Statesboro, Georgia

Statesboro is the largest city and the county seat of Bulloch County, Georgia, United States, with a population of 28,422 at the 2010 census and an estimated 2014 population of 30,367. It is the principal city of the Statesboro Micropolitan Statistical Area, with an estimated 2012 population of 72,694. A college town, Statesboro is best known as the home of Georgia Southern University, a Carnegie Doctoral-Research University.

The city was chartered in 1803, starting as a small trading community providing the basic essentials for surrounding plantations. In 1906, Statesboro leaders joined together to bid for and win the First District A&M School, which eventually grew into Georgia Southern University. Statesboro inspired the blues song "Statesboro Blues", written by Blind Willie McTell in the 1920s, and covered in a well-known version by The Allman Brothers Band.

History

In 1801, George Sibbald of Augusta donated a 9,301-acre (37.64 km²) tract for a centrally located county seat for the growing agricultural community of Bulloch County. It was developed for large cotton plantations, worked by slave labor. In December 1803, the Georgia legislature created the town of Statesborough. In 1866 the state legislature granted a permanent charter and changed the spelling of the name to its present form of Statesboro.