MACON

town, capital of Sane-et-Loire dpartement, Bourgogne rgion, east-central France, north of Lyon. On the right bank of the Sane River, it is a communications centre skirted by France's main motorway, the Autoroute du Sud, and traversed by the main road from the Loire region to Geneva, which crosses the restored 14th-century St. Laurent Bridge over the Sane. Called Matisco by the Romans, Mcon was an episcopal see from 536 to 1790. The former Cathedral of Saint-Vincent was largely demolished in 1799. Old buildings include the house, now the museum, in which the 19th-century poet and politician Alphonse de Lamartine was born. Situated near the Mconnais and Beaujolais vineyards, which produce such renowned wines as Pouilly Fouiss, Julienas, and Moulin Vent, it is a wine-trading centre. An international wine fair is held there annually. Mcon is also a market for Charolais cattle and has a modern industrial zone (manufacturing mechanical equipment and motorcycles), as well as a river port by virtue of the Sane's natural navigability. Pop. (1982) 36,517. city, seat (1823) of Bibb county, central Georgia, U.S., on the Ocmulgee River at the Fall Line. Its incorporated area extends into Jones County. The original settlement, Newtown, developed around Ft. Hawkins (1806). In 1823 a town was laid out across the river and named for Nathaniel Macon, a North Carolina agrarian legislator; it annexed Newtown in 1829. During the Civil War, Macon was a Confederate gold depository and supply depot until Gen. Howell Cobb surrendered it to the Federal cavalry commander Gen. James H. Wilson on April 20, 1865. Economic recovery, slow during Reconstruction, was stimulated during World War I with increased industrial employment. Robins Air Force Base, 17 mi (27 km) south, became an important installation during World War II. Manufacturing is well diversified and includes textiles and a brick and tile industry. Macon has for long been a processing and distributing centre for the surrounding farmland. It is the seat of Mercer University (1833), Wesleyan College (1836), Macon College (1968), and the Georgia Academy for the Blind (1851). The poet Sidney Lanier (184281) was born there. Indian mounds are at nearby Ocmulgee National Monument. Inc. city, 1823. Pop. (1990) city, 106,612; MaconWarner Robins MSA, 281,103.