The community took its name from the local Richland Baptist Church, the name of which most likely is a transfer from Richland, South Carolina, the native home of a large share of the first settlers. The Georgia General Assembly incorporated Richland in 1889.
Geography
Richland is located along U.S. Route 280 and Georgia State Route 520. U.S. Route 280 and Georgia 520 lead northwest 36 miles to Columbus. The two highways separate in the city, with U.S. Route 280 leading east 29 miles to Americus and Georgia 520 leading southeast 52 miles to Albany. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of, of which is land and is water.
Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 1,794 people, 624 households, and 413 families residing in the city. The population density was 429.3 people per square mile. There were 716 housing units at an average density of 171.3 per square mile. The racial makeup of the city was 62.54% African American, 35.95% White, 0.11% Native American, 0.22% from other races, and 1.17% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.73% of the population. There were 624 households out of which 29.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 35.6% were married couplesliving together, 27.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.8% were non-families. 30.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.51 and the average family size was 3.15. In the city, the population was spread out with 24.1% under the age of 18, 8.2% from 18 to 24, 24.4% from 25 to 44, 21.3% from 45 to 64, and 22.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females, there were 85.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 80.2 males. The median income for a household in the city was $24,597, and the median income for a family was $29,423. Males had a median income of $26,313 versus $17,269 for females. The per capita income for the city was $14,127. About 17.3% of families and 23.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 30.1% of those under age 18 and 25.8% of those age 65 or over.
