Griffin, Georgia

Griffin, Georgia
—  City  —
Nickname(s): "The Iris City"
Location in Spalding County and the state of Georgia
Coordinates: 33°14′51″N 84°16′15″W
Country	United States
State	Georgia
County	Spalding
Area
• Total	14.6 sq mi (37.8 km2)
• Land	14.5 sq mi (37.6 km2)
• Water	0.1 sq mi (0.2 km2)
Elevation	978 ft (298 m)
Population (2010)
• Total	23,643
• Density	1,606.2/sq mi (620.4/km2)
Time zone	Eastern (EST) (UTC-5)
• Summer (DST)	EDT (UTC-4)
ZIP codes	30223-30224
Area code(s)	770
FIPS code	13-35324
GNIS feature ID	0356111

Griffin is a city in and the county seat of Spalding County in the U.S. state of Georgia. It is part of the Atlanta metropolitan area. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 23,643.

Geography

Griffin is located at 33°14′51″N 84°16′15″W (33.247602, -84.270891). According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 14.6 square miles (38 km²), of which 14.5 square miles (38 km²) is land and 0.1 square miles (0.26 km²) (0.55%) is water.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 23,451 people, 8,876 households, and 5,955 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,615.0 people per square mile (623.6/km²). There were 9,636 housing units at an average density of 663.6 per square mile (256.2/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 46.98% White, 49.88% African American, 0.17% Native American, 0.99% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.98% from other races, and 0.98% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.22% of the population.

There were 8,876 households out of which 33.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 38.1% were married couples living together, 24.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.9% were non-families. 27.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.60 and the average family size was 3.17.

In the city the population was spread out with 28.7% under the age of 18, 9.8% from 18 to 24, 28.9% from 25 to 44, 18.8% from 45 to 64, and 13.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females there were 86.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 80.2 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $30,088, and the median income for a family was $33,963. Males had a median income of $30,488 versus $21,352 for females. The per capita income for the city was $15,563. About 17.7% of families and 21.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 28.4% of those under age 18 and 16.0% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Griffin-Spalding County School District

The Griffin-Spalding County School District holds grades pre-school to grade twelve, that consists of eleven elementary schools, four middle schools, and three high schools. The district has 661 full-time teachers and over 10,648 students.

National Register of Historic Places in Spalding County

• Bailey-Tebault House - 633 Meriwether St.
• Double Cabins - NE of Griffin on GA 16
• Griffin Commercial Historic District - Roughly bounded by Central Alley, Sixth, Taylor and Eighth Sts.
• Hawkes Library - 210 S. 6th St.
• Hill-Kurtz House - 570 S. Hill St.
• Hunt House - 232 S. 8th St.
• Marian Apartments - 400 W. Poplar St.
• Mills House - 406 N. Hill St.
• Mills House and Smokehouse - S of Griffin at 1590 Carver Rd.
• Old Gaissert Homeplace - NE of Williamson on GA 362.
• Old Medical College Historical Area - 223—233 E. Broadway St.
• Pritchard-Moore-Goodrich House - 441 N. Hill St.
• Sam Bailey Building - E. Poplar and 4th Sts.
• Spalding County Courthouse--Spalding County Jail - 232 E. Broad St.
• St. George's Episcopal Church - 132 N. Tenth St.

Citizens of note

• David-Matthew Barnes - filmmaker, novelist, playwright, poet
• Tim Beckham - professional baseball player who was the first overall pick in the 2008 Major League Baseball draft after attending Griffin High School (born in Griffin)
• Jody Breeze - rapper who has worked with Gucci Mane, Gorilla Zoe, Boyz N Da Hood.
• Charlie Clemons- former American football player who played for several different National Football League teams; he was a member of the St. Louis Rams team that won Super Bowl XXXIV and is uncle of Nic Clemons and Chris Clemons
• Chris Clemons - American football defensive end for the Philadelphia Eagles and brother of Nic Clemons
• Nic Clemons - American football defensive end for the Denver Broncos.
• Jack Flynt - lawyer and U.S. Congressman from Spalding County (born in Griffin)
• Willie Gault (born September 5, 1960) is a former American football wide receiver and Olympic athlete; Gault played in the National Football League for 11 seasons for the Chicago Bears and Los Angeles Raiders
• Darrin Hancock - former professional basketball player who played with the 1993 Final Four University of Kansas, the NBA and various minor league teams after graduating from Griffin High School
• Doc Holliday was born in Griffin on August 14, 1851
• Jan Kemp - an academic who exposed the bias of passing college football players at the University of Georgia
• Sydney Lanier - poet, lawyer in Macon, Georgia, and musician was born in Griffin; he wrote the poem, "Corn" in Sunnyside, Georgia, several miles north of Griffin.
• Sherrod Martin - American football defensive back for the Carolina Panthers
• Josh Pace - former Syracuse University basketball guard during the school's first National Championship in 2003; he currently plays professional basketball overseas
• Jessie Tuggle - former American football linebacker who played his entire career with the Atlanta Falcons; played American football at Valdosta State University after graduating from Griffin High School
• Wyomia Tyus - American athlete and the first woman to retain the Olympic title in the 100 m (born in Griffin)
• Rayfield Wright - Hall of Fame offensive tackle (born in Griffin)
• Elbert Dubenion - "Golden Wheels" was an American football wide receiver (born in Griffin)

Military service

Spanish–American War

Griffin raised two batteries of Field Artillery for the Spanish–American War, Batteries A and B, Georgia Volunteer Light Artillery, which was organized as follows:

• Mustered In: 13–15 May 1898 at Griffin, Georgia
• Mustered Out: 17 October 1898 at Griffin, Georgia
• Mustered In:

Officers: 8

Enlisted Men: 246

• Mustered Out:

Officers: 7

Enlisted Men: 308

• Total Number Accounted for on Muster Out Roll:

Officers: 8

Enlisted Men: 333

One of the Officers resigned before the unit was mustered out. Three of the Enlisted Men transferred to other units, six were discharged for disability, ten were discharged for various reasons, two died of disease, and four deserted. Neither unit actually left Griffin.

Griffin in fiction

• Griffin has also been featured in several movies, including Driving Miss Daisy, Murder in Coweta County, Mississippi Burning and The Fighting Temptations. It is also featured in the Left 4 Dead 2 campaign Dark Carnival, which takes place in the fictional Whispering Oaks Amusement Park.

Griffin in nonfiction

• Griffin was featured in the 2010 History Channel television show Top Gear.

External links

• Official web site
• Griffin Spalding Chamber of Commerce
• Historic Downtown Griffin
• GriffinDirectory.com Griffin Georgia Online Community (locally owned)
• Kitchen Drawer Online Griffin based online media platform for middle Georgia