With

all the current blitz about turning in one's

census form, examining all the decade census

figures for Fayette County is interesting.

Fayette

was created in 1821, so our first census took

place in 1830. The figures at that time showed

5,555 living here, most of them by drawing land

in a lottery draw.

You

could participate in this land lottery by meeting

one of several standards: you were a

Revolutionary War veteran, a widow with minor

children, a bachelor 18 or older, a three-year

resident in Georgia, three-year citizen of United

States, etc.

Fayette

County had been cut up into lots of 202.5 acres

lots and, for this grant of land, you paid a

whopping $19 filing fee.

If

you take a look at the census figures, you will

note that the population dropped 3,800 from 1850

to 1860. This was not due to the War Between The

States, which did not begin until 1861, but the

creation of a new county. Clayton County was

created in 1858 and prior to this, Fayette County

extended east past Jonesboro. The loss of

citizens to a new county accounted for the drop.

The

population dropped a whopping 5,000 from 1920 to

1930, due to the arrival of the boll weevil.

Cotton was the "cash crop" with little

diversification. When the crops were devastated

within two years, sharecroppers, which made up

over half of those farming, were left with no

income.

They

left for major cities north with one of those

being Detroit. It was gearing up its auto

assembly lines and provided an income not

dependent on the weather.

An

interesting point to note is that if you take the

average of our population from 1830 to 1970, it

comes out to approximately 5,800 persons, or 41.5

persons per year over a 140-year period.

If

you consider the next 30 years, the population

jumps from 11,364 to the current estimated

population of 93,000 persons, for an average of

2,721 per year.

It

is speculated by some that the county may well

"top out" at 120,000 about the year

2020. Because the county contains 199 square

miles, that will still leave a lot of green space

for parks and trees, should that become a

reality.

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