The town was named for naval officer Commodore Thomas Macdonough[5] and founded in 1823 around a traditional town square design. The buildings surrounding the square are intact, although there are some vacancies. The county courthouse and historic jail building are on the north side near the Welcome Center in a historically maintained Standard Oil service station, built in 1920. The station also houses the Main Street Program Office.
One block east of the square, the town's original cotton warehouse has been replaced with the Henry County Judicial Center. In the same area the Henry County Courthouse Annex has an original oil on canvas "Cotton Gin" (4+1⁄2 by 11 feet) by artist Jean Charlot. He painted this oil in 1942 for the town post office. His works can be found all over the world in everything from children's books to large murals.
The town was a relay station on the New York City to New Orleans stagecoach line and was connected by other stage lines with Fayetteville and Decatur, and with Macon by way of Jackson.[6]
Geography
McDonough is in central Henry County, 28 miles (45 km) southeast of downtown Atlanta. U.S. Route 23 passes through the center of the city, leading northwest 9 miles (14 km) to Stockbridge and south 7 miles (11 km) to Locust Grove. Interstate 75 passes through the southwestern arm of the city, with access from Exits 216, 218, and 221. I-75 leads northwest to Atlanta and southeast 56 miles (90 km) to Macon.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 12.9 square miles (33.4 km2), of which 12.7 square miles (32.9 km2) are land and 0.2 square miles (0.5 km2), or 1.50%, are water.[7]
As of the 2020 United States census, there were 29,051 people, 8,543 households, and 5,778 families residing in the city.
Economy
Snapper Inc. manufacturing residential and professional lawn care and snow removal equipment, was based in McDonough.[citation needed] The company began in 1894 as Southern Saw Works, and claims to have invented the first self-propelled rotary lawn mower.[10] The company was sold to Briggs and Stratton,[10] which operated the plant until its closure in 2015.[citation needed]
The city hosts a Geranium Festival each springtime on the third Saturday in May, celebrating the locally grown flowers and community.[14] The one-day festival serves as a showcase of local artistry and talent through the open-air craft markets and live musical performances. The festival is sponsored by the McDonough Lions Club, and held on the McDonough Square and surrounding areas.[14]
The Henry County School District holds grades pre-school to grade twelve. The district has twenty eight elementary schools, nine middle schools, and ten high schools.[16] The district has 1,543 full-time teachers and over 40,000 students.[17]