Dawson, Georgia
7 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1953 and the latest in 1981. It stands in the Dawson census division. It lies in ZIP code area 39842. The Survey maps it on the Dawson quadrangle. 4,414 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 351 feet above sea level.
Research this city
On record in Dawson
Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.
On the National Register 3 records
Terrell County Courthouselisted 1980- Dawson Historict Districtlisted 1997
- Dawson Woman's Clubhouselisted 1982
Population over time
3 figuresDawson fell from 5,058 to 4,414 between 2000 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 5,058 | |
| 2010 | 4,540 | -518 (-10%) |
| 2020 | 4,414 | -126 (-3%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
5 surveys from 7 printed sheetsMatched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.
- 1953 USGS Dothan quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1954 USGS Dothan quadrangle1:250000
- 1955 USGS Dothan quadrangle1:250000
- 1973 USGS Dawson quadrangle1:24000
- 1981 USGS Albany quadrangle1:100000
Fires near this place
111 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 111 fires within 5 miles of Dawson between 1992 and 2018, burning about 908 acres in total. 9 started naturally. 1 was recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Reported cause | Fires |
|---|---|
| Debris and open burning | 62 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 15 |
| Smoking | 12 |
| Natural | 9 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 7 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 1 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 1 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 September 2002 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Georgia Forestry Commission | FY2003-TERRELL-002 |
| 7 September 1997 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Georgia Forestry Commission | not named |
| 6 September 1999 | Debris and open burning | 4.4 acres | Georgia Forestry Commission | not named |
| 5 September 1999 | Smoking | under an acre | Georgia Forestry Commission | not named |
| 4 September 2017 | Debris and open burning | 18 acres | Georgia Forestry Commission | FY2018-TERRELL-001 |
| 28 September 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | Georgia Forestry Commission | not named |
| 24 September 2005 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Georgia Forestry Commission | not named |
| 23 September 1995 | Recreation and ceremony | under an acre | Georgia Forestry Commission | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Storms near this place
44 since 1996Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Dawson in 44 storm reports between 1996 and 2026: 32 thunderstorm wind, 8 hail, 3 flash flood, 1 funnel cloud. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Dawson | $50,000 | A tree was blown down on Highway 82 between Graves and Dawson. |
| August 2012 | Thunderstorm Wind | Dawson | $50,000 | Several trees were blown down on homes and cars through the city of Dawson. Many power lines were also down with widespread power outages. Monetary damage was estimated. |
| February 2019 | Thunderstorm Wind | Dawson | $10,000 | A NWS storm survey team surveyed the damage to the roof of a daycare as well as tree damage that was fanned out the northeast with all trees lying in the same direction. After investigation of the roof, speaking to witnesses, and the overall pattern of the tree damage, it was determined that straight line winds estimated at 85 to 90 mph caused the damage. |
| January 1999 | Thunderstorm Wind | Dawson | $8,000 | A carport and two vehicles damaged at a residence on Crawford Street in Dawson. |
| August 2018 | Thunderstorm Wind | Dawson | $5,000 | A tree was blown down onto a house on Hamilton Street. |
| January 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Dawson | $5,000 | Roof damage was reported at Salters Veterinary Hospital via Twitter. |
| February 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | Dawson | $5,000 | Numerous trees were blown down throughout the county. Several of the trees knocked down power lines. |
| July 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | Dawson | $3,000 | Scattered trees and power lines were blown down. |
| June 2013 | Thunderstorm Wind | Dawson | $3,000 | Trees were blown down in multiple locations throughout the county. |
| May 2021 | Thunderstorm Wind | Dawson | $2,000 | Numerous trees were blown down with power outages throughout the county. |
| March 2019 | Thunderstorm Wind | Dawson | $2,000 | A power line was blown down around Forrester Drive and Roundtree. |
| July 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Dawson | $2,000 | A viewer submitted a photo to WALB-TV of power lines down with tree debris on Pearson Drive. |
| June 2013 | Thunderstorm Wind | Dawson | $2,000 | A tree was blown down onto a power line near the intersection of Crawford Street and 11th Ave with power outages reported. |
| May 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Dawson | $1,000 | Large tree limbs were blown down with a power outage in the Dawson area. |
| August 2018 | Thunderstorm Wind | Dawson | $1,000 | A tree and power line were blown down near the intersection of Johnson Street and Newman Drive. |
| July 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Dawson | $1,000 | A tree was blown down onto a power line on Center Street. |
| June 2014 | Thunderstorm Wind | Dawson | $1,000 | A large tree was blown down in Dawson. |
| March 2026 | Thunderstorm Wind | Dawson | - | Numerous trees were blown down across the county. |
