Columbia County, Georgia

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

County Seat: Appling
Year Organized: 1790
Square Miles: 290

Court House:

P.O. Box 498
County Courthouse
Evans, GA 30809-0498

Etymology - Origin of County Name

named for Christopher Columbus.

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

History

Columbia County, the 12th county formed in Georgia, was created in 1790. Originally part of Richmond County, Columbia County was named for Christopher Columbus.

Although Appling is the county seat and was chartered in 1816, the city was one of 187 inactive municipalities which lost their charters in 1995 as a result of a 1993 Act of the General Assembly. There is some controversy over whether or not Appling ever was incorporated.

Points of Interest

With 1,200 miles of shoreline, Clarks Hill Lake is the largest man-made lake east of the Mississippi and is partially located in Columbia County. The lake, which is also known as Thurmond Lake, was created in 1946 when the Army Corps of Engineers built the Clarks Hill Dam on the Savannah River.

The Augusta Canal Heritage Area, which is partially in Columbia County, has been recently designated a historical waterway by the US Congress and designated as a Regionally Important Resource (RIR).

Columbia County's high schools consistently rank among the top high schools in the state and the nation.

Notable Citizens

Oliver Norvell Hardy of "Laurel and Hardy" fame hailed from Columbia County. Among other notable persons from the county were: Basil Neal, who was honored for fighting heroically against the Indians and the British before, during, and after the Revolutionary War; William Few and Abraham Baldwin, who were two of Georgia's six appointees to the 1787 Constitutional Convention.

Neighboring Counties:

North: McCormick County, S.C.
Northeast: Edgefield County, S.C.
East: Aiken County, S.C.
Southeast: Richmond County
Southwest: McDuffie County
Northwest: Lincoln County

Cities and Towns:

- Appling (County Seat)
- Augusta	city/county	Incorporated Area
- Grovetown	city	Incorporated Area
- Harlem	city	Incorporated Area

County Resources:

County http://www.columbiacountyga.gov

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

Additional County Info http://www.georgiaplanning.com/CountyPortal/countyportal.asp?FIPS=13073

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

Custom Search