Bibb and Twiggs counties
are located in middle Georgia in the
Fall
Line Hills district of the state. They lie at the northern boundary
of the Sea Island and East Gulf Central Coastal Plain, where the
Georgia
Piedmont meets the
Coastal
Plain. The landscape is characterized by small rolling hills and
flat plains, with the
Ocmulgee
River running through the city of Macon and carving the western
border of Twiggs County. Interstates 16 and 75 are these counties' two
major transportation arteries. According to
2000
census data, the populations of Bibb and Twiggs counties differ
significantly. Bibb County is home to more than 150,000 residents, two-thirds
of whom live in Macon, the
sixth-largest
metropolitan area in Georgia. Rural Twiggs County, however, has
approximately 11,000 residents, with only around 1,200 living in Jeffersonville,
the county seat and its largest town.
Although the two counties lie side by side, their historical demographics
could paint contrasting portraits. Substantial changes in each county's
population occurred at different times over the past century. Due to
the emergence of
Macon
as an urban industrial center, Bibb County has grown dramatically, adding
around 100,000 residents, with the largest increase coming after the
end of both the First and Second World Wars, and during the 1950s and
1960s. While
agriculture
remains a constant presence in Bibb County, Macon itself has shifted
towards a service economy, with most
employment
found in retail and service industries, health care, financial and insurance
services, and
tourism.
Macon is home to
Mercer
University and
Wesleyan
College, the oldest women's college in the United States.
Twiggs County has a population only thirteen percent of that of Bibb,
with the majority of its residents living in rural areas and engaged in
some form of agribusiness. Twiggs' population has decreased after each
world war and even further during the postwar era of the fifties and sixties,
falling from 9,117 residents in 1940 to 7,935 residents by 1970. The present
population of the county is comparable to that of the 1910s. Furthermore,
the 2000 census indicated that Jeffersonville experienced a 21.7 percent
decrease in population in the decade since the 1990 census.
The racial demography of both counties indicates that whites constitute
the majority of the population, but this was not always the case. Both
Bibb and Twiggs counties were part of the Southern plantation economy.
During the antebellum era, Twiggs County had larger farms and a higher
number of slaves per farm as compared to Bibb County. From 1850 to 1860,
the percentage of the slave population in Bibb County decreased significantly,
likely due to the 1850s cotton boom, which simultaneously supported a
60% increase in Macon's white urban population and caused a rural demand
for black fieldhands on surrounding plantations like those in Twiggs County.
The historical racial demography indicates that during the
1860
Census, Twiggs County was home to 2,930 whites, 72 freedmen, and 5,318
slaves. Ten years later, after Civil War and
Emancipation,
the white population remained relatively consistent at 2,913 residents,
while the black population increased 4 percent to 5,632. A century later,
the 1960 census indicated that 3,164 whites lived in Twiggs County, about
an 8 percent increase from the 1860 census, whereas the county experienced
an 11 percent decrease in its African American population over that same
period, with 4,771 residents.
As of the 2000 census, 50.1 percent of
Bibb
County residents are white, 47.3 percent are African American, and
1.3 percent are Latino. In
Macon,
62.5 percent of the population is African American, 35.5 percent is
white, and 1.2 percent is Latino. By comparison, 54.9 percent of
Twiggs
County residents are white, 43.7 percent are African American, and
1.1 percent are Latino. While the Latino population is well below the
state
average of 5.3 percent, the African American population of both
counties exceeds the state average (28.7 percent) and the white population
falls below the state average (65.1 percent).
Poverty
grips Bibb and Twiggs counties with nearly one in five of either county's
residents living below the poverty line.
Percentage of Residents Below the Poverty Line:
Year |
Twiggs |
Bibb |
State |
National |
1989 |
19.5% |
20.3% |
14.65% |
13.1% |
1999 |
19.7% |
19.1% |
13.0% |
12.4% |
The median household income in Bibb County according to the 2000 census
was $34,532, which was up from the $25,474 average income measured in
1990. By comparison, Twiggs County's 2000 average was $31,608, a significant
increase from the 1990 average of just $19,213.
