Echols County Georgia History

ECHOLS COUNTY.

Echols County was laid out from Clinch and Lowndes in 1858, and was named for Colonel Robert M. Echols of "Walton county, president of the Senate of Georgia, and afterwards Colonel of a Georgia regiment in the war with Mexico, in which country he died. Echols is bounded by Clinch and Lowndes counties on the north, by Clinch on the northeast and east, by the State of Florida om the south, and by Lowndes county on the west The Suwannee river with its tributaries, Toms creek and the east and west forks of Suwanoochee creek in the east, and the Allapaha river, and tributary creeks in the center and west water the county and give it an abundant supply of fish.

The county is well timbered and the sawmills do a good business preparing the lumber for market. Rosin and turpentine are shipped in large quantities. Game, such as quail and wild turkeys abound in the woods.

Statenville, the county seat, is located on the Allapaha river. Statenville station is on the Savannah, Florida and Western Railway. The Atlantic, Valdoeta and Western Railway also traverses this county.

According to the census of 1890 there were 893 sheep, with a woolclip of 1,455 pounds; 4,325 cattle, 43 working oxen, 1,600 milch-cows with, a product of 5,204 pounds of butter and 49,865 gallons of milk; 215 horses, 287 mules, 6,136 swine, 13,944 of all kinds of poultry, producing 7,973 dozens of eggs. There were also produced 6,503 pounds of honey and 374 pounds of cheese.

The lands, climate and soil are about the same as in adjoining counties. The average yield per acre of the various crops is: seed cotton, 600 to700 pounds; corn, from 12 to 20 bushels; rice, 40 bushels; sugar-cane, from 300 to 500 gallons of syrup.

According to the United States census of 1900, during the season of 1899-1900 there were ginned in this county 795 bales of sea-island cotton.

There are 13 public schools in Echols county, and the daily average attendance is 209 pupils in the 10 schools for whites, and 53 in the 3 schools for Negroes. According to the report of the State School Commissioner for 1900, the school fund for Echols is $1,998.89.

The area of Echols county is 365 square miles, or 233,600 acres. The population by the census of 1900 is 3,209.

The report of the Comptroller-General for 1900 gives the following items: acres of improved land, 119,665; of wild land, 318,538 (evidently a mistake, if the statement of the United States Census Bureau about the area of the county is correct); average value per acre of improved land, $1.12; of wild land, $0.23; city or town property, $2,127; money and solvent debts, $29,781; merchandise, $6,351; cotton manufactories, $30,800; household and kitchen furniture, $21,080; farm and other animals, $74,887; plantation and mechanical tools) $12,694; watches, jewelry, etc., $2,005; value of all other property, $31,975; real estate, $210,504; personal estate, $209,273. Acreage rate value of whole property, $419,777.

Property returned by colored taxpayers: number of acres of land, 2,930; value of land, $2,565; city or town property, $75.00; household and kitchen furniture, $2,069; watches, jewelry, etc., $152.00; farm and other animals, $3,654; plantation and mechanical tools, $557.00; value of all other property, $318.00. Aggregate value of all property, $9,413.

The tax returns for 1901 show an increase in the value of all property of $779 over the returns for 1900.

Population of Echols county by sex and color, according to the census of 1900: white males, 1,190; white females, 1,028; total white, 2,218; colored males, 604; colored females, 387; total colored, 991.

There is no report of the number of domestic animals in barns and enclosures.

Source: Georgia, historical and industrial By Obediah B. Stevens, Robert F. Wright, Georgia. Dept. of Agriculture

Villages, Hamlets and Towns

Haylow, a post-village of Echols county, is located at the junction of the Georgia Southern & Florida and the Atlantic Coast Line railroads. It is the trade center and shipping point for an extensive region, and has telegraph and express offices and stores with good local trade.
(Georgia: Comprising Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions, and Persons, Arranged in Cyclopedic Form. VOL III Publ. 1906. Transcribed by Angelia Carpenter)

Howell, a post-village of Echols county, is located on the Georgia Southern & Florida railroad, near the Lowndes county line. It has schools, churches, stores that do a good local business, and is a shipping point for the surrounding country. The population in 1900 was 138.
(Source: Georgia Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions, and Persons, VOL II, by Candler & Evans, Publ. 1906. Transcribed by Kim Mohler)

Mayday, a post-hamlet of Echols county, is on the Georgia Southern & Florida railroad, about fifteen miles east of Valdosta.
(Source: Georgia Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions, and Persons, VOL II, by Candler & Evans, Publ. 1906. Transcribed by Kim Mohler)