Official name	City of Macon
Native name
Settlement type	City
Motto
Image seal	Macon_SEAL.png
Map	Bibb_County_Georgia_Incorporated_and_Unincorporated_areas_Macon_Highlighted.svg
Map caption	Location in Bibb county in the state of Georgia
Coordinates region	US-GA
Subdivision type	Country
Subdivision name	United States
Subdivision type1	State
Subdivision name1	Georgia
Subdivision type2	Counties
Subdivision name2	Bibb, Jones
Leader title	Mayor
Leader name	Robert Reichert (D)
Leader title1
Established title
Established title2
Established date2
Area magnitude	1 E8
Unit pref
Area total km2	145.7
Area land km2	144.5
Area water km2	3.2
Area total sq mi	56.3
Area land sq mi	55.8
Area water sq mi	0.5
Area water percent
Population as of	2010
Population total	91,351
Population metro	231,576
Population density sq mi	1742.8
Population blank1 title	Demonym
Population blank1	Maconites
Timezone	EST
Utc offset	-5
Timezone dst	EDT
Utc offset dst	-4
Coordinates display	displayinline,title
Elevation footnotes
Elevation m	116
Elevation ft	381
Postal code type	ZIP codes
Postal code	31200-31299
Area code	478
Blank name	FIPS code
Blank info	13-49000
Blank1 name	GNIS feature ID
Blank1 info	0332301
Website	www.cityofmacon.net
Footnotes	}}

Macon () is a city located in central Georgia, US. Founded at the fall line of the Ocmulgee River, it is part of the Macon metropolitan area, and the county seat of Bibb County. A small portion of the city extends into Jones County. Macon is the biggest city in central Georgia. 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 the 2010 Census, Macon had a population of 91,351; in terms of population, Macon is the seventh-largest city in Georgia (just after Sandy Springs, Georgia).

The city has 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. Ronnie Thompson, served from 1967–1975 and achieved some national recognition. He was the first of two Republicans to have been elected as mayor, the other being George Israel (1979–1987).

History

Macon lies on the site of the Ocmulgee Old Fields, where the historic Creek Indians lived in the 18th century. Their prehistoric predecessors, the Mississippian culture, built a powerful chiefdom (950–1100 AD) based on an agricultural village and constructed earthwork mounds for ceremonial, burial and religious purposes. The areas along the rivers in the Southeast had been inhabited by varying cultures of indigenous peoples for 13,000 years before Europeans arrived.

Macon was founded at the site of Fort Benjamin Hawkins, built from 1806–1809 at the fall line of the Ocmulgee River to protect the new frontier and establish a trading post with Native Americans. This was the most inland point of navigation on the river from the Low Country. President Thomas Jefferson forced the Creek to cede their lands east of the Ocmulgee River and ordered the fort built. (Archeological excavations in the 21st century found evidence of two separate fortifications.)

Fort Hawkins guarded the Lower Creek Pathway, an extensive American Indian network later used by the United States as the Federal Road from Washington, DC to the ports of Mobile, Alabama and New Orleans, Louisiana. The fort served as a major military distribution point during the War of 1812 against Great Britain and also during the Creek War of 1813. Afterward, the fort was used as a trading post for several years and was garrisoned until 1821. It was decommissioned about 1828 and later burned to the ground. A replica of the southeast blockhouse was built in 1938 and stands today on a hill in east Macon. Part of the fort site is occupied by the Fort Hawkins Grammar School.

As many settlers had already begun to move into the area, they renamed Fort Hawkins as “Newtown”. After the organization of Bibb County in 1822, the city was chartered as the county seat in 1823 and officially named Macon. This was in honor of the North Carolina statesman Nathaniel Macon, because many of the early settlers hailed from North Carolina. The city planners envisioned "a city within a park" and created a city of spacious streets and parks. They designated 250 acres (1 km²) for Central City Park, and passed ordinances requiring residents to plant shade trees in their front yards.

The city thrived due to its location on the Ocmulgee River; cotton became the mainstay of Macon's early economy, based on the enslaved labor of Africans. Macon was in the Black Belt of Georgia, where cotton was the chief commodity crop. Cotton boats, stage coaches, and later, in 1843, a railroad increased marketing opportunities and contributed to the economic prosperity to Macon. In 1836, the Georgia Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church founded Wesleyan College in Macon; it was the first college in the United States chartered to grant degrees to women. 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 Union officers and enlisted men. Later it held officers only, up to 2,300 at one time. The camp was evacuated in 1864.

