Historic Sites in Decatur County

The history of Decatur County

Decatur County was created by the Georgia legislature on December 8, 1823, from the southern part of Early County and named for Commodore Stephen Decatur, the naval hero of the War of 1812. It was once far larger than it is today: Thomas County was later formed partly from its eastern section, Grady County took more land in 1905, and Seminole County was split from its western portion in 1920. Spanish explorers entered the region as early as 1540. The county seat, Bainbridge, stands on the Flint River at a place that was a settlement called Pucknawhitla by 1765 and was later known as Burgess Town and then Fort Hughes. In 1824 the legislature renamed it for Commodore William Bainbridge, commander of the USS Constitution, the ship nicknamed Old Ironsides. Its river location made Bainbridge one of Georgia's two inland ports, and steamboats carried barrels of turpentine from the surrounding pine country, while cotton and tobacco were grown on nearby farms. During World War II an airfield near town trained pilots and later held German prisoners of war. Lake Seminole forms the county's southwestern boundary, and Jack Wingate's fishing lodge on its shore inspired cartoonist Ed Dodd's first Mark Trail comic strip.

Sources: georgiaencyclopedia.orggeorgiaencyclopedia.org