Over the years Georgians have made significant contributions to the creation and survival of southern gospel music. Georgians have been in the forefront among the composers, publishers, and performers of music characterized by close harmonies and a strong religious lyrical content. Southern gospel music, whose performers and audiences are primarily white, is to be distinguished from the popular sacred music of African Americans, which is usually referred to as Black gospel music, or simply as gospel music.

Located in the old cotton plantation country of middle Georgia, Sparta is the seat of Hancock County. The town is situated near the fall line and lies roughly halfway between Macon and Augusta, twenty-three miles east of the old Georgia capital at Milledgeville, and sixty-five miles south of Athens. Bearing a historic name, Sparta is a small town with a rich history. The historian Phinizy Spalding once wrote that those curious about Georgia’s cultural roots might find answers “in that remarkable small town of Sparta where both races have seen such travail but where they have somehow survived and contributed to Georgia’s culture, via writing, education, and an extraordinary architectural legacy that cannot be equaled elsewhere in the state.

The restored Springer Opera House in Columbus, built in 1871, is the official state theater of Georgia. Courtesy of Springer Opera House The New Georgia Encyclopedia does not hold the copyright for this media resource and can neither grant nor deny permission to republish or reproduce the image online or in print. All requests for permission to publish or reproduce the resource must be submitted to the rights holder. ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7qLHOq56imZWjsLqvy6innpyZlnuwvsZomKusmZi5pr%2BOmqmtq12Ywq3A1KucaJ%2BVp8GzwcOeZKaZXaeuqrrEsmRqcGhrenKFknJmrKiinruosdFmpqmdopZ6qbvUrJyYaGBofA%3D%3D

Thomas Butler King is remembered primarily as a planter/politician from coastal Georgia who labored with mixed success to improve the nation’s nascent transportation and communication networks. King was born in Palmer, Massachusetts, the son of Daniel and Hannah Lord King. He attended Westfield Academy in Massachusetts and studied law under his brother Henry in Allentown, Pennsylvania. In 1823 he followed another brother, Stephen Clay King, to southeast Georgia and took up the practice of law.

Tommy Aaron, a native of Gainesville, won the Master's Tournament in Augusta in 1973. He was later inducted into both the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame and the Georgia Golf Hall of Fame.  The New Georgia Encyclopedia does not hold the copyright for this media resource and can neither grant nor deny permission to republish or reproduce the image online or in print. All requests for permission to publish or reproduce the resource must be submitted to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.