Knoxville, Georgia

Knoxville, Georgia
Census-designated place
Closeup of the Crawford County courthouse
Knoxville Show map of Georgia (U.S. state) Knoxville Show map of the US
Coordinates: 32°43′27″N 83°59′51″W / 32.72417°N 83.99750°W / 32.72417; -83.99750Coordinates: 32°43′27″N 83°59′51″W / 32.72417°N 83.99750°W / 32.72417; -83.99750
Country	United States
State	Georgia
County	Crawford
Area
• Total	0.32 sq mi (0.83 km2)
• Land	0.32 sq mi (0.83 km2)
• Water	0 sq mi (0 km2)
Elevation	495 ft (151 m)
Population (2010)
• Total	69
• Density	216/sq mi (83.3/km2)
Time zone	Eastern (EST) (UTC-5)
• Summer (DST)	EDT (UTC-4)
ZIP code	31050
Area code(s)	478
FIPS code	13-44060[1]
GNIS feature ID	0332159[2]

Knoxville is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Crawford County, Georgia, United States. It is the Crawford County seat.^[3] The community is part of the Macon Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2010 census, Knoxville had a population of 69.^[4]

Knoxville was founded in 1823 as seat of the newly formed Crawford County. It was incorporated as a town in 1825.^[5] The former city's municipal charter was dissolved in 1995 pursuant to a Georgia law which abolished city governments which were defunct or minimally operative.

There are three National Register of Historic Places in Knoxville, which are the Crawford County Courthouse, the Crawford County Jail, and the Georgia Post Building.

History

Naming

There is confusion in the topic of for whom Knoxville was named for. Historians who rely on old records and spoken tradition have pointed to General Henry Knox,^[6] who served the Continental Army under George Washington, though General Knox had no ties to the state of Georgia and had been deceased for 15 years at the time of naming (c. 1821). Some historians argue that the town was named for Hugh Knox, a stagecoach operator who delivered mail along the Federal Wire Line through the future location of Knoxville.^[7] Knox owned a half-way house, where you could rest and swap horses, called the Knox House. Since there is no solid evidence of either of these men being the namesake of the town, it is left open to the individual interpreter.

Beginnings

On December 23, 1822, the Georgia legislature had Crawford County's Inferior Court select a county seat and build a courthouse. Considering Knoxville was centrally located in the county and also rested along the Federal Wire Road, it was decided. On December 10, 1823, Knoxville became the county seat. The house of a local resident was used as a temporary courthouse until a permanent one was built, which happened c. 1825. But, in an apparent act of arson, the courthouse was leveled in 1830, destroying all court and county records. A second courthouse was completed in 1831, which still stands today as a museum and home to the Crawford County Historical Society. In 1832 a jail was built in Knoxville, yet was torn down in 1839 due to a grand jury presentment declaring that this jail was not fit for use. Therefore, in 1843, another jail was brought up, though, in 1887, this jail, now 44 years old, was declared unfit for use and yet again torn down. A third jail was complete by 1888, standing to this day.

Rise and Fall

On January 2, 1827, Knoxville Academy opened, the town's first school. In 1888 the "Knoxville Journal" began print. Publisher Percy V. Howell printed advertisements for property in the yet to be named Roberta, which was speculated to become a boomtown. Yet, by 1892, the Crawford County Herald was the official newspaper of Crawford County, and was published in Roberta rather than Knoxville. Knoxville's population by c. 1886 was around 200, but was expected to increase to 3,000. The A&F Railroad, also known as the Atlanta and Hawkinsville Railroad, missed Knoxville to the southwest by about one mile. This is believed to be the result of local opposition of out- of- state intruders penetrating Knoxville. A new railroad station began boiling around this time, which would later become Roberta. Inhabitants of Knoxville began the one mile shift to Roberta once the new railroad was completed, dooming Knoxville's growth. Thenceforth, Knoxville was merely a community that held the title of county seat.

1995 Municipal Charter Law

In 1993 the Georgia Legislature passed a law detailing the minimum requirements for a city to remain incorporated in Georgia, resulting, in 1995, to Knoxville becoming unincorporated.^[8][9]

Geography

Knoxville is located in central Crawford County and is bordered to the west by the city of Roberta, the only incorporated place in the county. U.S. Route 80 passes through Knoxville, leading east 25 miles (40 km) to Macon.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the Knoxville CDP has an area of 0.32 square miles (0.83 km²), all of it land.^[4]

Notable people

• Knoxville is the birthplace of John Pemberton, the inventor of Coca-Cola, although he moved to Columbus, Georgia, while a child.
• Knoxville was also home to Joanna Troutman, a young girl who sewed a single star on a white banner to give to a battalion of Georgia troops headed west to assist Texas citizens in their fight for independence.

References

Panorama of the Old Knoxville Days festival

Municipalities and communities of Crawford County, Georgia, United States
County seat: Knoxville
City	Roberta
CDP	Knoxville
Unincorporated communities	Ceres Musella Zenith

Macon-Warner Robins-Fort Valley Combined Statistical Area
Principal cities	Macon Warner Robins Fort Valley
Municipalities	Allentown Byron Centerville Culloden Danville Forsyth Gray Jeffersonville Perry Roberta
Other communities	Avondale Bolingbroke Bonaire Clinchfield Dunbar Elberta Elko Franklinton Haddock Juliette Kathleen Knoxville Lizella Musella Robins AFB Sofkee Smarr Walden
Counties	Bibb Crawford Houston Jones Monroe Peach Twiggs
CSA components	Macon Metropolitan Statistical Area Warner Robins Metropolitan Statistical Area Fort Valley Micropolitan Statistical Area