per capita income for the city was $18,226. About 24.3% of families and 27.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 36.2% of those under age 18 and 24.1% of those age 65 or over. History Established by British settlers in Creek territory in the 18th century, shortly after the American Revolution, the town of Sandersville became the county seat of Washington County in 1796. Creek leaders had not yet ceded their territory when Sandersville was settled. According to a book on Georgia place-names, the city was named after M. Saunders, a local store owner. The settlement was located at an intersection of Native American Indian trails, and later the site of Saunders' general store. The town appears on Anthony Finley's 1827 map of Georgia. In 1864, during the Civil War, General William T. Sherman skirmished and then paused in Sandersville during his March to the Sea. Brief resistance to the advancing Union forces was centered on the courthouse. As they left, Sherman's troops burned both it and jail, but left the rest of the town intact. A new Washington County Courthouse was built in 1869. The Sandersville Railroad was built in 1893 as a part of the Central of Georgia Railway, but still operates today as a private owned shortline that connects to Norfolk Southern Railway's Georgia Division Savannah District at Tennille, Georgia 4 miles to the South. According to the U.S. National Archive, Nation of Islam leader Elijah Mohammad grew up in Sandersville in the 1890s and 1900s. He is reported to have said that, in Sandersville, he witnessed three lynchings before the age of 10. Economy The economy of Sandersville was based on agriculture, particularly cotton, for many years. In the 1950s, an industry developed based on the mining and processing of kaolin found in the area. Education Washington County School District The Washington County School District holds pre-school to grade twelve, and consists of a primary and elementary school, a middle school, and a high school. The district has 220 full-time teachers and over 3,821 students. Ridge Road Primary School Ridge Road Elementary School T. J. Elder Middle School Washington County High School Private education Brentwood School (grades K-3 through 12) Higher education Oconee Fall Line Technical College- Main Campus [ North Campus ] Georgia Military College- Extension Centre Sports Sandersville was home to the minor league baseball teams, the Sandersville Giants (1955-1956) and