Macon City Hall, which served as the temporary state capitol in 1864, was converted to use as a hospital for the wounded. The Union General William Tecumseh Sherman spared Macon on his march to the sea. His troops had sacked the nearby state capital of Milledgeville, and Maconites prepared for an attack. Sherman did not bother to go through Macon.

The Macon Telegraph wrote that, of the 23 companies which the city had furnished the Confederacy, only enough men survived and were fit for duty to fill five companies by the end of the war. The toll was very high.

The city was taken by Union forces at the end of the war during Wilson's Raid on April 20, 1865.

Gradually into the twentieth century, Macon grew into a prospering town in Middle Georgia. It began to serve as a transportation hub for the entire state.

800px|thumb|center|Downtown Macon in the early 1900's.

In 1994 Tropical Storm Alberto made landfall in Florida dumping inches of rain, which resulted in major flooding in Georgia. Macon was one of the cities to suffer the worst flooding.

Geography

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 km²), of which, 55.8 square miles (144.5 km²) of it is land and 0.5 square miles (1.2 km²) of it (0.82%) is water.

Macon is approximately above sea level.

Climate

Macon has a humid, subtropical climate. Summer temperatures generally peak in the mid-90s °F (c. 35 °C), and the winters have lows in the mid-30s °F (c. 2 °C). The city has an average annual precipitation of . It can snow during the winter. The average total annual snowfall is .9 inch ().

Surrounding cities and towns

Demographics

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 official 2010 U.S. Census, the population of Macon was 91,351. In the last official census, in 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/km²). There were 44,341 housing units at an average density of 794.6 per square mile (306.8/km²). 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

Malls include: The Shoppes at River Crossing and Macon Mall and Eisenhower Crossing.

Military

Robins Air Force Base, the largest single-site industrial complex in the state of Georgia, is just south of Macon, next to the city of Warner Robins.

The headquarters of the 48th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, Georgia Army National Guard is located here.

Arts and culture

Musical heritage

thumb|280px|A statue of Otis Redding Macon has been the birthplace or hometown to such musicians as The Allman Brothers Band, Randy Crawford, Mark Heard, Lucille Hegamin, Otis Redding, Little Richard, Mike Mills and Bill Berry of R.E.M. as well as more recent names like violinist Robert McDuffie and country artist Jason Aldean. Rapper Jody Breeze (1/4 of the hip-hop group Boyz N Da Hood along with fellow Maconite Young Jeezy, currently signed to P. Diddy's Bad Boy Entertainment) was discovered in Macon at a car show. September Hase, an alternative rock band formerly 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.

The Georgia Music Hall of Fame was built here.

The Macon Symphony Orchestra, performs 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 local universities.

Festivals

International Cherry Blossom Festival - During mid-March of every year, the height of the cherry trees' bloom, Macon holds a 10-day celebration.

The Mulberry Street Festival, is an arts and crafts festival held the last weekend of March in downtown Macon.

Pan African Festival - Macon has an annual celebration of African American culture in April.

Ocmulgee Indian Celebration - A celebration of Macon's original Native American Heritage, this festival is held in September at Ocmulgee National Monument. Representatives from Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, Seminole, and other nations come to share stories, exhibit native art, and perform.

The Georgia State Fair - The Fair is held in Central City Park in the first week of May.

The Georgia Music Hall of Fame hosts Georgia Music Week in September.

Macon's annual Bragg Jam festival features an Art and Kids' Festival along the Ocmulgee Heritage Trail and a nighttime Pub Crawl.

Macon Film Festival (MaGa) - An annual film festival, held the third weekend in February, celebrates independent films.

Points of interest

Historical sites

Ocmulgee National Monument is located near downtown Macon. It preserves some of the largest ancient earthwork mounds in Georgia built by the Mississippian culture a millennium ago, c. 950-1150. It was sacred to the historic Muscogee (Creek Nation) as well. Archeological artifacts reveal 13,000 years of human habitation at the site. The park features a spiral mound, funeral mound, temple mounds, burial mounds, and a reconstructed earth lodge. It is the first Traditional Cultural Property designated by the National Park Service east of the Mississippi River.

Fort Benjamin Hawkins, a major military outpost (1806-1821) that was a command headquarters for the US Army and Georgia militia on the frontier, as well as a trading post or factory for the Creek Nation. It was a supply depot during US campaigns of the War of 1812 and the Creek and Seminole Wars.

