The community took its name from the local Richland Baptist Church, the name of which most likely is a transfer from Richland, South Carolina, the native home of a large share of the first settlers.[5] The Georgia General Assembly incorporated Richland in 1889.[6]
Geography
Richland is located along U.S. Route 280 and Georgia State Route 520 (known as South Georgia Parkway). U.S. Route 280 and Georgia 520 lead northwest 36 miles (58 km) to Columbus. The two highways separate in the city, with U.S. Route 280 leading east 29 miles (47 km) to Americus and Georgia 520 leading southeast 52 miles (84 km) to Albany.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 4.2 square miles (11 km2), of which 4.2 square miles (11 km2) is land and 0.04 square miles (0.10 km2) (0.48%) is water.
Richland city, Georgia – Racial and Ethnic Composition (NH = Non-Hispanic) Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos may be of any race.
East of Richland, the Nathaniel Prothro Plantation was the largest cotton plantation in Stewart County at the beginning of the Civil War. The Greek Revival main house was built by 1851 by Dan E. Ponder. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on May 2, 1985.