Conyers, Georgia

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Conyers, Georgia
City
FIPS code		13-19336[2]
GNIS feature ID	0312910[3]
Website	City of Conyers official website

Conyers is an Atlanta suburb, the

, the city population was 15,195. The formerly separate town of Milstead is now part of Conyers.

History

Between 1816 and 1821, the area known as Rockdale was open for settlement. John Holcomb, a blacksmith, was the first settler in what is now Conyers. He settled where the current Rockdale County Courthouse is located, in the middle of Conyers on Main Street.

Eventually, pressure arose for a railroad to cross Georgia; the railroad was intended to run from Augusta, through neighboring Covington to Marthasville (now known as Atlanta). John Holcomb was against the railroad and refused to sell his land, and threatened to shoot anyone from the railroad who came onto his property.

Dr. W. D. Conyers, a banker from Covington, eventually persuaded John Holcomb into selling his land for $700. Dr. Conyers then sold the land to the

. What is now Conyers began as a watering post along this line, named after Dr. Conyers. By 1845, the railroad was in full operation. By 1854, nearly 400 residents lived around the watering post, and Conyers was incorporated.

Conyers has been nearly destroyed several times by fire. It is said to have survived Sherman's March to the Sea due to a friend of Sherman's who lived in the area between Conyers and Covington. The story goes that the houses were spared because Sherman was uncertain where his friend lived.^{[citation needed]}

In 1870, the surrounding area was incorporated into Rockdale County out of Newton County, Georgia, and Conyers became the county seat.

Over the next decade, Conyers grew into a wild town. It had 12 saloons and five brothels. The more reputable side of the town had 40 stores, Conyers College, a hotel, a carriage manufacturer, and good schools.

The Conyers post office contains a mural, The Ploughman, painted in 1940 by

Conyers was also home to "sidewalk churches". Along Main Street grew First

to their current location.

Tightly connected to Conyers is Milstead, a mill town now incorporated into Conyers. At its peak, Milstead and Conyers had a private railroad that delivered products, such as cotton, from the mill to Conyers for shipping to the textile mills. In the 1960s, the mill closed.

In 1944, a

movement, was abbot of the monastery from 2000 to 2002.

In the 1950s, Conyers had a

.

In the 1960s, Interstate 20 was built through the county.

In the 1970s, parts of the first five episodes of the

were filmed in the town.

In the 1980s, Conyers became known for "White Road", where resident Nancy Fowler claimed to have seen apparitions of the

.

In the early 1990s, several scenes of In the Heat of the Night were filmed around the Conyers Depot. Alan Autry, who played the character of Captain Bubba Skinner, was seen as a regular around Conyers during the filming.

In 1996, Conyers hosted the equestrian and mountain biking events for the 1996 Olympic Games held in Atlanta. For this, Conyers built the Georgia International Horse Park.

On May 20, 1999 a school shooting took place known as the

. Six students were injured before the 15-year-old gunman surrendered to the police.

In October 1999, Rockdale County, and by extension the county seat of Conyers, gained substantial notoriety when the

In 2010, Conyers was thrust into the spotlight when identical twins and former residents Tasmiyah Janeesha Whitehead and Jasmiyah Kaneesha Whitehead (both born November 27, 1993) were arrested on May 21, 2010 for having committed

From 2013 to 2018, the CW show The Originals was filmed in Conyers.

Geography

Conyers is located at 33°39′59″N 84°0′27″W / 33.66639°N 84.00750°W / 33.66639; -84.00750 (33.666360, −84.007574).^[9]

The city is located in the eastern part of

.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 11.9 square miles (31 km²), of which 11.8 square miles (31 km²) are land and 0.1 square miles (0.26 km²) (1.17%) is covered by water.

