| Official Name: | Roberta, Georgia |
| Settlement Type: | City |
| Motto: | A small town with a big heart |
| Mapsize: | 250px |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | United States |
| Subdivision Type1: | State |
| Subdivision Name1: | Georgia |
| Subdivision Type2: | County |
| Subdivision Name2: | Crawford |
| Unit Pref: | Imperial |
| Area Footnotes: | [1] |
| Area Total Km2: | 3.90 |
| Area Land Km2: | 3.86 |
| Area Water Km2: | 0.04 |
| Area Total Sq Mi: | 1.51 |
| Area Land Sq Mi: | 1.49 |
| Area Water Sq Mi: | 0.02 |
| Population As Of: | 2020 |
| Population Total: | 813 |
| Population Density Km2: | 210.80 |
| Population Density Sq Mi: | 546.00 |
| Timezone: | Eastern (EST) |
| Utc Offset: | -5 |
| Timezone Dst: | EDT |
| Utc Offset Dst: | -4 |
| Coordinates: | 32.7214°N -84.0125°W |
| Elevation M: | 154 |
| Elevation Ft: | 505 |
| Postal Code Type: | ZIP code |
| Postal Code: | 31078 |
| Area Code: | 478 |
| Blank Name: | FIPS code |
| Blank Info: | 13-65856[2] |
| Blank1 Name: | GNIS feature ID |
| Blank1 Info: | 0321670[3] |
Roberta is a city in Crawford County, Georgia, United States. The population was 1,007 at the 2010 census.[4] It is part of the Macon metropolitan statistical area.
In the early nineteenth century, Indian agent Benjamin Hawkins built his plantation on the Flint River near Roberta. This was also a trading post and the Creek Agency.
Originally in Crawford County, Knoxville was the only stop in the county, until the A&F Railroad bypassed it by about a mile to the southwest when it was built in 1888. A train station was built, and a new town sprang up. People migrated towards this new town, called "New Knoxville."
Hiram David McCrary allowed the railroad to use part of his land, and was given naming rights to the town, which he named "Roberta" for his 7-year-old daughter.[5] McCrary later became the owner of the first general store in Roberta, was its first elected mayor, co-owned its first motel, and served as tax collector and a railroad station agent.
In 1910, Roberta was incorporated as a city and was expanded in every direction by 1200 yards.
In 1949, the original train depot burned. It was replaced about a year later by a smaller concrete block building. A replica of the original depot was built in 2003 and currently houses the Chamber of Commerce Welcome Center.
With the construction of the A&F Railroad and U.S. Highway 341, Roberta became a rapidly growing tourist town, with restaurants and hotels springing up. However, in the 1940s, passenger rail service ended in Roberta, ending one of the two main traffic flows. A decade later, Interstate 75 bypassed Roberta to the east, diverting much traffic. After these events, Roberta relaxed into a more small-town setting.[6]
Roberta is located near the center of Crawford County at 32.7214°N -84.0125°W (32.721283, -84.012512).[7] U.S. Route 80 passes through the city, leading east to Macon and west to Columbus. U.S. Route 341 crosses US 80 in the city center, leading north to Barnesville and southeast to Perry.
The city is located roughly on the fall line of the eastern U.S., meaning that it is located between the hillier Piedmont region to the north and the flatter Atlantic coastal plain to the south.
According to the United States Census Bureau, Roberta has a total area of 3.9km2, of which 0.04km2, or 1.11%, is water.[4]
| White (non-Hispanic) | 475 | 58.43% | |
| Black or African American (non-Hispanic) | 301 | 37.02% | |
| Asian | 5 | 0.62% | |
| Pacific Islander | 1 | 0.12% | |
| Other/Mixed | 21 | 2.58% | |
| Hispanic or Latino | 10 | 1.23% |
The Crawford County School District holds grades pre-school to grade twelve, and consists of one elementary school, a middle school, and a high school.[9] The district has 127 full-time teachers and over 2,090 students.[10]
The city has a restored 1962 Seaboard Coastline caboose next to the railroad depot in the downtown area. The caboose holds a small history of Roberta's railroad heritage and a memorial to employees of Southern Railroad. Also in the downtown block is the Benjamin Hawkins Monument, constructed in 1931.[6]