Ray City, GA

Ray City sits in the Wiregrass across Berrien and Lanier counties, with U.S. 129 running through town toward Nashville and Lakeland. The 2020 census counted 956 residents. Its name began with the millpond: General Levi J. Knight and his son-in-law Thomas M. Ray built a gristmill on Beaverdam Creek in 1863, and early names included Ray’s Pond and Ray’s Mill. The settlement incorporated in 1909 as Rays Mill and adopted Ray City in 1915.

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That mill-and-road history still gives the city a clear center of gravity. Ray’s Mill Pond remains the best-known local landmark, while City Hall at 8151 Main Street, police and fire departments, water service, a small business district, and local library programs keep day-to-day life within the two-county city. Residents belong to either Berrien County or Lanier County school systems depending on which side of the line they live. Ray City is one of those places where the county boundary is part of the ordinary map: the same town name covers two school districts, two county seats, and a shared millpond history.