West Point, Georgia

West Point, Georgia
City
The West Point Commercial Historic District was added to the National Register of Historic Places on February 1, 2006.
Location in Troup County and Georgia
Coordinates: 32°52′35″N85°10′26″W / 32.87639°N 85.17389°W / 32.87639; -85.17389
Country	United States
State	Georgia
Counties	Troup, Harris
Area [1]
• Total	11.85 sq mi (30.69 km2)
• Land	11.70 sq mi (30.29 km2)
• Water	0.15 sq mi (0.40 km2)
Elevation	568 ft (173 m)
Population  (2020)
• Total	3,719
• Density	318.00/sq mi (122.78/km2)
Time zone	UTC-5 (Eastern (EST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-4 (EDT)
ZIP code	31833
Area code	Area code 706
FIPS code	13-82132 [2]
GNIS feature ID	0333394 [3]
Website	www.cityofwestpointga.com

West Point is a city in Troup and Harris counties in the U.S. state of Georgia. It is located approximately halfway between Montgomery, Alabama and Atlanta along Interstate 85. As of 2020, its population was 3,719. Most of the city is in Troup County, which is part of the LaGrange micropolitan statistical area, and hence part of the Atlanta-Athens-Clarke County-Sandy Springs, GA combined statistical area.^{[ citation needed ]} A sliver in the south is in Harris County, which is part of the Columbus metropolitan statistical area.

History

The city's present name comes from its being near the westernmost point of the Chattahoochee River, where the river turns from its southwesterly flow from the Appalachian Mountains to due south – for all practical purposes – and forms the boundary with Alabama. The large nearby reservoir, West Point Lake, was created by the Army Corps of Engineers by the building of the West Point Dam, for water storage and hydroelectric power generation. The reservoir stores water which can be released during dry seasons, in order to maintain the water level of the navigable inland waterway from Columbus, Georgia, south to the Gulf of Mexico.

During the late spring of 2003, there was a flood caused by extremely heavy rainfall and thunderstorms upstream of the West Point Dam; the weather caused the water level in the reservoir to come close to overflowing the top of the dam. There were allegations of poor forecasting by the Corps of Engineers of the reservoir's water levels.^{[ citation needed ]} The flood water would have overflowed the dam had a large amount of water not been released through the spillway of the dam. Whereas this prevented the catastrophic failure of the West Point Dam, the city endured a flood much more severe than any other in the time since the dam had been built.

In the mid-19th century, the Atlanta & LaGrange Railroad was established and soon renamed the Atlanta & West Point Railroad, using the name of West Point; the city of East Point, Fulton County, Georgia, received its name for being at the northeastern end of this railroad line. The rail line linked metropolitan Atlanta with the lower reaches of the Chattahoochee River, with Columbus, and with Montgomery, Alabama, via the Montgomery & West Point Railroad.

Passenger service between Atlanta and Montgomery continued, on the "West Point Route", until approximately the beginning of the Amtrak era, or more than 100 years (circa 1855–circa 1970). The Montgomery-to-West Point rail line was completed in 1851, three years before the West Point-to-Atlanta segment. Rail operations were seriously disrupted during the Civil War (1861–65), as Southern rail lines were subject to Union Army attacks.

Toward the end of the war, West Point was the scene of the Battle of West Point (April 16, 1865, seven days after Lee's surrender at Appomattox).

Geography

West Point is located primarily in the southwest corner of Troup County, with a portion extending south into the northwest corner of Harris County. It is bordered to the northeast by the city of LaGrange, the Troup County seat. The city is bordered to the west by the Chattahoochee River, across which are the cities of Lanett and Valley, Alabama. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 11.3 square miles (29.2 km²), of which 11.2 square miles (28.9 km²) are land and 0.1 square miles (0.3 km²), or 1.11%, are water. ^[4]

Interstate 85 runs northeast to southwest through the city, leading northeast 81 miles (130 km) to Atlanta and southwest 81 miles (130 km) to Montgomery, Alabama. Other highways that run through the city include U.S. Route 29, Georgia State Route 18, and Georgia State Route 103.

