Dougherty County, Georgia

The county was created by the Georgia General Assembly on December 15, 1853, from a part of Baker County.{{cite book | url=http://www.kenkrakow.com/gpn/d.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030917110647/http://www.kenkrakow.com/gpn/d.pdf |archive-date=September 17, 2003 |url-status=live | title=Georgia Place-Names: Their History and Origins | publisher=Winship Press | author=Krakow, Kenneth K. | year=1975 | location=Macon, GA | pages=63 | isbn=0-915430-00-2}} It was named after Charles Dougherty,{{cite book | url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ | title=The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States | publisher=Govt. Print. Off. | author=Gannett, Henry | year=1905 | pages=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ/page/n102 108]}} a respected judge and lawyer from Athens, Georgia. In 1854 and 1856 small areas were added from Worth County.

As noted above, the county was developed by European Americans using enslaved African Americans as workers for the production of cotton as a commodity crop. Its county seat of Albany, Georgia is located on the Flint River, which was originally the chief means of transportation for shipped products. Albany was later served by seven railroad lines, adding to its significance as a market center. The city was a center of the Civil Rights Movement, particularly during the early 1960s.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of {{convert|335|sqmi}}, of which {{convert|329|sqmi}} is land and {{convert|5.9|sqmi}} (1.8%) is water.{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/geographies/reference-files/time-series/geo/gazetteer-files.html|publisher=United States Census Bureau|access-date=April 23, 2011|date=February 12, 2011|title=US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990}}

The majority of Dougherty County is located in the Lower Flint River sub-basin of the ACF River Basin (Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River Basin). The northeastern corner of the county, northeast of Albany, is located in the Middle Flint River sub-basin of the same ACF River basin. A very small portion of Dougherty County, north of Albany, is located in the Kinchafoonee-Muckalee sub-basin of the larger ACF River Basin. The remaining western portion of the county is located in the Ichawaynochaway Creek sub-basin of the same ACF River Basin.{{cite web |url=http://www.gaswcc.org/maps/ |title=Georgia Soil and Water Conservation Commission Interactive Mapping Experience |publisher=Georgia Soil and Water Conservation Commission |access-date=November 27, 2015 |archive-date=October 3, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181003004639/http://www.gaswcc.org/maps/ |url-status=dead }}

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• 20px U.S. Route 19
• 20px
  20px U.S. Route 19 Business
• 20px U.S. Route 82
• 20px
  20px U.S. Route 82 Business
• 20px State Route 3
• 20px State Route 62
• 20px State Route 91
• 25px State Route 133
• 25px State Route 234
• 25px State Route 300
• 25px State Route 520
• 25px State Route 520 Business

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• Lee County – north
• Worth County – east
• Mitchell County – south
• Baker County – southwest
• Calhoun County – west
• Terrell County – northwest

• Albany

• Acree
• Doublegate
• Pecan City
• Pretoria
• Radium Springs

{{US Census population

| 1860 = 8295

| 1870 = 11517

| 1880 = 12622

| 1890 = 12206

| 1900 = 13679

| 1910 = 16035

| 1920 = 20063

| 1930 = 22306

| 1940 = 28565

| 1950 = 43617

| 1960 = 75680

| 1970 = 89639

| 1980 = 100718

| 1990 = 96311

| 2000 = 96065

| 2010 = 94565

| 2020 = 85790

|estyear=2023

|estimate=82645

|estref={{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/data/tables.html|title=Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for Counties: April 1, 2020 to July 1, 2023|publisher=United States Census Bureau|access-date=March 31, 2024}}

| align-fn = center

|footnote=U.S. Decennial Census{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census/decade.html|title=Decennial Census of Population and Housing by Decades|publisher=United States Census Bureau|access-date=}}
1790-1880{{Cite web|first= |last= |authorlink= |title= 1880 Census Population by Counties 1790-1800 |publisher=United States Census Bureau|date= 1880|url=https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/decennial/1880/vol-01-population/1880_v1-08.pdf|accessdate=|archive-url=| archive-date=|page=}} 1890-1910{{Cite web|first= |last= |authorlink= |title= 1910 Census of Population - Georgia |publisher=United States Census Bureau|date= 1910|url=https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/decennial/1910/abstract/supplement-ga.pdf |accessdate=|archive-url=| archive-date=|page=}}
1920-1930{{Cite web|first= |last= |authorlink= |title= 1930 Census of Population - Georgia |publisher=United States Census Bureau|date= 1930|url=https://www2.census.gov/prod2/decennial/documents/03815512v1ch04.pdf |accessdate=|archive-url=| archive-date=|page=}} 1930-1940{{Cite web|first= |last= |authorlink= |title= 1940 Census of Population - Georgia |publisher=United States Census Bureau|date= 1940|url=https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/decennial/1940/population-volume-1/33973538v1ch04.pdf |accessdate=|archive-url=| archive-date=}}
1940-1950{{Cite web|first= |last= |authorlink= |title= 1950 Census of Population - Georgia - |publisher=United States Census Bureau|date= 1950|url=https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/decennial/1950/population-volume-2/37779083v2p11ch2.pdf |accessdate=|archive-url=| archive-date=}} 1960-1980{{Cite web|first= |last= |authorlink= |title= 1980 Census of Population - Number of Inhabitants - Georgia |publisher=United States Census Bureau|date= 1980|url=https://www2.census.gov/prod2/decennial/documents/1980a_gaABC-01.pdf|accessdate=|archive-url=| archive-date=}}
1980-2000{{Cite web|first= |last= |authorlink= |title= 2000 Census of Population - Population and Housing Unit Counts - Georgia |publisher=United States Census Bureau|date= 2000|url=https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/2003/dec/phc-3-12.pdf |accessdate=|archive-url=| archive-date=}} 2010 2020

}}

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 85,790 people, 32,630 households, and 18,213 families residing in the county.

