Macon ( ) is a city located
in central Georgia
, USA. It is among the largest metropolitan areas in
Georgia, and the county seat of Bibb County
. A small portion of the city extends into
Jones
County
. It lies near the geographic center of
Georgia, approximately 85 miles (136 km) south of Atlanta
, hence the
city's nickname as the Heart of
Georgia. As of 2008, Macon had a population of
92,775; the Macon, GA
Metropolitan Statistical Area had an
estimated population of 230,777 and the
Macon-Warner Robins-Fort Valley Combined
Statistical Area had an estimated population of 386,534.
In terms
of population Macon is the sixth-largest city (just after Athens
), fifth-largest Metropolitan Statistical Area,
and fifth-largest Combined
Statistical Area in Georgia. Macon-Warner Robins-Fort Valley, GA
Combined Statistical Area (CSA) includes 7 Georgia counties.
Robins Air Force
Base
, a major employer, is south of the city in Warner Robins
. The area is also home to several
institutions of higher education, as well as numerous museums and
tourism sites.
The area is served by the Middle Georgia
Regional Airport
and the Herbert Smart Downtown Airport. The
current
mayor of Macon is
Robert Reichert, a former
Democratic member of the
Georgia House of
Representatives. Perhaps its most colorful mayor with national
recognition was
Ronnie Thompson, who
served from 1967-1975 and was the first of thus far two
Republicans to have held
the position, the other being
George
Israel (1979-1987).
History
Governor Brown calls for militia as
Sherman closes in, July 1864
Macon lies on the site of the Ocmulgee Old Fields, which were home
to
Creek Indians and their
predecessors for as long as 12,000 years before Europeans arrived.
The fields
and forests around Macon and what is now the Ocmulgee
National Monument
were cultivated by the Creeks, who built temple and
funeral mounds that survive today.
Prior to
its establishment as a city, Macon was the site of Fort Benjamin
Hawkins
. After the Creeks ceded their lands east of
the
Ocmulgee River, President
Thomas Jefferson ordered the fort
built in 1806 on the
fall line of the
Ocmulgee River to protect the new frontier, as it was a major
military distribution point during the
War
of 1812 and the
Creek War of 1813.
Afterward, the fort became a trading post for a few more years
before it fell to disuse and burned to the ground. A replica of the
fort, however, stands today on a hill in east Macon. By this time,
many settlers had already begun to move into the area and later
renamed Fort Hawkins “Newtown.” After the establishment of Bibb
County in 1822, the city was chartered as the county seat in 1823
and officially named Macon, in honor of North Carolina statesman
Nathaniel Macon because many of the
city's early settlers hailed from North Carolina. The city planners
of Macon envisioned "a city within a park" and went about creating
a city of spacious streets and parks. They also designated 250
acres (1 km
2) for Central City Park and citizens
were required by ordinances to plant shade trees in their front
yards.
The city thrived due to its location on the Ocmulgee River and
cotton became the mainstay of Macon's early economy. Cotton boats,
stage coaches, and later, in 1843, a railroad all brought economic
prosperity to Macon. In 1836,
Wesleyan
College, one of the oldest women's colleges in the world, was
founded in Macon. In 1855 a referendum was held to determine a
capital city for Georgia. Macon came in last with 3,802
votes.
During the
American Civil War,
Macon served as the official arsenal of the Confederacy. Camp
Oglethorpe, in Macon, was used first as a prison for captured
officers and enlisted, then for officers only, up to 2,300 at one
time. The camp was evacuated in 1864.
Macon City Hall, which would serve as the temporary state capitol
in 1864, was converted to use as a hospital for the wounded.
However, Macon was spared by General
William Tecumseh Sherman on his
march to the sea. The nearby state capital of
Milledgeville had been sacked and Maconites
prepared for an attack. But General Sherman feared that Confederate
forces were preparing a unified attack of their own and therefore
bypassed Macon.
The
Macon Telegraph claimed
that out of the 23 companies the city had furnished the
Confederacy, only enough for five were alive and medically fit for
duty by the end of the war.
Throughout the era of
Reconstruction and
into the twentieth century, Macon grew into a prospering town in
Middle Georgia, and began to serve as a transportation hub for the
entire state.
Downtown Macon in the early
1900's
.
In 1994
Tropical Storm Alberto
made landfall in Florida
dumping 24" inches of rain resulting in major
flooding in Georgia. Macon was one of the worst flooded
cities.
On May 13, 2008, an
EF2 tornado struck. Bibb
county and surrounding counties were declared disaster areas by the
state and federal governments.
