MACON COUNTY

Ideal ♦ Marshallville ♦ Montezuma ♦ Oglethorpe

Transportation: There are 620 miles of streets and roads in Macon County, fifty-four

percent of which are paved. The county maintains 71% of this network with the state

maintaining the balance.

 

Recreation: Macon County offers both active and passive recreational opportunities

for residents. The William F. Blanks Recreation Complex, a 20-acre park located in

Montezuma, is the site of four athletic fields and a community center.

 

County-owned Whitewater Creek Park, located approximately three miles north of

Oglethorpe, offers a fishing lake with pier, boat ramp, man-made beach, picnic area, and

hiking trail.

 

Bicycle and Pedestrian Facilities: A walking trail is located at the county’s William F. Blanks Recreation Complex in Montezuma, and a hiking trail is located in Whitewater Creek Park (see above).  In Oglethorpe, a paved running/jogging track is located along Buck Creek Bypass north of downtown, and a walking trail is planned as part of a proposed historical park on the Flint River.

Cultural and Natural Resources:  Andersonville National Historic Site is located on the county’s southern boundary.  A significant national historic landmark, the 515 acre park is also the site of the National Prisoner of War museum, historic Camp Sumter prison site, and a national cemetery.

The Flint River bisects the county; a lake is located within Whitewater Creek Park (see above).

Education: The Macon County Board of Education is responsible for three county schools: an elementary facility in Oglethorpe and middle and high schools in Montezuma.

Land Use: Agriculture/Forestry is by far the predominant land use, comprising 92% of the county’s total area. Forestry comprises 60% of this area while the balance is devoted to farmland.

Approximately 4% of the county is classified as Undeveloped/Unused, the second largest land use category.  The Flint River comprises approximately 2,500 acres with the balance consisting of farm ponds, creeks, and low-lying forest and woodland.

Commercial establishments are located throughout the county.

Industrial development accounts for 2,550 acres of the unincorporated area.  This acreage is concentrated in the southwest quadrant of the county.

Two sites are included in the Park/Recreation/Conservation land use category: Whitewater Creek Park and Andersonville National Historic Site, one of only three National Historic Sites in the state.

Public/Institutional land use makes up approximately 2% of the total, consisting of churches, cemeteries, public roadways, and the public works complex north of Oglethorpe.

Residential Development accounts for 2% of the unincorporated area’s land use.

CITY OF IDEAL

Transportation: Ideal is crisscrossed by 8 miles of streets, 73% of which are paved. All but the state routes are  maintained by the county.

Recreation: There is not an active recreation program, but the city maintains a basketball court and playground area in a recreation park on west Martin Luther King Jr. Drive.  This is one of the most densely populated neighborhoods in the city.

Education: School-age children in Ideal attend the public schools of Macon County located in Montezuma and Oglethorpe.

Land Use:  Agriculture is the predominant land use in the community, accounting for approximately 60% of the land area.  Residential is the second largest use with a significant Undeveloped/Unused component intermixed within the residential area.  The city’s Transportation acreage is limited to approximately forty-five acres of street and railroad right-of-way.

CITY OF MARSHALLVILLE

Transportation: Marshallville is traversed by fifteen miles of streets, all but 3% are paved. The city and Georgia Department of Transportation maintain this road network.  A sidewalk is needed from the central business district north along State Route 49 to the recreation site on Sleepy Hollow Road.

Recreation: The city does not have locally organized recreational activities but participates in the county recreation program. There are plans to create a jogging track around the existing Sleepy Hollow recreational complex.

Cultural Resources:  The City of Marshallville has three National Register of Historic Places districts, including: the Commercial District, West Main Street Residential District, and East Main Street Residential District.  Massee Lane Gardens, national headquarters of the American Camellia Society and located just north of Marshallville, is also listed on the National Register.

Education: The school-age population attends elementary school in Oglethorpe or middle and  high school in Montezuma.

Land Use:  Agriculture/Forest is the predominant land use in the city.  Residential development accounts for a distant second largest land use and is heavily concentrated along the city’s east-west axis and in the south-central/southwest portion of the city.  Commercial development is concentrated around the geographic center of the city.  Transportation land use is limited to the street and railroad right-of-way.  Park/Recreation sites are distributed among residential neighborhoods and include a three acre ball field in the southern extremity, a neighborhood playground in Evans Subdivision near the center of the city, and a two acre softball field on Sleepy Hollow Road in the northwest quadrant.

