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Calhoun County is a rural county in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of Georgia. Its county seat is Morgan and its population was 5,573 in 2020.
Calhoun County | |
|---|---|
 Calhoun County Courthouse in Morgan | |
 Location within the U.S. state of Georgia | |
 Georgia's location within the U.S. | |
| Coordinates: 31°32′N 84°37′W | |
| Country |  United States |
| State |  Georgia |
| Founded | February 20, 1854 |
| Named for | John C. Calhoun |
| Seat | Morgan |
| Largest city | Morgan |
| Area | |
• Total | 284 sq mi (740 km2) |
| • Land | 280 sq mi (700 km2) |
| • Water | 3.2 sq mi (8 km2) 1.1% |
| Population (2020) | |
• Total | 5,573 |
| • Density | 20/sq mi (8/km2) |
| Time zone | UTC−5 (Eastern) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC−4 (EDT) |
| Congressional district | 2nd |
| Website | calhouncountyga |
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Calhoun County was named for John C. Calhoun, the seventh Vice President of the United States.[1] It was created from parts of Early and Baker counties on February 20, 1854.[2][3]
Rival political factions disagreed about whether the county seat should be in Concord, a community north of present-day Leary, or in Dickey, then known as Whitney. As a compromise, a spot halfway between Concord and Whitney was chosen for the county seat, and the town of Morgan was established there.[2]
In 1923 the state legislature moved the county seat to Arlington as directed by a county referendum. This decision was reversed in 1929, restoring Morgan as the county seat.[2]
Calhoun Memorial Hospital, a 25-bed critical access hospital in Arlington originally founded as a Hill-Burton hospital,[4] closed in 2013 after 62 years of operation.[5][6]
In 2008, members of the Downtown Business Authority in Arlington founded the South Georgia Regional Information Technology Authority (SGRITA) with help from the state government to provide wireless broadband service to several counties in rural southwest Georgia.[7][8] In 2017 SGRITA moved its office to Blakely in Early County.[9]
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The county seat is Morgan,[10] where the historic Calhoun County Courthouse is located. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 284 square miles (740 km2), of which 280 square miles (730 km2) is land and 3.2 square miles (8.3 km2) (1.1%) is water.[11]
The vast majority of Calhoun County is in the Ichawaynochaway Creek sub-basin of the ACF River Basin (Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River Basin). The county's western and southwestern corner, from Arlington running northwest to west of Edison, is in the Spring Creek sub-basin of the same larger ACF River Basin.[12]
The United States Department of Agriculture has designated most of the county's land as prime farmland.[2] Agricultural, forestry, and wildlife plantations line the county's eastern edge.[13]
Adjacent counties
- Terrell County (northeast)
- Dougherty County (east)
- Baker County (southeast)
- Early County (southwest)
- Clay County (west)
- Randolph County (northwest)
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Cities
- Arlington (Partly in Early County)
- Edison
- Leary
- Morgan
Unincorporated communities
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| Census | Pop. | Note | %± |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1860 | 4,913 | — | |
| 1870 | 5,503 | 12.0% | |
| 1880 | 7,024 | 27.6% | |
| 1890 | 8,438 | 20.1% | |
| 1900 | 9,274 | 9.9% | |
| 1910 | 11,334 | 22.2% | |
| 1920 | 10,225 | −9.8% | |
| 1930 | 10,576 | 3.4% | |
| 1940 | 10,438 | −1.3% | |
| 1950 | 8,578 | −17.8% | |
| 1960 | 7,341 | −14.4% | |
| 1970 | 6,606 | −10.0% | |
| 1980 | 5,717 | −13.5% | |
| 1990 | 5,013 | −12.3% | |
| 2000 | 6,320 | 26.1% | |
| 2010 | 6,694 | 5.9% | |
| 2020 | 5,573 | −16.7% | |
| 2023 (est.) | 5,457 | [14] | −2.1% |
| U.S. Decennial Census[15] 1790-1880[16] 1890-1910[17] 1920-1930[18] 1930-1940[19] 1940-1950[20] 1960-1980[21] 1980-2000[22] 2010[23] 2020[24] | |||
| Race / Ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic) | Pop 2000[25] | Pop 2010[23] | Pop 2020[24] | % 2000 | % 2010 | % 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| White alone (NH) | 2,368 | 2,250 | 1,766 | 37.47% | 33.61% | 31.69% |
| Black or African American alone (NH) | 3,726 | 4,092 | 3,569 | 58.96% | 61.13% | 64.04% |
| Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH) | 9 | 9 | 8 | 0.14% | 0.13% | 0.14% |
| Asian alone (NH) | 4 | 30 | 19 | 0.06% | 0.45% | 0.34% |
| Pacific Islander alone (NH) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.00% |
| Other race alone (NH) | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0.00% | 0.03% | 0.02% |
| Mixed race or Multiracial (NH) | 24 | 49 | 61 | 0.38% | 0.73% | 1.09% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 189 | 262 | 149 | 2.99% | 3.91% | 2.67% |
| Total | 6,320 | 6,694 | 5,573 | 100.00% | 100.00% | 100.00% |
As of the 2020 United States census, there were 5,573 people, 1,736 households, and 1,152 families residing in the county. Of these people, 4.0% were under 5 years old, 16.9% were under 18, and 16.6% were 65 or over. The population was 39.3% female. The foreign-born population was 4.1% of the total. Of residents aged 5 or older, 7.7% spoke a language other than English at home.
