HURTSBORO, Town In
Russell County, on the Central of Georgia Railway and the
Seaboard Air Line Railway, 16 miles west of Scale, and 64
miles east of Montgomery. The corporate limits include all tho
territory in a circle having a diameter of 1 mile, from a
center at the crossing of Main Street and the Central of
Georgia Railway tracks. Altitude: 346 feet. Population:
1890—433; 1900—407; 1910—764. It was originally incorporated
by the legislature in 1872, but adopted the municipal code in
1908. It has a public school building, erected In 1909 at a
cost of $10,000; an electric light and water plant, erected In
1914 at a cost of $32,000; a volunteer fire department,
organized in 1914; 4-1/2 miles of sanitary sewerage, installed
In 1914 at a cost of $11,000; and an unimproved municipal park
of five acres. Its bonded indebtedness Is $43.000—$10,000. 6
per cent school bonds due In 1929, $24,000, 6 per cent water
and light bonds due in 1924, and $9,000, 5 per cent water and
light extension bonds due in 1936. The Hurtsboro Tribune,
established by W. J. Baldwin, January 17, 1913, is published
there. The Bank of Hurtsboro (State) and the Farmers and
Merchants Bank (State), are its banking Institutions. Its
industries are a cotton seed oil mill, 2 cotton ginneries, 4
cotton warehouses, 2 fertilizer plants, 2 gristmills, a
planing mill, 3 sawmills, a bottling plant, and
the municipal plants above referred to.
The town
was originally "Station No. 4" on the Mobile & Girard
Railroad. In 1857 Joel Hurt, Sr., from Edenton, Ga., located
there, and with William Marshall, bought the land now included
in the town, and established a sawmill. In 1868 when the
Mobile & Glrard Railroad reached the place, the mill
company laid off the town, with the mill in the center, and
called it Hurtville for the principal founder. The first
church was founded by the Methodists, Rev. Mr. Pilley, pastor.
The post office was established in 1860, with James P.
Marshall as postmaster. He was succeeded by T. C. Hill who
served from 1861 to 1866. On account of a similarity to the
name Huntsvllle and consequent confusion in the handling of
mails, the name was changed to Hurtsborough in 1882 and
shortly thereafter the spelling was altered to Hurtsboro. The
Savannah, Amerlcus & Montgomery Railroad (now Seaboard Air
Line Railway) reached the town in 1892.
Among the
early settlers were Nimrod W. Long, first representative from
the county in the legislature, Ed. N. Brown, Jr., the Mexican
railway and mining engineer, and Joel Hurt,
Jr.
