Social Circle, Georgia
{{Short description|City in Georgia, United States}}
{{redirect|Social Circle|the term in social science|Social group}}
{{Refimprove|date=June 2025}}
{{Use American English|date = March 2020}}
{{Use mdy dates|date = March 2020}}
{{Infobox settlement
|official_name = Social Circle, Georgia
|other_name =
|native_name =
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|settlement_type = City
|motto = "Georgia's Greatest Little Town"
|image_skyline =
|image_flag = 120px
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|image_seal = 90px
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|image_map = Walton_County_Georgia_Incorporated_and_Unincorporated_areas_Social_Circle_Highlighted.svg
|mapsize =
|map_caption = Location in Walton County and the state of Georgia
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|subdivision_type = Country
|subdivision_name = United States
|subdivision_type1 = State
|subdivision_name1 = Georgia
|subdivision_type2 = Counties
|subdivision_name2 = Walton, Newton
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|leader_title = Mayor
|leader_name = David Keener
|established_title =
|established_date =
|established_title2 = named:
|established_date2 = 1826
|established_title3 = Incorporated
|established_date3 = 1832
|area_magnitude =
|unit_pref = Imperial
|area_total_km2 = 38.04
|area_land_km2 = 37.76
|area_water_km2 = 0.28
|area_total_sq_mi = 14.69
|area_land_sq_mi = 14.58
|area_water_sq_mi = 0.11
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|population_as_of = 2020
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|population_total = 4974
|population_density_km2 = 131.73
|population_density_sq_mi = 341.18
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|timezone = Eastern (EST)
|utc_offset = -5
|timezone_DST = EDT
|utc_offset_DST = -4
|coordinates = {{coord|33|39|N|83|43|W|region:US-GA|display=inline,title}}
|elevation_footnotes =
|elevation_m = 270
|elevation_ft = 886
|postal_code_type = ZIP code
|postal_code = 30025
|blank_name = FIPS code
|blank_info = 13-71660{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov|publisher=United States Census Bureau|accessdate=2008-01-31|title=U.S. Census website}}
|blank1_name = GNIS feature ID
|blank1_info = 0333086{{cite web|url=http://geonames.usgs.gov|accessdate=2008-01-31|title=US Board on Geographic Names|publisher=United States Geological Survey|date=2007-10-25}}
|website = {{URL|https://www.socialcirclega.gov/|socialcirclega.gov}}
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Social Circle is a city in southern Walton County, extending into Newton County, in the U.S. state of Georgia, 45 miles east of Atlanta.
History
It is unclear why the name "Social Circle" was applied to this place.{{cite book | url=http://www.kenkrakow.com/gpn/s.pdf| title=Georgia Place-Names: Their History and Origins | publisher=Winship Press | author=Krakow, Kenneth K. | year=1975 | location=Macon, GA | pages=208 | isbn=0-915430-00-2}} According to tradition, Social Circle was named from an incident in which a group of people living in the settlement offered water to a weary traveler, whose response was "This certainly is a social circle".{{cite book|last1=Moyer|first1=Armond|last2=Moyer|first2=Winifred|title=The origins of unusual place-names|url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=wu.89058322223;view=1up;seq=126|year=1958|publisher=Keystone Pub. Associates|page=122}} The city also officially notes that a citizen of another village community which was already known by the name of Social Circle joined the settlement in its early days.[https://socialcirclega.gov/social-circle-history/] {{dead link|date=June 2025}}
Social Circle was incorporated as a town in 1869, and as a city in 1904.
Geographical data
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of {{convert|11.3|sqmi|km2}}, of which {{convert|11.2|sqmi|km2}} are land and {{convert|0.04|sqmi|km2|adj=on}} (100%) is water.
A CSX Transportation line maintenance facility operates in the city's railroad station. The city's railyard contains one of the relatively few remaining concrete coaling towers in the southeastern United States.
