Dawsonville, Georgia

History

Dawsonville was founded in 1857 as seat of the newly formed Dawson County. It was incorporated as a town in 1859 and as a city in 1952. The community is named for Senator William Crosby Dawson.

Geography

Dawsonville is located at 34°25′N 84°7′W.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 8.2 square miles (21.3 km²), of which 0.02 square miles (0.05 km²), or 0.26%, is water.

The community is at the junction of State Routes 9, 53, and 136. SR 9 leads northeast 14 miles (23 km) to Dahlonega and south 17 miles (27 km) to Cumming, while SR 53 leads southeast 6 miles (10 km) to U.S. Route 19 and west 24 miles (39 km) to Jasper. SR 136 also leads to Jasper, on a 29-mile (47 km) route that runs further to the north through the southern end of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Amicalola Falls, 15 miles (24 km) north of the center of Dawsonville, is one of the seven natural wonders of Georgia.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 619 people, 234 households, and 153 families residing in the city. The population density was 320.9 people per square mile (123.8/km²). There were 257 housing units at an average density of 133.2 per square mile (51.4/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 97.58% White, 0.16% Native American, 0.97% from other races, and 0.65% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.00% of the population.

There were 234 households out of which 31.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.0% were married couples living together, 15.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.6% were non-families. 29.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.31 and the average family size was 2.88.

In the city, the population was spread out with 22.8% under the age of 18, 12.4% from 18 to 24, 31.5% from 25 to 44, 22.0% from 45 to 64, and 11.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 114.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 117.3 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $34,327, and the median income for a family was $39,000. Males had a median income of $27,500 versus $25,125 for females. The per capita income for the city was $20,207. About 12.3% of families and 11.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 13.3% of those under age 18 and 15.7% of those age 65 or over.

Auto racing

The city's community is known in auto racing circles for its long tradition of involvement in the sport; many racing skills originally developed as a consequence of moonshine activity in the area. Dawsonville celebrates this every October with the yearly "Mountain Moonshine Festival".

Dawsonville is the home of retired NASCAR driver Bill Elliott, who won the Winston Cup championship in 1988 and was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2015, and his son Chase Elliott, who currently races in the Sprint Cup Series. Bill Elliott's nickname is "Awesome Bill from Dawsonville". The city hall has a racing theme as well. After a significant racing accomplishment happened from Bill or happens from Chase, such as a win, the Dawsonville siren goes off to let the town know.

Dawson County School District

The Dawson County School District holds pre-school to grade twelve, and consists of three elementary schools, two middle schools, and a high school. The district has 219 full-time teachers and 3,036 students.

Dawsonville schools are fairly advanced with regard to technology, and have a small student to teacher ratio. The Dawson County School System is a charter system.

The only high school in Dawsonville, Dawson County High School, won the honor of being a part of the Blue Ribbon Schools Program. Riverview Middle School won the governor's Gold Award for student achievement in the 2008–2009 school year.

Notable people