{{Main|Albany, Georgia#Education}}

Owing in part to its highly African American population, Dougherty County is heavily Democratic. In 2008 and 2012, Barack Obama performed better in the county than any Democrat since Roosevelt in 1944. The county defied national trends in 2024 when it shifted to the left in favor of Kamala Harris, casting over 70% of its vote for her, outperforming Obama's previous record.

{{PresHead|place=Dougherty County, Georgia|source={{Cite web|url=http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS|title=Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections|last=Leip|first=David|website=uselectionatlas.org|access-date=March 19, 2018}}}}

{{PresRow|2024|Democratic|9,904|23,831|115|Georgia}}

{{PresRow|2020|Democratic|10,441|24,568|278|Georgia}}

{{PresRow|2016|Democratic|10,232|23,311|760|Georgia}}

{{PresRow|2012|Democratic|11,449|26,295|231|Georgia}}

{{PresRow|2008|Democratic|12,547|26,135|204|Georgia}}

{{PresRow|2004|Democratic|13,711|19,805|171|Georgia}}

{{PresRow|2000|Democratic|12,248|16,650|166|Georgia}}

{{PresRow|1996|Democratic|11,144|15,600|1,128|Georgia}}

{{PresRow|1992|Democratic|12,455|15,236|3,240|Georgia}}

{{PresRow|1988|Republican|15,520|12,579|2,418|Georgia}}

{{PresRow|1984|Republican|16,920|12,904|0|Georgia}}

{{PresRow|1980|Democratic|12,726|13,430|459|Georgia}}

{{PresRow|1976|Democratic|9,337|11,461|0|Georgia}}

{{PresRow|1972|Republican|12,878|3,625|0|Georgia}}

{{PresRow|1968|American Independent|5,611|3,834|9,317|Georgia}}

{{PresRow|1964|Republican|12,776|5,248|0|Georgia}}

{{PresRow|1960|Democratic|4,323|4,522|0|Georgia}}

{{PresRow|1956|Democratic|3,248|4,126|0|Georgia}}

{{PresRow|1952|Democratic|2,535|4,435|0|Georgia}}

{{PresRow|1948|Democratic|614|2,517|790|Georgia}}

{{PresRow|1944|Democratic|338|3,199|0|Georgia}}

{{PresRow|1940|Democratic|180|2,175|1|Georgia}}

{{PresRow|1936|Democratic|122|2,591|3|Georgia}}

{{PresRow|1932|Democratic|95|2,012|10|Georgia}}

{{PresRow|1928|Democratic|379|982|0|Georgia}}

{{PresRow|1924|Democratic|167|1,065|82|Georgia}}

{{PresRow|1920|Democratic|105|621|0|Georgia}}

{{PresRow|1916|Democratic|17|836|37|Georgia}}

{{PresFoot|1912|Democratic|18|617|21|Georgia}}

{{Portal|State of Georgia}}

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Dougherty County, Georgia
• List of counties in Georgia
• W.E.B. Du Bois, The Souls of Black Folk (1903) contains two essays that are surveys of race relations in Dougherty County from Reconstruction to the end of the 19th century.
• "Of the Black Belt"
• "Of the Quest of the Golden Fleece"

{{Reflist}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20130504213019/http://www.albany.ga.us/content/1800/default.aspx Dougherty County official website]

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20081005040859/http://www.ilovealbanyga.com/ Official Downtown Albany website]
• [http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-2324 New Georgia Encyclopedia] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070311011115/http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-2324 |date=March 11, 2007 }}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20060217133921/http://www.cviog.uga.edu/Projects/gainfo/doughertycopn.htm Georgia Place Names]
• [http://courthousehistory.com/gallery/states/georgia/counties/dougherty Dougherty County Courthouse history]
• [http://georgiainfo.galileo.usg.edu/topics/historical_markers/county/dougherty/dougherty-county Dougherty County] historical marker

{{Geographic Location

|Centre = Dougherty County, Georgia

|North = Lee County

|Northeast =

|East = Worth County

|Southeast =

|South = Mitchell County

|Southwest = Baker County

|West = Calhoun County

|Northwest = Terrell County

}}

{{Dougherty County, Georgia}}

{{Georgia (U.S. state)}}

{{Authority control}}

{{Coord|31.54|-84.22|display=title|type:adm2nd_region:US-GA_source:UScensus1990}}

Category:Georgia (U.S. state) counties

Category:1853 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state)

Category:Albany metropolitan area, Georgia

Category:Populated places established in 1853

Category:Black Belt (U.S. region)

Category:Majority-minority counties in Georgia