MILLEDGEVILLE  , a

city and the county-seat of Baldwin county, in the central part of Georgia, U.S.A., on the Oconee river, at the head of navigation, 32 M . E.N.E. of Macon . Pop . (1890), 3322; (1900), 4219 (2663 negroes); (1910), 4385• It is served by the Georgia and the Central of Georgia railways . Milledgeville is situated in the Cotton Belt, and its principal industry is the preparation of cotton for the markets . The importance of the place, however, is mainly educational and historical . It is the seat of the Middle Georgia Military and Agricultural College, which occupies the old capitol building, and of the Georgia Normal and Industrial College for girls (1889; enrolment 1908-1909, 653), which is a part of the University of Georgia, and occupies the site of the old state penitentiary . About 2 M. north-west of Milledgeville is the state juvenile reformatory; 2 M. south of the city are the state asylums for white and negro insane; and 3 M. north-west is the state prison farm . Milledgeville was founded in 1803, and was named in honour of John Milledge (1757-1818), a representative in Congress in 1792-1793 and 1795-1802, governor of Georgia in 1802-1806, a United States senator in 1806-1809, and a benefactor of the state university . In 1804 it was made the seat of the state government in place of Louisville (capital in 1795-1804; pop. in Igloo, 1009), a dignity it held until 1868 . The city was first chartered in 1836 . Although admirably situated for trade and manufacturing, Milledgeville was surpassed in both by Macon, which became the commercial emporium of middle Georgia; but it was a favourite place of residence for the wealthy and cultivated class of Georgians before the Civil War .

It was seized by

General William T . Sherman on the 23rd of November 1864 . In order to remove the state documents beyond reach of the enemy, Governor Joseph E . Brown called upon the convicts in the penitentiary for aid, granting them pardons in return for their services .