Sparta, Georgia

Sparta is a city in and the county seat of Hancock County, Georgia, United States. The city's population was 1,357 at the 2020 census.

History

Sparta was founded in 1795 in the newly formed Hancock County. It became the county seat in 1797, was incorporated as a town in 1805, and later as a city in 1893. The community was named after Sparta, a city-state in Ancient Greece.
In 1864, during Sherman's March to the Sea, the town remained completely unscathed, reportedly due to the efforts of Confederate Captain Henry Culver, the son-in-law of local industrialist William Fraley, who successfully diverted Union troops away from the area.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of, all land.

Major highways

Race	Num.	Perc.
White	189	13.93%
Black or African American	1,116	82.24%
Native American	1	0.07%
Asian	23	1.69%
Other/Mixed	17	1.25%
Hispanic or Latino	11	0.81%

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 1,357 people, 669 households, and 419 families residing in the city.

Economy

Sparta is the site of Georgia's Hancock State Prison.

Education

Hancock County School District

The Hancock County School District holds pre-school to grade twelve, and consists of one elementary school, a middle school, and a high school. The district has 83 full-time teachers and over 670 students.

Lewis Elementary School
Hancock Central Middle School
Hancock Central High School
John Hancock Academy
Notable people
Thomas "Pee Wee" Butts – professional baseball player
George Darden – United States Representative from Georgia who went to high school in Sparta
Harvey Grant – professional basketball player
Horace Grant – professional basketball player
Tommy Hurricane Jackson – professional boxer
Adella Hunt Logan – suffragist
Jean Toomer – Harlem Renaissance writer and poet, once served as a principal in Sparta
Angeria Paris VanMicheals – drag queen and finalist on season 14 of RuPaul's Drag Race and winner of the ninth season of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars.