Wadley, GA

Wadley is a Jefferson County city in east-central Georgia, with 1,643 residents in the 2020 census. Its town center still follows the railroad logic that gave the place its name: the community was once called Shakerag, then became Wadley in the 1870s when it was designated a stop on the Central of Georgia Railway. City Hall is on Butts Street, the police department is on North Main, and the local elementary school is on Bedingfield Street. Jefferson County High School serves older students in Louisville.

The Georgia General Assembly incorporated Wadley as a town in 1876, and the municipality became a city in 1970. The railroad tied Wadley to the surrounding county’s farm and timber economy, while the Ogeechee River lies a few miles to the southeast. A Georgia historical marker at Calhoun and Main Streets recalls the 1864 destruction of the railroad through Bethany, the earlier name for the Wadley area, during Sherman’s campaign. Hometown Fest, held in August, remains one of the city’s recurring gathering points. Wadley is a Georgia railroad town whose present streets still carry that older route.