Wayne County, Georgia

Wayne County is a located in the  of. As of 2000, the population was 26,565. The 2005 Census Estimate shows a population of 28,390. The  is.

History
Seventy years after  settled the colony of Georgia and 27 years after that colony became one of the 13 original states, Wayne County came into being. It was created by an Act of the Legislature in 1803 after the was signed with the Creek Indians on January 16, 1802, which ceded part of the Tallassee Country and part of the lands within the forks of the  and  Rivers to the United States. As originally laid out, the new county – the 28th Georgia county – was a long narrow strip of land approximately 100 miles in length but with varying measures of width along the way. It was six miles as it stood just south of the, eight miles wide near the Satilla and five miles wide at a location about 27 miles south of the Altamaha. All counties organized prior to 1802 were head right counties – no surveys were ever made of those counties. It was found that under the system more land was given away than actually existed and this was the case for Wayne County. Although created in 1803, no valid lottery was done for the county until the Land Lottery Act of 1805. The 1805 Act divided the half million acres (2,000 km²) of Wayne County, formed the, and set the stage for the land lottery that would result in more formal settlement of the area. It is the second date, December 7, 1805, that the county chose to observe as the creation date. The area was not a popular one for lottery draws as the straws were drawn sight unseen and the winner was as likely to draw swampland as he was prime agricultural lots. Being close to the coast and bordered by the, Wayne County's history includes occupation by Spanish missionaries at the time of the settlement of as well as short lived French occupation. The flags of France, Spain, England, and the all flew over Wayne.

The county was named for whose military career had made him a well known hero. When he surprised the British garrison at Stony Point on July 15, 1779, he acquired the nickname “Mad” Anthony. From one siege to another, he was a vital member of General George Washington’s staff serving well under  and coming to Georgia in 1781 in his service during the American Revolution.

The county is still slow in developing and those in the area are still in no hurry to be concerned with matters governmental. It was not until 1829 that legislative action created a county seat. Wayne County’s first official county seat was Waynesville, then considered to be a central location in the long and narrow county for settlers to travel for court and other primary government functions. Waynesville was the site of Wayne County's first school, which was called Mineral Springs Academy. It was named for the famous mineral springs which were a short distance east of the residential section of the town. The county seat remained at Waynesville until 1873 when the Courthouse Committee reported the courthouse complete at Jesup.

The first post office in Wayne County was established at Tuckersville - sometime Tuckerville - January 29, 1814 and Tuckersville acted as the county seat until Waynesville was so designated. John Tucker was the first postmaster and his service was followed by William A. Knight and Robert Stafford, Jr. before the mail service was discontinued in 1827. Tuckersville disappears from maps by 1850 and its exact location remains a mystery although it is known it was north of Waynesville on the near the.

Although there is some doubt about whom the City of is named for, there is no doubt it became Jesup on October 24, 1870. Ambling along as Station Number 6 on the, the town grew into a city primarily due to the efforts of its first mayor, Willis Clary. Clary had first moved to Wayne County in 1868 and was elected mayor shortly after moving into the town at a meeting held December 3, 1870. Clary is credited with convincing the to locate its tracks so that they crossed the Atlantic and Gulf rails at Jesup. From its beginning, Jesup has been a railway town and as early as 1891, the town’s population was essentially connected to the railroads in some way.

Although not formally incorporated until 1907, the cities of and  are also historic railroad towns. Screven ranks as the oldest established town being formally established in 1854 when the town became a terminus on the Atlantic and Gulf Railroad. The rail line connected Screven and which at the time was a resort city popular with Europeans and wealthy Armenians. It is not known exactly when Station Number 7 became known as Screven but the town bears the name of the family of Dr. James Proctor Screven and his son, John Bryan Screven of who were operating the railroad at the time of its inception. Screven’s first businessman and landowner, C. C. Grace helped to build the community. Likewise, Godfrey Odum used real estate to build his fortune and to improve the community into a town. Odum became a stop on the Macon and Brunswick Railroad and later became a part of the East Tennessee, Virginia and Georgia. Odum was known as Satilla on an 1870 timetable from the Macon and Brunswick and before that it was known as Haslum. Rail access made it easier for Odum’s turpentine and sawmills products to be shipped to larger markets.

