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Spalding County
History
SPALDING
COUNTY.
Spalding County was formed in 1851 from the
counties of Pike and Henry. It was named for Hon. Thomas Spalding, of
St Simon's Island, Glynn county, a member of the Georgia Legislature
and a representative in Congress. The following counties bound it:
Clayton and Henry on the north, Henry on the northeast, Butts and
Monroe on the east, Pike on the south, Fayette on the northwest,
Fayette, Coweta and Meriwether on the west The Flint river flows along
its northwestern border and then through the western section of the
county. Line creek runs along part of its western boundary and empties
into the Flint river at its southwestern point Towaliga creek (or
river, as it is sometimes called), after dividing part of the
northeastern section of Spalding from Henry county, runs through Butts
and Monroe counties and empties into the Ocmulgee river. Big Potato
creek, rising near the center of the county, flows southward through
Pike and Upson counties and empties into the Flint river. Other streams
are Cabin, Grape and Head's creeks. The lands on and adjoining all
these streams are generally rich. The character of the soil is
metamorphic; red clay or mulatto lands in the eastern part; gray,
gravelly lands in the western. The average yield of the various crops
varies of course according to location and favorableness of season. Two
reports made in different years show averages to the acre as follows:
corn, from 10 to 14 bushels; oats, from 10£ to 20 bushels; wheat,
10 bushels; sweet and Irish potatoes, 300 bushels each; sugarcane
syrup, 169 to 300 gallons; seed cotton, 428 to 714 pounds; hay, 2,816
to 4,000 pounds. The best farmers in the county have proved that with
proper cultivation the lands can be made to produce from 30 to 60
bushels of wheat to the acre. In 1900 Mr. W. J. Bridges, on four acres
of ground, raised 65 bushels of wheat to the acre, and on the same
number of acres Mr. W. D. Walker raised 59£ bushels to the acre.
Each of these gentlemen received a prize at the convention of the Wheat
Grower's Association of Georgia, held in Macon, July 11, 1900. Some
years ago Mr. Solomon W. Bloodworth gathered 137 bushels of corn from
one acre near Griffin, and received the first premium at the State
Agricultural Fair. Another well-authenticated yield is 10,720 pounds of
pea-vine hay to the acre. These things show what can be done by
scientific culture in Spalding county. Bermuda is considered the best
pasture for cattle, since it comes in early in the spring and lasts
until late in the fall. Clover and vetches, pea-vine hay, sorghum and
millet are cultivated for forage crops. The cane bottoms afford good
winter pasturage. The breeds of dairy cattle have been much improved,
the Jersey being the favorite. All the farmers have milk and butter.
There are 10 dairy farms with from 10 to 60 cows each, which make good
profits on the investment More interest is being taken in beef cattle
and better breeds are being brought in.
In 1890 there were in Spalding county 2,711 cattle, of which
1,190 were milch-cows producing 425,370 gallons of milk, from which
124,721 pounds of butter were made. One thousand and two hundred
pounds of cheese were made in 1900. The working oxen of the
county numbered 97. They are being rapidly supplanted by horses and
mules. The creamery at Griffin has a capacity of 10,000 pounds of milk
a day. The present output of the creamery (1900) is 1,000 to 1,200
pounds of milk, and 50 pounds of butter a day. More milk is needed to
work the creamery to its full capacity.
The domestic fowls (poultry) of all kinds in the county in 1890,
numbered 20,475, and produced 69,939 dozens of eggs. The production of
honey was 8,906 pounds. This county had 514 horses, 1,288 mules, 1
donkey and 3,924 swine. In 1890 the sheep numbered 287 and yielded 723
pounds of wool.
The supply of fish from the streams is not so abundant as
formerly. The principal game birds are quail and doves.
There are 12 market gardens raising all varieties of vegetables.
Berries and plums are also extensively raised. Melons of the best
quality are raised. The value of truck sold is about $16,000 annually,
most of it for home consumption.
Of the acreage given to fruits, far the greater portion is
devoted tq peaches. There are in the county 134,924 peach, 19,390 pear
and 3,152 plum-trees.
The vineyards of the county are not as numerous as formerly,
because attention has been directed-to other products.
The timber products are small: short-leaf pine and hardwoods;
soma ash, maple and poplar. The output is about $8,000 worth. There are
four sawmills.
There is one flour and grist-mill in the limits of Griffin, and
one in the Mount Zion district. The mills are operated by water-power.
Griffin, the county site, is situated near the center of Spalding
county at the junction of two branches of the Central of Georgia
Railroad, and that branch of the Southern Railway connecting Columbus
with McDonough. Its population by the census of 1900 is 6,857. That its
location is one of the best agricultural and horticultural sections of
Georgia is evidenced by the fact that the State of Georgia and the
United States government unanimously selected the vicinity of Griffin
as the site for the Experiment Station.
Within the last decade Griffin has become a factory center,
having built four cotton-mills, representing almost entirely a home
capital of $1,000,000. We give a list of these mills and the class of
goods manufactured by them.
The Griffin Manufacturing Company has a capital of $350,000, and
contains 15,000 spindles and 593 looms. It manufactures cottonades,
ticking, duck, cheviots, skirts, hickory shirting, domestic shirting.
