Apalachee, Georgia

The first settlers arrived in the Apalachee area around 1820, making it one of the oldest communities in Morgan County.^[2] Apalachee was first known as Dogsboro (or Dogsborough^[3]), a name of unknown origin, in the years before a railroad line was built through the settlement.^[4]

In 1888, the Central of Georgia Railway opened a station in the settlement, which was followed by a post office^[3] the following year.^[5] The station was named Florence, for Florence Few, a daughter of Joe C. Few,^[3] one of the first settlers in the area and builder of the town's first store.^[4]

Due to the existence of another Florence in Georgia, the town adopted the name of Apalachee around 1896 from the name of the nearby Apalachee River,^[3][4] which in turn was named for Apalachee Indians.^[6]

By 1900, the community had 47 inhabitants.^[7] The Georgia General Assembly incorporated Apalachee as a town in August 1907.^[3][4][8]

Apalachee was considered a "prosperous town" in the early 20th century,^[4] with prosperity dependent on the transport of cotton.^[3] At is peak, the town had cotton gins, cotton seed presses, warehouses, two churches, a pharmacy, a physician, a general store, a Masonic lodge and a broom and handkerchief factory.^[3][4]

However, the town was hit hard by losses from the boll weevil and Great Depression that it gradually declined in the latter part of the century.^[3] The post office closed in 1957^[5] and the town was officially dissolved in 1995^[6] along with many other inactive Georgia municipalities. The railroad has been removed. Few buildings still exist today,^[9] and most remaining structures are residences on the north side of Parsonage Road. The historic Apalachee School, the white elementary and middle school from 1911 to 1951,^[3] remains standing.