| Official Name: | Elberton, Georgia |
| Nickname: | Granite Capital of the World |
| Settlement Type: | City |
| Mapsize: | 250px |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | United States |
| Subdivision Type1: | State |
| Subdivision Name1: | Georgia |
| Subdivision Type2: | County |
| Subdivision Name2: | Elbert |
| Leader Title: | Mayor |
| Leader Name: | Larry Guest |
| Leader Title1: | City Manager |
| Leader Name1: | Lanier Dunn |
| Unit Pref: | Imperial |
| Area Footnotes: | [1] |
| Area Total Km2: | 11.85 |
| Area Land Km2: | 11.76 |
| Area Water Km2: | 0.09 |
| Area Total Sq Mi: | 4.57 |
| Area Land Sq Mi: | 4.54 |
| Area Water Sq Mi: | 0.03 |
| Population As Of: | 2020 |
| Population Total: | 4640 |
| Population Density Km2: | 394.64 |
| Population Density Sq Mi: | 1022.03 |
| Timezone: | EST |
| Utc Offset: | −05:00 |
| Timezone Dst: | EDT |
| Utc Offset Dst: | −04:00 |
| Coordinates: | 34.1097°N -82.8656°W |
| Elevation M: | 214 |
| Elevation Ft: | 702 |
| Postal Code Type: | ZIP Code |
| Postal Code: | 30635 |
| Area Code: | 706 |
| Blank Name: | FIPS code |
| Blank Info: | 13-26616[2] |
| Blank1 Name: | GNIS feature ID |
| Blank1 Info: | 0355658[3] |
Elberton is the largest city in Elbert County, Georgia, United States. The population was 4,653 at the 2010 census.[4] The city is the county seat of Elbert County.[5]
Elberton is known as the "granite capital of the world".[6]
Settled in the 1780s, Elbert was designated seat of the newly formed Elbert County in 1790. It was incorporated as a town in 1803 and as a city in 1896.[7] [8] Like Elbert County, Elberton is named for Samuel Elbert.[9]
Elberton is located near the center of Elbert County.
According to the United States Census Bureau, Elberton has a total area of 12.4km2, of which 12.3km2 is land and 0.1km2, or 0.72%, is water.[4]
| White | 2,244 | 48.36% | |
| African American | 1,860 | 40.09% | |
| Native American | 11 | 0.24% | |
| Asian | 57 | 1.23% | |
| Other/mixed | 148 | 3.19% | |
| Hispanic or Latino | 320 | 6.9% |
Elberton claims the title "granite capital of the world". The city's post-Civil War history has largely revolved around the industry, following the opening of the first commercial quarry and manufacturing plant by Nathaniel Long in 1889.[11] As the industry grew in the early 1900s, so did Elberton's importance on the passenger and freight railroad lines, bringing many travelers and businessmen to the city and leading to its heyday.
Several granite monuments, including the now-destructed Georgia Guidestones, are located in or near Elberton.
Elberton's Granite Bowl seats 20,000 and formerly featured a retired Sanford Stadium (University of Georgia) scoreboard.
The city is home to the Elberton Granite Museum and Exhibit, with a notable exhibit being "Dutchy", a Confederate monument made of granite that was removed from the town square due to its appearance.[12]
Since 1950, Elberton has served as the headquarters of the Southeastern Power Administration, a division of the United States Department of Energy. The authority markets power generated by the United States Army Corps of Engineers across the southern United States. The authority recently moved from its downtown headquarters in the former Samuel Elbert Hotel to a new building on Athens Tech Drive on the western end of the city.
Elberton operates under a council-manager form of government. In this style of government, the city manager is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the city, the five-person elected council serves as a board of directors, and the mayor performs more ceremonial duties and presides over council.
The City of Elberton operates Elberton Utilities, a comprehensive utility system which includes electric, gas, water, sewer, cable television, and internet services.
The Elbert Theatre reopened in 2001 after extensive renovations.
The city is served by the Elbert County School District. One learning center, one primary school, one elementary school, one middle school, and one high school are located within the city.[13] The district has 194 full-time teachers and over 3,079 students.[14] The school system is one of the county's largest employers.
Elberton Christian School was located on Rhodes Drive in the city, but has closed.
Athens Technical College operates a full satellite campus on the western end of the city, near the elementary school, middle school, and high school.
Elberton is currently served by one newspaper, The Elberton Star, though several others (including the Elbert County Examiner and the Elbert Beacon, both of which merged with the Star) have covered the city over the years. The Star has been published since 1887.
The Anderson (S.C.) Independent-Mail publishes a daily Northeast Georgia edition which covers the Elberton area.
The city is served by four local radio stations. WSGC-AM 1400, which plays an oldies format, is one of Georgia's oldest, having been on the air since 1947. WSGC-FM 92.1 and WXKT-FM 100.1 play country music while WLVX-FM 105.1 specializes in R&B.
Elberton is in the Greenville-Spartanburg-Asheville television market, though local cable and satellite providers also carry stations from the Atlanta market.
Highways in Elberton include:
Elberton and Elbert County are served locally by the Elbert County-Patz Field Airport, located just east of the city on State Route 72.
For many years, Elberton was an important passenger and freight stop on the main line of the Seaboard Air Line Railroad. The line is now operated by CSX Transportation and remains in use for freight transportation. A spur line connects Elberton to a main line of the Norfolk Southern Railway (formerly Southern Railway).
Elbert Memorial Hospital, founded in 1950,[15] is a 25-bed acute care critical access hospital with emergency, surgical, and rehabilitation facilities.[16]
Elberton has a sister city, Mure, Kagawa, Japan, as designated by Sister Cities International.[19]