ALBANY, a city of Georgia, U.S.A., 15om. S.S.E. of Atlanta, on an elevated plateau at the head of navigation on the Flint river; the county seat of Dougherty county. It is served by the Atlantic Coast Line, the Seaboard Air Line, the Central of Georgia, the Georgia Northern, and the Georgia Southwestern and Gulf railways. The population in 1920 was I1,555; 6,144 negroes; 1930, 14,507. It is the commercial and social centre of a region which formerly was devoted to cotton raised by negro tenants on large plantations, but, since the boll weevil reached it about 1915, the region has been in process of transformation into small farms with diversified crops. Cotton is still a profitable crop, when the new intensive methods are applied, but other products are increasing rapidly in importance, especially pecans, bright leaf tobacco, peaches, peanuts, sweet potatoes, water-melons and cantaloups, hogs, poultry, berries and vegetables. There were over 70.,000 acres planted in paper-shell pecans in 1927.
The city has railway repair shops, cotton gins, tobacco ware houses and several co-operative marketing associations. The State Normal and Agricultural college for coloured students is here. Four miles south are mineral springs with a high percentage of radioactivity.
Albany was settled in 1836; planned in 1837 by Nelson Tift, from Connecticut; and incorporated in 1838. The commission form of government was adopted in 1924.