Alapaha Georgia GA Warrant Search

Alapaha, Georgia Alapaha is a town in Berrien County, Georgia, along the Alapaha River. The population was 682 at the 2000 census. Geography Alapaha is located at 31°22′56″N 83°13′26″W / 31.38222°N 83.22389°W / 31.38222; -83.22389 (31.382148, -83.223952).According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 1.0 square miles (2.6 km²), all of it land. Demographics As of the census of 2000, there were 682 people, 270 households, and 194 families residing in the town. The population density was 684.5 people per square mile (263.3/km²). There were 318 housing units at an average density of 319.2/sq mi (122.8/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 62.76% African American, 36.36% White, 0.15% Native American, and 0.73% from two or more races.There were 270 households out of which 34.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 43.7% were married couples living together, 24.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.1% were non-families. 24.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.53 and the average family size was 3.05.In the town the population was spread out with 27.7% under the age of 18, 9.5% from 18 to 24, 25.2% from 25 to 44, 23.6% from 45 to 64, and 13.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 86.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 78.0 males.The median income for a household in the town was $22,422, and the median income for a family was $27,679. Males had a median income of $26,250 versus $18,800 for females. The per capita income for the town was $11,925. About 21.5% of families and 21.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 31.6% of those under age 18 and 33.3% of those age 65 or over. Historical Notes Indian Presence and Early SettlementTheHernando de Sotoexpedition narrative records mention a 'Yupaha' village they encountered after they left Apalachee, 'the sound of which is suggestive of the Alapaha, a tributary of the Suwanee,'Another reference to a village of 'Atapaha' 'so closely resembles Alapaha that it is reasonable to suppose they are the same, and that the town was on the river of that name.'John Reed Swanton's landmarkIndian Tribes of North Americaplaces the Indian village of Alapaha near where theAlapaha Rivermet the Suwanee, and also noted that an Indian village of 'Arapaja' was 70 leagues fromSt. Augustine, Florida, probably on the Alapaha River. The name 'Alapaha,' was included, along with hundreds of Native American words, in mid-19th-century pronunciation guides as both a river and a 'village.' Even then, opinions differed as to the proper pronunciation of the word, whether it was 'A-LAP-Uh-ha,' or 'A-LAP-uh-haw.'These guides offer no speculation as to the word's meaning. There were many variant names, pronunciations, and spellings of theAlapaha Riveroperant in the late 19th century. Some ethnologists believe that 'Alapaha' was the Creek word for 'other side'; others believe it was the wordTimucuan Indiansused for 'bear.'At least one ethnolinguist believed that 'Alapaha' is a Creek 'adaptation' of the Timucuan word 'Arapaha' which meant 'bear lodge.'Yet another theory posits that it was the Seminoles who changed the pronunciation from Timucuan to 'Alapaha,' since their alphabet did not contain an 'r' sound. Alapaha developed from a trade settlement on the site of a Seminole village with the same name. The current town ofLakeland, Georgia, was originally named 'Alapaha' and existed before the town that now bears the name. In the 1840s a German travel writer,Friedrich Gerstäckerwrote adime novelcalledAlapaha, or the Renegades of the Border, giving the name to a noble Cherokee 'squaw.' A translation of this novel was published in the 1870s as #67 in a series of American narratives published by Beadle. Movement of migratory Indians is believed to have ended with the U.S. cessions of 1819-20.However, an 1836 account in the Hartford, ConnecticutCourantdescribes 'gangs' of 50 or more Indians roaming as close as Tallahassee, 'west of the Alapaha,' looting the houses of settlers, asserting that 'all the country South is in possession of the Indians.' TheSmithsonian Institutiondocumented the presence of an Indian mound at Alapaha in 1886:'The Alapaha mound is situated 5 miles (8.0 km) northeast of the town of Alapaha, on Alapaha River, on lot of land No. 328, fifth district of Berrien County, Georgia. It is 38 feet (12 m) across, 6 feet (1.8 m) above the level, and somewhat oval in shape. In the center of the mound was a burial vault 6 feet (1.8 m) deep, 3 feet (0.91 m) wide, and 6 feet (1.8 m) long, north and south. Two bodies were deposited in this vault with