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Troup County, Georgia

Coordinates: 33°02′N 85°02′W / 33.03°N 85.03°W / 33.03; -85.03
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Troup County
County
Troup County Courthouse and Government Center in LaGrange, April 2012.
Troup County Courthouse and Government Center in LaGrange, April 2012.
Official seal of Troup County
Seal
Official logo of Troup County
Logo
Map of Georgia highlighting Troup County
Location within the U.S. state of Georgia
Map of the United States highlighting Georgia
Georgia's location within the U.S.
Coordinates: 33°02′N 85°02′W / 33.03°N 85.03°W / 33.03; -85.03
Country United States
State Georgia
FoundedJune 9, 1826; 198 years ago (1826)
Named forGeorge Troup
SeatLaGrange
Largest cityLaGrange
Area
 • Total446 sq mi (1,160 km2)
 • Land414 sq mi (1,070 km2)
 • Water32 sq mi (80 km2)  7.2%
Population
 (2020)
 • Total69,426
 • Estimate 
(2023)
70,742 Increase
 • Density160/sq mi (60/km2)
Time zoneUTC−5 (Eastern)
 • Summer (DST)UTC−4 (EDT)
Congressional district3rd
Websitetroupcountyga.org
[1]

Troup County (pronounced /truːp/ TROOP) is a county in the West Central region of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 69,426.[1][2] The county seat is LaGrange.[3] Troup County comprises the LaGrange micropolitan statistical area along with Chambers County, AL. It is included in the Atlanta-Athens-Clarke County-Sandy Springs combined statistical area.

History

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For thousands of years, this area of what is now defined as west central Georgia was occupied by cultures of indigenous peoples. In the historic period, it was part of a large area controlled by the Muscogee, also known as the Creek people.

The land for Lee, Muscogee, Troup, Coweta, and Carroll counties was ceded by the Creek to the United States in the 1825 Treaty of Indian Springs. The counties' boundaries were created by the Georgia General Assembly on June 9, 1826, but the counties themselves were not named until December 14, 1826.

The county is named for George Troup,[4] thirty-fourth governor of Georgia, U.S. representative, and senator.

As with much of the Piedmont, this area was developed in the antebellum era for cotton cultivation after short-staple cotton was made profitable by invention of the cotton gin. By 1860 Troup County was the fourth-wealthiest in Georgia and fifth-largest slaveholding county in the state.[5]

According to U.S. Census data, the 1860 Troup County population included 6,223 whites, 37 "free colored" and 10,002 slaves. By the 1870 census, the white population had increased about 3% to 6,408, while the "colored" population had increased about 12% to 11,224.[6]

During the post-Reconstruction period, violence and the number of lynchings of blacks increased in the late 19th century, as whites exercised terrorism to re-establish and maintain white supremacy. Whites lynched three African Americans in Troup County in this period, most were killed around the turn of the 20th century. Such deaths occurred through the post-World War II period.[7] A fourth man from Troup County was lynched in neighboring Harris County.[8]

In the late 19th century, entrepreneurs in LaGrange built the first cotton mill, and others were rapidly established in this area. Initially they employed only white workers.

20th century to present

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During the first half of the 20th century, thousands of blacks left Georgia and other southern states in what is known as the Great Migration. They were seeking work as mechanization reduced the number of farm jobs, and they were seeking more opportunities than in the Jim Crow South, where they were disenfranchised and socially oppressed.

On September 8, 1940, 16-year-old Austin Callaway, a black youth, was arrested in LaGrange as a suspect in an attack on a white woman. The next night a small, armed group of white men took him from the county jail, driving him out to the nearby countryside, where they lynched him: shooting him several times and leaving him for dead. In 2017 a man who was a child at the time revealed that his white family found and took Callaway to the hospital, where he died the next day. They had kept their role secret out of fear of the KKK.[9] Callaway was noted by the local paper as dying from gunshot wounds; the New York Times at the time described it as a lynching.[10] As was typical in these cases, no one was prosecuted for the murder. In response, that fall African Americans organized the first NAACP chapter in Troup County at Warren Temple Methodist Church in LaGrange. It has worked on a variety of civil rights issues, including voting rights, equal justice, access, and human services.[8]

In 1947, prosperous farmer Henry "Peg" Gilbert, a married African-American father who owned and farmed 100 acres in the county, was arrested and charged with harboring a fugitive by officials from neighboring Harris County, Georgia, in the case of Gus Davidson. Also African American, the latter man was charged in the shooting death of a white farmer. Four days later Gilbert was dead, shot while held in jail by the Harris County Sheriff, in what he said was self-defense. In 2016 the Civil Rights and Restorative Justice Project of Northeastern University reported on this death in custody. They found that Gilbert had been beaten severely before his death, and shot five times. They asserted he had been detained and killed because of his success as a farmer.[11][12]

By 1960, the county was recorded in the US Census as having 31,418 whites and 15,760 "Negroes" (now classified as black or African Americans). Following passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, blacks gradually regained the ability to vote and take part in the political process.

