FITZGERALD

city, seat of Ben Hill county, south-central Georgia, U.S. It originated in 1894 after the governor of Georgia, William J. Northen, sponsored a relief train to Midwesterners suffering from a severe drought. P.H. Fitzgerald of Indianapolis, Ind., in response to the governor, suggested founding a town in Georgia for American Civil War, mainly Union, veterans. The American Soldiers Colony Association was organized and purchased land near Swan, a tiny lumber camp. The town was laid out symmetrically with street names honouring both North and South. Fitzgerald is now an agricultural marketing centre (cotton, tobacco, and peanuts [groundnuts]); manufactures include textiles and meat-packing and steel products. Inc. 1896. Pop. (1990) 8,901; (1994 est.) 10,027.