Climate

Climate data for West Point, Georgia, 1991–2020 normals, extremes 1891–2015
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Record high °F (°C)	80 (27)	84 (29)	95 (35)	94 (34)	100 (38)	104 (40)	106 (41)	106 (41)	106 (41)	99 (37)	93 (34)	80 (27)	106 (41)
Mean maximum °F (°C)	71.4 (21.9)	74.9 (23.8)	81.8 (27.7)	86.0 (30.0)	90.6 (32.6)	95.3 (35.2)	97.2 (36.2)	96.6 (35.9)	92.6 (33.7)	86.2 (30.1)	79.2 (26.2)	72.9 (22.7)	98.5 (36.9)
Mean daily maximum °F (°C)	55.6 (13.1)	59.5 (15.3)	67.0 (19.4)	74.6 (23.7)	81.8 (27.7)	87.6 (30.9)	90.4 (32.4)	89.4 (31.9)	84.2 (29.0)	75.1 (23.9)	65.8 (18.8)	57.9 (14.4)	74.1 (23.4)
Daily mean °F (°C)	43.8 (6.6)	47.1 (8.4)	53.9 (12.2)	61.0 (16.1)	69.4 (20.8)	76.4 (24.7)	79.7 (26.5)	78.9 (26.1)	73.5 (23.1)	62.7 (17.1)	53.0 (11.7)	46.3 (7.9)	62.1 (16.8)
Mean daily minimum °F (°C)	32.0 (0.0)	34.8 (1.6)	40.8 (4.9)	47.5 (8.6)	57.1 (13.9)	65.3 (18.5)	69.1 (20.6)	68.4 (20.2)	62.8 (17.1)	50.2 (10.1)	40.3 (4.6)	34.7 (1.5)	50.3 (10.1)
Mean minimum °F (°C)	16.4 (−8.7)	20.7 (−6.3)	26.7 (−2.9)	33.7 (0.9)	44.3 (6.8)	56.0 (13.3)	62.7 (17.1)	62.0 (16.7)	49.7 (9.8)	35.6 (2.0)	28.0 (−2.2)	20.0 (−6.7)	13.4 (−10.3)
Record low °F (°C)	−8 (−22)	5 (−15)	11 (−12)	26 (−3)	35 (2)	43 (6)	53 (12)	52 (11)	35 (2)	24 (−4)	8 (−13)	1 (−17)	−8 (−22)
Average precipitation inches (mm)	4.88 (124)	4.71 (120)	5.31 (135)	4.59 (117)	3.89 (99)	3.90 (99)	4.70 (119)	3.98 (101)	3.67 (93)	3.12 (79)	4.37 (111)	5.42 (138)	52.54 (1,335)
Average snowfall inches (cm)	0.0 (0.0)	0.0 (0.0)	0.0 (0.0)	0.0 (0.0)	0.0 (0.0)	0.0 (0.0)	0.0 (0.0)	0.0 (0.0)	0.0 (0.0)	0.0 (0.0)	0.0 (0.0)	0.1 (0.25)	0.1 (0.25)
Average precipitation days (≥ 0.01 in)	8.8	8.4	7.6	7.1	7.0	9.5	9.0	8.2	6.8	5.7	6.8	8.7	93.6
Average snowy days (≥ 0.1 in)	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.1	0.1
Source 1: NOAA [5]
Source 2: National Weather Service (mean maxima/minima 1981–2010) [6]

Demographics

Historical population

Census	Pop.	Note	%±
1870	1,405		—
1880	1,178		−16.2%
1890	1,254		6.5%
1900	1,797		43.3%
1910	1,906		6.1%
1920	2,138		12.2%
1930	2,145		0.3%
1940	3,591		67.4%
1950	4,076		13.5%
1960	4,610		13.1%
1970	4,232		−8.2%
1980	4,305		1.7%
1990	3,571		−17.0%
2000	3,382		−5.3%
2010	3,474		2.7%
2020	3,719		7.1%
U.S. Decennial Census [7]

