Barrow County, Georgia

Barrow County History, Geography, Demographics, Cities and Towns, and Education

County Seat: Winder
Year Organized: 1914
Square Miles: 162

Court House:

233 East Broad Street
County Courthouse
Winder, GA 30680-2293

Etymology - Origin of County Name

The new county was named for David Crenshaw "Uncle Dave" Barrow, long-time chancellor of the University of Georgia.

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

History

Barrow was created in 1914 as a way of settling a dispute among the citizens of the City of Winder, which at the time was located at the juncture of three counties. A new county was created from parts of Gwinnett, Jackson, and Walton counties, with Winder designated as the county seat. The new county was named for David Crenshaw "Uncle Dave" Barrow, long-time chancellor of the University of Georgia.

Winder was incorporated in 1893 when the Seaboard Air Line Railroad was built through the town. It was named after the president of the railroad, John H. Winder of North Carolina. Before being incorporated as Winder, the town was called Brandon. Prior to that, it had been known as Jug Tavern.

The city of Russell in the county was one of 187 inactive municipalities to lose their charters in 1995 as a result of a 1993 Act of the General Assembly.

Points of Interest

Fort Yargo State Park is located in the county. The park includes the old Fort Yargo, a log fort constructed in 1792 for protection from the Creek and Cherokee Indians.

Notable Citizens

Richard B. Russell, Jr., who served as governor of Georgia and as US Senator from 1933 to 1971, was from Barrow County. His father, Richard Russell, Sr., was Chief Justice of the Georgia Supreme Court from 1922-1938 and swore in his son as governor.

Neighboring Counties:

Northeast: Jackson County
East: Clarke County
Southeast: Oconee County
South: Walton County
West: Gwinnett County
Northwest: Hall County

Cities and Towns:

- Auburn	city	Incorporated Area
- Bethlehem	town	Incorporated Area
- Carl	town	Incorporated Area
- Statham	city	Incorporated Area
- Winder (County Seat)	city	Incorporated Area

County Resources:

County http://www.barrowga.org

Chamber of Commerce http://www.barrowchamber.com/

Additional County Info http://www.georgiaplanning.com/CountyPortal/countyportal.asp?FIPS=13013

County Resource Guide

Counties: US Map

The history of our nation can be seen as a prolonged struggle to define the relative roles and powers of our governments: federal, state, and local. And the names we've given our counties, our most locally based jurisdictions, reflects the "characteristic features of our country!"

But age, size and colorful names of our counties isn't the only reason to explore counties' role in American history, or the history of county government itself. In fact, the story of county government reflects the larger meanings of American history.

Today's counties are the most flexible, locally responsive and creative governments in the US. They are the most diverse, varying in size, population, geography, and governmental structure. In their politics and policies, they express a 1990's political slogan "Think globally, act locally."

Penn Foster High School

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