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Douglas County, Georgia
A Proud
Member of the Genealogy Trails Group
Douglas
County,
Georgia
History
Douglas County was named in honor of Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois,
United States Senator, and a zealous champion of the constitutional
rights of the Southern States. It is bounded by the following counties:
Cobb and Paulding on the north, Campbell on the east and southeast,
Carroll on the south and west. The Chattahoochee river runs along its
eastern and southeastern border and together with some tributary creeks
affords abundance .of fish.
The Southern Railway traverses the northern section of the county. On
this is located Douglasville, the county site, a thriving town with a
State bank having a paid in capital of $25,000. Here is located a
flourishing school, known as the Douglasville College, connected with
the public school system of the county. Salt (or Lithia) Springs, on
the same road, noted for its health-bestowing waters, is a favorite
resort, both summer and winter. This is a healthy county with a good
soil and an industrious, moral and hospitable people. It is also
blessed with good schools and churches.
With fair tillage the land will produce to the acre 600 or 700 pounds
of seed cotton, 12 bushels of corn, 20 of oats, 10 of wheat, 10 of rye,
100 of Irish potatoes, 75 of sweet potatoes, 10 of field-peas, 15 of
groundpeas, 2,000 pounds of crab-grass hay, 300 pounds of corn fodder
and 150 gallons of sorghum syrup. According to the United States census
of 1900 during the season of 1899-1900 there were ginned 8,091 bales of
upland cotton.
In 1890 there were 658 sheep, with a wool-clip of 1,113 pounds, 3,452
cattle, 1,379 milch-cows, 232 working oxen, 308 horses, 922 mules, 1
donkey, 4,446 swine and 64,381 poultry of all kinds.
The county produced 518,669 gallons of milk, 162,627 pounds of butter,
93,299 dozens of eggs and 12,922 pounds of honey.
The forest growth of Douglas county consists in the main of hardwoods,
such as the various kinds of oaks, hickory, chestnut, gum, birch, maple
and some pine.
The area of Douglas county is 212 square miles or 135,680 acres. Its
population in 1900 was 8,745, a gain of 951 since 1890.
The public school system of the county embraces 45 schools, with an
average daily attendance of 1,312 pupils in the 34 schools for whites
and 338 in the 11 schools for Negroes. The report of the State School
Commissioner, issued in 1900, states the school fund of Douglas county
to be $6,035.71.
The report of the Comptroller-General for 1900 gives the following
items: acres of improved land, 121,499; of wild land, 1,323; average
value per acre of improved land, $5.66; of wild land, $1.60; value of
city or town property, $127,641; stocks and bonds, $2,289; money and
solvent debts, $62,283; value of merchandise, $18,925; invested in
cotton factories, $600.00; iron works, $200.00; household and kitchen
furniture, $45,632; farm and other animals, $89,366; plantation and
mechanical tools, $24,963; watches, jewelry, etc., $3,049; value of all
other property, $21,110; real estate, $816,022; personal estate,
$276,074. Aggregate value of whole property, $1,092,096.
Property returned by colored taxpayers: number of acres of land, 4,988;
value of land, $20,395; city or town property, $4,491; money and
solvent debts, $94.00; household and kitchen furniture, $4,345;
watches, jewelry, etc., $136.00; farm and other animals, $7,970;
plantation and mechanical tools, $1,356; value of all other property,
$253.00. Aggregate value of whole property, $40,374.
The tax returns for 1901 show a gain over the returns of 1900 in the
value of all property, amounting to $53,947. The Douglasville district
has 2,176 inhabitants, of whom 1,140 live in the town of Douglasville.
Salt Springs district contains a population of 1,200, of whom 330 live
in the town of Lithia Springs.
Population of Douglas county by sex and color, according to the census
of 1900: white males, 3,269; white females, 3,321; total white, 6,590;
colored males, 1,097; colored females, 1,058; total colored, 2,155.
Domestic animals in barns and inclosures, not on farms or ranges, June
1, 1900: 31 calves, 1 bull, 72 dairy cows, 29 horses, 8 mules, 71
swine, 1 goat.
Source: Georgia, historical and industrial By Obediah B. Stevens,
Robert F. Wright, Georgia. Dept. of Agriculture
Villages,
Hamlets and Towns
Hobson, a post-hamlet in the
southern part of Douglas county, is located near the Chattahoochee
river and about ten miles south of Winston, which is the most
convenient railroad station.
(Source: Georgia Sketches of Counties, Towns,
Events, Institutions, and Persons, VOL II, by Candler & Evans,
Publ. 1906. Transcribed by Kim Mohler)
Lithia Springs, a town in the
northeastern part of Douglas county, was incorporated by act of
legislature on Dec. 20, 1893. It is on the division of the
Southern railway that runs from Atlanta to Birmingham, Ala., and in
1900 had a population of 330. It takes its name from the salt or
Lithia springs there and is a popular health resort. From the
money order postoffice there are several free delivery routes to the
rural districts, the town has express and telegraph service, some good
mercantile establishments, hotels, etc.
The town was formerly called “Salt Springs,” and under this name it
appears in the records of the Civil war as being the scene of a
skirmish on Oct. 1, 1864, between Hood’s rear column and the Federal
advance, but the engagement was without important results to either
side.
(Source: Georgia Sketches of Counties, Towns,
Events, Institutions, and Persons, VOL II, by Candler & Evans,
Publ. 1906. Transcribed by Joanne Morgan)
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