personnel operating 11 fire stations in Dougherty County, seven of which are within the city limits. EMS/EMT service Dougherty County EMS has over 60 employees and services the county through one headquarters and five satellite stations. Notable people Ray Charles: Grammy Award–winning singer, songwriter, pianist, and composer Alice Coachman: first black woman to win an Olympic gold medal Mary Francis Hill Coley: midwife in Albany 1930–1966, inducted into Georgia Women of Achievement 2011 Paula Deen: TV personality and cooking show host Field Mob: hip hop group Bart Oates: 5-time NFL pro-bowler and 3-time Super Bowl Champion McCree Harris: activist with the Albany Movement Reginald D. Hunter: stand-up comedian Harry James: Swing era trumpet player and bandleader Alex Kendrick, actor/director/producer/filmmaker, co-founder of Sherwood Pictures and Kendrick Brothers Stephen Kendrick, actor/director/producer/filmmaker, co-founder of Sherwood Pictures and Kendrick Brothers Ray Knight: former Major League Baseball infielder best remembered for his time with the 1986 World Series Champion New York Mets Paul McKinney: Pennsylvania State Senator for the 8th district from 1975 to 1982 Phillip Phillips: singer-songwriter and actor who won the eleventh season of American Idol Bobby Rush: pastor and U.S. Representative from Illinois Kylie Sonique Love: drag queen, winner of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars (season 6) Harry Spilman: former player for the Houston Astros and San Francisco Giants Angelo Taylor: athlete, Olympic gold medalist Jo Marie Payton, actress Geraldine W. Travis: first black women to serve in the Montana House of Representatives James Wheeler (1937–2014), Chicago blues guitarist, singer and songwriter References Further reading Carolyn Clive, Frances Davis, and Tom Liner, eds., Glancing Backward: Albany, Georgia, 1836–1986 (Albany, Ga.: Dougherty County School System and Sesquicentennial Publication Committee, 1986). Lee W. Formwalt, "A Garden of Irony and Diversity," in The New Georgia Guide (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1996). Joseph Winthrop Holley, You Can't Build a Chimney from the Top: The South through the Life of a Negro Educator (New York: William-Frederick Press, 1948). Thronateeska Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, History and Reminiscences of Dougherty County, Georgia (1924; reprint, Spartanburg, S.C.: Reprint Co., 1978). Works Progress Administration, Historical Background of Dougherty County, 1836–1940 (Atlanta: Cherokee, 1981). External links City of Albany official website South Georgia Historic Newspapers Archive Digital Library of Georgia Old U.S. Post Office and Courthouse Albany's First Brick House historical marker Cities in Georgia (U.S. state) Cities in Dougherty County, Georgia Albany metropolitan area, Georgia Populated places established