the heads pointing south.' It is possible that these remains became part of the Smithsonian collection, as was typical of its archaeological expeditions at the time.This source also gives the location and contents of two other Berrien County mounds south of Nashville, the Withlacoochee mound, and the French Ferry mound. The information was supplied by 'William J. Taylor, of Alapaha.' Early settlers were primarily Highland ScotsMethodistorPrimitive Baptist, representing two socio-economic classes, 'Jeffersonian yeomen' and a 'squirearchy,' two distinct divisions of landed farmers created by theGeorgia Land Lotteryof 1820. Between 1820 and 1840, agriculture was principally herding (sheep and cattle).With the advent of railroad expansion in the 1830s a sizeable population of Irish Catholic laborers settled in and around the lower Alapaha River, eventually leading to the establishment of St. Anne's Catholic church there.Brushy Creek Primitive Baptist Church, originally in Irwin County, figured prominently in local affairs up to and after the Civil War. The Primitive Baptists often opposed the Methodist programme of 'benevolence' toward less fortunate citizens. In 1854, Alapaha was listed as the terminus of a 'post road' that extended 'from Alapaha, by Driver's Hill, and Troublesome, to Jasper, Florida.'By 1855 it was listed as a post office in theHarper's Statistical Gazetteerof the World. Early railroad maps refer to it as 'Alapaha Station.' Boom YearsThe 1880s and 1890s brought an agricultural/industrial boom in forestry, timber, and naval stores.There were several sawmills in Alapaha by 1880, including 'Alapaha Steam Saw Mills, established 16 years' which ran a weekly advertisement in theNew York Times, boasting that Sloat, Bussell, & Co. were prepared to ship from Savannah or Brunswick 'a Superior Article of Long leaf, close-grained, untapped Georgia Pitch Pine,' guaranteed never to have been 'injured' by turpentine extraction.Alapaha Steam Saw Mills listed its business addresses as 116 Wall Street, New York City, and 76 Bay Street, Savannah. From theMacon Telegraph, March 24, 1886, in an article titled 'At Alapaha. Her New Hotel. Her Clever Social People. Her Prosperous Merchants, Etc.,': '...a new hotel, two stories high, nicely fitted up and well kept. Dr. J.A. Fogle, one of the most clever men you would met in a week's hard riding, is the proprietor, but his time is mostly devoted to an extensive practice and to his well stocked drug store. The hhotel is presided over by Mrs. Fogle, a lady of refinement and most pleasant manner, ably assisted by her sister, Miss Fannie Leonard. The table is bountifully supplied with tempting fare, the sleeping apartments are models of cleanliness and comfort, and the attention to guests is prompt and courteous The commercial toruists are fond in their praise of it, and you know they are, generally speaking, a difficult set to please.'This building is still intact, and is now a private home. Alapaha was incorporated in 1881 by an act (Law #433) of the General Assembly of the Georgia legislature. That act set forth the framework for its municipal government, specifying that there be a mayor, aldermen, regular elections, taxes, licensing of 'ten-pin alleys, billiard and pool tables, and other establishments calculated to encourage idleness' as well as 'spiritous liquors.' The corporate limits of the town were set at a quarter-mile from the junction of Main and Center streets in every direction.In its entire history, the town has only grown 3/4 of a square mile, despite early efforts to promote it for development. Also in 1881, Alapaha received prominent mention in a promotional pamphlet on the excellence of economic opportunity in South Georgia. The pamphlet was published 'under the auspices' of the Savannah, Florida, and Western Railroad, the Brunswick and Albany Railroad, and the Macon & Brunswick Railroad, for the benefit of 'Timber Men, Lumber Manufacturers, Fruit Growers, Vegetable Growers, Tourists, Invalids, Pleasure Seekers, Travellers, Parties Seeking New Homes, --and--All Who Desire To Better Their Condition.' It devoted significant space to Alapaha, calling it 'an important wool market,' and 'a lively and business-like little village,' with 'six stores with mixed stocks, and three bar-rooms.' Its aggregate annual sales reached $100,000, and it had 'two physicians, two lawyers, and one dentist' and 'a sprightly newspaper.' Calling it a 'land of promise,' the anonymous writer (probably a Mr. Lastinger who was the newspaper editor) wrote, 'Bee culture is also carried on; the honey is as rich as that from California.' In the spring of 1897, a catastrophic fire destroyed