History
The 1847 map of Houston County shows the settlement of BUSBY, where the modern City of Centerville now
stands. The history states that this area has also been known as LaVilla, Gunn, Dunbar, and Toy at various
times.
It has been an area designated the Upper Fifth Land District for at least as far back as 1847.
Daniel Gunn had a General Store on the Perry-Macon Road. He had received a land grant for his services in the
Revolutionary War. Other family names associated with the original settlers are: Bass, Dorsett, Sledge,
Todd, Howard, Clark, Costello, Kemp, Bateman, Garvin, Kersey, Stalnaker, Sullivan, White, Stembridge, and
Scarborough.
An 1882 map shows the town as Busbayville. The area map of 1888 shows it as Centerville. We can assume
that the present name was adopted at some point between 1882 and 1888. Centerville owes its name to its
location, which is halfway between Byron and Wellston: halfway between Macon and Perry.
Around 1900, the citizens applied for a local Post Office. Postal authorities required a different name for
the town since there was already a Centerville Post Office in Gwinnett County. So they changed the name to
HATTIE in honor of the daughter of Mitchell F. Etheridge, a State Representative. After a few years, the Post
Office was moved to Byron, and Hattie was once again named Centerville.
The City of Centerville was incorporated under a charter issued March 25, 1958 by the General Assembly of the State
of Georgia. The City of Centerville is probably one of the youngest cities in the State of Georgia.
Superior Court Judge A.M. Anderson swore in Sherrill Stafford as Mayor: Mark Mathews, Earl Sims, Ira Garvin, and
Paul Stalnaker as councilmen.
The 1960 census gave the first official population count-290. Census as of 2002 approximately population
count- 4299.
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