Macon was famous for being the home of the murderess
Anjette Lyles, as well as alleged axe murderer
Thomas Woolfolk.
Geography
The Macon-Bibb County Court
House
Macon is
one of Georgia's three Fall Line
Cities, along with Augusta
and Columbus
. The Fall Line is where the hilly lands of
the
Piedmont plateau meet the flat terrain of the
coastal plain. As such, Macon has a varied
landscape of rolling hills on the north side and flat plains on the
south. The
fall line causes rivers in the
area to decline rapidly towards sea level, making it an ideal
location for
textile mills in the past. The
Ocmulgee River is the major river
that runs through Macon.
Macon is located at (32.834839, -83.651672).
According to the
United
States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of
56.3 square miles (145.7 km
2), of which,
55.8 square miles (144.5 km
2) of it is land
and 0.5 square miles (1.2 km
2) of it (0.82%)
is water.
Macon is approximately 901 feet (116 m) above sea level.
Climate
Macon has a humid, subtropical temperature. The summer often
reaches its high in the mid-90s, and the winters have lows in the
mid-30s. The city has an average annual precipitation of . Macon is
often considered a dividing line or "natural snowline" of the
southeastern United States with areas north of the city receiving
snowfall annually, with areas to the south typically not receiving
snowfall every year or at all.
Surrounding cities and towns
Demographics
Location of the Macon-Warner
Robins-Fort Valley CSA and its components:
Macon is
the largest principal city of the Macon-Warner Robins-Fort
Valley CSA, a Combined
Statistical Area that includes the Macon metropolitan area (Bibb, Crawford
, Jones, Monroe
, and Twiggs
counties), the Warner Robins metropolitan
area
(Houston County), and the Fort Valley micropolitan area
(Peach County), which had a combined population of 346,801 at the
2000 census.
As of the
census of 2000, there were 97,255
people, 38,444 households, and 24,219 families residing in the
city. The
population density was
1,742.8 people per square mile (672.9/km
2). There were
44,341 housing units at an average density of 794.6/sq mi
(306.8/km
2). The racial makeup of the city was 62.45%
African American,
35.46%
White, 0.19%
Native American, 0.65
Asian, 0.03%
Pacific Islander, 0.46% from
other races, and 0.77%
from two or more races.
Hispanic or
Latino of any race were 1.20% of the
population.
There were 38,444 households out of which 30.1% had children under
the age of 18 living with them, 33.0% were
married couples living together, 25.7% had a female
householder with no husband present, and 37.0% were non-families.
31.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.1% had
someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average
household size was 2.44 and the average family size was 3.08.
In the city the population was spread out with 26.9% under the age
of 18, 11.3% from 18 to 24, 27.5% from 25 to 44, 20.0% from 45 to
64, and 14.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was
34 years. For every 100 females there were 79.7 males. For every
100 females age 18 and over, there were 72.8 males.
Economy
Personal income
The median income for a household in the city was $27,405, and the
median income for a family was $33,699. Males had a median income
of $29,950 versus $22,865 for females. The
per capita income for the city was
$16,082. About 21.6% of families and 25.5% of the population were
below the
poverty line, including 37.7%
of those under age 18 and 16.0% of those age 65 or over.
Retail
Two malls include:
The
Shoppes at River Crossing and
Macon
Mall.
Cultural
Musical heritage
A statue of Otis Redding
natives have had a great influence upon
music of the United States. The
kazoo was invented in the city during the
1840s. Macon has been the birthplace or hometown to such musicians
as
The Allman Brothers
Band,
Randy Crawford,
Mark Heard,
Lucille
Hegamin,
Lena Horne,
Otis Redding,
Little
Richard, and
Mike Mills and
Bill Berry of
R.E.M. as
well as more recent names like
violinist
Robert McDuffie,
rapper Young Jeezy, and
country artist
Jason Aldean. Rapper
Jody Breeze (1/4 of the hip-hop group
Boyz N Da Hood, currently signed to
P. Diddy's
Bad Boy Entertainment) was discovered
in Macon at a car show.
September
Hase, an
alternative rock band
managed by Macon's
Alan Walden, was
discovered in Macon at the 550 Blues Club.
Capricorn Records, run by Macon natives
Phil Walden and briefly Alan Walden,
made the city a hub for
Southern rock
music in the late 1960s and 1970s.
Partly as a result of this musical heritage, Macon became the home
of the
Georgia Music Hall of
Fame. Musicians from around the state are enshrined at the hall
for their contributions, and the building features a museum
showcasing Georgia's music history.
