Leesburg is a city in and the county seat of Lee County, Georgia, United States. The population was 3,480 at the 2020 census, up from 2,896 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Albany, Georgia metropolitan area.
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History
Leesburg, originally known as "Wooten Station", was founded in 1870 as the Central of Georgia Railway arrived in the area. In 1872, the town was renamed "Wooten", and the seat was transferred from Starksville. In 1874, the town was incorporated and renamed again to its present form of Leesburg.
Leesburg is the site of the Leesburg Stockade incident, in which a group of African-American teenage and pre-teen girls were arrested for protesting racial segregation in Americus, Georgia, and were imprisoned without charges for 60 days in poor conditions in the Lee County Public Works building.
Geography
Leesburg is in south-central Lee County. U.S. Route 19 passes through the city, leading north 26 miles (42 km) to Americus and south 11 miles (18 km) to Albany. State Route 32 is Leesburg's Main Street; it leads east 32 miles (51 km) to Ashburn and west 18 miles (29 km) to Dawson. State Route 195 leads northeast from Leesburg 17 miles (27 km) to Leslie.
According to the United States Census Bureau, Leesburg has a total area of 5.0 square miles (12.9 km2), of which 0.05 square miles (0.14 km2), or 1.06%, are water. Kinchafoonee Creek flows through a western corner of the city; it leads south to the Flint River, part of the Apalachicola River watershed.
Demographics
2020 census
As of the 2020 census, there were 3,480 people, 884 households, and 666 families residing in the city.
The median age was 33.7 years. 31.0% of residents were under the age of 18 and 12.5% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 87.0 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 78.6 males age 18 and over.
0.0% of residents lived in urban areas, while 100.0% lived in rural areas.
Of the city's households, 48.8% had children under the age of 18 living in them. 43.4% were married-couple households, 14.2% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 37.0% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 24.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
There were 1,249 housing units, of which 884 were occupied and 365 were vacant.
Education
The Lee County School District holds pre-school to grade twelve, and consists of two primary schools, two elementary schools, two middle schools, and a high school. The district has 330 full-time teachers and over 5,350 students.
Kinchafoonee Primary School
Lee County Elementary School
Lee County Primary School
Twin Oaks Elementary
Lee County Middle School East Campus
Lee County Middle School West Campus
Lee County High School
Lee County High School 9th Grade Campus
Notable people
Hal Breeden, former Major League Baseball player, former sheriff of Lee County
Luke Bryan, country music artist
Tic Forrester, congressman
Roy Hamilton, singer of R&B, soul, show tunes and rock 'n' roll music
Carly Mathis, Miss Georgia 2013
Marion Motley, Pro Football Hall of Fame running back
Phillip Phillips, American Idol season 11 winner
Buster Posey, San Francisco Giants President of Baseball Operations
Merritt Ranew, former Major League Baseball player