Sparta, Georgia

Sparta, Georgia
Town
Sparta Historic District
Location in Hancock County and the state of Georgia
Coordinates: 33°17′N 82°58′W / 33.283°N 82.967°W / 33.283; -82.967Coordinates: 33°17′N 82°58′W / 33.283°N 82.967°W / 33.283; -82.967
Country	United States
State	Georgia
County	Hancock
Area [1]
• Total	1.83 sq mi (4.74 km2)
• Land	1.82 sq mi (4.71 km2)
• Water	0.01 sq mi (0.03 km2)
Elevation	660 ft (200 m)
Population  (2010)
• Total	1,400
• Estimate  (2019)[4]	1,230
• Density	676.94/sq mi (261.39/km2)
Time zone	UTC-5 (Eastern (EST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-4 (EDT)
ZIP code	31087
Area code(s)	706
FIPS code	13-72584[2]
GNIS feature ID	0323330[3]
Website	www.cityofspartaga.org

Sparta is a city in Hancock County, Georgia, United States. The population was 1,400 at the 2010 census. The city is the county seat of Hancock County.^[5] It is part of the Milledgeville Micropolitan Statistical Area.

History[]

Sparta was founded in 1795 by European Americans of the new United States in the newly formed Hancock County. The town was designated county seat in 1797. It was incorporated as a town in 1805 and as a city in 1893.^[6] The community was named after Sparta, a city-state in Ancient Greece.^[7]

Geography[]

Sparta is located at

33°17′N 82°58′W / 33.283°N 82.967°W / 33.283; -82.967 (33.2773, -82.9715).^[8]

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 1.8 square miles (4.7 km²), all land.

Major Highways[]

• State Route 15
• State Route 16
• State Route 22

Demographics[]

Historical population
Census	Pop.		%±
1880	848		—
1890	1,540		81.6%
1900	1,150		−25.3%
1910	1,715		49.1%
1920	1,895		10.5%
1930	1,613		−14.9%
1940	1,872		16.1%
1950	1,954		4.4%
1960	1,921		−1.7%
1970	2,172		13.1%
1980	1,754		−19.2%
1990	1,710		−2.5%
2000	1,522		−11.0%
2010	1,400		−8.0%
2019 (est.)	1,230	[4]	−12.1%
U.S. Decennial Census[9]

According to the 2010 census^[2] estimate, there were 1,522 people, 617 households and 385 families residing in the city. The population density was 835.4 per square mile (322.9/km²). There were 725 housing units at an average density of 397.9 per square mile (153.8/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 4.5% White, 95.70% African American, 0.13% Native American, 0.33% Asian, and 0.46% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.70% of the population.

There were 617 households, of which 26.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 25.4% were married couples living together, 31.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 37.6% were non-families. 35.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 17.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.44 and the average family size was 3.20.

Age distribution was 27.4% under the age of 18, 9.1% from 18 to 24, 23.1% from 25 to 44, 24.6% from 45 to 64, and 15.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females, there were 83.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 74.3 males.

The median household income was $21,664, and the median family income was $24,044. Males had a median income of $21,375 versus $17,375 for females. The per capita income for the city was $11,403. About 31.8% of families and 34.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 46.2% of those under age 18 and 38.4% of those age 65 or over.

Economy[]

Sparta is the site of Georgia's Hancock State Prison.

Education[]

Hancock County School District[]

The Hancock County School District holds pre-school to grade twelve, and consists of one elementary school, a middle school, and a high school.^[10] The district has 103 full-time teachers and over 1,659 students.^[11]

• Lewis Elementary School
• Hancock Central Middle School
• John Hancock Academy

Notable people[]

• Thomas "Pee Wee" Butts – professional baseball player^[12]
• George Darden – United States Representative from Georgia who went to high school in Sparta
• Harvey Grant – professional basketball player
• Horace Grant – professional basketball player
• Tommy Hurricane Jackson – professional boxer
• Adella Hunt Logan – suffragist
• Jean Toomer – Harlem Renaissance writer and poet, once served as a principal in Sparta

See also[]

• Central Savannah River Area
• Rossiter-Little House - Oldest house in Sparta

References[]

Further reading[]

• "History of Sparta, Georgia", Georgia Encyclopedia (John Rozier, Emory University), 12/5/2008
• Kent Anderson Leslie, Woman of Color, Daughter of Privilege: Amanda America Dickson, 1849-1893 (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1995).
• John Rozier, Black Boss: Political Revolution in a Georgia County (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1982).
• John Rozier, The Houses of Hancock, 1785-1865 (Decatur, Ga.: privately printed, 1996).
• John Rozier, ed., The Granite Farm Letters: The Civil War Correspondence of Edgeworth and Sallie Bird (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1988).
• Forrest Shivers, The Land Between: A History of Hancock County, Georgia, to 1940 (Spartanburg, S.C.: Reprint Co., 1990).

External links[]

• Sparta historical marker
• Sparta Cemetery historical marker
• Pierce Memorial Methodist Church historical marker