| Official Name: | Swainsboro, Georgia |
| Nickname: | "Crossroads of the Great South" |
| Settlement Type: | City |
| Image Blank Emblem: | Logo of Swainsboro, Georgia.svg |
| Blank Emblem Type: | Logo |
| Mapsize: | 250px |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | United States |
| Subdivision Type1: | State |
| Subdivision Name1: | Georgia |
| Subdivision Type2: | County |
| Subdivision Name2: | Emanuel |
| Leader Title: | Mayor |
| Leader Name: | Greg Bennett |
| Unit Pref: | Imperial |
| Area Footnotes: | [1] |
| Area Total Km2: | 33.52 |
| Area Land Km2: | 32.58 |
| Area Water Km2: | 0.94 |
| Area Total Sq Mi: | 12.94 |
| Area Land Sq Mi: | 12.58 |
| Area Water Sq Mi: | 0.36 |
| Population As Of: | 2020 |
| Population Total: | 7425 |
| Population Density Km2: | 227.91 |
| Population Density Sq Mi: | 590.27 |
| Timezone: | Eastern (EST) |
| Utc Offset: | -5 |
| Timezone Dst: | EDT |
| Utc Offset Dst: | -4 |
| Coordinates: | 32.5936°N -82.3322°W |
| Elevation M: | 99 |
| Elevation Ft: | 325 |
| Postal Code Type: | ZIP code |
| Postal Code: | 30401 |
| Area Code: | 478 |
| Blank Name: | FIPS code |
| Blank Info: | 13-74964[2] |
| Blank1 Name: | GNIS feature ID |
| Blank1 Info: | 0356574[3] |
Swainsboro is a city in Emanuel County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 7,425. The city is the county seat of Emanuel County.[4]
In 1822, the Georgia state legislature established "Swainsborough" as the seat of Emanuel County. The town was named in recognition of Stephen Swain, the state senator who introduced the bill for the county's creation in 1812. The town's name was changed to "Paris" at its incorporation on February 18, 1854, but three years later reverted to its current name, Swainsboro.[5]
Early in its corporate life, much like other rural Georgia towns, Swainsboro depended on railroads for transportation. However, in the 1930s, many of the town's streets and sidewalks were paved, and Swainsboro found itself at the intersection of two major national highways, U.S. 1 and U.S. 80, thus earning its city motto: "Crossroads of the Great South". U.S. 1 was the principal highway from Maine to Key West, and U.S. 80, at that time, ran from Tybee Island, Georgia, to San Diego.[6]
Swainsboro is located near the center of Emanuel County at 32°35'37" North, 82°19'56" West (32.593743, -82.332146).[7] U.S. Route 80 passes through the center of the city, and U.S. Route 1 bypasses it to the west. US 80 leads east to Statesboro and west to Dublin, while US 1 leads north to Augusta and south to Waycross. Interstate 16 is south of Swainsboro via US 1.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 33.5km2, of which 32.6km2 is land and 0.9km2, or 2.81%, is water.[8]
| White (non-Hispanic) | 2,684 | 36.15% | |
| Black or African American (non-Hispanic) | 4,180 | 56.3% | |
| Native American | 8 | 0.11% | |
| Asian | 91 | 1.23% | |
| Pacific Islander | 1 | 0.01% | |
| Other/Mixed | 183 | 2.46% | |
| Hispanic or Latino | 278 | 3.74% |
The Emanuel County School District, run by the Emanuel County Board of Education, holds pre-school to grade twelve, and consists of three elementary schools, a middle school, a high school, and two academies.[10] The district has 293 full-time teachers and over 4,664 students.[11]