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Tift County, Georgia
History
Tift County, organized by act of the legislature on August 17, 1905,
and laid off from Berrien, Irwin and Worth counties, was named in honor
of Hon. Nelson Tift, a gentleman prominent in advancing every
enterprise calculated to promote the interest of the Southern section
of Georgia. It is bounded on the north by Turner and Irwin counties,
east by Berrien and Irwin, south by Colquitt and Berrien and west by
Worth. It is watered by the Allapaha and Little rivers and their
branches. It is traversed by the Atlantic & Birmingham, the
Atlantic Coast Line and the Georgia, Southern & Florida railways,
all of which pass through the town of Tifton. which is the county seat.
The soil in some parts is gray and sandy, in others it is rich, loamy
and dark, with a good clay subsoil. The agricultural products are corn,
cotton, oats, Irish and sweet potatoes, field peas, ground peas,
sugar-cane and hay from native grasses. The horticultural products are
vegetables of all varieties, peaches, grapes, cherries, plums, peas,
figs and watermelons. The forest timbers are chiefly the long leaf pine
and cypress, which give employment to saw mills and turpentine
distilleries. The minerals are brick clay and marls. Near Tifton are
several large vineyards, producing grapes unsurpassed in flavor. The
county is in the Second congressional district and Southern judicial
circuit.
Tifton, the county seat of Tift county, is located at the junction of
the Georgia Southern & Florida, the Atlantic Coast Line and the
Atlantic & Birmingham railways. It was incorporated by act of the
legislature in 1891, in 1900 the population of the town was 1,384 and
of the district in which it is situated 3,145. It has sawmills, a
foundry, a canning establishment, cotton mills, machine works, a money
order post office, with rural free delivery, express and telegraph
service, three banks and good school and church privileges. Near the
town are large orchards and vineyards and great quantities of fruits
are annually shipped from this point.
Urbana, a post-hamlet of Tift county, is a station on the Fitzgerald
& Thomasville division of the Atlantic & Birmingham railroad,
and is about ten miles southwest of Tifton
Sutton, a post-village of Tift county, with a population of 49 in 1900,
is about six miles northwest of Tifton, and is a trading center for the
neighborhood in which it is situated. The nearest railroad station is
Ruby, on the Georgia Southern & Florida
Ruby, (railroad name Chula Station) a post-hamlet of Tift county, is a
station on the Georgia Southern & Florida railroad, about seven
miles north of Tifton.
Staunton, a town in the southern part of Tift county, is on the Georgia
Southern & Florida railroad, ten miles north of Sparks. Its
population in 1900 was 105. It has some mercantile interests and
handles a considerable volume of freight
Towns, Hamlets and Villages
Fender, a village in the southern part of Tift county, with a
population of 45 in 1900, is on Georgia Southern & Florida
railroad, about five miles form Tifton. It has a money order
postoffice and is the principal trading center for the neighborhood in
which it is located.
[Source: Georgia: Sketches, Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions &
People, Vol. 2, Publ. 1906 Transcribed By: Maggie Coleman]
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