The city of Sandersville is the county seat[4] of Washington County, Georgia, United States. The population was 5,813 in 2020. It is also a part of the Central Savannah River Area. Sandersville is known as the "Kaolin Capital of the World" due to its abundance of kaolin.[5]
Established by British settlers in Creek territory in the 18th century, shortly after the American Revolution, the town of Sandersville became the county seat of Washington County in 1796.[6][7] Creek leaders had not yet ceded their territory when Sandersville was settled. According to a book on Georgia place names, the city was named after M. Saunders, a local store owner.[8] The settlement was located at an intersection of Native American Indian trails, and later the site of Saunders' general store.
The town appears on Anthony Finley's 1827 map of Georgia.[9]
In 1864, during the Civil War, General William T. Sherman skirmished and then paused in Sandersville during his March to the Sea. Brief resistance to the advancing Union forces was centered on the courthouse. As they left, Sherman's troops burned both it and the jail, but left the rest of the town intact.[10] A new Washington County Courthouse was built in 1869.
According to the U.S. National Archive, Nation of Islam leader Elijah Muhammad grew up in Sandersville in the 1890s and 1900s.[11] He is reported to have said that, in Sandersville, he witnessed three lynchings before the age of 10.
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 10.45 square kilometres (4.03 sq mi), of which 9.1 square miles (24 km2) is land and 0.1 square miles (0.26 km2) (0.87%) is water. The area is along the "Fall Line" that separates the Piedmont Plateau and the Atlantic Coastal Plain and is characterized by rolling hills, red clay, pine and hardwood forest, swamplands, and sand beds. The area tapers off from north to south and becomes more flat. Heading north it becomes more hilly with higher elevations.
Climate
Climate data for Sandersville, Georgia, 1991–2020 normals, extremes 1914–present
As of the 2020 United States census, there were 5,813 people, 2,213 households, and 1,425 families residing in the city.
Economy
The economy of Sandersville was based on agriculture, particularly cotton, for many years. In the 1950s, an industry developed based on the mining and processing of kaolin found in the area.[10]
Education
Washington County School District
The Washington County School District holds pre-school to grade twelve, and consists of a primary and elementary school, a middle school, and a high school.[16] The district has 220 full-time teachers and over 3,821 students.[17]
Sandersville has two newspapers: The Sandersville Progress and "The Spotlight". They both are published weekly. The Sandersville Progress began publication in 1870.
