Valdosta, Georgia

ValGeorgia dosta is the county seat of Lowndes County, Georgia. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 43,724. It is a commercial center of south Georgia with numerous manufacturing plants. The surrounding area produces tobacco, turpentine, pine lumber, and pulpwood. Moody Air Force Base is located nearby.

Table of contents 1 History 2 Geography 3 Valdosta High School Football 4 Demographics

History Valdosta was founded in 1860 by residents of Troupeville, Georgia[?]. Troupeville was a steamboat landing on the Withlacoochee river[?], but when the Gulf and Atlantic railroad was built four miles away, the inhabitants simply picked up the town and moved it to the railroad. There are still buildings in Valdosta that made the move.

The now virtually abandoned Troupeville had been named after Gov. George Troupe[?]. Valdosta was named after Troupe's estate, "Val d'Aosta", which itself was named after a mountainous region in Italy.

Valdosta was once the center of long-staple cotton growing in the United States until the boll weevil finally killed the crop in 1917 and agriculture turned to tobacco and pine trees.

The world's second Coca-Cola bottling plant is in Valdosta.

Notable natives include Western dentist/gunfighter/gambler Doc Holliday[?] and James Lord Pierpoint[?], composer of "Jingle Bells[?]".

Geography Valdosta is located at 30°50'48" North, 83°16'59" West (30.846661, -83.283101)¹.

It is located in the coastal plain of Georgia and thus has a virtually flat landscape. Highways stretch for miles with hardly a curve, rise, or fall. The 60 miles of railway between Valdosta and Waycross was once the longest straight stretch of railroad in the world.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 78.4 km² (30.3 mi²). 77.5 km² (29.9 mi²) of it is land and 0.9 km² (0.3 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 1.09% water.

Valdosta High School Football In 2001, Valdosta High School's football coach, Mike O'Brien, told a national gathering of coaches:

Our program is 86 years old, and has been through 12 head coaches. We have only been below a .500 winning percentage five out of the 86 years. We have accumulated 39 region championships, 23 state championships, and six national championships. Here is a little fact to help you better understand how tough our region is. A team from our region has either won or played for a state championship 40 times in last 52 years. Valdosta is the winningest high school football team in America. Our record is 782-160-33. To put that into a better perspective for you, we could lose every game for the next 60 years and still have a winning percentage above .500. Of course if this were to occur I would no longer be the coach.

Demographics As of the census of 2000, there are 43,724 people, 16,692 households, and 10,232 families residing in the city. The population density is 563.9/km² (1,460.3/mi²). There are 18,907 housing units at an average density of 243.8/km² (631.5/mi²). The racial makeup of the city is 47.71% White, 48.49% African American, 0.23% Native American, 1.40% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.90% from other races, and 1.24% from two or more races. 2.18% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There are 16,692 households out of which 30.9% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 38.1% are married couples living together, 19.5% have a female householder with no husband present, and 38.7% are non-families. 28.4% of all households are made up of individuals and 8.7% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.50 and the average family size is 3.13.

In the city the population is spread out with 26.1% under the age of 18, 18.4% from 18 to 24, 27.2% from 25 to 44, 17.8% from 45 to 64, and 10.5% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 28 years. For every 100 females there are 86.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 81.4 males.

The median income for a household in the city is $29,046, and the median income for a family is $38,174. Males have a median income of $27,281 versus $20,807 for females. The per capita income for the city is $16,472. 24.7% of the population and 18.8% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total people living in poverty, 32.1% are under the age of 18 and 18.9% are 65 or older.