In 2007
the city hosted the Macon Symphony Orchestra, which performed at
the Grand Opera House
in downtown Macon, as well as a youth symphony, the
Middle Georgia Concert Band, and other groups, some associated with
the local universities.
Festivals
Cherry Blossom Festival
Georgia State Fair
- International
Cherry Blossom Festival - During mid-March of every year, the
height of the cherry trees' bloom, Macon holds a 10-day celebration
of concerts, food festivals, arts and crafts shows, parades, street
markets, picnics, dances, and exhibitions of artists from around
the world. The city becomes bathed in pink, the symbolizing color
of this event, reflecting the color of the blossoms. The festival
has been Macon's largest and best-known event.
- Pan African Festival - Macon celebrates its African American cultural heritage.
In April,
Macon holds the Pan-African Festival featuring parades, African and Caribbean
musical performances, African dancing, films, food
festival, cultural shows, and exhibitions.
- Ocmulgee Indian Celebration - A celebration
of Macon's original Native American Heritage, this festival is held
every September at Ocmulgee National Monument. Representatives from backgrounds of
Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw,
Creek, Seminole, and other nations come to share stories,
exhibit native art, perform dances, and play live music.
- The Georgia State Fair - The Fair is held in Central City Park
every year starting in late September.
- The Georgia Music Hall of Fame hosts Georgia Music Week in
September. During the museum's free Brown Bag Boogie concert
series, artists from across the state perform outdoors at noon.
Festivities have also included the annual Georgia Music Hall of
Fame Awards held in Atlanta.
- Macon's annual Bragg Jam festival features an Art and Kids'
Festival along the Ocmulgee Heritage Trail and a nighttime Pub
Crawl featuring local and national musical acts. The event pays
tribute to the lives of musicians Brax and Taylor Bragg, brothers
who were killed in an automobile accident. Proceeds benefit the
Ocmulgee Heritage Trail.
- Macon Film Festival (MaGa) - An annual film festival held the
third weekend in February, celebrating the art and craft of the
moving image, and giving light to independent films that rarely
have the opportunity to appear in the Central Georgia region. The
festival is open to filmmakers from every level, working in any
medium and genre.
Points Of Interest
Fort Hawkins
Ocmulgee Riverwalk
- Tubman African American Museum - the largest African American
museum in Georgia. Attendance has dropped annually, and the museum
is kept alive through tax payer money.
- Hay House
- also known as the "Johnston-Felton-Hay House", it
has been referred to as the "Palace of the South"
Media
Newspapers and magazines
Television stations
Radio stations
FM
- WBKG 88.9 - Macon (Religious)
- WMUM-FM
89.7 - Macon (Georgia Public Broadcasting/National
Public Radio)
- WLZN 92.3 - Macon (Urban Hip-Hop - "Blazin'
92.3")
- WPEZ
93.7 -
Macon (Z93.7)
- WMGB 95.1 ("B95.1") - Macon
- WPCH
96.5 - Macon (Oldies/Adult Contemporary - "The New
Peach" - Simulcast)
- WDXQ 96.7 - Cochran (Classic Hits -
"96Q")
- WSSY 98.3 - Pinehurst/Hawkinsville/Warner
Robins (Oldies - "Qwixie 98.3")
- WDEN 99.1 - Macon (Country)
- WNNG-FM
99.9 - Unadilla/Warner Robins (AC - "Sunny
99.9FM")
- WMGZ
97.7 FM -
Macon
- WIBB-FM 97.9 - Macon (Urban - Hip Hop
"97.9 WIBB")
- WPGA-FM 100.9 - Macon (Mix "100.9")
- WRBV 101.7 - Macon (Urban AC -
"V101.7")
- WZCH
102.5 -
Warner Robins (Oldies/Adult Contemporary - "The New
Peach")
- WQXZ 103.9 - Hawkinsville/Warner Robins
(News/Talk - "103-9 The Patriot")
- WROK-FM 105.5 - Macon (Adult Album
Alternative - "Rock 105.5")
- WQBZ
106.3 -
Macon ( The Rock Station "Q106")
- WFXM 107.1 - Macon (Hip-Hop & R&B
"Power 107")
AM
- WMVG
AM -
Macon
- WCEH
610 AM -
Hawkinsville (Country - Real Country 610)
- WBML
900 AM -
Macon (Religious)
- WMAC 940 AM - Macon (Talk)
- WPGA
980 AM -
Macon (Talk)
- WDDO 1240 AM - Macon (Gospel)
- WIBB
1280 AM -
Macon (Talk)
- WNNG
1350 AM -
Warner Robins (News/Talk)
- WNEX
1400 AM -
Macon (News Talk)
- WDCO
1400 AM -
Cochran (Gospel - "Solid Gospel 1440")
- WIFN 1500 AM - Macon (Sports - "The
Fan")
- WFSM
1670 AM -
Macon (Regional Mexican - "VIVA 1670")
Major venues
Macon City Auditorium
Cox Capitol Theater
Education
Colleges and universities
Macon State
Mercer University
Colleges and Universities
With
approximately 30,000 college students, Macon is considered by many
a college town, lagging only behind Athens and Atlanta in college
population in Georgia. Mercer, Macon State, and Wesleyan
College have the largest populations of "traditional" college
students.
