Jersey, Georgia

Jersey is a town in Walton County, Georgia, United States. The population was 146 at the 2020 census.

History
Prior to, and until around 1904, this community was originally known as Centerville since it was almost equidistant from the surrounding towns of: Monroe, Social Circle, Covington, and Loganville,. But, when the town decided to establish a US Post Office of its own, rather than have to travel to the county seat, or...  to collect mail, a problem arose. Federal Postal Regulations (logically) prohibited two towns in the same State having the same name. This prompted an extended and hot debate in the community that lasted most of the winter. At the time, this area was primarily agricultural and was very well known for its high quality in Dairy farming and production of high quality milk.. Only a couple of months prior to this event, Old Man H. D. Ambercrombie (a quite prominent businessman, and early settler in that area) had just taken possession of his newly imported—at great expense—full blooded, Jersey Bull from the European Isle of Jersey, acquired to improve the quality of his herd and to increase their milk production. After much debate, the town applied for and was awarded a name change to "Jersey". They were thus able to establish their own unique Postal Address and establish a US Post Office of their own.

The Georgia General Assembly incorporated Jersey as a town in 1905.

Geography
Jersey is located at 33.71694°N, -83.80389°W (33.716872, -83.803943).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 0.8 sqmi, all land.

Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 163 people, 61 households, and 45 families residing in the town. The population density was 208.9 PD/sqmi. There were 65 housing units at an average density of 83.3 /sqmi. The racial makeup of the town was 95.71% White, 3.07% African American, 0.61% from other races, and 0.61% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.61% of the population.

There were 61 households, out of which 29.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.7% were married couples living together, 13.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.6% were non-families. 21.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.67 and the average family size was 3.11.

In the town, the population was spread out, with 24.5% under the age of 18, 10.4% from 18 to 24, 28.8% from 25 to 44, 22.7% from 45 to 64, and 13.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females, there were 79.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.2 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $21,250, and the median income for a family was $53,750. Males had a median income of $43,750 versus $25,000 for females. The per capita income for the town was $18,295. About 17.0% of families and 20.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 29.4% of those under the age of eighteen and 21.4% of those 65 or over.

Education
Up until the early 1960s, the town of Jersey had its own School and virtually all of the teachers were also local area residents who knew each one of the children, and their entire families. Many attend the same Local Churches, some had their own children as their Students. Some Teachers were Graduates of Jersey's School, and some taught multiple generations of students from the same families.. In 1962, due to a reduction in local school age population and a movement to consolidate local schools, the local school was closed down and students (mostly) transferred to Social Circle Public Schools. There were limited (other) options at that time. A few teachers followed, but most simply Retired from teaching.

The town is now officially considered part of the Walton County School District., although a (small?) percentage do attend Higher Rated Private Schools in the area.