| March 2024 | Flash Flood | Dawson | - | Several road were flooded, including some manhole covers being lifted by the flood waters in the Dawson area. |
| August 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Dawson | - | Numerous trees were blown down across Terrell county. |
| June 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Dawson | - | Numerous trees and power lines were blown down across Terrell county. |
| June 2023 | Flash Flood | Dawson | - | There were reports of water over roadways in Terrell county. |
| June 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Dawson | - | Numerous trees and power lines were blown down across Terrell county. |
| January 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | Dawson | - | A tree was blown down onto Johnston Street. |
| April 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | Dawson | - | A tree was down across Highway 118 blocking traffic. |
| April 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | Dawson | - | Power lines were blown down in the Dawson area. |
| July 2018 | Thunderstorm Wind | Dawson | - | Several trees were blown down in Terrell county. |
| August 2018 | Thunderstorm Wind | Dawson | - | A tree was blown down onto Crawford Street and blocked the road. Also, numerous limbs were blown down in the area. |
| January 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Dawson | - | A tree was blown down along Highway 82. |
| July 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Dawson | - | A tree was blown down northeast of Dawson on Highway 118. |
| July 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Dawson | - | The Terrell County 911 center reported one tree down on Cooper Drive NE. |
| May 2015 | Thunderstorm Wind | Dawson | - | A tree was blown down in Dawson. |
| April 2015 | Thunderstorm Wind | Dawson | - | Trees were blown down around Dawson. |
| January 2012 | Hail | Dawson | - | The public estimated golf ball sized hail covering the yard in Dawson. This report was obtained via the facebook page of broadcast media. |
| August 2012 | Hail | Dawson | - | The Terrell county 911 call center reported quarter size hail falling in Dawson and lasting for a few minutes. |
| August 2007 | Hail | Dawson | - | Nickel size hail was reported along State Highway 49. |
| June 2007 | Flash Flood | Dawson | - | At least six inches of water was reported over Plains Highway. |
| April 2006 | Hail | Dawson | - | A Georgia DOT official reported nickel size hail. |
| August 2006 | Funnel Cloud | Dawson | - | The Dawson Fire and Rescue Department relayed a public report of a funnel cloud. |
| March 2003 | Hail | Dawson | - | Nickel size hail reported by the Terrell County EMA. |
| May 1998 | Hail | Dawson | - | Quarter sized hail covering the ground. |
| May 2015 | Hail | Dawson | - | no account filed |
| January 1997 | Hail | Dawson | - | no account filed |
| December 1996 | Thunderstorm Wind | Dawson | - | no account filed |
Newspapers printed here
18,652 digitised pages3 papers published in this town, digitised by the Library of Congress and free to read: 2,318 issues, 18,652 pages. Every page is searchable, so a name or a street can be looked for directly in what the town printed about itself at the time.
| Newspaper | Published |
|---|---|
| The Dawson News | 1889 to Current |
| The South Western News | 188? to 1889 |
| The Dawson Journal | 1878 to 18?? |
What the paper printed
37,068 wordsFront pages of the local paper, read from the Library of Congress scans: 13 issues spread across its run from 1883 to 1925, 37,068 words in total. Each is reproduced on its own page, exactly as the recogniser returned it.
These pages read less well than anything else here, and the number is worth stating: about three words in four come through cleanly, against nine in ten for the building records. An 1896 broadsheet sets eight-point type in seven columns on microfilm, which is the hardest thing in this archive to read by machine. We tested our own recognisers against the Library's and they were not better, so the Library's text is what appears, with the wholly unreadable columns removed. Read it as a guide to what the paper covered, and follow the link to the scan before quoting anything.
| Issue | Paper | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1889-04-17 | The Dawson News | 1,819 words |
| 1889-06-26 | The Dawson News | 4,187 words |
| 1889-08-28 | The Dawson News | 2,837 words |
| 1889-11-06 | The Dawson News | 3,490 words |
| 1925-12-29 | The Dawson News | 2,696 words |
| 1887-06-15 | The South Western News | 2,839 words |
| 1887-08-10 | The South Western News | 2,043 words |
| 1887-10-05 | The South Western News | 2,398 words |
| 1887-11-23 | The South Western News | 2,788 words |
| 1883-03-22 | The Dawson Journal | 3,155 words |
| 1883-06-07 | The Dawson Journal | 4,014 words |
| 1883-09-06 | The Dawson Journal | 3,044 words |
| 1883-11-22 | The Dawson Journal | 1,758 words |
Nearest settlements
The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.
| Map | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Belmont (historical) | 3.2 miles | 7 | |
| Graves | 3.9 miles | 7 | |
| Yeomans | 4.4 miles | 7 | |
| Bridges Crossroad | 4.9 miles | 7 | |
| Herod | 5.2 miles | 9 | |
| Oakville | 5.5 miles | 7 | |
| Bronwood | 5.9 miles | 7 | |
| Chickasawhatchee | 6.3 miles | 10 |
Elsewhere
Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.
| Wikipedia article on Dawson | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q1028058 | The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0). |
Provenance
This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 313367. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.