Demographics
{{US Census population
|1870= 405
|1880= 606
|1890= 737
|1900= 1229
|1910= 1590
|1920= 1781
|1930= 1766
|1940= 1735
|1950= 1685
|1960= 1780
|1970= 1961
|1980= 2591
|1990= 2755
|2000= 3379
|2010= 4262
|2020= 4974
|footnote=U.S. Decennial Census{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census.html|title=Census of Population and Housing|website=Census.gov|accessdate=June 4, 2015}}
}}
| class="wikitable"
|+Social Circle racial composition as of 2020{{Cite web|title=Explore Census Data|url=https://data.census.gov/cedsci/table?g=1600000US1371660&tid=DECENNIALPL2020.P2|access-date=2021-12-18|website=Data.census.gov}} !Race !Num. !Perc. |
| White (non-Hispanic)
|2,986 |60.03% |
| Black or African American (non-Hispanic)
|1,635 |32.87% |
| Native American
|7 |0.14% |
| Asian
|31 |0.62% |
| Other/Mixed
|197 |3.96% |
| Hispanic or Latino
|118 |2.37% |
As of the 2020 United States census, there were 4,974 people, 1,598 households, and 1,301 families residing in the city.
Education
The Social Circle City School District includes all of the city.{{cite web|url=https://www2.census.gov/geo/maps/DC2020/PL20/st13_ga/schooldistrict_maps/c13297_walton/DC20SD_C13297.pdf|title=2020 CENSUS - SCHOOL DISTRICT REFERENCE MAP: Walton County, GA|publisher=U.S. Census Bureau|access-date=2023-05-07}} - [https://www2.census.gov/geo/maps/DC2020/PL20/st13_ga/schooldistrict_maps/c13297_walton/DC20SD_C13297_SD2MS.txt Text list]{{cite web|url=https://www2.census.gov/geo/maps/DC2020/PL20/st13_ga/schooldistrict_maps/c13217_newton/DC20SD_C13217.pdf|title=2020 CENSUS - SCHOOL DISTRICT REFERENCE MAP: Newton County, GA|publisher=U.S. Census Bureau|access-date=2023-05-07}} - [https://www2.census.gov/geo/maps/DC2020/PL20/st13_ga/schooldistrict_maps/c13217_newton/DC20SD_C13217_SD2MS.txt Text list] The district holds pre-school to grade twelve, and consists of two elementary schools, a middle school, and a high school.[http://www.doe.k12.ga.us/ReportingFW.aspx?PageReq=111&PID=62&PTID=69&CountyId=786&T=0&FY=2009]{{dead link|date=May 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} The district has 90 full-time teachers and over 1,448 students.[http://www.school-stats.com/GA/WALTON/SOCIAL_CIRCLE_CITY.html] {{dead link|date=June 2025}}
- Social Circle Primary School
- Social Circle Elementary School
- Social Circle Middle School
- Social Circle High School
Transportation
;Through highways
:{{Jct|state=GA|SR|11}}
;Nearby highways
:{{Jct|state=GA|I|20}}
:{{Jct|state=GA|US|278}}
:{{Jct|state=GA|SR|12}}
:{{Jct|state=GA|SR|402}} (Unsigned Designation for I-20)
Notable people
- Kyle Chandler – actor
- Alonzo F. Herndon – Georgia's first African-American millionaire
- Jay C. (Jack) Higginbotham – jazz trombonist
- Eddie Mapp – country blues harmonicist
- Danny McDevitt – former baseball pitcher, retired here
In popular culture
- A season 5 episode of the Discovery Channel series A Haunting, called The Exorcism of Cindy Sauer, takes place in Social Circle in 2010.
- Paramount+ Movie: Jerry and Marge Go Large was filmed mainly in Social Circle.
{{Portal|State of Georgia}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
{{Commons category|Social Circle, Georgia}}
- [http://www.socialcirclega.com/ Official website]
{{Newton County, Georgia}}
{{Walton County, Georgia}}
{{authority control}}
Category:Cities in Georgia (U.S. state)