Colbert, GA

Colbert was first incorporated as Five Forks in 1899, then took its present name in 1909 for James Fletcher Colbert, an early settler. The city sits in Madison County northeast of Athens, along State Route 72 and near the creeks that run toward the South Fork of the Broad River. The local calendar has one big signature: the Independence Day parade and festival, a tradition that has featured Archie Campbell and Jerry Clower over the years. Colbert’s quick local read is a renamed crossroads, a summer parade, and a small city whose July celebration carries much of its local personality.