Cannonball House - Historic site

Luther Williams Field

Rose Hill Cemetery is one of Macon's oldest cemeteries.

Sidney Lanier Cottage - historical home of the poet Sidney Lanier Temple Beth Israel - The Jewish congregation was founded in 1859, and now occupies a domed Neoclassical facility built in 1902.

Wesleyan College - first chartered women's college in the world.

Museums

The Allman Brothers Band Museum - the "Big House" used by the Allman Brothers Band in the early 1970s, now a museum of Allman Brothers history and artifacts

The Georgia Children's Museum- Five Stories of interactive education located in the downtown Museum District Georgia Music Hall of Fame

Georgia Sports Hall of Fame

Museum of Arts and Sciences (Macon) and Planetarium

Tubman African American Museum - the largest African American museum in Georgia.

Community

City Hall, Georgia's capitol for part of the Civil War

Douglass Theatre

The Grand Opera House, where the Macon Symphony Orchestra performs.

Hay House - also known as the "Johnston-Felton-Hay House", it has been referred to as the "Palace of the South" City Auditorium, the world's largest copper dome

Macon Coliseum

Macon Little Theatre, established in 1934, the area's oldest community theatre producing seven plays/musicals per season

Businesses

H&H; Restaurant - a restaurant frequented by the Allman Brothers

Nu-Way Weiners - Famous for their Red hotdogs. featured on the Today Show , and a Hot Dog program among other national programs.

Waddell Barnes Botanical Gardens

Sports

{|class="wikitable" |- !Club !Sport !League !Venue |- |Macon Music |Baseball |South Coast League |Luther Williams Field |- |Macon Giants |Baseball |Great South League |Ed Defore Sports Complex |- |Macon Pinetoppers |Baseball |Peach State League |Luther Williams Field |}

Parks and recreation

Macon is home to several parks and community centers.

Ocmulgee Heritage Trail - a green way of parks, plazas, and landmarks along the Ocmulgee River in downtown Macon

Bloomfield Park

East Macon Park

Frank Johnson Recreation Center

Freedom Park

L.H. Williams Community School Center

Memorial Park

North Macon Park

Rosa Jackson

Senior Center

Education

Public high schools

Central High School

Howard High School

Hutchings High School

Northeast Magnet High School

Rutland High School

Southwest Magnet High School

Westside High School

Private high schools

Central Fellowship Christian Academy

First Presbyterian Day School

Mount de Sales Academy

Stratford Academy

Tattnall Square Academy

Windsor Academy

Covenant Academy

Private and specialized schools

Butler

Elam Alexander

Georgia Academy for the Blind

Neel

Renaissance

Colleges and universities

Macon has approximately 30,000 college students, the third highest number in Georgia. Mercer, Macon State, and Wesleyan College have the largest populations of "traditional" college students. Georgia College & State University has a "Center for Graduate and Professional Learning" in Macon.

Mercer University

Macon State College

Wesleyan College

Central Georgia Technical College

Fort Valley State University - satellite campus

Georgia College & State University - satellite campus

Troy University - satellite campus

Media

Newspapers and magazines

The Telegraph, a daily newspaper, is published in Macon.

The 11th Hour

Television stations

03 WBMN - CW (Cable Only)

13 WMAZ-TV - CBS

24 WGXA - Fox/ABC (On DT2)

29 WMUM-TV - GPB/PBS

31 WDMA-CA - Daystar

38 WRWR-LD - America One/Universal Sports (On DT2)

41 WMGT-TV - NBC/MyNetworkTV (On DT2)

45 WGNM - Christian Television Network

50 WPGA-LP - RTV

58 WPGA-TV - Ind./This TV (On DT2)

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 (FM) 96.5 - Macon (Oldies/Adult Contemporary - "The New Peach" - Simulcast)

WDEN 99.1 - Macon (Country)

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")

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

WBML 900 AM - Macon (Country)

WMAC 940 AM - Macon (Talk)

WPGA 980 AM - Macon (Talk)

WXKO 1150 AM - Fort Valley/Macon (Country)

WDDO 1240 AM - Macon (Gospel)

WIBB 1280 AM - Macon (Talk)

WNEX 1400 AM - Macon (News Talk)

WAYS 1500 AM - Macon (Sports - "The Fan")

WPLA 1670 AM - Macon (Sports Talk - "Fox Sports Radio")

Infrastructure

Hospitals

Central Georgia Rehabilitation Hospital

Coliseum Medical Centers

Coliseum Northside Hospital

Medical Center of Central Georgia

Transportation

Airports

Macon Downtown Airport is located near downtown. It has a large number of corporate and private aviation aircraft.