There were 1,736 households. The average household size was 2.56. The county had 2,406 housing units, of which 65.6% were owner-occupied.[26]
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Many farms in Calhoun County grow corn, oats, sorghum, and wheat.[2] Calhoun State Prison in Morgan is a major employer. Calhoun Nursing Home, a 60-bed long-term care facility in Edison, is now operated by Miller County.
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The Calhoun County School District has an elementary school and a middle-high school all in Edison. The district has about 530 students.[27]
Pataula Charter Academy opened in 2010 in Edison as a tuition-free public charter school serving several counties in southwest Georgia. It has about 609 students in kindergarten through 12th grade.[28]
The Calhoun County Library in Edison is part of the Kinchafoonee Regional Library System.[29]
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Calhoun County has a council-manager government with five commissioners elected by district.[30]
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Calhoun County is staunchly Democratic in US presidential elections. The last Republican candidate to win the county was Richard Nixon in 1972.
| Year | Republican | Democratic | Third party(ies) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | % | No. | % | No. | % | |
| 2024 | 900 | 43.77% | 1,153 | 56.08% | 3 | 0.15% |
| 2020 | 923 | 41.99% | 1,263 | 57.46% | 12 | 0.55% |
| 2016 | 830 | 40.99% | 1,179 | 58.22% | 16 | 0.79% |
| 2012 | 883 | 40.34% | 1,298 | 59.30% | 8 | 0.37% |
| 2008 | 862 | 38.97% | 1,342 | 60.67% | 8 | 0.36% |
| 2004 | 890 | 44.08% | 1,119 | 55.42% | 10 | 0.50% |
| 2000 | 768 | 40.70% | 1,107 | 58.66% | 12 | 0.64% |
| 1996 | 541 | 28.96% | 1,217 | 65.15% | 110 | 5.89% |
| 1992 | 464 | 22.99% | 1,301 | 64.47% | 253 | 12.54% |
| 1988 | 644 | 41.52% | 901 | 58.09% | 6 | 0.39% |
| 1984 | 776 | 41.88% | 1,077 | 58.12% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1980 | 652 | 31.24% | 1,414 | 67.75% | 21 | 1.01% |
| 1976 | 436 | 23.83% | 1,394 | 76.17% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1972 | 892 | 64.31% | 495 | 35.69% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1968 | 234 | 12.25% | 697 | 36.49% | 979 | 51.26% |
| 1964 | 1,066 | 78.67% | 289 | 21.33% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1960 | 131 | 14.03% | 803 | 85.97% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1956 | 107 | 8.91% | 1,094 | 91.09% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1952 | 147 | 15.36% | 810 | 84.64% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1948 | 36 | 7.00% | 399 | 77.63% | 79 | 15.37% |
| 1944 | 37 | 4.79% | 736 | 95.21% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1940 | 33 | 5.13% | 610 | 94.87% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1936 | 14 | 1.77% | 777 | 97.98% | 2 | 0.25% |
| 1932 | 10 | 2.01% | 483 | 97.18% | 4 | 0.80% |
| 1928 | 91 | 13.75% | 571 | 86.25% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1924 | 66 | 16.02% | 343 | 83.25% | 3 | 0.73% |
| 1920 | 5 | 1.10% | 449 | 98.90% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1916 | 2 | 0.72% | 265 | 96.01% | 9 | 3.26% |
| 1912 | 70 | 16.24% | 300 | 69.61% | 61 | 14.15% |
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