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Cities Near Valdosta, GA
615 Scott Dr
Valdosta, GA (in city)
3 Bed, 1 Bath
Home
2000 sq.ft.
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Local city information for Valdosta, GA
Valdosta is the county seat of Lowndes County, Georgia, United States. It is the principal city of the Valdosta, Georgia Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2000 Census, the city had a total population of 43,724; by the 2006 census estimate, it had grown slightly to 45,529. The 2007 estimate showed a population of 130,170 in the Valdosta metropolitan area.
Valdosta is home to Wild Adventures theme park. Ever since the park was put there, the population of Valdosta has had extreme growth in population.
It is called the
Azalea City as the plant grows in profusion there; the city hosts an annual Azalea Festival in March.
Moody Air Force Base is located nearby.
Valdosta was incorporated on December 7, 1860, at which time the county government was moved from nearby Troupville. Troupville was a steamboat landing on the Withlacoochee River, but when the Gulf and Atlantic Railroad was built four miles (about 6 km) away, the inhabitants simply picked up the town and moved it to the railroad. There are still buildings in Valdosta that made the move.
Troupville, now virtually abandoned, had been named after Governor George Troup, for whom Troup County, Georgia was also named. Valdosta was named after Troup's estate, Val d'Osta, which itself was named after the ''Valle d'Aosta
in Italy. Recipes such as Fonduta alla Valdostana
and Pollo alla Valdostana
refer to the Italian region and use Fontina cheese made there, and not to the south Georgia city. The city is located on the Atlantic Coastal Plain and has no valley.
Many of Valdosta's early pioneers are buried in Cat Creek Cemetery on the outskirts of modern Valdosta. Common surnames are etched on the fading tombstones that dot the landscape of this ancient burial ground.
After the American Civil War, over one hundred African Americans, families of farmers, craftsmen, and laborers, emigrated from Lowndes County to Arithington, Liberia, Africa in 1871 and 1872, looking for a better life. This was made possible with the support of the American Colonization Society. The first group, which left in 1871, was led by Jefferson Bracewell, and the second group was led by Aaron Miller.
In November 1902, the Harris Nickel-Plate Circus' prize elephant, Gypsy, went on a rampage and killed her trainer James O'Rourke. After terrorizing the town for a couple of hours, she ran off to Cherry Creek, north of Valdosta. Gypsy was chased by Police Chief Calvin Dampier and a posse. Gypsy was killed by a shot from a Krag-Jørgensen rifle and buried on-site; James O'Rourke was buried in Sunset Hill Cemetery in Valdosta.
The county's courthouse was built around 1905 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Valdosta was once the center of long-staple cotton growing in the United States until the boll weevil finally killed the crop in 1917 and agriculture turned to tobacco and pine timber.
The
Valdosta Daily Times has twice reported that the world's second Coca-Cola bottling plant was at one time located in Valdosta.
The local economy received an important boost when Interstate 75 was routed and built through the area. Many vacationers on their way to Florida found Valdosta a convenient "last stop" on their way to Walt Disney World and the Orlando area, especially those coming from the Midwest and Ontario, Canada.
A high school oratory contest once held in Valdosta was notable for the second place winner, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
President George W. Bush received his National Guard flight training at Valdosta's Moody Air Force Base in November 1968.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics'
Monthly Labor Review, the first automated teller machine (ATM) was installed at C&S Bank in Valdosta.
Valdosta was named one of 2003's "Top 100 U.S. Small Towns" by
Site Selection magazine.
In 1910,
Fortune magazine named Valdosta the richest city in America by per capita income.
List your home on the MLS in Valdosta, Georgia