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.

Highways

Interstates:

U.S. Route: State Routes:

Mass Transit

The Macon Transit Authority (MTA) is Macon's public-transit system, operating the bus system within Bibb County. Most 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 tourist trolley system. The trolleys have offered tours of 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 holding up to 39 passengers.

Greyhound Lines provides intercity bus service.

Macon grew as a center of rail transport after the 1846 opening of the Macon and Western Railroad. Two of the most note-worthy train companies operating through the city were the Central of Georgia Railway and the Southern Railway. The city continued to be served by passenger trains until the 1970s. Macon is included in the proposed Georgia Rail Passenger Program to restore inter-city rail service.

Notable Maconites

A number of notable people involved in politics, sports, music, and other activities were either born or resided in Macon.

Sister cities

Macon has six sister cities, as designated by Sister Cities International, Inc. (SCI): Mâcon, France Elmina, Ghana Kurobe, Japan Ulyanovsk, Russia Kaohsiung, Taiwan Gwacheon, South Korea

See also

Downtown Macon, Georgia

Macon, Georgia metropolitan area

List of mayors of Macon, Georgia

References

Further reading

Bellamy, Donnie D. "Macon, Georgia, 1823–1860: A Study in Urban Slavery", Phylon 45 (December 1984): 300–304, 308–309

Brown, Titus. "A New England Missionary and African-American Education in Macon: Raymond G. Von Tobel at the Ballard Normal School, 1908–1935", The Georgia Historical Quarterly, Summer 1998, Vol. 82 Issue 2, pp 283–304

Brown, Titus. "Origins of African American Education in Macon, Georgia 1865–1866", Journal of South Georgia History, Oct 1996, Vol. 11, pp 43–59

Butler, John Campbell. Historical Record of Macon and Central Georgia (Macon, 1879),

Davis, Robert Scott. "A Cotton Kingdom Retooled for War: The Macon Arsenal and the Confederate Ordnance Establishment", The Georgia Historical Quarterly, Fall 2007, Vol. 91 Issue 3, pp 266–291, full text online in EBSCO

Davis, Robert S. Cotton, Fire, & Dreams: The Robert Findlay Iron Works and Heavy Industry in Macon, Georgia, 1839–1912 (Macon, Ga., 1998)

Eisterhold, John A. "Commercial, Financial, and Industrial Macon, Georgia, During the 1840's", The Georgia Historical Quarterly, Winter 1969, Vol. 53 Issue 4, pp 424–441

Hux, Roger K. "The Ku Klux Klan in Macon 1919–1925", The Georgia Historical Quarterly, Summer 1978, Vol. 62 Issue 2, pp 155–168

Iobst, Richard W. Civil War Macon: The History of a Confederate City (Mercer U. Press, 1999). 462 pp.

Keire, Mara L. For Business and Pleasure: Red-Light Districts and the Regulation of Vice in the United States, 1890–1933 (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2010); 248 pages; History and popular culture of districts in Macon, Ga., and other cities

McInvale, Morton Ray "Macon, Georgia: The War Years, 1861–1865" (Ph.D. dissertation, Florida State University, 1973)

Manis, Andrew M. Macon Black and White: An Unutterable Separation in the American Century (Mercer U. Press, 2004). 432 pp.

Norman, Matthew W. "James H. Burton and the Confederate States Armory at Macon", The Georgia Historical Quarterly, Winter 1997, Vol. 81 Issue 4, pp 974–987

Stone, James H. "Economic Conditions in Macon, Georgia in the 1830's", The Georgia Historical Quarterly, Summer 1970, Vol. 54 Issue 2, pp 209–225

Yates, Bowling C. "Macon, Georgia, Inland Trading Center 1826–1836", The Georgia Historical Quarterly, Fall 1971, Vol. 55 Issue 3, pp 365–377

Young, Ida, Julius Gholson, and Clara Nell Hargrove. History of Macon, Georgia (Macon, 1950)

External links

Official City Government Website

Macon-Bibb County Convention and Visitors Bureau

Macon (the New Georgia Encyclopedia)

Category:Bibb County, Georgia Category:Cities in Georgia (U.S. state) Category:County seats in Georgia (U.S. state) Georgia Category:Jones County, Georgia Category:Macon metropolitan area Category:Populated places established in 1823 Category:Populated places in Georgia (U.S. state) with African American majority populations Category:University towns in the United States

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