Lanier County, Georgia

Lanier County is a county in the south central portion of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 9,877. The county seat and only incorporated municipality is Lakeland. The county is named after the Georgia poet Sidney Lanier.

Lanier County is part of the Valdosta, GA metropolitan statistical area. Lanier shares Moody Air Force Base with Lowndes County on its western boundary.

Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has an area of 200 sqmi, of which 185 sqmi is land and 15 sqmi (7.3%) is water.

The vast majority of Lanier County is in the Alapaha River sub-basin of the Suwannee River basin. Just a narrow section of the western border of the county, northeast and southeast of Ray City, is in the Withlacoochee River sub-basin of the same Suwannee River basin, and a very narrow section of the eastern border of Lanier County is in the Upper Suwannee River sub-basin of the same Suwannee River basin.

Major highways

 * US 84.svg U.S. Route 84
 * US 129.svg U.S. Route 129
 * US 221.svg U.S. Route 221
 * Georgia 11.svg State Route 11
 * Georgia 11 Bypass.svg State Route 11 Bypass
 * Georgia 31.svg State Route 31
 * Georgia 31 Connector.svg State Route 31 Connector
 * Georgia 37.svg State Route 37
 * Georgia 38.svg State Route 38
 * Georgia 64.svg State Route 64
 * Georgia 122.svg State Route 122
 * Georgia 122 Connector.svg State Route 122 Connector
 * Georgia 125.svg State Route 125
 * Georgia 135.svg State Route 135
 * Georgia 135 Bypass.svg State Route 135 Bypass
 * Georgia 168.svg State Route 168

Major waterways

 * Alapaha River
 * Banks Lake

Previous

 * CSX Transportation

Defunct

 * Atlantic and Gulf Railroad
 * Atlantic Coast Line Railroad
 * Lakeland Railroad (Defunct, it was used from 1929 to 1957. It ran along the same path as the Milltown Air Line Railroad)
 * Milltown Air Line Railroad (Defunct, it was used from 1904 to 1928. It ran from Lakeland to Naylor, Georgia)
 * Plant System
 * Waycross and Western Railroad (Defunct, it was used from 1912 to 1925 from Waycross, Georgia to Lakeland, Georgia. It roughly followed current Georgia State Route 122)

Adjacent counties

 * Berrien County - northwest
 * Atkinson County - north
 * Clinch County - east
 * Echols County - south
 * Lowndes County - southwest

National protected area
The Banks Lake National Wildlife Refuge, established in 1985, hosts approximately 20,000 visitors annually. It provides hiking, fishing, and boating opportunities on more than 4000 acre of water, Banks Lake marsh, and swamp. The Robert Simpson III Nature Trail, dedicated in August 2001, is in the Lakeland, Georgia city limits on 75 acre of pine and hardwood forests. The county is known for its excellent fishing in the Alapaha River, Banks Lake National Wildlife Refuge as well as in its many small lakes.

Cities

 * Lakeland
 * Ray City

Census-designated place

 * Stockton

Demographics
As of the 2020 United States census, there were 9,877 people, 3,714 households, and 2,536 families residing in the county.

Economy
The county's economy has remained rural in nature, but the educational, health and social service sector was the largest employment category in 2006. Factors contributing to this economy include the presence of Moody Air Force Base (shared by adjoining Lowndes County), the several lakes and nature reserve, the hospital, and a large state correctional facility.

The top ten employers in Lanier County are:
 * Moody Air Force Base
 * Farmers & Merchants Bank
 * Louis Smith Hospital
 * Patten Probation Detention Center
 * Georgia Department of Corrections
 * Patten Seed Company
 * City of Lakeland, Georgia
 * Wausau Homes, Inc
 * J.H. Harvey Co, LLC (parent company of Harveys Supermarkets)

Media

 * Lanier County News - Legal organ and hometown newspaper since 1913. The paper was originally named The Milltown Advocate, but changed its name after Lanier County was formed in 1920.
 * Lanier County Advocate (newspaper) - Legal organ newspaper as of January 1, 2015.

Historic sites
Historic sites include Governor Eurith D. Rivers' home, which was moved from its original spot on Banks Lake to West Main Street in Lakeland in the early 1980s; Union Baptist Church, located near Georgia Highway 135; and Fender Cemetery, located east of Lakeland at the junction of U.S. 221 and Georgia Highway 37 on land that once belonged to David Fender. The site of the cemetery, in which many of the area's first settlers are buried, was chosen so that mourners would not have to ferry their dead across the river for burial. Also, the "Murals of Milltown," which depict community life in the 1920s, grace the exteriors of buildings in downtown Lakeland.

Education
The Lanier County School District operates four schools: Lanier County Primary School, Lanier County Elementary School, Lanier County Middle School, and Lanier County High School.