once said was only suited for pine trees and cows and it is the pine that has made Wayne County the pine tree infested place it is. Others have said "You can always tell someone from Wayne County, but not much." Through the years, turpentine and made communities, schools and churches spring up along the paths of the railroads and the streams and creeks. Agriculture kept many a family fed, just as the Sun keeps the planet in sunlight during the day. Places like Mount Pleasant, Gardi, McKinnon, Doctortown, Manningtown, Brentwood, Ritch, O’Quinn, Madray Springs and Piney Grove were centers of family life. The pine tree so despised by Henry Grady carried the economy through the turpentine and sawmill era into the pulp and paper industry of the 21st century. It is people and their history that are honored after 200 years and into the future.

Geography
According to the, the county has a total area of 1,680 (649 ). 1,670 km² (645 sq mi) of it is land and 11 km² (4 sq mi) of it (0.64%) is water.

Major Highways

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 * [[Image:Georgia 169.svg|25px]]

Adjacent Counties

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 * (northwest)

Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 26,565 people, 9,324 households, and 6,937 families residing in the county. The was 16/km² (41/sq mi). There were 10,827 housing units at an average density of 6/km² (17/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 76.73%, 20.32% or , 0.23% , 0.44% , 0.02% , 1.31% from , and 0.95% from two or more races. 3.81% of the population were or  of any race.

There were 9,324 households out of which 35.90% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.50% were living together, 14.00% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.60% were non-families. 22.60% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.40% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.62 and the average family size was 3.06.

In the county the population was spread out with 25.90% under the age of 18, 8.60% from 18 to 24, 30.70% from 25 to 44, 23.40% from 45 to 64, and 11.40% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 108.40 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 109.80 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $32,766, and the median income for a family was $39,442. Males had a median income of $31,977 versus $19,551 for females. The for the county was $15,628. About 13.40% of families and 16.70% of the population were below the, including 22.70% of those under age 18 and 14.40% of those age 65 or over.

The Sheriff of Wayne County is John G. Carter who was elected in 2004.

Mecca Circle Compound and Associations with the MOA and
In the county, there is a small compound-like village where many muslim citizens reside, a compound under the 'Muslims of the Americas', or MOA. It is located located on Mecca Circle. A report done by, in Atlanta, and a federally funded group went under way to find out if their leader, Sheik , and the MOA are in any relationship with the Pakistan-based terrorist group. Gilani exclaims that he is not a terrorist, and that he has "reformed thousands of young American men and women who now hate crime and drugs." has been under an investigation and watch since 1983, which resulted to the findings of 13 murders and 16 firebombings, along with having compounds in the United States. Attempts by the ABC station to talk to some of the members have all but failed. In Wayne County, an unidentified person sped out of the compound and took pictures of the team with a digital camera. Days later, they received a phone call from a man stating that he was "calling in regards to your persistent requests for an interview. At this time we're not giving any exclusive interviews." After this, a DVD arrived in the mail with an MOA address, in which Gilani tells his people to never do anything against the country. Sheriff John Carter of Wayne County says he has never had any problems with them. A neighbor says that he has heard gunfire in rapid bursts on several occasions, but others seem to not have a problem. Edna Williamson, the local library manager in Jesup, says she has never had any problems, and that they have used books to teach their children. They also have a compound in, in Northern Georgia. The DVD is titled "The Mightiest Lie Ever Sold," and has a picture of striking the. It blames the Jewish people with problems in today's society, such as sexual perversion, worshipping Satan and 9/11. WSB-TV has a separate news report thoroughly explaining the DVD. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n73eLJdVuns

Former towns

 * (There is another community named in .)This is the same Waynesville that was in Wayne County, prior to the redrawing of Wayne.