124 Negro Migration 



sional men. The large planters absorbed much of the retail 

 mercantile function and did their wholesale buying in the 

 scattered towns. Social life centered around the "big 

 house" and the "quarters" of the plantation rather than 

 around the county seats. 



An almost immediate effect of the disintegration of the 

 plantations was the development of villages. A number of 

 these have grown into small towns and all of the widely 

 scattered towns of 1865 have now grown to be cities. By 

 1880 there were 170 3 of these villages, and in the next 30 

 years they showed a remarkable increase. They not only 

 trebled in number but also increased in size. 



Number of Villages in Georgia, 1880 and 1910 



According to Size of Village 



Total Population Number of Number of 



of Village Villages, 1880 Villages, 1910 



Less than 500 104 344 



500 to 1,000 33 98 



1,000 to 1,500 11 38 



1,500 to 2,000 7 20 



2,000 to 2,500 5 16 



Size not enumerated 10 



Total 170 516 



The table above indicates a rapid increase in the number 

 of villages of all sizes. This very significant growth came 

 about as a by-product of the increase of the population of 

 the surrounding country and the areas of increase have been 

 largely dependent on the movement of the rural popu- 

 lation. This is indicated by Table 14, whlclf showed 

 that in counties decreasing by migration only 12.5 per cent 

 of the population lives in villages ; in the counties increasing 



8 These figures as to increase in number of villages are taken 

 from an actual count of villages shown in the table of popu- 

 lation of Georgia by minor civil divisions, Census of 1890, Vol. I, 

 Population, Census of 1910, Vol. II, Population. White and 

 colored populations of these villages are not separately shown. 

 They are the smallest subdivisions of a minor civil division 

 tabulated by the census. 



