Dawson was founded in 1856 as seat of the newly formed Terrell County. It was incorporated as a town in 1857 and as a city in 1872. Terrell was an important site in the 1960s, when the county in which it is located was labeled "Terrible Terrell" by the SNCC. Jackie Robinson helped raise money to rebuild three black churches that were burned in the area. In 1976, five African-American youths were charged with the murder of a white customer in a roadside convenience store. The crime and pretrial proceedings garnered national attention. The five young men, one of whom was a juvenile, charged in the case were known as "The Dawson Five". The court dropped the charges against the group of five; Roosevelt Watson, Henderson Watson, J.D. Davenport, Johnnie B. Jackson, and George Poor, when it found evidence of police misconduct, including coerced confessions, intimidation and improper identification procedures.
As of the census of 2000, there were 5,058 people, 1,791 households, and 1,276 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,373.5 people per square mile. There were 1,967 housing units at an average density of 534.1 per square mile. The racial makeup of the city was 21.49% White, 77.26% African American, 0.06% Native American, 0.40% Asian, 0.10% from other races, and 0.69% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.93% of the population. There were 1,791 households, out of which 34.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 33.9% were married couples living together, 32.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.7% were non-families. 25.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.76 and the average family size was 3.29. In the city, the population was spread out, with 30.3% under the age of 18, 11.1% from 18 to 24, 24.7% from 25 to 44, 19.9% from 45 to 64, and 14.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females, there were 83.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 74.6 males. The median income for a household in the city was $24,140, and the median income for a family was $25,511. Males had a median income of $26,006 versus $18,629 for females. The per capita income for the city was $10,752. About 31.6% of families and 36.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 49.8% of those under age 18 and 26.0% of those age 65 or over.
The Terrell County School District holds pre-school to grade twelve, and consists of two elementary schools, a middle school and a high school. The district has 98 full-time teachers and over 1,764 students.
Otis Redding - American singer, songwriter, record producer, arranger, and talent scout, considered one of the greatest singers in the history of American popular music, soul music, and rhythm and blues.
Lucius D. Battle - ambassador to Egypt
Erle Cocke, Jr. - U.S. National Guard general
Wayland Flowers - puppeteer best known for his puppet known as "Madame"
Bessie Jones - gospel/folk singer
Benjamin J. Davis - attorney who defended man trying to organize a union from insurrection charges; elected as New York City Councilman after move to New York; Communist Party leader in 1930s
Walter Washington - elected as first mayor of Washington, D.C. after the city was granted home rule by Congress
Dawson Five - five black Dawson residents who were wrongly charged with the 1976 murder of a white man. Due to forced confession and other police misconduct the case was dropped in 1977.
