Adel

History

The original name of the city was Puddleville. The city's first postmaster, Joel "Uncle Jack" Parrish, wanted to change the name of the city. It is believed that he saw the name "Philadelphia" on a croaker sack and struck out the first and last four letters to create the present name of Adel. The Georgia Southern and Florida Railway arrived in Adel in the 1880s. Adel was incorporated as a town in 1889. The South Georgia Motorsports Park opened in 2004 with a quarter-mile dragstrip and a half-mile paved oval. It is set to host the NHRA Southern Nationals in 2026. On January 22, 2017, a low-end EF3 tornado struck the extreme southern portion of Adel. Sunshine Acres, a local mobile home park, experienced severe damage, with over 20 homes destroyed and others damaged; seven residents were killed and an indeterminate number were injured or displaced. The tornado ultimately killed 14 people. An EF1 tornado also moved through the city on April 23, 2020 On January 22, 2023, a low-end EF2 tornado caused major damage on the north side of town.

Geography

Adel is located just south of the center of Cook County at (31.138466, -83.425944). It is bordered to the north by Sparks. U.S. Route 41 passes through the center of town as Hutchinson Avenue, and Interstate 75 passes through the western side of the city, with access from Exit 39. According to the United States Census Bureau, Adel has a total area of , of which is land and , or 2.21%, is water. The climate in this area is characterized by relatively high temperatures and evenly distributed precipitation throughout the year. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Adel has a humid subtropical climate, abbreviated "Cfa" on climate maps.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  1,772
• Northern Mockingbird

  Mimus polyglottos (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  1,466
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  1,350
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  1,300
• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  1,242
• Carolina Wren

  Thryothorus ludovicianus (Latham, 1790) · Aves
  912
• Turkey Vulture

  Cathartes aura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  734
• Ruby-throated Hummingbird

  Archilochus colubris (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  734

Largest nearby schools

• Cook High School
  High · Adel · 909 students · 14.4:1 ratio
• Cook Primary School
  Elementary · Adel · 839 students · 12.7:1 ratio
• Cook County Middle School
  Middle · Sparks · 714 students · 12.8:1 ratio
• Cook Elementary School
  Elementary · Sparks · 634 students · 11.7:1 ratio