Public High Schools
Private High Schools
Specialty schools
- Butler
- Elam Alexander
- Georgia Academy for the Blind
- Neel
- Renaissance
Hospitals
Transportation
Air travel
Middle Georgia
Regional Airport , provides public air service to Macon as well as
cargo flights. The airport is situated 9 miles (14 km)
south of downtown.
Herbert Smart Downtown
Airport
also provides air service to
Macon.
Ground transportation
Interstate highways
State highways
Other roads
Bus service
MTA-MAC City Bus
The Macon Transit Authority (MTA) is Macon's public-transit system,
operating the bus system within Bibb County. However, many
commuters in Macon and the surrounding suburbs use private
automobiles as their primary transportation. This results in heavy
traffic during rush hour and contributes to Macon's air
pollution.
Macon Transit Authority has a trolley system. The trolleys offer
tours in the downtown Macon area since 1999. The tours consist of
all of the major historical sites such as the Georgia Music Hall of
Fame, the Hay House, and the Tubman Museum. There are three
trolleys; MITSI, Miss Molly, and Sweet Melissa and each holds up to
39 passengers.Greyhound Lines provides intercity bus service
between Macon and many locations throughout the United States and
Canada. The Greyhound terminal is situated at 65 Spring Street, on
the eastern edge of the downtown area.
Sports
Sister cities
Notable Maconites
A number of notable people involved in politics, sports, music, and
other activities were either born or resided here,
See also
References
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Finder
- Annual Estimates of the Population of Combined
Statistical Areas: April
1 2000 to July 1, 2005 (Note: This is a Microsoft
Excel-formatted file)
- [1]
- [2]
- Cotton, Fire and Dreams
-
http://www.nytimes.com/1994/07/06/us/record-rain-pelts-georgia-4-die-in-flood.html
- http://www.srh.noaa.gov/ffc/html/torfotos51108.shtml
- Southern Scribe
- While Woolfolk was convicted and hung for the crime, he never
confessed, and a note found on a lynched man has cast doubt on his
guilt.
- METROPOLITAN STATISTICAL AREAS AND COMPONENTS,
Office of Management and
Budget, 2007-05-11. Accessed 2008-08-01.
- MICROPOLITAN STATISTICAL AREAS AND COMPONENTS,
Office of Management and
Budget, 2007-05-11. Accessed 2008-08-01.
- COMBINED STATISTICAL AREAS AND COMPONENT CORE BASED
STATISTICAL AREAS, Office of Management and
Budget, 2007-05-11. Accessed 2008-08-01.
- Georgia Music Hall of Fame. "Alan
Walden - Georgia Music Hall of Fame 2003 Inductee".
georgiamusicstore.com. Retrieved August 27, 2008.
- Georgia
Music Hall of Fame website
- Macon
Symphony Orchestra Website
- Middle Georgia Concert Band website
- [3]
- http://www.tubmanmuseum.com
- http://www.historicmacon.org/slc.html
- http://www.georgiachildrensmuseum.com/
- http://www.cannonballhouse.org/
- http://www.georgiamusic.org
- History of TBI, Synagogue website. Accessed August 28,
2009.
- Covenant Academy
External links
is one of Macon's oldest cemeteries. It is a popular attraction with
many fans of the Allman Brothers
Band, as two members of the band (Duane
Allman and Berry Oakley), are
interred there, as are many Civil
War soldiers.
, military outpost used as a buffer between the
citizens of Macon and the various Indian tribes that lined the
Ocmulgee River.
, the world's largest copper dome
- this Jewish congregation
was founded in 1859, and currently occupies an impressive domed
Neoclassical building
built in 1902.
- CBS
- Fox
- PBS
- NBC/MyNetworkTV
- Christian
Television Network
- Ind. (Cordele,
Georgia)
- ABC
- main campus in Troy, Alabama
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