Statesboro | ||
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City | ||
Statesboro, Georgia | ||
From top to bottom left to right: The Bulloch County Courthouse and Averitt Center for the Arts, Splash in the Boro Water Park, Campus Georgia Southern University, the Emma Kelly Theater
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Nickname(s): The Boro | ||
Location in Bulloch County and the state of Georgia |
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Location in the United States | ||
Coordinates: 32°26′43″N 81°46′45″W / 32.44528°N 81.77917°WCoordinates: 32°26′43″N 81°46′45″W / 32.44528°N 81.77917°W | ||
Country | United States | |
State | Georgia | |
County | Bulloch | |
Government | ||
• Mayor | Jan Moore | |
Area | ||
• City | 13.9 sq mi (35.9 km2) | |
• Land | 13.5 sq mi (35.0 km2) | |
• Water | 0.3 sq mi (0.9 km2) | |
Elevation | 253 ft (77 m) | |
Population (2010) | ||
• City | 28,422 | |
• Estimate (2014) | 30,367 | |
• Density | 2,105/sq mi (812.9/km2) | |
• Metro | 71,214 (US: 95th) | |
Time zone | EST (UTC-5) | |
• Summer (DST) | EDT (UTC-4) | |
ZIP codes | 30458-30461 | |
Area code(s) | 912 | |
FIPS code | 13-73256 | |
GNIS feature ID | 0323541 | |
Website | City of Statesboro |
Statesboro is the largest city and county seat of Bulloch County, Georgia, United States, located in Southeast Georgia. A college town, Statesboro is best known as the home of Georgia Southern University, a Carnegie Doctoral-Research University.
As of 2015, the Statesboro Micropolitan Statistical Area, which consists of Bulloch County, had an estimated population of 72,651. The City itself had a population of 28,422 in the 2010 census. The City had an estimated 2015 population of 30,721.
The city was chartered in 1803, starting as a small trading community providing the basic essentials for surrounding cotton plantations. This drove the economy through the 19th century, both before and after the American Civil War.
In 1906, Statesboro and area leaders joined together to bid for and win the First District A&M School, a land grant college that eventually developed as Georgia Southern University in 1990. In 1908 Statesboro sold more cotton bales than did Savannah, Georgia, but the boll weevil infestation of the 1930s required a shift to tobacco as a crop. Statesboro inspired the blues song "Statesboro Blues", written by Blind Willie McTell in the 1920s, and covered in a well-known version by The Allman Brothers Band.
In 1801, George Sibbald of Augusta donated a 9,301-acre (37.64 km2) tract for a centrally located county seat for the growing agricultural community of Bulloch County. The area was developed by white planters largely for cotton plantations, worked by slave labor. In December 1803, the Georgia legislature created the town of Statesborough. In 1866 the state legislature granted a permanent charter to the city, changing the spelling of its name to the present "Statesboro."