The Georgia General Assembly incorporated the place as the "Town of Caldwell" in 1907. The community was named after Matthew and Rebecca Caldwell, the original owners of the town site.
Geography
Cadwell is located in southwestern Laurens County at . Georgia State Route 117 passes through the town as its Main Street; via SR 117 it is northeast to Dublin, the county seat, and southwest to Eastman. State Route 126 passes through the center of Cadwell as Burch Street; it leads northwest to Chester and southeast to Alamo. According to the United States Census Bureau, Cadwell has a total area of, of which, or 2.52%, are water. The west side of the town drains to Bay Creek, a south-flowing tributary of Alligator Creek and part of the Ocmulgee River watershed. The east side drains via Long Branch to Lime Sink Creek, a tributary of Alligator Creek and the Ocmulgee.
Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 329 people, 136 households, and 93 families residing in the town. The population density was 254.3 people per square mile. There were 178 housing units at an average density of 137.6 per square mile. The racial makeup of the town was 86.32% White, 13.07% African American, 0.30% Asian, and 0.30% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.91% of the population. There were 136 households, out of which 27.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.3% were married couplesliving together, 16.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.6% were non-families. 26.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.42 and the average family size was 2.88. In the town, the population was spread out, with 24.0% under the age of 18, 8.8% from 18 to 24, 25.2% from 25 to 44, 24.6% from 45 to 64, and 17.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females, there were 86.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 85.2 males. The median income for a household in the town was $32,727, and the median income for a family was $38,750. Males had a median income of $28,417 versus $19,773 for females. The per capita income for the town was $16,372. About 4.0% of families and 11.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 7.5% of those under age 18 and 21.2% of those age 65 or over.
