COMMUNITY INFORMATION

BUILDING A STRONG COMMUNITY
Decatur County has an abundance of recreational activities, indoors and outdoors, for all ages. We have several youth programs including baseball, softball, soccer, football and more. We have golf courses, including an 18-hole facility located at the county Industrial Park, The Pines Golf Course, and the local Bainbridge-Decatur County YMCA maintains an automated-scoring bowling alley open to the public.

Bainbridge, Georgia Convention & Visitors Bureau (Southwest Georgia Visitors Center) or go to www.visitbainbridgega.com.

   » View more information on our Recreational Activities

LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Decatur County is governed by an elected six-member Board of Commissioners which meets the second Tuesday of each month at 9 a.m. and the fourth Tuesday of each month at 7 p.m., in the boardroom at the county's Administrative Office at 203 W. Broughton St., phone (229) 248-3030. A County Administrator handles the day-to-day business of the county.

The City of Bainbridge is governed by an elected Mayor and an elected six-member City Council which meets at 6:30 p.m. on the first and third Tuesdays of each month in Council Chambers, second floor of City Hall on Broad St. Call (229) 248-2000 for more information. A City Manager handles the day-to-day business of the city.

Click on Southwest Georgia Regional Library link

 Many local government meetings and events are covered by the legal organ of Decatur County, The Post Searchlight, by two local radio stations, AM station WMGR 930 AM or FM station LIVE101.9, and by a local on-line news source, www.bainbridgega.com.

For those persons interested in low-cost transportation, SW Ga. Regional Development Center's Decatur-Seminole Rural Transit System's local provider is MIDS, Inc. Call (229) 246-6758 between 8 a.m and 5 p.m. to schedule rides. Cost if $3 for 0-10 miles; $5 for 11-30 miles; and $1 per mile for every mile traveled over 30 miles. Senior citizens 60 and older receive a 50 percent discount and persons who purchase 50 or more miles in a seven day period also receive 50 percent off. Trip requests must be made by 2 p.m. the day prior to the scheduled trip.

Privately owned taxi services include Brown's Taxi (229) 246-9208 and Union Taxicab (229) 246-9178.

For more information on local governments and their agencies, visit the following web sites:

• City of Bainbridge 
• City of Bainbridge Mainstreet Office
• Bainbridge-Decatur County Chamber or Commerce
• Development Authority of Bainbridge-Decatur County 
• State of Georgia
• SW GA Community Service Center 

The Georgia Army National Guard's 1230th Transportation Company Armory is located at 510 Louise St., Bainbridge, GA, 39819. Phone (229) 248-2694, Administrative contact  is Readiness NCO Sgt. 1st Class Susan  Bell. Decatur County government is very proud of the service rendered by its local Army National Guard and by all of those enlisted in other branches of service. Many of the 1230th Transportation Company soldiers have already served two or more tours of duty in the current operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, as have other local men and women serving in other branches of the military.

History of Decatur County

Commodore Stephen Decatur

Commodore William Bainbridge

 
Decatur County was originally formed by the Georgia Legislature in 1823 and named for Commodore Stephen Decatur, a naval hero during the War of 1812. Even before that, in 1765, the present site of Bainbridge was an Indian village known as Pucknawhitla. As early as 1778, it became known as Burgess Town, when a trader named James Burgess established a trading post here. It later became a federal outpost and was named Fort Hughes. In 1824, Fort Hughes was named Bainbridge for Commodore William Bainbridge, Commander of "Old Ironsides" during the War of 1812. The City of Bainbridge was incorporated in 1829.