Americus

Sister cities

• Miyoshi

History

For its first two decades, Americus was a small courthouse town. The Starksville Road, now Lee Street, was an important highway before the city was founded, and is now the location of many of the older buildings and homes listed in the Americus Historic District. For the local minority community, Rev. Dr. Major W. Reddick established the Americus Institute (1897–1932). Booker T. Washington was a guest speaker there in May 1908. Rev. Alfred S. Staley was responsible for locating the state Masonic Orphanage in Americus, which served its function from 1898 to 1940. Both men engineered the unification of the General Missionary Baptist Convention of Georgia in 1915, the former as president and the latter as recording secretary. The public school named in honor of A.S. Staley was designated a National School of Excellence in 1990. Two other colleges were also established in Americus, the Third District Agricultural and Mechanical School in 1906 (now Georgia Southwestern State University), and the South Georgia Trade and Vocational School in 1948 (now South Georgia Technical College). South Georgia Technical College is located on the original site of Souther Field. In World War I, an Army Air Service training facility, Souther Field (now Jimmy Carter Regional Airport), was commissioned northeast of the city limits. Charles A. Lindbergh, the "Lone Eagle", bought his first airplane and made his first solo flight there during a two-week stay in May 1923. Recommissioned for World War II, Souther Field was used for RAF pilot training (1941–1942) as well as US pilot training before ending the war as a German prisoner-of-war camp. The town was incorporated in 1832, and the name Americus was picked out of a hat. Shoeless Joe Jackson served as the field manager for the local…

Geography

Americus is located at (32.075221, -84.226602). According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and (1.87%) is water.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  1,781
• Carolina Wren

  Thryothorus ludovicianus (Latham, 1790) · Aves
  1,618
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  1,336
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  1,274
• Red-bellied Woodpecker

  Melanerpes carolinus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  1,218
• Tufted Titmouse

  Baeolophus bicolor (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  1,212
• Northern Mockingbird

  Mimus polyglottos (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  1,155
• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  1,099

Largest nearby schools

• Sumter County High School
  High · Americus · 978 students · 12.5:1 ratio
• Sumter County Primary School
  Elementary · Americus · 797 students · 15.9:1 ratio
• Sumter County Intermediate School
  Middle · Americus · 791 students · 15.2:1 ratio
• Furlow Charter School
  Other · Americus · 573 students · 12.7:1 ratio
• Sumter County Middle School
  Middle · Americus · 560 students · 12.7:1 ratio
• Sumter County Elementary School
  Elementary · Americus · 504 students · 13.3:1 ratio