The Rev. Eric Taylor, a teacher at C.T. Walker Magnet School, helps sixth-grade pupil Stephen Rogers find his school bus. The Rev. Taylor said he has seen an increase in the number of blacks in the county and at Oakey Grove Baptist Church, where he preaches. JIM BLAYLOCK/STAFF

Changing faces

County sees rise in minorities

Web posted September 11, 2000

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 Population changes

By Jason B. Smith
Columbia County Bureau

The Rev. Eric Taylor doesn't need census numbers to tell him Columbia County's black population is growing: He can see it every Sunday morning at Oakey Grove Baptist Church.

``I've seen my church grow from 50 members to 350,'' he said. ``We see new people all the time.''

He also sees it in his commute home from work at C.T. Walker Magnet School and his drives to church.

``When I first moved here, I kind of got scared because I did not see any African-Americans when I drove down North Belair Road,'' said the Rev. Taylor, who moved into Deerwood Estates. ``Now you see a lot more than there were in 1994.''

Preliminary numbers from the U.S. Census Bureau 2000 count show a triple-digit percentage growth in Hispanic and Asian communities, while the county's black population increased by 68 percent: from 7,444 in 1990 to 12,519 in 1999. By comparison, the county's white population - which was the base of county growth for years - increased by 33 percent, from 57,696 in 1990 to 76,520.

The Hispanic community's numbers increased by nearly 181 percent - from 975 in 1990 to 2,739 in 1999 - while the Asian community, which was grouped with Americans Indians and other nationalities, grew by 141 percent: from 1,770 to 4,273.

Overall, the county's July 1999 population, at 93,312, is an increase of 39.5 percent from July 1990. That percentage increase is double the state's 19.7 percent change.

Editor's note: Five decades ago, when most of Columbia County's roads were dirt and the 9,525 residents called places like Winfield, Leah and Berzelia home, a sense of community wasn't hard to find. Now, as the county's population edges toward 100,000, it's up to county officials, developers and other to build the community. In the coming weeks, The Augusta Chronicle will look at the opportunities, problems and challenges facing Columbia County, as it moves from being a bedroom community to an area with it's own unique personality.

But despite the gains in minority populations, Columbia County's nonwhite population is less than 25 percent. That's a carry-over from the white flight during the 1970s through the 1990s, when the county's population more than doubled.

But it wasn't always that way. In 1930 - when people followed strips of dirt to communities such as Berzelia, Phinizy and Bullard - 63 percent of the county's 8,793 residents were black.

``That was when the county had an agricultural base,'' local historian Charles Lord said. ``Now, we've gone away from that and Columbia County has become more of an urban population.''

But it is a county built from the labor of thousands of sharecroppers more than five decades ago.

``A lot of the black population helped out on the white farms,'' he said. ``The black population was very important. If it had not been for the black population, a lot of the farms would not have made it.''

Then came the 1940s and 1950s - and along with them racial violence in the South and an expansion of industrial jobs in the North. Many blacks decided to leave.

``They went to places like Philadelphia, Detroit - they went to the big cities,'' Mr. Lord said.

By 1950, less than half of the county's population was black. The numbers decreased every 10 years until they bottomed out at 11 percent in 1990.

Vernon Thomas Sr., who's called Columbia County's Winfield community home for nearly 50 years, said leaving was a hard decision for many people.

``They never really wanted to live in the North,'' he said. ``They had to do that for financial gain.''

Now, though, they are coming back - retiring from the industries they've spent part of their lives in. But that is only part of the increase in the county's minority population; there are also military retirees who passed through Fort Gordon and liked the area enough to come back.

``They find that the cost of living in this area is much better for their money than the Northern or other Eastern cities,'' Mr. Thomas said.

Population changes

Columbia County's changing population (past 10 years)

............July 1990...........July 1999.......percent change

Total........66,910..............93,312..........39.5

White........57,696..............76,520..........32.6

Black.........7,444..............12,519..........68.2

Hispanic........975...............2,739.........180.9

Asian, other..1,770...............4,273.........141.4

Columbia County's population, by decade, compared with its rank among Georgia counties:

Total population.....Rank

1930: 8,793.......117

1940: 9,433.......110

1950: 9,525.......101

1960: 13,423.......70

1970: 22,327.......43

1980: 40,118.......25

1990: 66,031.......20

1997: 88,731

Black

Year..Pop......Rank......percentage......rank

1930: 5,539......63......63 percent......23

1940: 5,659..............60

1950: 4,553..............47.8

1960: 4,792..............35.7

1970: 4,978..............22.3

1980: 5,897..............14.7

1990: 7,263..............11

1997: 11,351.....32......12.8 percent....124

Changes...............1990..........1997..........1997 number...change

White:.............86 percent....83.2 percent..73,872.........30.1 percent

Black:.............11.0 percent..12.8 percent..11,351.........55.9 percent

Hispanic:..........1.5 percent...2.6 percent...2,331.........142.3 percent

Other than Black:..3.0 percent...4.0 percent...3,589..........82.7 percent

SOURCE: U.S. CENSUS and 1999 edition of The Georgia County Guide

Reach Jason B. Smith at (706) 868-1222.