Biohazard Cleanup Near Riverchase Bainbridge, GA

Bainbridge is a city in southwest Georgia and the county seat of Decatur County, near the Florida state line.

The first European settlement at the site was a trading post established by James Burges in the late 18th century, a spot remembered as Burges's Bluff.

Decatur County was created on December 8, 1823, and named for U.S. Navy Commodore Stephen Decatur, and Bainbridge was designated the county seat in 1824.

The town was named for another naval hero, Commodore William Bainbridge, commander of the USS Constitution — the famed "Old Ironsides" — and was incorporated on December 22, 1829.

Bainbridge's official motto is "Georgia's First Inland Port": Port Bainbridge, operated by the Georgia Ports Authority on about 107 acres, handles cargo moving between the city and the Gulf of Mexico via the Apalachicola River system.

The city stands on the Flint River, which flows southwest to join the Chattahoochee River and form the Apalachicola River; at their junction the Jim Woodruff Dam creates Lake Seminole, whose locks let barge traffic reach Bainbridge from the Gulf.

The 2020 census counted 14,468 residents in Bainbridge, up from 12,697 in 2010, and Census Bureau QuickFacts counted about 5,582 households in its 2020-2024 survey figures.

According to the Census Bureau, Bainbridge covers about 20.1 square miles, and U.S. Routes 27 and 84 bypass the city, which lies about 40 miles northwest of Tallahassee, Florida.

Earle May Boat Basin Park, the city's Flint River waterfront park, features mega boat ramps opened in 2010 under the state's Go Fish Georgia initiative, an amphitheater, a disc golf course, a campground and trails, and hosts events such as River Town Days and bass fishing tournaments.

Bainbridge High School, whose purple-and-gold teams are the Bearcats, is Decatur County's only public high school; its football team won state championships in 1982 and again in 2018, defeating Warner Robins 47-41 in three overtimes.