164 



CITIES, AMERICAN. (MACON.) 



arranged opera house. Lebanon lies in a fertile 

 limestone valley of one of the richest agricul- 

 tural regions of the State, in close proximity to 

 the great coal fields and but 5 miles from the 

 immense iron deposits of Cornwall, with which 

 it is connected by the Lebanon and Cornwall 

 Railroad. The passenger station of this road is 

 one of the handsomest pieces of railroad archi- 

 tecture in central Pennsylvania. The Pennsyl- 

 vania and Northern Central Railroad gives out- 

 lets to the North, West, and South. In the im- 

 mediate vicinity of the city an abundance of 

 limestone and brown building stone is found, as 

 well as a superior quality of clay for bricks. The 

 chief industry is the production of iron. The 

 city has 6 iron furnaces. There are also 5 rolling 

 mills, nut and bolt works employing from 300 to 

 400 persons, 3 machine works, boiler works, 2 

 stove works, and 1 chain works. The 3 hills of 

 iron ore at Cornwall are respectively 150, 200, 

 and 400 feet high, and have been worked for 

 more than a century. In the Revolution, muni- 

 tions of war were supplied to the colonists from 

 the Cornwall mines. In these and the more re- 

 cent formations of the South Mountain there are 

 supposed to be more than 30,000.000 tons above 

 water level. Lebanon has an altitude of 466 to 

 475 feet above sea level. 



Macon, a city of Georgia, the county seat of 

 Bibb County, in the central part of the State, 

 103 miles from Atlanta, 100 from Columbus, 

 124 from Augusta, and 198 from Savannah. It 

 is on both sides of Ocmulgee river, at the head 

 of navigation. The site is on the dividing line 

 of two distinct geographical formations, where 

 300 miles of plain stretches south from granite 

 hills. It is the center of a rich agricultural and 

 fruit-growing region. Yearly 175,000 bales of 

 cotton are received, and there is warehouse stor- 

 age for 80,000. In 1806 Macon was an Indian 

 trading post known as Fort Hawkins. It be- 

 came the county seat of Bibb County when it 

 was organized in 1822, and was named for Na- 

 thaniel Macon, of North Carolina, then Presi- 

 dent of the United States Senate. It was in- 

 corporated in 1824, and in the year following the 

 first railroad survey in the State was made from 

 this point to Milledgeville. In 1880 the popu- 

 lation was 12,749, and it increased to 22,746 in 

 1890, exclusive of the suburbs, which by the 

 census had 13,000. The streets of Macon alter- 

 nate 130 and 180 feet in width, and are 

 curbed with granite. They are beautified with 

 fine shade trees, water oaks, and elms ; the resi- 

 dences are generally surrounded by large yards 

 and flower gardens, and there are three large 

 parks and numerous smaller ones, in addition 

 to parking in the center of the broader streets 

 with Bermuda grass. Central City Park, which 

 was laid out in 1871 at a cost of $200,000, be- 

 longs to the city. With 600 acres adjoining 

 it was reserved in the early days of settlement. 

 The park contains 237 acres, 'including a fine 

 race course, and here the Georgia Agricultural 

 Society holds its fairs and has its buildings. 

 Macon has an altitude from 311 to 334 feet 

 above sea level. The drainage is excellent, and 

 in 1893 the city was preparing to issue bonds 

 for the purpose of putting in a complete system 

 of sanitary sewers. The water is supplied from 

 18 natural springs, which furnish 3,000,000 



gallons daily. They are 2 miles south of the 

 city, and the water is pumped to a large reser- 

 voir on the top of the highest hill near the city. 

 The standpipe that supplies the northern and 

 western parts of the city is 91 feet high. There 

 are 35 miles of mains, and 125 fire hydrants. 

 There is a well-organized paid fire department, 

 and 3 systems of electric street-car lines run 

 through the business and residence streets. In 

 1889 the tax valuation was $11,300,423, and in 

 1891 it was $14.623,999. The bonded debt was 

 $568,800, and the city tax $1.25, the whole tax 

 being $2.35. The post-office receipts for the 

 year ending March 1, 1892. were $53,590. The 

 city is the center of 11 lines of railroad, all 

 terminating here and having their shops here. 

 In these about 1,000 men are employed. One 

 bank has a capital of $500,000, with surplus of 

 the same amount ; 2 are capitalized at $250,000, 

 1 at $200,000, 2 at $100,000, and in addition 

 there are several private banking institutions, 

 making a total of $1,660,000 banking capital. 

 Macon has the honor of possessing the first 

 female college in the United States, the Wes- 

 leyan, chartered in 1836. It cost $125,000, and 

 has an endowment of $100,000. The building is 

 255 x 85 feet, and is 5 stories high. To 1891 the 

 college had graduated 2,039 pupils, and in that 

 year it had an enrollment of 260. There is also 

 a Catholic academy for young ladies. Mercer 

 University, founded in 1831, belonging to the 

 Baptists, is here, and educates free of charge. 

 St. Stanislaus College (formerly Pio Nono) is for 

 initiatory training and education for priesthood 

 in the Jesuit order. The State Academy for the 

 Blind was incorporated here in 1852, and it had 

 89 pupils, with 12 instructors, in 1888-'89. 

 There are 45 public schools, with 100 teachers 

 and 5,419 pupils, in addition to the Alexander 

 Free School, which has no connection with the 

 county free-school system, but was the gift to 

 the city of Elam Alexander shortly after the 

 civil war. There are Methodist and Episcopal 

 orphans' homes, a home for the indigent, and a 

 home for indigent women, the last erected by 

 Julia Parkham Jones, at a cost of $25,000. The 

 public library, which cost $15,000, was completed 

 in 1889, and has accommodation for 100,000 

 volumes. In 1890 it had 15,000. The academy 

 of music, completed in 1884, has a seating 

 capacity of 1,500. There are about 30 churches, 

 white and colored, the Methodist, Baptist, Pres- 

 byterian, Catholic, Episcopal, and Hebrew having 

 the handsomest edifices. Among public build- 

 ings are to be noted the Federal post-office and 

 courthouse, erected in 1889 at a cost of $125,000, 

 the county courthouse, which cost $130,000, the 

 City Hall and city prison, and the Volunteers' 

 Armory. Two daily papers are published, 3 

 weeklies (one of them religious), and a dental 

 quarterly. The wholesale trade of Macon 

 amounts to $50,000,000, and it has nearly 100 

 wholesale houses. It is the largest inland cot- 

 ton market in the State, and has 3 large cot- 

 ton warehouses and compresses. It has also 

 a large trade in lumber. In 1880 it had but 

 54 manufacturing establishments, representing 

 $651,800 capital, and employing 1,115 persons. 

 In 1890 it had 161 establishments, with capital 

 of $3,608,977, employing 3,142 persons, which 

 produced $4.974,914, and consumed materials to 