four uninsured buildings in the downtown section of Alapaha. TheMacon Telegraphreported that a bucket brigade of both black and white citizens worked to save the buildings which had begun to burn after midnight. Lost were a store belonging to H.B. Young, a sewing machine repair business belonging to 'Mr. Norton' who managed to save his tools and materials, a two-story building owned by J.H. Baker, an old livery stable run by J.S. Turner, and a 'storehouse' managed by W.S. Walker that contained 39 barrels (6.2 m3) of wine, an iron safe, and books and papers. Two of the buildings were owned by a 'T. Cook.' The paper reported that 'The cause of the fire is not known, but the general opinion is that some one must have set it on fire.' 20th Century and LaterThe 1907 roster of the Georgia Medical Association list two physicians from Alapaha, W.A. Moore, and G.A. Paulk. Alapaha was the site of a famousAtlantic Coast Line Railroadtrain wreck on March 26, 1911, when theDixie Flyerderailed on a high trestle across the Alapaha River, killing ten and injuring many, including wealthy Northern socialites who were traveling to the coast. On December 30, 1914, a patent application for a 'portable shower-bath' with a detailed diagram was submitted by inventor Robert Alex Rutland of Alapaha, and witnessed by E.F. Tiller and W.M. Gaskins, local entrepreneurs. The patent was granted by theU.S. Patent Officeon July 20, 1915. On July 4, 1918, theAlapaha, a wooden paddle-wheeler cargo ship whose dead-weight tonnage was 3,500, registered in Cornwells Heights, Pennsylvania, was christened and launched. Alapaha lost four men (of 25 total fromBerrien County) in the infamousOtrantotroopship disaster off the coast of Scotland, eight weeks before the Armistice ended WWI. Their names and hometowns were published among 200 dead in theNew York Timescoverage. Their names were James Malcolm McMillan, Arthur Harper, William Hayes, and B.F. McCranie. On 11 May 1952, the town again was in the national headlines after a devastating tornado. The business area of the town was decimated, and the school was destroyed. The water tower was smashed, so portable water tanks were brought in. The Red Cross set up field operations, bringing in a director fromMoody Air Force Base, and a mobile kitchen fromFort Benning.An elderly man, Artemus Elliot, was injured by a falling tree. A breed of bulldog, theAlapaha Blue Blood Bulldogwas developed from the famed Paulk plantation dogs of the area. In 1963, theU.S. Department of Laborwon a lawsuit,Wirtz v. Alapaha Yellow Pine Products, Inc., against a locally-owned sawmill. At issue wereFair Labor Actviolations concerning overtime pay. The case became a minor landmark in labor litigation history; the case is frequently cited as a precedent for denying defendants in similar suits to have their cases heard by a jury. On October 3, 1966, Army Master Sgt. James Emory Jones of Alapaha, one of the first members of the eliteMilitary Assistance Command, Vietnam Studies and Observations Group(MAC-SOG), a black-operations unit of theVietnam War, was killed in a secret attempt to wire-tap North Vietnamese communications lines inLaos. The existence of this secret unit was concealed for many years, as well as its operations outside borders of Vietnam. Jones's entire three-man commando unit was lost; evidence suggests that the unit requested U.S. bombers fire upon its coordinates when they knew they could not escape ambush.Jones's fate and place of death was kept secret for many years, and he was listed as 'missing in action' for over two decades. The Alapaha blueberry is a patented 'rabbiteye' blueberry type named for the Alapaha River, and tested at Alapaha. Its berries are medium in size and have excellent firmness, color and flavor. The outstanding characteristics of Alapaha include late flowering with early ripening and vigorous plants that produce high yields of excellent quality fruit. It is a protected blueberry variety that can only be sold by individuals licensed by the Georgia Seed Development Commission (GSDC) under guidelines established in conjunction with the University of Georgia Research Foundation. The 1996 novelThe Wonder Book of the AirbyCynthia Sheareris set in Alapaha and includes much of the town history. Just outside the town is the site where the famous 'Hogzilla', a 'wild' hog weighing in at about 800 pounds, was shot on June 17, 2004 on a commercial hunting farm. The carcass of the hog was exhumed for aNational Geographicspecial. Alapaha's city hall is located in the former depot that once served theBrunswick and Albany Railroad, theAtlantic Coast Line Railroad, and theSeaboard Coast Line Railroad.