page_title: Valdosta, Georgia
section_title: 1861 to 1899
hierarchical_section_title: Valdosta, Georgia / History / 1861 to 1899
caption_attribution_description: English: Lowndes County Courthouse around 1915.
context_page_description: Valdosta is a city in and the county seat of Lowndes County, Georgia, United States. As of 2019, Valdosta had an estimated population of 56,457.
  Valdosta is the principal city of the Valdosta Metropolitan Statistical Area, which in 2010 had a population of 139,588. It includes Brooks County to the west.
  Valdosta is the home of Valdosta State University, a regional university in the University System of Georgia with over 10,900 students. The local public Valdosta High School has the football program with the most wins of any high school in the United States.
  Valdosta is called the Azalea City, as the plant grows in profusion there. The city hosts an annual Azalea Festival in March.
context_section_description: The American Civil War erupted just months after the establishment of Valdosta. During the war, Valdosta was far away from battles and became a refuge for those fleeing areas of Georgia where the war was being actively fought.
  After the Civil War, during the Reconstruction era, more than 100 freedmen, families of farmers, craftsmen, and laborers, emigrated from Lowndes County to Arithington, Liberia, in 1871 and 1872, looking for a better life. Since before the war, the American Colonization Society had supported the relocation of free blacks to Liberia, an American colony in West Africa established for this purpose. The first group from Lowndes County left in 1871, and were led by Jefferson Bracewell; the second group was led in 1872 by Aaron Miller. Many freedmen ended up working as sharecroppers and tenant farmers on area plantations in Lowndes County, as cotton agriculture continued well into the 20th century.
  One notable event during Reconstruction was at a political meeting in front of the courthouse. A carpetbagger named J. W. Clift was running for Congress and was looking for support from former slaves. During Clift's speech he verbally attacked whites of Valdosta. In response five men planted explosives at the courthouse, planning on setting them off at Clift's next political rally. When other whites arrived at the courthouse unaware of the explosives the five men decided to stop the explosives but some still managed to go off. The explosion was small and no injuries occurred. The five men were arrested and were going to go on trial, but federal soldiers took them to Savannah for trial, which was seen by residents as an overreach of authority and an endangerment for self-government.
  As mechanization was introduced, the number of agricultural jobs decreased and Valdosta became more industrialized by the 20th century. The world's second Coca-Cola bottling plant began bottling Coca-Cola in Valdosta in 1897. In 1899, the cotton mill town of Remerton was established 2 miles (3 km) from the center of Valdosta. It has since become an enclave to the growth of Valdosta around Remerton.
caption: Lowndes County Courthouse around 1915
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