By Elliott Brack
Editor and Publisher, GwinnettForum
MAY 20, 2022 | Observers of the Gwinnett scene know that Gwinnett County is composed of “about a million people.” People have been using this phrase in recent years as the county approached that figure.
It’s getting closer to the time when the county will pass 1,000,000 residents. In fact, today we’ll come close to pinpointing the exact date it will happen.
Here’s how we approached this question.
First and obvious, we find that the 2022 census estimate said that on April 1, Gwinnett counted 957,052 residents. Looking at April 1, 2020, the population estimate was 926, 414. That means in the last two years, Gwinnett has grown 31,648 people, or 15,824 a year.
To reach a million residents, Gwinnett must attract 42,938 more people. Given the average of 15,824 now moving to Gwinnett each year, that would mean that in 2.71 years, a million people would call Gwinnett home.
Adding 15,824 a year would mean the 2023 population would be 972,876, while in 2024 the figure would be 988,700 residents. That final 11,300 would push Gwinnett to the million mark, but that measures from April 1 of each year. Multiply that final 0.71 of a year times 365 days, to get 259 days, would mean that the date of arriving at a million people in Gwinnett would be Dec. 16, 2025.
Drum roll, please.
Or close to it.
We’ll check back when we get the April 1 population projections in 2023 and 2024 to see how fast Gwinnett is approaching the million mark. For right now, we settle on Dec. 16, 2025 as the “magic” year. Somebody get the gift bags ready for that resident No. 1,000,000.
Ever since 2004, Gwinnett has been the second most populated county in the state, behind Fulton County. That county is larger in land area than Gwinnett, which has 437 square miles of land, compared to 534 square miles in Fulton County.
While Gwinnett is 46th in size in Georgia, Fulton is 17th in land area, resulting from the Depression era. During that time, the county immediately to the north of Fulton (Milton), and the county directly to the south (Campbell), both went broke. Both counties were added to Fulton County and today that county stretches 70 miles in length, from way down in South Fulton to the Cherokee County line in the north.
Gwinnett is not only smaller, but as a comparison, its north-south distance is shorter. On Interstate 85 from the Gwinnett County line all the way to Jackson County, the south to north route is a length of 27.5 miles.
Anniversary time: Thursday (yesterday) marked the 245th anniversary of the death of our county’s namesake, Button Gwinnett. He died from a bullet wound in a duel with his political rival, Lachlan McIntosh. These two often tangled with words, but this time it was with pistols. Dueling in those days was a matter of honor. And recognize that both men were gentlemen in the duel, in that they aimed for the legs, and both were hit. Gwinnett died three days later from gangrene poisoning.
The words that caused the duel, according to the Journal of the American Revolution, seem rather mild. Button charged that McIntosh called him a “scoundrel in public,” so wanted a duel. After both were shot, the seconds said “…both behav’d like gentlemen and men of honor, (and we) led the General up to Mr. Gwinnett and they both shook hands.”
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
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