Ludowici, Georgia
Template:Short description Template:Use American English Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox settlement Ludowici (Template:IPAc-en) is a city in Long County, Georgia, United States. The population was 1,703 at the 2010 Census<ref name="Census 2010">Template:Cite web</ref> and an estimated 2,221 in 2018.<ref name="USCensusEst2018CenPopScriptOnlyDirtyFixDoNotUse">Template:Cite web</ref> The city is the county seat of Long County.<ref name="GR6">Template:Cite web</ref> It is a part of the Hinesville-Fort Stewart metropolitan area.
Within the city, the Long County Courthouse and Ludowici Well Pavilion are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
History
Founding
The city's origins dated to the 1840s when the Atlantic and Gulf Railroad established a stop referred to as "Four and a Half". The station was constructed across from the house of a landowner named Allen Johnston, leading people to call the surrounding settlement Johnston Station by the time of Johnston's death in 1859.<ref name="New Georgia Encyclopedia">New Georgia Encyclopedia</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 1898 there was an effort to rename the area Liberty City to help distinguish it from other places with 'Johnston' in their names.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In following years both names were used interchangeably.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
In 1900 the settlement's population was about 300 and featured telegraph, post, and express offices.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Racial tensions were a source of conflict, with at least two white and three black citizens reported to have been killed during a riot that summer.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In the fall of 1900 an African American, H. F. McKay, was elected to the Georgia State Senate to represent Ludowici as part of what was then Liberty County, Georgia.
Ludowici Roofing Tile
In 1902, H.B. Skeele of the Ludowici Roofing Tile Company traveled to Savannah and announced that his company planned to open a roof tile factory in Liberty City the following spring. At the time the company operated a factory in Chicago Heights, Illinois, and Skeele said he was drawn to start their second location in Georgia due to the warmer climate, large clay deposits, and the presence of black workers who could be paid less than the white employees who the company hired further north.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Time1970">"American Scene: Ludowici, Ga." TIME. Monday April 27, 1970. Retrieved on March 3, 2012.</ref>
When the community was raising money to cover the cost of constructing a high school in 1905, the Ludowici company made a generous donation of funds and roofing material. Later that year the city, which had previously been an unincorporated community, was incorporated as Ludowici, Georgia, in the company's honor.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
The Ludowici tile factory covered more than Template:Convert and employed around 100 workers.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The roof tiles produced at this plant were stamped "Ludowici - Dixie" and for many years it was said that "red roofing tile covers every dwelling, barn and chicken coop in Long County."<ref name="New Georgia Encyclopedia"/><ref name="Morning News">Template:Cite news</ref>
Tiles produced at this factory were used for thousands of projects throughout the American southeast and abroad. Starting in 1906 the factory began to produce a large quantity of material to be used on American government buildings in the Panama Canal Zone. After those orders were completed in 1913 the company opted to close the Georgia factory due to lack of sufficient local orders. The company, then known as the Ludowici-Celadon Company, shifted operations to their remaining plants.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> It remains in operation in New Lexington, Ohio, to this day.
In the following decades many of Ludowici's tiled roofs were replaced or traded away.<ref name="Morning News"/> Ludowici gradually reverted to a rural, agricultural economy.<ref name="New Georgia Encyclopedia"/>
Speed trap designation
Before interstate highways were constructed, all motorists traveled on regular U.S. highways. Ludowici was at the crossroads of three U.S. highways, Routes 25, 82 and 301. Many vacationers on their way to Florida passed through Ludowici.
The city gained notoriety during the 1950s and 1960s for its aggressive traffic enforcement policies.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The AAA went so far as to specifically label Ludowici as a speed trap.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Members of the local police force were allegedly engaging in manipulation of the timing of the traffic signal downtown, so as to catch unsuspecting out-of-area motorists "running" a suddenly changed red light. The switch for the stop light was located in the barber shop. The traffic light was at an intersection that was bypassed by a shortcut (Main Street – see a local map) so that local residents would not even come to the light when making the turn at the light. Thus, all the tickets went to nonresidents without the police having to be selective since no locals would be at the light. A song was also written about the town.<ref>Lester Goes to Ludowici</ref>
Governor Lester Maddox posted billboards warning tourists to avoid the town because ticket-related corruption was so bad.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Word of mouth and media exposure caused many motorists to detour around Ludowici. A 1970 TIME article said that Ludowici was "one of the last remaining speed traps in the country."<ref name="Time1970"/>
In 1983, the Ludowici police department was stripped of its license to use radar guns by the Georgia State Patrol. The state invalidated all 1,553 traffic citations the city had issued between January 1982 and October 1983 due to errors and violations found in a state investigation.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Reason reported that "In the end, Ludowici was brought down not by Maddox, but by Interstate 95. Tourists no longer had to run a gauntlet of cops and flim-flam men to reach Florida's sunnier climes, and the town faded into well-deserved obscurity."<ref name="11 Insanely Corrupt Speed-Trap Towns – Reason">Template:Cite web</ref>
Geography
Ludowici, in southeast Georgia,<ref name="Time1970"/> is located Template:Convert from the Atlantic coast. Nearby communities include Jesup Template:Convert to the southwest via US Routes 301, 84, and 25; Darien Template:Convert to the southeast via State Route 57; Hinesville/Fort Stewart Template:Convert to the northeast via US 84; and Glennville Template:Convert to the northwest via US 301 and 25.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
According to the United States Census Bureau, Ludowici has a total area of Template:Convert, of which Template:Convert, or 0.54%, are water.<ref name=Gazetteer>Template:Cite web</ref> The city drains west to Jones Creek and east to Doctors Creek, both tributaries of the Altamaha River.
Demographics
| Race | Num. | Perc. |
|---|---|---|
| White (non-Hispanic) | 918 | 57.74% |
| Black or African American (non-Hispanic) | 495 | 31.13% |
| Asian | 4 | 0.25% |
| Pacific Islander | 1 | 0.06% |
| Other/Mixed | 92 | 5.79% |
| Hispanic or Latino | 80 | 5.03% |
As of the 2020 United States census, there were 1,590 people, 763 households, and 573 families residing in the city.
Education
Long County School District
The Long County School District, which covers the municipality,<ref>Template:Cite web - text list</ref> holds pre-school to grade twelve, and consists of two elementary schools, a middle school, and a high school.<ref>Georgia Board of EducationTemplate:Dead link, Retrieved June 23, 2010.</ref> The district has 119 full-time teachers and over 3,285 students.<ref>School Stats, Retrieved June 23, 2010.</ref>
- Smiley Elementary School
- McClelland Elementary School
- Long County Middle School
- Long County High School
Private education
- Faith Baptist Christian School<ref>Faith Baptist Christian Academy, Retrieved June 23, 2010.</ref>
Notable people
- Tariq Carpenter, American professional football player.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Antonius Cleveland, American professional basketball player, attended high school in Ludowici.<ref name=singer>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Jamin Davis, American professional football player, attended high school in Ludowici.<ref name="MeetJaminDavis">Template:Cite news</ref>
- J. J. Frazier, American professional basketball player.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
- D'Moi Hodge, British Virgin Islander professional basketball player, attended high school in Ludowici.<ref name=lewis>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Dustin McGowan, American former professional baseball player.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Chidi Okeke, Nigerian-American professional football player.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
- Chavez Young, Bahamian professional baseball player who attended high school in Ludowici.<ref name="YoungLugnuts">Template:Cite web</ref>