Cordele is a city in and the county seat of Crisp County, Georgia, United States. The population was 11,147 at the 2010 census. Cordele calls itself the Watermelon Capital of the World. History Cordele was incorporated on January 1, 1888, and named for Cordelia Hawkins, eldest daughter of Colonel Samuel Hawkins, the president of the Savannah, Americus and Montgomery Railway. In November 1864, the area that is now Cordele served as the temporary capital of Georgia. During the last days of the Confederacy, Georgia's war governor Joseph E. Brown used his rural farmhouse to escape the wrath of Sherman's March to the Sea. During that time, the farmhouse, which Brown called "Dooly County Place," served as the official capital for only a few days. It was replaced in 1890 by the Suwanee Hotel, located in what became downtown Cordele. The hotel was destroyed by a fire in late 1994 and was rebuilt. Cordele was founded in 1888 by J.E.D. Shipp of Americus. The town was located at the junction of two major railroads – the Savannah, Americus & Montgomery line, and the Georgia Southern & Florida. As the railroads brought more people and business to the newly settled territory, Cordele experienced phenomenal growth. Before 1905 Cordele was located in southern Dooly County, from the county seat in Vienna. With Cordele's continued progress, many in the community felt the need for a seat of government to be closer than Vienna. Crisp County was formed in 1905 by taking a portion of southern Dooly County, and Cordele became its county seat. By 1915, Cordele was home to several industries including an ice-making plant, mills for processing cotton products into cloth and oil, a fertilizer factory, and other small manufacturing outfits. By August 1930, Cordele housed the Crisp County Hydroelectric System, the first county-owned electric system. Located on the Flint River, the hydroelectric plant continues to operate, and the resulting Lake Blackshear has attracted residents to its waterfront properties. On April 2, 1936, a tornado struck Cordele, killing 23 people. Geography Cordele is located north of the center of Crisp County at (31.964178, -83.777277). U.S. Route 41 passes through the city as Seventh Street and leads north to Vienna and south to Ashburn. U.S. Route 280 (16th Avenue) crosses US 41 in the center of the city and leads east to Abbeville and west to Americus. Interstate 75 passes through the east side