Bryan County, Georgia: History and Information

Bryan County, Georgia

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

County Seat: Pembroke
Year Organized: 1793
Square Miles: 442

Court House:

P.O. Box 430
County Courthouse
Pembroke, GA 31321-0430

Etymology - Origin of County Name

It was named for Jonathan Bryan, a member of the King's Council who accompanied Oglethorpe and was an early critic of oppressive English rule.

Demographics:

History

Bryan County was the 16th county formed in Georgia, from parts of Chatham county. It was named for Jonathan Bryan, a member of the King's Council who accompanied Oglethorpe and was an early critic of oppressive English rule.

Fort Argyle, established by General Oglethorpe on the Ogeechee River, was to protect Savannah from Florida's Spaniards. It is now on the National Register of Historic Places. Also listed on the Register is Fort McAllister, a Civil War fort with the best preserved earthwork fabrications of the Confederate period.

Points of Interest

Fort Stewart, a large US Army training facility, completely divides the northern and southern portions of the county. The northern portion of the county is served by an east-west rail line and Interstate 16 which links Atlanta, Macon and Savannah. The southern portion is crossed by Interstate 95, which follows the coast from New York to Florida.

The Civil War movie Glory, starring award winning actor, Denzel Washington, was filmed in Bryan County.

Henry Ford bought a home in Bryan County, Richmond Hill Plantation, in the 1920s. He provided health care and educational opportunities for many county residents. Also of interest to tourists are the Ford Kindergarten Building (1937), St. Anne's Church (1925), and the Henry Ford Community House.

Neighboring Counties:

Northeast: Effingham County; Chatham County

Southeast: North Atlantic Ocean

Southwest: Liberty County

Northwest: Evans County; Bulloch County

Cities and Towns:

- Pembroke (County Seat)

city

Incorporated Area

- Richmond Hill

city

Incorporated Area

County Resources:

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."

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