[5] The Lawrence Bennett Harness Horse Racing facility is owned by the city and serves as an important training ground during winter months.

[7] The community was named for Benjamin Hawkins, delegate to the Continental Congress, and the United States Indian Agent in the Southeast, appointed by President George Washington.

St. Thomas African Methodist Episcopal Church was organized after the American Civil War as one of hundreds of AME churches planted in the South by missionaries from the first black independent denomination in the United States, founded in the early 19th century in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

In addition, an alternate route of U.S. 129 connects the city to Cochran, 11 mi (18 km) to the northeast.

[13] The Georgia Department of Corrections operates the Pulaski State Prison in Hawkinsville.