Median Household Income:
Year |
Twiggs |
Bibb |
State |
National |
1989 |
$19,213 |
$25,474 |
$38,536 |
$41,138 |
1999 |
$31,608 |
34,532 |
$42,433 |
$41,994 |
The county's poverty is placed in even bolder relief when considering
its two largest centers of population. Between 1970 and 2000, the
poverty
levels among individuals living in Macon fluctuated from 22.5 percent
in 1970; to 22.4 percent in both 1980 and 1990; to a 25.5 percent level
in 2000, meaning that one in four people living in Macon live below the
poverty line. During that same period, the city's median household income
decreased from $28,209 in 1970; to $29,830 in 1980; to $28,266 in 1990;
to $27,405 in 2000. In Jacksonville, between 1980 and 2000, the poverty
level increased from 23.1 percent in 1980 to 35.9 percent in 1990, then
fell to 21.4 percent in 2000. The median household income in Jeffersonville
measured over the last three censuses indicates a $26,980 average in 1980;
down to $22,792 in 1990; and back up to $25,000 in 2000.
Whereas Georgia has proven a consistently Republican state on the Electoral
College map since the 1980s, both counties have voted majority Democrat
in the last four presidential elections, though those majorities have
decreased with every cycle. In
2004,
John Kerry won slim 50.74 percent and 50.81 percent majorities in Bibb
and Twiggs counties, respectively, which was down from Bill Clinton's
51.9 percent Bibb majority and 61.8 percent Twiggs majority in the
1992
election. Whereas his father garnered only 36.7 percent of the vote
in Bibb County and 25.1 percent in Twiggs County in 1992, George W.
Bush won 48.6 percent and 43.4 percent of the vote in Bibb and Twiggs,
respectively, in
2000;
and 48.64 percent in Bibb and 48.34 percent in Twiggs in 2004. As state
politics go, in the
2002
gubernatorial election, Bibb and Twiggs were among only 37 of Georgia's
159 counties where the incumbent Democratic governor Roy Barnes won
majorities over Sonny Perdue, the first Republican to win that office
since Reconstruction.
Bibb County covers a total area of 255 square miles and Twiggs County
363 square miles. As of 2002 USDA figures, less than one percent of the
land in either county is devoted to crops, with 9,193 acres used in Bibb
and 11,721 acres in Twiggs, though cropland has decreased significantly
in Bibb County by approximately 3500 acres since 1987 due to commercial
development. Alfalfa, hay, sorghum, grain, and soybeans are the major
cash crops grown in Bibb County, while cotton dominates agricultural production
in Twiggs County, followed by alfalfa, hay, peanuts, and smaller acreages
of wheat and corn. Twiggs County sits in the heart of the so-called "
Kaolin
Belt," a thirteen county area in middle Georgia stretched between
Macon and Augusta, where this white clay mineral is mined.
Kaolin
is used for any number of products from filler in plastics and rubber
compounds, ceramics, pigment in paints, pharmaceuticals, and papermaking.
3,797 acres in Twiggs County service 36
kaolin
mines where both kaolin and sand are extracted. Traditionally, kaolin
mining has served as the primary industry in Twiggs County; but increased
kaolin mining in China and Brazil, in addition to depleted kaolin deposits
in middle Georgia due to decades of extraction, have contributed to a
smaller-scale industry. Forestry also makes up an important part of Twiggs
County agribusiness.
The
Fall Line ( referred to colloquially as "The Gnat Line")
also marks the dividing line/ boundary between two
types
of timber grown, the Longleaf Pine, which grows north of the Fall
Line and the Loblolly which grows to South of the Fall Line into the Coastal
Plain area.
Music:
Music has been an integral part of Macon’s history. In the 1920s and 1930s,
Macon was a standard stop on the touring itineraries of major African-American
musicians, including
Ma
Rainey,
Bessie
Smith, and
Duke
Ellington. In the 1950s and 1960s, the city played an important role
in the development of rhythm and blues, rock n’ roll and soul music.
Little
Richard was born in Macon, and
Otis
Redding grew up there, dropping out of high school to join Little
Richard’s band, The Upsetters. The music scene in Macon helped accelerate
the transition towards integration in the city by encouraging the breakdown
of racial barriers at venues like the City Auditorium. The town also played
a significant role in the history of seventies’ rock.
Capricorn
Records was formed in Macon in 1971 and enjoyed mainstream success
with albums by The Allman Brothers Band and other Southern rock bands.
In 1996 the
Georgia
Music Hall of Fame opened in Macon and has become a popular tourist
attraction honoring the state’s rich musical history.