CITY OF MONTEZUMA

Transportation: The City of Montezuma maintains approximately 40 miles of public streets, all of which are paved.  Montezuma is also the site of the only public airport in the county.

Recreation: Municipally-owned and operated recreation facilities consist of three neighborhood parks, two community centers, and two tennis courts.  The parks offer playground equipment for young children and passive recreation for adults. A walking trail is located at the county-operated William F. Blanks Recreation Complex.

Cultural and Natural Resources:  A large portion of the city is listed in the National Register of Historic Places as the Montezuma Historic District.  This district consists of the city’s commercial center and adjacent historic neighborhoods.  The city’s depot is individually listed in the National Register.  Montezuma is located on the eastern bank of the Flint River.

Education: Montezuma is the site of the county’s public middle and high schools.  These adjacent facilities are located in the southeast quadrant of the city.

CITY OF OGLETHORPE

Transportation: Oglethorpe has sixteen miles of streets, all but three percent of which are paved. The city’s street department maintains the network of streets while the county and state repair and maintain their respective routes and rights-of-way located in the city.

Recreation: The city has two parks.  North Randolph Street Park has two tennis courts and playground equipment, and South Randolph Street Park offers four basketball courts and playground equipment. Residents also have access to a walking track behind the Board of Education office on Buck Creek Bypass. Oglethorpe does not have an ongoing recreation program. A paved running/jogging track is located along Buck Creek Bypass north of downtown, and a walking trail is planned as part of a proposed historical park on the Flint River.

Cultural and Natural Resources: The Macon County Courthouse is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.  The city is located on the western bank of the Flint River.

Education: School-age residents attend either the Macon County Elementary School in Oglethorpe or the county’s middle or high school in Montezuma.

Land Use: Approximately half of the acreage in Oglethorpe is devoted to Agriculture/Forest land use and is in agricultural production.  Residential development comprises the city’s second largest land use and consists primarily of  single-family housing concentrated along the full length of the north-south axis.

Commercial land use is concentrated in the downtown area and adjacent to and east of the city’s geographic center. This area has a relatively high elevation relative to the river nearby, and is proximate to the first rail line constructed in the community. Limited commercial development extends further east along State Route 49 and the Oglethorpe/Montezuma south bypass (State Route 26).

Oglethorpe has a small amount of acreage devoted to Industrial land use, most of which is agriculturally-oriented, and generally located adjacent to rail lines.

Park/Recreation/Conservation land includes a half-acre neighborhood park on North Randolph Street, a five acre park on South Randolph Street, and a four acre outdoor track behind the Board of Education office.

Public/Institutional land uses are concentrated in the east-central part of the city. Churches, two schools, and the Board of Education office and maintenance barn account for the bulk of acreage in this category.

The Middle Flint Region is characterized by rural, agricultural counties with relatively small, compact community centers.  The region is crisscrossed by a network of federal, state, and local highways and roadways that provide access to the area’s various communities and cultural and natural resources, and good inter- and intra-regional access.  The region has an abundance of cultural resources; the Flint River and Lake Blackshear provide the area’s primary natural resource attractions.  Schools are variously located in towns or in less accessible rural locations.  Because of acreage needs, recreational facilities also tend to be developed in less accessible locations.  Existing facilities generally do not incorporate pedestrian elements.

As an agricultural region with a relatively small population base, the Middle Flint area does not suffer from traffic congestion and, therefore, pedestrian and bicycling activity are, and are likely to remain, primarily recreational and fitness activities.  Nonetheless, cycling and walking should be encouraged and developed as viable transportation alternatives for those who desire additional mobility choices.  For example, cycling and walking are sometimes the only transportation modes available to the young, the elderly, and the poor.  Beyond providing a cheap and efficient means of getting around, these transportation alternatives also provide significant health benefits.  As obesity rates continue to increase nationally and represent mounting future public health costs, cycling and walking, whether for transit or pleasure, provides important exercise activity for communities. Promoting cycling and walking will require education programs that explain both the benefits of those activities as well as safety concerns for its participants and the general public.

As much of the cycling and pedestrian activity is likely to be recreational in nature, regional partners should also encourage tourism development for riders from outside the area.  The region’s abundant cultural and natural resources provide a unique opportunity to connect a large number of resources within a relatively small area.

Generally, the region lacks significant bicycle and pedestrian programs or facilities.  The development, promotion, and implementation of any programs and projects will represent significant progress toward the meaningful inclusion of cycling and pedestrian interests in area transportation planning, recreational enhancement, and economic development.