Colquitt, GA

Colquitt is the only incorporated city in Miller County and has been the county seat since the county was created in 1856. The city incorporated in 1860 and took its name from Walter Terry Colquitt, a Georgia clergyman, attorney, judge, and U.S. senator. The courthouse square still does the county-seat work, with the current courthouse replacing earlier buildings that were destroyed by fire. Around it, the farm economy of southwest Georgia has long turned on cotton, peanuts, and corn, with peanuts still a major crop for the county.

ATTRMichael Rivera / CC BY-SA 4.0

Colquitt’s cultural life grew out of the same local stories that shaped the county. Swamp Gravy began in 1992 as a community play built from Miller County residents’ stories, volunteer actors, and home-grown music. The productions moved into a former cotton warehouse, now Cotton Hall Theater, where new scripts are staged and the Museum of Southern Cultures welcomes visitors. The Colquitt-Miller Arts Council also runs storytelling programs and a mural project that puts local history on school and business walls. Courthouse work, farm traffic, theater rehearsals, and mural-making all meet in this small county seat.