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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

Dawson within Terrell County

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

Population over time

3 figures

Dawson 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.

YearPeople Change
20005,058
20104,540-518 (-10%)
20204,414-126 (-3%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

5 surveys from 7 printed sheets

Matched 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.

Fires near this place

111 since 1992

Regional 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 burning62
Equipment and vehicle use15
Smoking12
Natural9
Misuse of fire by a minor7
Missing data/not specified/undetermined4
Recreation and ceremony1
Arson/incendiarism1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
7 September 2002Debris and open burningunder an acreGeorgia Forestry CommissionFY2003-TERRELL-002
7 September 1997Debris and open burningunder an acreGeorgia Forestry Commissionnot named
6 September 1999Debris and open burning4.4 acresGeorgia Forestry Commissionnot named
5 September 1999Smokingunder an acreGeorgia Forestry Commissionnot named
4 September 2017Debris and open burning18 acresGeorgia Forestry CommissionFY2018-TERRELL-001
28 September 2006Arson/incendiarismunder an acreGeorgia Forestry Commissionnot named
24 September 2005Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreGeorgia Forestry Commissionnot named
23 September 1995Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreGeorgia Forestry Commissionnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Terrell County

Storms near this place

44 since 1996

Regional 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
May 2017Thunderstorm WindDawson$50,000A tree was blown down on Highway 82 between Graves and Dawson.
August 2012Thunderstorm WindDawson$50,000Several 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 2019Thunderstorm WindDawson$10,000A 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 1999Thunderstorm WindDawson$8,000A carport and two vehicles damaged at a residence on Crawford Street in Dawson.
August 2018Thunderstorm WindDawson$5,000A tree was blown down onto a house on Hamilton Street.
January 2017Thunderstorm WindDawson$5,000Roof damage was reported at Salters Veterinary Hospital via Twitter.
February 2008Thunderstorm WindDawson$5,000Numerous trees were blown down throughout the county. Several of the trees knocked down power lines.
July 2020Thunderstorm WindDawson$3,000Scattered trees and power lines were blown down.
June 2013Thunderstorm WindDawson$3,000Trees were blown down in multiple locations throughout the county.
May 2021Thunderstorm WindDawson$2,000Numerous trees were blown down with power outages throughout the county.
March 2019Thunderstorm WindDawson$2,000A power line was blown down around Forrester Drive and Roundtree.
July 2016Thunderstorm WindDawson$2,000A viewer submitted a photo to WALB-TV of power lines down with tree debris on Pearson Drive.
June 2013Thunderstorm WindDawson$2,000A tree was blown down onto a power line near the intersection of Crawford Street and 11th Ave with power outages reported.
May 2024Thunderstorm WindDawson$1,000Large tree limbs were blown down with a power outage in the Dawson area.
August 2018Thunderstorm WindDawson$1,000A tree and power line were blown down near the intersection of Johnson Street and Newman Drive.
July 2017Thunderstorm WindDawson$1,000A tree was blown down onto a power line on Center Street.
June 2014Thunderstorm WindDawson$1,000A large tree was blown down in Dawson.
March 2026Thunderstorm WindDawson-Numerous trees were blown down across the county.
March 2024Flash FloodDawson-Several road were flooded, including some manhole covers being lifted by the flood waters in the Dawson area.
August 2023Thunderstorm WindDawson-Numerous trees were blown down across Terrell county.
June 2023Thunderstorm WindDawson-Numerous trees and power lines were blown down across Terrell county.
June 2023Flash FloodDawson-There were reports of water over roadways in Terrell county.
June 2023Thunderstorm WindDawson-Numerous trees and power lines were blown down across Terrell county.
January 2020Thunderstorm WindDawson-A tree was blown down onto Johnston Street.
April 2020Thunderstorm WindDawson-A tree was down across Highway 118 blocking traffic.
April 2020Thunderstorm WindDawson-Power lines were blown down in the Dawson area.
July 2018Thunderstorm WindDawson-Several trees were blown down in Terrell county.
August 2018Thunderstorm WindDawson-A tree was blown down onto Crawford Street and blocked the road. Also, numerous limbs were blown down in the area.
January 2017Thunderstorm WindDawson-A tree was blown down along Highway 82.
July 2017Thunderstorm WindDawson-A tree was blown down northeast of Dawson on Highway 118.
July 2016Thunderstorm WindDawson-The Terrell County 911 center reported one tree down on Cooper Drive NE.
May 2015Thunderstorm WindDawson-A tree was blown down in Dawson.
April 2015Thunderstorm WindDawson-Trees were blown down around Dawson.
January 2012HailDawson-The public estimated golf ball sized hail covering the yard in Dawson. This report was obtained via the facebook page of broadcast media.
August 2012HailDawson-The Terrell county 911 call center reported quarter size hail falling in Dawson and lasting for a few minutes.
August 2007HailDawson-Nickel size hail was reported along State Highway 49.
June 2007Flash FloodDawson-At least six inches of water was reported over Plains Highway.
April 2006HailDawson-A Georgia DOT official reported nickel size hail.
August 2006Funnel CloudDawson-The Dawson Fire and Rescue Department relayed a public report of a funnel cloud.
March 2003HailDawson-Nickel size hail reported by the Terrell County EMA.
May 1998HailDawson-Quarter sized hail covering the ground.
May 2015HailDawson-no account filed
January 1997HailDawson-no account filed
December 1996Thunderstorm WindDawson-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Terrell County

Newspapers printed here

18,652 digitised pages

3 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.

NewspaperPublished
The Dawson News1889 to Current
The South Western News188? to 1889
The Dawson Journal1878 to 18??

What the paper printed

37,068 words

Front 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.

IssuePaper Length
1889-04-17The Dawson News1,819 words
1889-06-26The Dawson News4,187 words
1889-08-28The Dawson News2,837 words
1889-11-06The Dawson News3,490 words
1925-12-29The Dawson News2,696 words
1887-06-15The South Western News2,839 words
1887-08-10The South Western News2,043 words
1887-10-05The South Western News2,398 words
1887-11-23The South Western News2,788 words
1883-03-22The Dawson Journal3,155 words
1883-06-07The Dawson Journal4,014 words
1883-09-06The Dawson Journal3,044 words
1883-11-22The Dawson Journal1,758 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 PlaceDistance Sheets
Belmont (historical)3.2 miles7
Graves3.9 miles7
Yeomans4.4 miles7
Bridges Crossroad4.9 miles7
Herod5.2 miles9
Oakville5.5 miles7
Bronwood5.9 miles7
Chickasawhatchee6.3 miles10

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 DawsonAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q1028058The 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.