Macon

Macon (mā`kən, mā`kŏn), city (1990 pop. 106,612), seat of Bibb co., central Ga., at the head of navigation on the Ocmulgee River; inc. 1823. It is the industrial, processing, and shipping center for a farm area that produces cotton, peanuts, soybeans, poultry, and dairy products. Chemicals and wood and metal products are among its manufactures. Fort Hawkins was established on the east side of the river in 1806 and renamed Newtown in 1821. Macon (for Nathaniel Macon) was laid out on the west side in 1823; Newtown was annexed in 1829. Wesleyan College and Mercer Univ. are there. Also in Macon are the birthplace of Sidney Lanier, several antebellum mansions, a restored grand-opera house (1884), restored Fort Hawkins (1806), a museum of arts and sciences, and a planetarium. Nearby are Robins Air Force Base and Ocmulgee National Monument.

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Macon

City (pop., 2000: 97,255), central Georgia, U.S. A fort was built near the site, and in 1806 a settlement grew up around it. Macon was laid out across the river in 1823, and it annexed the settlement in 1829; the town was named for Nathaniel Macon. During the American Civil War, it was a Confederate supply depot. A distribution centre in an agricultural region, it is the site of several institutions of higher learning and Robins Air Force Base, as well as the birthplace of the poet Sidney Lanier (1842–81).