Leesburg is a city in Lee County, Georgia, United States. The population was 2,896 at the 2010 census, up from 2,633 at the 2000 census. The city is the county seat of Lee County and is part of the Albany, Georgia Metropolitan Statistical Area. The area was an important center for the study of malaria in 1924. A graduate student named Lowell T. Coggeshall collected anopheline larvae in a swamp near Leesburg. Later he helped mastermind the U.S. government's Malaria Project.
History
Leesburg, originally known as "Wooten Station", was founded in 1870 as the Central of Georgia Railway arrived in the area. In 1872, the town was renamed "Wooten", and the seat was transferred from Starksville. In 1874, the town was incorporated and renamed again to its present form of Leesburg. Leesburg was the site of a malaria research station established by the International Health Board in 1924; 74 African American children were selected for study with splenic enlargement, a sign of malaria. Leesburg is the site of the Leesburg Stockade incident, in which a group of African-American teenage and pre-teen girls were arrested for protesting racial segregation in Americus, Georgia, and were imprisoned without charges for 45 days in poor conditions in the Lee County Public Works building.
As of the census of 2000, there were 2,633 people, 796 households, and 612 families residing in the city. The population density was 557.2 people per square mile. There were 851 housing units at an average density of 180.1 per square mile. The racial makeup of the city was 61.56% White, 36.42% African American, 0.30% Native American, 0.91% Asian, 0.08% from other races, and 0.72% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.84% of the population. There were 796 households, out of which 49.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.1% were married couples living together, 26.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 23.1% were non-families. 20.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 7.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.81 and the average family size was 3.24. In the city, the population was spread out, with 30.1% under the age of 18, 10.2% from 18 to 24, 34.3% from 25 to 44, 16.2% from 45 to 64, and 9.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 30 years. For every 100 females, there were 104.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 108.7 males. The median income for a household in the city was $28,958, and the median income for a family was $33,487. Males had a median income of $30,862 versus $18,710 for females. The per capita income for the city was $13,690. About 16.8% of families and 20.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 31.4% of those under age 18 and 21.7% of those age 65 or over.
