Fayette County was one of five original counties in1821, that means created from the Creek Indian Nation. Those are Fayette, Henry, Houston, Dooley and Monroe counties.
We are all still in existence, growing in population, outing commissioners and mayors we decide we don’t want any more, and trying to widen streets that were laid out a hundred years ago, but now have to maintain a thousand times more vehicles a day.
Fayette County was laid out in nine districts which are still legally in place. If you own a piece of land in this county, one of those nine district numbers are stated on it.
Each of these nine districts were cut up into 202 1/2 acres. Don’t ask me where the 1/2 acre came from, I have no idea. In the last 195 years, those have also been really cut into small pieces i.e.. one acre or less, for instance.
Fayette County’s first census was in 1830 and it reads 5,555 people. Interestingly, if you average our census for 140 years, from 1830 to 1970, it averages out to be 8,000 over that period. What is the estimated number of folks here this year? Wait for it – 112,000.
Needless to say, the number of voting precincts needed have grown too. It has gone from the original nine, which I have stated, are still legally in place, and will always remain so, to the current number of 36 precincts.
A number of those are in schools and churches, and with the present climate of domestic terrorism occurring, schools and churches no longer wish to be used. Coupled with the change in the way our county is being re-districted, the next couple of years will see a number of changes in the location of voting precincts.
I have lived in the city of Fayetteville for 50 years. I have voted at the Methodist Church, the Baptist Church, the American Legion Post House, and the (former) Fayetteville Elementary School. Yes, I’m curious as to where I’ll be voting, say, three years from now.
Sometime I’ll write about the time we were to vote on a new school. One of the “old timers” was against it and used some dirty politics to have the vote go his way, which it did the first vote. I don’t know what the rule is now, but then you could bring it up again in 30 days – so we did. We also perused the voting lists, called folks and offered to drive them to their precinct to vote. No, I promise we did not tell them “how” to vote. Yes, a new school was built.
Our census figures have gone up and down through the years for various reasons. If you would like a copy of our census figures, just email me at ccary@thecitizen.com and I’ll send it right back.
Early voting began this past Monday, and you have between now and May 24 to do your duty.
