,468		12.3%
1970	12,218		44.3%
1980	16,579		35.7%
1990	20,739		25.1%
2000	23,639		14.0%
2010	28,669		21.3%
2020	28,347		−1.1%
2023 (est.)	28,969	^[17]	2.2%
U.S. Decennial Census^[18] 1790-1880^[19] 1890-1910^[20] 1920-1930^[21] 1930-1940^[22] 1940-1950^[23] 1960-1980^[24] 1980-2000^[25] 2010^[26]

Jones County racial composition as of 2020^[27]
Race	Num.	Perc.
White (non-Hispanic)	20,074	70.82%
Black or African American (non-Hispanic)	6,739	23.77%
Native American	46	0.16%
Asian	138	0.49%
Pacific Islander	7	0.02%
Other/mixed	867	3.06%
Hispanic or Latino	476	1.68%

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 28,347 people, 10,701 households, and 7,670 families residing in the county.

Education

Politics

United States presidential election results for Jones County, Georgia^[28]
Year	Republican		Democratic		Third party
Year	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%
2020	9,940	66.53%	4,882	32.68%	118	0.79%
2016	8,305	65.98%	3,961	31.47%	321	2.55%
2012	7,744	63.90%	4,274	35.27%	101	0.83%
2008	7,782	62.46%	4,572	36.69%	106	0.85%
2004	6,939	63.91%	3,855	35.50%	64	0.59%
2000	4,850	60.11%	3,102	38.45%	116	1.44%
1996	3,272	46.80%	3,195	45.70%	525	7.51%
1992	2,770	38.05%	3,338	45.86%	1,171	16.09%
1988	3,618	57.41%	2,662	42.24%	22	0.35%
1984	3,401	55.01%	2,781	44.99%	0	0.00%
1980	1,828	35.02%	3,239	62.05%	153	2.93%
1976	1,317	27.51%	3,471	72.49%	0	0.00%
1972	2,483	74.25%	861	25.75%	0	0.00%
1968	693	19.42%	1,105	30.97%	1,770	49.61%
1964	1,805	56.67%	1,380	43.33%	0	0.00%
1960	489	25.68%	1,415	74.32%	0	0.00%
1956	382	24.03%	1,208	75.97%	0	0.00%
1952	278	16.30%	1,427	83.70%	0	0.00%
1948	103	9.25%	588	52.78%	423	37.97%
1944	196	22.82%	661	76.95%	2	0.23%
1940	101	14.13%	613	85.73%	1	0.14%
1936	23	4.33%	508	95.67%	0	0.00%
1932	0	0.00%	553	99.46%	3	0.54%
1928	100	19.46%	414	80.54%	0	0.00%
1924	26	5.87%	414	93.45%	3	0.68%
1920	31	26.27%	87	73.73%	0	0.00%
1916	6	1.39%	398	92.34%	27	6.26%
1912	3	0.66%	426	93.42%	27	5.92%

Notable people

Terrance Gore, professional baseball player with the Kansas City Royals, Chicago Cubs, New York Yankees,Atlanta Braves and New York Mets; part of the World Series team with Kansas City in 2015 and Atlanta Braves in 2021.
William Lee, early Alabama politician; immigrated to Jones County from England
Sadie Gray Mays (1900–1969), social worker and wife of college president Benjamin Mays; born in Gray
Otis Redding, singer, lived on a ranch he owned in Jones County during the height of his music career. A marker in downtown Gray pays tribute to Redding.^[29]
John T. Edge, writer, commentator, director of the Southern Foodways Alliance, and most visibly, host of the SEC Network’stravel and food show, *True South*. Edge is author of several books on Southern food and contributes regularly to the Oxford American, the New York Times, and Garden & Gun.

References

^ "Census - Geography Profile: Jones County, Georgia". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved December 27, 2022.
^ "Find a County". National Association of Counties. Archived from the original on May 31, 2011. Retrieved June 7, 2011.
^ Gannett, Henry (1905). The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States. Govt. Print. Off. p. 170.
^ Acts of the State of Georgia Passed in 1807 (1, An Act To lay out and identify, six new counties out of the counties of Baldwin and Wilkinson.). December 10, 1807.
^ Acts of the General Assembly of the State of Georgia: Passed at Milledgville, At an Extra Session, In April and May, 1821 (1, An Act To dispose of and distribute the lands lately acquired by the United States for the use of Georgia, of the Creek Nation of Indians, by a treaty made and concluded at the Indian Spring, on the eighth day of January, eighteen hundred and twenty-one; and to add the Reserve at Fort Hawkins to the county of Jones.). May 15, 1821.
^ ^a ^b "Jones County, Georgia." Advisory Council on Historic Preservation website. Retrieved March 30, 2022.
^ ^a ^b Kenneth K. Krakow. "Clinton" entry in Georgia Place-Names: Their History and Origins. 3rd ed. Winship Press, 1999. p. 46. ISBN 0-915430-00-2
^ Acts of the General Assembly of the State of Georgia: Passed at Milledgville, At An Annual Session, In November and December, 1808 (To establish the site of public buildings in the county of JONES, and to appropriate the money arising from the sale of lots.). December 22, 1808. ...the site of public buildings in and for the county of Jones shall be in the town called and known by the name of Clinton in said county...
^ Acts of the General Assembly of the State of Georgia: Passed at Milledgville, At An Annual Session, In November and December, 1816 (45, To Incorporate the town of Clinton, in the county of Jones, and for the appointment of Commissioners for the better regulation and government of said town.). December 4, 1816.
^ William Bragg. "Jones County." New Georgia Encyclopedia. October 31, 2018.
^ Acts of the General Assembly of the State of Georgia: Passed at Milledgville in November and December 1810 (29, To add a part of Putnam county to Jones county.). December 15, 1810.
^ David D. Long; et al. (1914). "Soil Survey of Jones County, Georgia" (PDF). Nrcs.usda.gov. Archived (PDF) from the original on September 26, 2015. Retrieved July 11, 2018.
^ Acts and Resolutions of the General Assembly of the State of Georgia 1905 (64, Jones County, County Site Changed from Clinton to Gray.). August 9, 1905.
^ Rogers 2019.
^ "US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990". United States Census Bureau. February 12, 2011. Retrieved April 23, 2011.
^ "Georgia Soil and Water Conservation Commission Interactive Mapping Experience". Georgia Soil and Water Conservation Commission. Archived from the original on October 3, 2018. Retrieved November 20, 2015.
^ "Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for Counties: April 1, 2020 to July 1, 2023". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved March 31, 2024.
^ "Decennial Census of Population and Housing by Decades". United States Census Bureau.
^ "1880 Census Population by Counties 1790-1800" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. 1880.
^ "1910 Census of Population - Georgia" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. 1910.
^ "1930 Census of Population - Georgia" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. 1930.
^ "1940 Census of Population - Georgia" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. 1940.
^ "1950 Census of Population - Georgia -" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. 1950.
^ "1980 Census of Population - Number of Inhabitants - Georgia" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. 1980.
^ "2000 Census of Population - Population and Housing Unit Counts - Georgia" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. 2000.
^ "State & County QuickFacts". United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on June 7, 2011. Retrieved February 16, 2014.
^ "Explore Census Data". data.census.gov. Retrieved December 18, 2021.
^ Leip, David. "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections". uselectionatlas.org. Retrieved March 20, 2018.
^ "Otis Redding's legacy will be remembered with permanent road marker in Jones County". Music.blog.ajc.com. Retrieved July 11, 2018.