The Ben Hill County Georgia map labels only Fitzgerald, yet the surrounding county is not geographically empty. A three-basin divide crosses its Coastal Plain landscape: water leaves toward the Ocmulgee, Alapaha, or Satilla systems. Reading Fitzgerald together with the northeastern river boundary and five neighboring counties turns the spare design into a practical orientation frame.
Table of Contents
Ben Hill County map download
The page displays a WEBP preview; the button supplies the same county outline and label in JPG form.
- Included: Ben Hill County perimeter and Fitzgerald
- Download: JPG
- Appropriate scale: County and central-city orientation
Quick Facts
| State | Georgia |
|---|---|
| County | Ben Hill County |
| Seat and only incorporated city | Fitzgerald |
| Created | 1906 |
| 2020 census population | 17,194 |
| 2025 population estimate | 17,099 |
| 2020 land area | 250.12 square miles |
| 2020 density | 68.7 people per square mile |
| FIPS code | 13017 |
| Place labeled | Fitzgerald |
| Download | JPG |
The Census Bureau counted 17,194 residents on April 1, 2020 and estimated 17,099 on July 1, 2025. Its change from the adjusted 2020 estimates base to 2025 was -0.5 percent. The figures describe a stable-to-slightly-declining population pattern, but one is a decennial count and the other an estimate, so the date and series should remain attached whenever they are cited.
What the Map Shows
Fitzgerald is the administrative and commercial center near the middle of the county. It is also Ben Hill’s only incorporated city. The unlabeled area around it contains farms, timberland, homes, and unincorporated communities such as Bowens Mill and Queensland; their absence reflects the map’s selected-label scope, not a lack of settlement.
U.S. 129 and U.S. 319 meet in Fitzgerald, tying the city into north–south and diagonal routes across South Georgia. State Route 107 heads toward Coffee County, while Route 125 participates in the surrounding rural network. Those spokes explain why the single city dot functions as a regional junction rather than merely a county-seat symbol.
The perimeter does not encode parcel ownership, city limits, zoning, school assignments, flood hazards, or turn-by-turn streets. Address decisions should be checked in county GIS and agency systems. Likewise, unincorporated place names may matter locally even when they do not appear on the artwork.
County Layout and Location
Ben Hill occupies the south-central Georgia Coastal Plain. Wilcox County is north, Telfair northeast, Coffee east, Irwin south, and Turner west. Its practical regional context comes from nearby small centers such as Ocilla, Douglas, and Tifton rather than from direct adjacency to a large metropolitan area.
Relief is subdued: pine woods, cropland, wet stream bottoms, and the Fitzgerald urban grid replace mountains or deeply cut valleys. Low watershed divides are therefore more consequential than dramatic elevation. They send runoff from nearby tracts toward different major rivers even though the landscape looks broadly level.
Most of northern and eastern Ben Hill drains through the Lower Ocmulgee sub-basin in the Altamaha system, and the Ocmulgee River forms part of the northeastern boundary. A northwestern pocket belongs to the Alapaha sub-basin of the Suwannee system. The southeastern corner, east of Fitzgerald, lies in the Satilla basin.
The Satilla River rises near Fitzgerald and flows east across the Coastal Plain to the Atlantic. Water entering the Ocmulgee instead continues toward the Altamaha before reaching the coast. The two routes begin relatively close together but terminate through separate river systems, making Ben Hill a notable headwater and divide location.
Local Context
Georgia formed its 146th county in 1906 from portions of Irwin and Wilcox. The name honors Benjamin Harvey Hill, who served in Georgia politics and the U.S. Senate. Fitzgerald immediately became the seat, so the county’s institutional geography has always centered on the planned city.
Fitzgerald predates the county by eleven years. In 1895 Indiana newspaperman and Union pension advocate Philander H. Fitzgerald promoted a warm-climate colony for northern Civil War veterans on a 50,000-acre tract. Southern veterans also joined the settlement, giving the “Colony City” a distinctive postwar reconciliation narrative.
The plan wrote that story into the street grid. Names honor figures from both Union and Confederate sides, along with southern rivers, plants, and notable ships. The restored A, B & A railroad depot now houses the Blue & Gray Museum and railroad exhibits, preserving the connection among colonization, urban design, and rail access.
Current county–city planning treats downtown conditions, rural land, infrastructure, transportation, and natural resources as linked issues. A 16.8-minute mean commute for 2020–2024 suggests a compact local labor pattern, while highway and rail connections remain important for agriculture, manufacturing, and access beyond the county line.
Ways to Use This Map
Start with Fitzgerald inside the perimeter, attach the five neighboring counties, and then choose either a road layer or watershed layer. This sequence supplies context without asking one simplified graphic to answer parcel, drainage, and navigation questions simultaneously.
- Explain why one incorporated-city label represents the county’s urban center
- Compare drainage toward the Ocmulgee, Alapaha, and Satilla systems
- Use the U.S. 129–U.S. 319 junction to organize regional travel directions
- Connect Fitzgerald’s planned street grid with Colony City and railroad history
- Move legal, flood, school, and parcel questions to the relevant official database
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is Fitzgerald the only place label?
Fitzgerald is both the seat and Ben Hill County’s only incorporated city. Unincorporated communities, including Bowens Mill and Queensland, fall outside the selected labeling scheme used for this graphic.
Does the Ocmulgee River cross the whole county?
No. It primarily forms part of the northeastern boundary. Not all runoff flows there: northwestern land drains toward the Alapaha, while a southeastern section belongs to the Satilla watershed.
Do the preview and download contain different geography?
No. The geographic extent and label are the same. WEBP serves the page and JPG is offered for saving; neither carries survey-grade coordinates or legal boundary authority.
Was the 2025 population lower than the 2020 count?
The published values are 17,194 for the 2020 census and 17,099 for the July 1, 2025 estimate. Because the latter is an estimate rather than another decennial count, identify the date and series when describing the difference.
Sources
- U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts: population, area, density, and FIPS
- New Georgia Encyclopedia: county formation and Fitzgerald
- Georgia Department of Community Affairs: Ben Hill–Fitzgerald plans
- City of Fitzgerald: Colony City and street-plan history
Related County Maps
- Clay County map and the lower Chattahoochee region
- Camden County map and coastal Georgia
- Bartow County map and northwest Georgia
- Bulloch County map and the Statesboro area
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