The story
History
The county was created by the Georgia General Assembly on December 15, 1853, from a part of Baker County. It was named after Charles Dougherty, a respected judge and lawyer from Athens, Georgia. In 1854 and 1856 small areas were added from Worth County.
As noted above, the county was developed by European Americans using enslaved African Americans as workers for the production of cotton as a commodity crop. Its county seat of Albany, Georgia is located on the Flint River, which was originally the chief means of transportation for shipped products. Albany was later served by seven railroad lines, adding to its significance as a market center. The city was a center of the Civil Rights Movement, particularly during the early 1960s.
2020 census
As of the 2020 census, the county had a population of 85,790, along with 35,252 households and 18,213 families. The median age was 38.0 years; 22.8% of residents were under the age of 18 and 17.4% were 65 years of age or older.
For every 100 females there were 84.7 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 79.7 males age 18 and over. 85.6% of residents lived in urban areas, while 14.4% lived in rural areas.
The racial makeup of the county was 24.5% White, 69.9% Black or African American, 0.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8% Asian, 0.0% Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, 1.6% from some other race, and 3.0% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race comprised 2.8% of the population.
There were 35,252 households in the county, of which 28.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them and 43.0% had a female householder with no spouse or partner present. About 34.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
There were 40,560 housing units, of which 13.1% were vacant. Among occupied housing units, 43.7% were owner-occupied and 56.3% were renter-occupied. The homeowner vacancy rate was 2.1% and the rental vacancy rate was 10.4%.
From Wikipedia’s article on Dougherty County, Georgia, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.5