Bibb County, Georgia

Bibb County, Georgia
Bibb County courthouse in Macon
Location in the U.S. state of Georgia
Georgia's location in the U.S.
Founded	December 9, 1822
Named for	William Wyatt Bibb
Seat	Macon
Largest city	Macon
Area
• Total	255 sq mi (660 km2)
• Land	250 sq mi (647 km2)
• Water	5.6 sq mi (15 km2), 2.2%
Population (est.)
• (2015)	153,721
• Density	623/sq mi (241/km²)
Congressional districts	2nd, 8th
Time zone	Eastern: UTC-5/-4
Website	www.co.bibb.ga.us

Bibb County is a county located in the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2010 census, the population was 155,547. On July 31, 2012, by a margin of 57% to 43%, voters in the county approved a measure to consolidate Bibb County with the county seat, Macon and dissolve the government of the only other incorporated municipality in the county, Payne City; however, Payne City was officially dissolved by Governor Nathan Deal on March 27, 2015.

Bibb County is part of the Macon, GA Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Robert Reichert was the first mayor of Macon-Bibb, January 1, 2014.

Native Americans/Indians (mostly Cherokee) had inhabited the area, which would become Bibb County, for centuries. They were forcibly removed farther West, to Indian Territory, in what was known as the Indian Removal in the 1830s, under the administration of seventh President Andrew Jackson. The Cherokee refer to their removal as the "Trail of Tears."

Bibb is one of the counties included in what has been called the "Black Belt", referring to the fertile dark soil of the uplands. The land was initially developed by European Americans and African Americans for cotton plantations in the antebellum years. This commodity crop generated high incomes for planters as the market for cotton was strong in northern textile mills and England. A total of one million slaves were forcibly removed to the Deep South in the domestic slave trade for these developments. Their population was the majority in many counties and areas.