Textile manufacturing was a major part of the economy until the late 20th century, when textile manufacturing moved offshore to areas with cheaper labor. The county has acquired other industry, notably auto parts manufacturers who support the nearby Kia Motors plant. Also in the area are West Point Lake and Callaway Gardens, which attract tourists and visitors as top recreation destinations in the state.[9]

As of 2015, the official historian of Troup County is writer Forrest Clark Johnson, III, who has published several books on the county and region's history. He is a retired teacher in the county's school system.

On January 25, 2017, Mayor Jim Thornton and Police Chief Louis M. Dekmar, of the county seat of LaGrange, publicly apologized to more than 200 people gathered for a reconciliation service at Warren Temple United Methodist Church for the police's failure decades before to protect Callaway, saying:

"I sincerely regret and denounce the role our Police Department played in Austin's lynching, both through our action and our inaction," Chief Dekmar told a crowd at a traditionally African-American church. "And for that, I'm profoundly sorry. It should never have happened."[10]

Residents organized Troup Together, a grassroots group to acknowledge lynchings, commemorate the victims, and work on racial reconciliation. On March 18, 2017, black and white residents of the county gathered to dedicate a historic marker at Warren Temple Church "memorializing Callaway's lynching and three others documented in the area: Willis Hodnett in 1884; Samuel Owensby in 1913 and Henry Gilbert, a Troup County resident who was lynched in neighboring Harris County in 1947."[9] Another ceremony was held at Southview Cemetery in LaGrange, where these names were read.[8]

On April 7, 2017, Troup County's computer systems were the victim of a ransomware attack; it caused all county computer systems to be inaccessible. This included the sheriff's office and district attorney's office.[13] After 5 days, the county was still working to get 400 computer systems back online.[14]

Geography

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Landscape of Troup County, near Hogansville

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 446 square miles (1,160 km2), of which 414 square miles (1,070 km2) is land and 32 square miles (83 km2) (7.2%) is water.[15] The county is located in the Piedmont region of the state.

The entirety of Troup County is located in the Middle Chattahoochee River-Lake Harding sub-basin of the ACF River Basin (Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River Basin).[16]

Major highways

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Adjacent counties

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Communities

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Cities

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Unincorporated communities

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Demographics

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Historical population
CensusPop.Note%±
18305,799—
184015,733171.3%
185016,8797.3%
186016,262−3.7%
187017,6328.4%
188020,56516.6%
189020,7230.8%
190024,00215.8%
191026,2289.3%
192036,09737.6%
193036,7521.8%
194043,87919.4%
195049,84113.6%
196047,189−5.3%
197044,466−5.8%
198050,00312.5%
199055,53611.1%
200058,7795.8%
201067,04414.1%
202069,4263.6%
2023 (est.)70,742[17]1.9%
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[2][1]
Troup County racial composition as of 2020[26]
Race Num. Perc.
White (non-Hispanic) 38,099 54.88%
Black or African American (non-Hispanic) 24,157 34.8%
Native American 127 0.18%
Asian 1,608 2.32%
Pacific Islander 36 0.05%
Other/Mixed 2,443 3.52%
Hispanic or Latino 2,956 4.26%

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 69,426 people, 24,436 households, and 15,354 families residing in the county.

Government

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The government of Troup County is based on an elected county commission, or council. The chairman is elected county-wide, or at-large, and four commissioners are each elected from single-member districts.[27] District 5 includes much of the territory of LaGrange, the county seat and most densely settled community in the county.

