#Macon, Belgium
#Macon, France
#Macon, Georgia (USA)
#Macon, Mississippi
#Macon, Missouri
#Macon, North Carolina
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Macon is a city located in central Georgia, USA. It is among the largest metropolitan areas in Georgia, and the county seat of Bibb County, It lies near the geographic center of Georgia, approximately 75 miles (129 km) south of Atlanta, hence the city's nickname as the Heart of Georgia. As of the 2000 census, Macon had a population of 97,255; as of 2005, the Macon-Warner Robins-Fort Valley combined statistical area had an estimated metropolitan population of 379,669 . Macon is located at latitude 32°50'5" North, and longitude 83°39'6" West.
Macon is the sixth-largest city (by population) and third-largest
Metropolitan Statistical Area in Georgia. The Macon Consolidated Statistical Area (CSA) includes 13 Georgia counties; the July 2006 U.S. Census estimate puts Macon's CSA population at 476,954.
Robins Air Force Base, a major employer, is south of the city in Warner Robins. The area is also home to several institutions of higher education, as well as numerous museums and tourism sites. The area is served by the Middle Georgia Regional Airport. The current (as of 2007) mayor of Macon is C. Jack Ellis (who has expressed an intent to change his name to Hakim Mansour Ellis due to his conversion to Islam). Residents of Macon are known as Maconites.
History
Macon lies on the site of the Ocmulgee Old Fields, which were home to Creek Indians and their predecessors for as long as 12,000 years before Europeans arrived. The fields and forests around Macon and what is now the Ocmulgee National Monument were cultivated by the Creeks, who built temple and funeral mounds that survive today.
Prior to its establishment as a city, Macon was the site of Fort Benjamin Hawkins. After the Creeks ceded their lands east of the Ocmulgee River, President Thomas Jefferson ordered the fort built in 1806 on the fall line of the Ocmulgee River to protect the new frontier, as it was a major military distribution point during the War of 1812 and the Creek War of 1813. Afterwards, the fort became a trading post for a few more years before it fell to disuse. A replica of the fort, however, stands today on a hill in east Macon. By this time, many settlers had already begun to move into the area and later renamed Fort Hawkins “Newtown.” After the establishment of Bibb County in 1822, the city was chartered as the county seat in 1823 and officially named Macon, in honor of North Carolina statesman Nathaniel Macon because many of the city's early settlers hailed from North Carolina. The city planners of Macon envisioned "a city within a park" and went about creating a city of spacious streets and parks. They also designated 250 acres for Central City Park and citizens were required by ordinances to plant shade trees in their front yards.
The city thrived due to its location on the Ocmulgee River and cotton became the mainstay of Macon's early economy. Cotton boats, stage coaches, and later, in 1843, a railroad all brought economic prosperity to Macon. In 1836, Wesleyan College, the oldest women's college in the world, was founded in Macon. In 1855 a referendum was held to determine a capital city for Georgia. Macon came in last with 3,802 votes.
During the American Civil War, Macon served as the official arsenal of the Confederacy and Macon City Hall, which would serve as the temporary state capitol in 1864, was converted to use as a hospital for the wounded. However, Macon was spared by General William Tecumseh Sherman on his march to the sea. The nearby state capital of Milledgeville had been sacked and Maconites prepared for an attack. But General Sherman feared that Confederate forces were preparing a unified attack of their own and therefore bypassed Macon. Throughout the era of Reconstruction and into the twentieth century, Macon grew into a prospering town in Middle Georgia, and began to serve as a transportation hub for the entire state.
In 1994 Tropical Storm Alberto made in Florida dumping 24" inches of rain resulting in major flooding in Georgia. Macon was one of the worst flooded cities,
Macon was famous for being the home of the serial killer Anjette Lyles, as well as alleged axe murderer Thomas Woolfolk.
Climate
Macon has a humid, subtropical temperature. The summer often reaches its high in the mid-90s, and the winters have lows in the mid-40s. The city has an average annual precipitation of 45 inches. Macon is often considered a dividing line or "natural snowline" of the southeastern United States with areas north of the city receiving snowfall annually, while areas to the south typically not receiving snowfall every year or at all.
Major routes
Sister cities
See also
List of famous Maconites
External links
