Cuthbert was founded by European Americans in 1831 as seat of the newly formed Randolph County, after Indian Removal of the historic tribes to Indian Territory west of the Mississippi River. John Alfred Cuthbert, who represented Georgia in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1819–1821, is its namesake. The county was developed for cotton plantations, the major commodity crop, and the rural area had a high proportion of enslaved African-American workers. Cuthbert was incorporated as a town in 1834 and as a city in 1859, serving as the trading center for the area. The Central of Georgia Railway arrived in Cuthbert in the 1850s, stimulating trade and growth, and providing a means of getting cotton and other crops to market.
As of the census of 2000, there were 3,731 people, 1,360 households, and 870 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,223.5 people per square mile. There were 1,549 housing units at an average density of 507.9 per square mile. The "racial" makeup of the city was 74.22% African American, 23.69% White, 0.32% Native American, 0.32% Asian, 0.11% Pacific Islander, 0.88% from other races, and 0.46% from two or more races. 1.96% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. There were 1,360 households, out of which 29.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 30.7% were married couples living together, 29.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.0% were non-families. 33.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 16.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.52 and the average family size was 3.24. In the city, the population was spread out, with 26.7% under the age of 18, 14.8% from 18 to 24, 23.2% from 25 to 44, 19.2% from 45 to 64, and 16.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females, there were 80.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 71.6 males. The median income for a household in the city was $16,400, and the median income for a family was $25,000. Males had a median income of $26,696 versus $16,976 for females. The per capita income for the city was $10,166. 33.5% of the population and 29.2% of families were below the poverty line, including 39.8% of those under the age of 18 and 38.5% of those 65 and older.
Culture and historic district
Cuthbert is home to Andrew College, a two-year private liberal arts college. The Fletcher Henderson Museum is being established in Cuthbert in honor of the 20th-century jazz musician and orchestra arranger. The city has notable sites such as a Confederate Army cemetery, historical houses built in the 1800s, and the Fletcher Henderson home. In 2007 an announcement was made of a museum to be dedicated to late resident Lena Baker and issues of racial justice. Baker was an African-American maid who was convicted of capital murder in 1945 in the death of a white man; she was the only woman in Georgia to be executed by electric chair. She had claimed self-defense, and in 2005 the state posthumously pardoned her. She was the subject of a 2001 biography and a 2008 feature film of the same name, The Lena Baker Story.
Education
The Randolph County School District holds grades pre-school to grade twelve, and consists of two elementary, middle, and high schools. The district has 88 full-time teachers and more than 1,530 students.