West Point racial composition as of 2020 ^[8]

Race	Num.	Perc.
White (non-Hispanic)	1,387	37.29%
Black or African American (non-Hispanic)	2,041	54.88%
Native American	12	0.32%
Asian	66	1.77%
Pacific Islander	1	0.03%
Other/Mixed	126	3.39%
Hispanic or Latino	86	2.31%

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 3,719 people, 1,579 households, and 970 families residing in the city.

Economy

Kia Motors opened an automobile factory in West Point in 2009. Since 2011, the West Point auto factory has been manufacturing models of the Kia Telluride, Kia Sorento, and Kia K5. ^[9]

Batson-Cook Construction was founded in West Point in 1913. It continues to be headquartered in West Point.

West Point Iron Works was founded in West Point three years after the Civil War ended. The company started off as a supplier of individual components, such as pulleys and gears, to nearby textile mills. In the 1930s the company was renamed West Point Foundry and Machine Co. In the 2000s, having been negatively impacted by imports (cloth) the company turned to SEETAC to seek assistance to use the firm's engineering and production expertise to provide products to the U.S. military. The firm also changed its name to West Point Industries to emphasize its broader client base. West Point now also makes component parts for manufacturers in a wide range of industries.

Education

Troup County High School and Long Cane Middle School, located in LaGrange, serve the children of West Point and the surrounding area.

Point University, formerly Atlanta Christian College, a private Christian university in East Point, moved their campus to West Point in 2012. ^[10]

Notable people

• Drew Ferguson, politician ^[11]
• Dorothy Kirby, professional golfer
• Alex Moore, American football player
• Joe Palmisano, baseball player
• Ansley Truitt, basketball player

Gallery

• 
  West Point City Hall
• 
  West Point Post Office (ZIP code: 31833)
• 
  Hawkes Children's Library of West Point was built in 1922 and added to the National Register of Historic Places on December 28, 1990.
• 
  West Point Freight Depot was built in 1887 and added to the National Register of Historic Places on February 24, 2005.
• 
  West Point Public School was added to the National Register of Historic Places on April 1, 1999.
• 
  White Hall is a Greek Revival-style plantation home built in 1857 and added to the National Register of Historic Places on August 19, 1974.
• 
  Long Cane Historic District was added to the National Register of Historic Places on May 24, 1976.
• 
  Westside Historic District was added to the National Register of Historic Places on May 11, 2011.
• 
  The Henry and Lura Miller House was added to the National Register of Historic Places on December 21, 2020.

References

1. "2020 U.S. Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved December 18, 2021.
2. "U.S. Census website". United States Census Bureau . Retrieved January 31, 2008.
3. "US Board on Geographic Names". United States Geological Survey. October 25, 2007. Retrieved January 31, 2008.
4. "Geographic Identifiers: 2010 Demographic Profile Data (G001): West Point city, Georgia". American Factfinder. U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved May 18, 2017.^{[ dead link ]}
5. "U.S. Climate Normals Quick Access – Station: W PT, GA". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved May 11, 2023.
6. "NOAA Online Weather Data – NWS Atlanta". National Weather Service. Retrieved May 11, 2023.
7. "Census of Population and Housing". Census.gov. Retrieved June 4, 2015.
8. "Explore Census Data". data.census.gov. Retrieved December 14, 2021.
9. "Hyundai shifts Santa Fe production to Kia plant to get more Sonatas". August 22, 2010.
10. Staff (February 3, 2011). "Christian college to open at West Point". WBRC . Retrieved July 3, 2011.
11. "Two candidates vying for Congressman Westmoreland's seat". WRBL . January 26, 2016. Retrieved January 27, 2016.

External links

• Official website
• Battle of West Point