It spins 450 bales of cotton a month, employs 550 hands, has a pay-roll
of $8,500 a month and an annual output of $600,000.
The Kincaid Manufacturing Company has a capital of $250,000, and
contains 12,500 spindles and 430 looms. It manufactures Turkish towels,
table damask, a fine grade of ginghams, ticking and crashes. It spina
350 bales of cotton a month, employing 425 hands, has a pay-roll of
$7,000 a month and an annual output of $500,000.
The Spalding Cotton Mills have a capital of $200,000, and contain
9,000 spindles and 236 looms. They spin 208 bales of cotton a month and
manufacture sheeting and cotton diaper. The hands employed number 175,
the pay-roll is $2,000 a month and the value of the annual output is
$300,000.
The Kushton Mills have a capital of $100,000, and contain 5,000
spindles and 150 looms. They spin 125 bales of cotton a month and
manufacture sheeting. The hands employed number 136, the pay-roll is
$2,000 a month, and the value of the annual output is $150,000.
The Griffin Knitting Mill has a capital of $20,000; manufactures
men's ribbed underwear, employs 40 hands, and has an annual output of
$50,000.
The Griffin Creamery has been already described. There is also a
cotton seed oil-mill, with an output of 160,000 gallons of oil and
1,450 tons of cotton seed-oil meal. There are also an ice factory, a
pants factory, a sash, blind and chair factory, a small foundry, and
various smaller enterprises. There is one establishment which
cultivates flowers and flowering plants for sale.
Griffin has four banks with a combined capital of $500,000. It
has a system of graded schools and some of the finest public buildings
of the State. The value of the court-house is $35,000. Its extensive
system of water-works gives complete protection against fire and
furnishes water everywhere. By its electric plant the streets are
brilliantly lighted. The water-works and electric plant are owned by
the city. Griffin has good church buildings of the Methodists,
Baptists, Presbyterians, Episcopalians and Bible Christians.
The union depot of Griffin is the highest point between Macon and
Atlanta.
The public roads of Spalding county are worked by convict labor,
and the 600 miles of roadway are kept in first-class condition.
In addition to the three railroads mentioned as crossing each
other at Griffin, there is another branch of the Southern Railway from
Atlanta to Fort Valley, running through the western section of the
county.
Griffin is the shipping point and market for the county. The number of
cotton bales received is 18,500, of which 5,000 bales are exported and
13,500 are used by the cotton-mills of the county.
By the United States census of 1900 there were ginned in this county
11,390 bales (upland) of the cotton crop of 1899-1900.
The public schools of the county are 22 for the whites and 20 for
the colored with an average attendance of 723 white pupils and 529
colored. In the Griffin white schools are 542 pupils and in the colored
schools 119.
With unsurpassed advantages of climate, soil and various
enterprises Spalding county and the city of Griffin offer great
inducements and a hearty welcome to new citizens.
Other postoffices are Sunnyside, Pomona, Vineyard, Orchard Hill,
Experiment, Drewryville, Rover, Zetella and Strickland.
Sunnyside was for years the home of Colonel John Mcintosh Kell,
once first officer of the Confederate cruiser Alabama.
The area of Spalding county is 203 square miles, or 129,420
acres. Population in 1900, 17,619, an increase of 4,502 since 1890;
school fund, $6,519.17; school fund of Griffin, $3,065.55.
By the Comptroller-General's report for 1900, there are: acres of
improved land, 116,287; average value per acre, $7.97; city property,
$879,347; shares in bank, $250,500; money, etc., $160,395; value of
merchandise, $124,360; stocks and bonds, $7,300; cotton manufactories,
$718,150; invested in iron works, $9,000; household furniture,
$150,938; farm and other animals, $121,301; plantation and mechanical
tools, $41,460; watches, jewelry, etc., $10,467; value of all other
property, $58,569; real estate, $1,806,409; personal estate,
$1,695,407. Aggregate value of property, $3,501,816.
Property returned by colored taxpayers: number of acres, 3,891;
value, $40,251; city property, $75,705; money, etc., $100; merchandise,
$1,245; household furniture, $16,675; watches, etc., $104; farm and
other animals, $18,325; plantation and mechanical tools, $5,348; value
of all other property, $425.00. Aggregate vajue of whole property,
$159,310.
The tax returns for 1901 show an increase of $233,957 in the
value of all property since the returns of 1900.
Population of Spalding county by sex and color, according to the
census of 1900: white males, 4,152; white females, 4,313; total white,
8,465; colored males, 3,396; colored females, 4,758; total colored,
9,154.
Population of the city of Griffin by sex and color, according to
the census of 1900: white males, 1,688; white females, 1,911; total
white, 3,599; colored males, 1,449; colored females, 1,809; total
colored, 3,258.
Total population of Griffiin, 6,857.
Domestic animals in Spalding county in barns and inclosures, not
on farms or ranges, June 1, 1900: 122 calves, 34 steers, 370 dairy
cows, 272 horses, 57 mules, 2 sheep, 328 swine, 1 goat.
Source: Georgia, historical and industrial By Georgia. Dept. of
Agriculture
©2007 Genealogy
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