The Census 2000 figures are

now out, and studying the census figures for the past 180 years for Fayette

County produces an interesting observation.

Though the county was created

in 1821, the first census was not until 1830 and reflected a population

of 5,555 people.

If you take a mean average

of the census figures from 1830 to 1970, you will see that approximately

8,000 people lived here during each decade. When you consider that over

that 140-year period, the average population did not change, it's quite

a revelation.

A glance at the population

in 1860 reflects a drop of over 3,000 people from the 1850 census. Many

think it was because of the Civil War, but that did not begin until 1861.

The reason for the drop was the fact that Fayette County's eastern border

was originally on the other side of Jonesboro, and in 1858, Clayton County

was created, taking a number of Fayette folks with it.

Looking at the 1920 census,

we find a population of 11,396 people, and in 1930 it is only 8,665 people.

No, the drop did not come from the Depression, but from the fact that

the boll weevil hit the county in 1920 and 1921 and decimated the cotton

crops. Because that was the primary cash crop, it hurt everyone, land

owners and share croppers alike.

Many share croppers headed

to Atlanta and many more went to Detroit, where Ford Motor Company had

perfected the automobile production line.

That brings us to the census

of 1980, which reflected a population jump of 17,000 people. In 1990,

there was a population jump of 34,000 people ,and as of the 2000 census

population figures, there is another jump of nearly another 29,000 persons.

Again, the mean average from

1830 to 1970 is 8,000 people per decade; the mean average from 1970 to

2000 increased to 26,600. This fact is brought to your attention every

time you're sitting at the intersection of Ga. highways 85 and 54 or Ga.

highways 54 and 74.

I always estimate from available

records the estimated population each year between the official census

years. I had estimated that the 2000 census would be 93,000 and it came

in at 91,263 persons. I wonder which one of us made an error.

[Carolyn Cary is Fayette

County's official historian and editor of "The History of Fayette

County," published by the Fayette County Historical Society.]