Politics

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United States presidential election results for Troup County, Georgia[28]
Year Republican Democratic Third party(ies)
No.  % No.  % No.  %
2020 18,142 60.36% 11,577 38.52% 338 1.12%
2016 15,750 60.32% 9,713 37.20% 648 2.48%
2012 15,179 58.30% 10,547 40.51% 309 1.19%
2008 15,391 59.04% 10,455 40.11% 222 0.85%
2004 14,183 64.65% 7,630 34.78% 126 0.57%
2000 11,198 62.90% 6,379 35.83% 227 1.27%
1996 8,716 55.06% 5,940 37.52% 1,175 7.42%
1992 8,118 47.64% 6,412 37.63% 2,509 14.73%
1988 9,484 67.31% 4,562 32.38% 43 0.31%
1984 9,340 63.92% 5,272 36.08% 0 0.00%
1980 5,398 40.20% 7,716 57.46% 315 2.35%
1976 4,422 36.48% 7,699 63.52% 0 0.00%
1972 8,350 80.24% 2,056 19.76% 0 0.00%
1968 3,239 26.19% 2,896 23.42% 6,232 50.39%
1964 5,277 46.66% 6,032 53.34% 0 0.00%
1960 2,808 32.83% 5,745 67.17% 0 0.00%
1956 2,214 26.43% 6,162 73.57% 0 0.00%
1952 1,887 20.93% 7,130 79.07% 0 0.00%
1948 536 10.37% 3,896 75.37% 737 14.26%
1944 342 9.57% 3,233 90.43% 0 0.00%
1940 288 8.28% 3,176 91.34% 13 0.37%
1936 167 5.76% 2,728 94.13% 3 0.10%
1932 81 3.30% 2,371 96.62% 2 0.08%
1928 967 38.31% 1,557 61.69% 0 0.00%
1924 165 9.80% 1,422 84.44% 97 5.76%
1920 342 19.07% 1,451 80.93% 0 0.00%
1916 38 2.52% 1,227 81.53% 240 15.95%
1912 25 1.63% 1,434 93.30% 78 5.07%

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c US Census Bureau, 2020 Report, Troup County, Georgia
  2. ^ a b "State & County QuickFacts". United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on February 20, 2016. Retrieved June 26, 2014.
  3. ^ "Find a County". National Association of Counties. Retrieved June 7, 2011.
  4. ^ "TROUP, George Michael - Biographical Information". bioguide.congress.gov. Retrieved March 22, 2018.
  5. ^ Johnson, Forrest Clark. "La Grange". New Georgia Encyclopedia. Georgia Humanities Council and University of Georgia Press. Retrieved July 6, 2016.
  6. ^ Tom Blake, "TROUP COUNTY, GEORGIA: LARGEST SLAVEHOLDERS FROM 1860 SLAVE CENSUS SCHEDULES and SURNAME MATCHES FOR AFRICAN AMERICANS ON 1870 CENSUS" Archived July 24, 2017, at the Wayback Machine, transcribed 2002, rootsweb
  7. ^ Lynching in America/ Supplement: Lynchings by County[permanent dead link‍], 3rd Edition, 2015, p. 4
  8. ^ a b c "What Happened at Warren Temple?", Troup Together blog and website; accessed March 26, 2018
  9. ^ a b c Brad Schrade, "Family reveals 76-year-old secret in Georgia lynching", Atlanta Journal-Constitution, March 16, 2017; accessed March 26, 2018
  10. ^ a b "Nearly 8 Decades Later, an Apology for a Lynching in Georgia", New York Times, 27 January 2017; accessed 27 January 2017
  11. ^ CRRJ Provides First Full Account of Notorious 1947 Georgia Jailhouse Killing, Civil Rights Restorative Justice Project, August 22, 2016, retrieved August 25, 2016
  12. ^ Dunn, Tara; Kong, Ariel Goeun Lee (2016). Henry Gilbert. Northeastern University School of Law (Report). Boston, MA: Civil Rights Restorative Justice Project. Archived from the original on August 26, 2016. Retrieved August 25, 2016.
  13. ^ "County computer system allegedly hacked | LaGrange Daily News". www.lagrangenews.com. Retrieved March 22, 2018.
  14. ^ Singleton, Mikhaela (April 12, 2017). "Troup County says hackers demanded ransom in server breach". WRBL. Retrieved March 22, 2018.
  15. ^ "US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990". United States Census Bureau. February 12, 2011. Retrieved April 23, 2011.
  16. ^ "Georgia Soil and Water Conservation Commission Interactive Mapping Experience". Georgia Soil and Water Conservation Commission. Retrieved November 20, 2015.
  17. ^ "Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for Counties: April 1, 2020 to July 1, 2023". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved March 31, 2024.
  18. ^ "Decennial Census of Population and Housing by Decades". United States Census Bureau.
  19. ^ "1880 Census Population by Counties 1790-1800" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. 1880.
  20. ^ "1910 Census of Population - Georgia" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. 1910.
  21. ^ "1930 Census of Population - Georgia" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. 1930.
  22. ^ "1940 Census of Population - Georgia" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. 1940.
  23. ^ "1950 Census of Population - Georgia -" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. 1950.
  24. ^ "1980 Census of Population - Number of Inhabitants - Georgia" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. 1980.
  25. ^ "2000 Census of Population - Population and Housing Unit Counts - Georgia" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. 2000.
  26. ^ "Explore Census Data". data.census.gov. Retrieved December 14, 2021.
  27. ^ "Board of Commissioners" Archived February 2, 2017, at the Wayback Machine, Troop County, GA government
  28. ^ Leip, David. "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections". uselectionatlas.org. Retrieved March 22, 2018.

33°02′N 85°02′W / 33.03°N 85.03°W / 33.03; -85.03

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