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The now virtually abandoned Troupeville had been named after Gov. George Troupe[?]. Valdosta was named after Troupe's estate, "Val d'Aosta", which itself was named after a mountainous region in Italy.
Valdosta was once the center of long-staple cotton growing in the United States until the boll weevil finally killed the crop in 1917 and agriculture turned to tobacco and pine trees.
The world's second Coca-Cola bottling plant is in Valdosta.
Notable natives include Western dentist/gunfighter/gambler Doc Holliday[?] and James Lord Pierpoint[?], composer of "Jingle Bells[?]".
It is located in the coastal plain of Georgia and thus has a virtually flat landscape. Highways stretch for miles with hardly a curve, rise, or fall. The 60 miles of railway between Valdosta and Waycross was once the longest straight stretch of railroad in the world.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 78.4 km² (30.3 mi²). 77.5 km² (29.9 mi²) of it is land and 0.9 km² (0.3 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 1.09% water.
There are 16,692 households out of which 30.9% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 38.1% are married couples living together, 19.5% have a female householder with no husband present, and 38.7% are non-families. 28.4% of all households are made up of individuals and 8.7% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.50 and the average family size is 3.13.
In the city the population is spread out with 26.1% under the age of 18, 18.4% from 18 to 24, 27.2% from 25 to 44, 17.8% from 45 to 64, and 10.5% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 28 years. For every 100 females there are 86.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 81.4 males.
The median income for a household in the city is $29,046, and the median income for a family is $38,174. Males have a median income of $27,281 versus $20,807 for females. The per capita income for the city is $16,472. 24.7% of the population and 18.8% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total people living in poverty, 32.1% are under the age of 18 and 18.9% are 65 or older.
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