Demographics

Historical population

Census	Pop.	Note	%±
1870	637		—
1880	1,374		115.7%
1890	1,349		−1.8%
1900	1,605		19.0%
1910	1,919		19.6%
1920	1,817		−5.3%
1930	1,495		−17.7%
1940	1,619		8.3%
1950	2,003		23.7%
1960	2,881		43.8%
1970	4,890		69.7%
1980	6,567		34.3%
1990	7,380		12.4%
2000	10,689		44.8%
2010	15,195		42.2%
2020	17,305		13.9%
U.S. Decennial Census[10]

2020 census

Conyers racial composition^[11]

Race	Num.	Perc.
White	2,611	15.09%
Black or African American	12,047	69.62%
Native American	37	0.21%
Asian	183	1.06%
Pacific Islander	20	0.12%
Other/mixed	676	3.91%
Latino	1,731	10.0%

As of the

, there were 17,305 people, 6,300 households, and 3,848 families residing in the city.

2010 census

As of the census

of the city was 24.3% White, 55.8% African American, 0.2% Native American, 1.4% Asian, 0.5% from other races, and 1.5% from two or more races. Hispanics or Latinos of any race were 16.3% of the population.

Of the 3,910 households, 34.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 37.5% were married couples living together, 21.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.6% were not families. About 26.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 7.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.67 and the average family size was 3.17.

In the city, the population was distributed as 27.3% under the age of 18, 12.6% from 18 to 24, 33.1% from 25 to 44, 17.4% from 45 to 64, and 9.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 30 years. For every 100 females, there were 94.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.1 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $35,789, and for a family was $38,255. Males had a median income of $29,991 versus $24,879 for females. The per capita income for the city was $15,805. About 13.7% of families and 16.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 24.5% of those under age 18 and 9.1% of those age 65 or over.

Education

The Rockdale County School District holds preschool to grade 12, and consists of 11 elementary schools, four middle schools, three high schools, and four non-traditional schools.^[12] The district has 889 full-time teachers and over 13,801 students.^[13]

Sports

East Atlanta FC is a semi-professional soccer club that plays in the United Soccer League 2. The team is composed of college players who play in the summer months at Rockdale Youth Soccer Association at Team Rehabilitation field. The club also features a youth team that plays in the USL academy league and also has a partnership with Rockdale Youth Soccer Association as a Youth Development Partner.

Notable people

• Jill Arrington, sports anchor at KCBS-TV, formerly with Fox Sports 1 and CBS Sports
• Yokohama DeNA Baystars
• Jesse Baker, former NFL defensive end with the Houston Oilers and Dallas Cowboys
• Jerome Boger, NFL referee
• Billy Buckner, MLB pitcher
• Cartel band members Will Pugh, Joseph Pepper, Nic Hudson, Kevin Sanders, and Ryan Roberts
• Chris Cockrum, NASCAR driver
• Georgia Tech Football
• Janice Shaw Crouse
• David Elder, former MLB player
• Dakota Fanning, actress
• Elle Fanning, actress
• Buck Farmer, baseball pitcher
• Candace Hill, 100-m and 200-m sprint IAAF World Youth Championship winner
• Holly Hunter, actress
• Grady Jarrett, NFL player for the Atlanta Falcons
• Cooter Davenport in The Dukes of Hazzard
  ; politician
• DeForest Kelley, Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy, of TV's Star Trek: The Original Series
• Matt Kennon, singer
• Dr Heavenly Kimes, Married to Medicine star
• Clint Mathis, World Cup soccer player
• Jack McBrayer, actor
• James C. Miller III, former U.S. government official and economist
• Marcus Printup, jazz trumpeter with Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra
• Johnny Rapid, actor
• Scott Russell, WSBK Champion, five-time Daytona winner
• Ashley Scott, artist and writer
• Teddy Swims, singer, songwriter
• Marion Tinsley, checkers expert
• Dave Willis, co-creator of Aqua Teen Hunger Force and Squidbillies
• Ron Young, racing driver

References

External links

• City of Conyers official website ^{[is dead at 2023-11-15]}
• Rockdale County Historical Society
• Walk of Heroes Veteran War Memorial, Conyers, Georgia
• Historic District – Olde Town Conyers, Georgia
• Rockdale County official website