"[6] Valdosta was incorporated on December 7, 1860,[7] when it was designated by the state legislature as the new county seat, formerly at nearby Troupville.

[8] Many citizens of Troupville had already relocated to Valdosta when the Atlantic and Gulf Railroad was built 4 miles (6 km) away.

[11] Three years after the beginning of the war, women rioted in the city after the refusal of Confederate dollars as legal tender.

[12] During the Reconstruction era, more than 100 freedmen, families of farmers, craftsmen, and laborers, emigrated from Lowndes County to Arthington, Liberia, in 1871 and 1872, looking for a better life.

In response five men planted explosives at the courthouse, planning on setting them off at Clift's next political rally.

[17] In November 1902, the Harris Nickel-Plate Circus' prize elephant, Gypsy, went on a rampage and killed her trainer James O'Rourke.

[18][19] On July 28, 1907, Valdosta voted to become a dry city; a record $10,000 worth of whiskey was sold on the last day.

[20] In 1910, cotton was still important to the economy, and Fortune magazine ranked Valdosta as the richest city in America by per capita income.

[21] Soon after that, the boll weevil invaded the South, moving east through the states and killing much of the cotton crop in this area in 1917.

In January 1913, the South Georgia State Normal College opened in Valdosta on the edge of town.

[23] Lynch mobs formed in Valdosta ransacking Lowndes and Brooks counties for a week looking for Johnson and his alleged accomplices.

These mobs lynched at least 13 African Americans, among them Mary Turner and her unborn eight-month-old baby who was cut from her body and murdered.

[23] Sidney Johnson was turned in by an acquaintance, and on May 22 Police Chief Calvin Dampier led a shootout at the Valdosta house where he was hiding.

Following his death, a crowd of more than 700 castrated Johnson's body, then dragged it behind a vehicle down Patterson Street and all the way to Morven, Georgia, near the site of Smith's murder.

That afternoon, Governor Hugh Dorsey ordered the state militia to be dispatched to Valdosta to halt the lynch mobs, but they arrived too late for many victims.

[23] By 1922 local chapters of the Ku Klux Klan, which had been revived starting in 1915, were holding rallies openly in Valdosta.

[24] On June 26, 1941, Moody Army Airfield opened 10 miles (16 km) northeast of town as part of the United States' preparation for the country's potential involvement in World War II.

Many vacationers on their way to Florida found Valdosta a convenient "last stop" on their way to Walt Disney World and the Orlando area.

[26] During the Vietnam War, future president George W. Bush entered the National Guard, receiving flight training at Valdosta's Moody Air Force Base in November 1968.

[30] Valdosta is located in central Lowndes County at 30°50′48″N 83°16′59″W / 30.84667°N 83.28306°W / 30.84667; -83.28306 (30.846661, -83.283101),[31] 15 miles (24 km) north of the Florida state line.

Located in the far southern portion of the state, near the Florida line along the Interstate 75 corridor, it is a commercial center of South Georgia with numerous manufacturing plants.

Moody Air Force Base is located about 10 miles (16 km) northeast of Valdosta in northern Lowndes County.

Wild Adventures, a 166-acre (67 ha) theme and water park, is located 10 miles (16 km) south of the center of Valdosta in rural Lowndes County.

[61] The first library for African-Americans in Lowndes County began operations in the Walton Building on January 21, 1935, closed in February 1939, and reopened in 1955.

The Lowndes County Civic Center is a 120-seat multi-purpose arena that can be rented by the public and is often used to host community sporting events.

Valdosta Mayor John J. Fretti proclaimed September 17, 2011, as South Georgia Pride Day.

On July 28, 2008, with 29.2% of fan votes on ESPN's website poll, Valdosta was named TitleTown USA.

[75] Scintilla Charter Academy is a free public school of choice open to any student who resides in Lowndes County or the city of Valdosta.

For several decades the Atlantic Coast Line and the Southern Railway ran regular passenger trains on a Chicago to Florida circuit, making stops in Valdosta, albeit at different stations.

The Atlantic Coast Line ran the South Wind through Valdosta, and the Southern operated the Ponce de Leon and the Royal Palm through the town.