Georgia State...
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Georgia Counties
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Early County, Georgia
Early County History, Geography, Demographics, Cities and Towns, and Education
County Seat: Blakely
Year Organized: 1818
Square Miles: 511 |
Court House: P.O. Box 693
County Administration Building
Blakely, GA 39823-0693
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Etymology - Origin of County Name
Georgia's 41st county was named for Peter Early, Governor of Georgia from 1813 to 1815, Superior Court Judge, and member of Congress.
Demographics:
County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts
History
Early County was created from land obtained from the Creek Indians. The counties of Calhoun, Clay, Decatur, Dougherty, Grady, Miller, Mitchell, and Seminole were all created from territory originally belonging to Early County.
Georgia's 41st county was named for Peter Early, Governor of Georgia from 1813 to 1815, Superior Court Judge, and member of Congress. Blakely, the county seat, was named for Captain Johnson Blakely, a North Carolinian lost at sea during the War of 1812
Points of Interest
Kolomoki Mounds State Park, located in the north central part of Early County, contains a row of mounds of Native American origin dating to around the year 800. One mound believed to have been a temple base is the largest in the United States. The museum interprets seven mounds built during the
12th and 13th centuries by Swift Creek and Weeden Island Indians. The park also features a beautiful lake for canoeing and swimming, primitive and RV camping, and a nature trails for hiking and bird watching.
The southernmost covered bridge in the United States, Coheelee Creek Bridge, is located in the western part of the county. Built for $490 in 1891, the bridge stretches 96 feet across the Coheelee Creek. The bridge was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976 and completely restored
in 1984. The area surrounding the bridge is now operated as a historic park, offering creekside trails with native plants and picnic facilities.
As with many counties in Southwest Georgia, peanut farming is a vital component of Early County's economy. Early County is the largest peanut quota holding county in the nation. In recognition of this crop's importance, a statue of a peanut was erected on the square in Blakely in 1954.
Erected in 1861, the only known Confederate Flag Pole is the last remaining wooden Confederate flag pole standing. Located on the northside grounds of the Early County Courthouse in downtown Blakely. This historic landmark is the only one of its kind in the Southeastern area.
Neighboring Counties:
- North: Clay County
- Northeast: Calhoun County
- East: Baker County
- Southeast: Miller County
- South: Seminole County
- Southwest: Houston County, Ala.
- Northwest: Henry County, Ala.
Cities and Towns:
| - Blakely (County Seat) |
city |
Incorporated Area |
| - Damascus |
town |
Incorporated Area |
| - Jakin |
city |
Incorporated Area |
County Resources:
County http://www.early.k12.ga.us/earlycounty/index.html
Chamber of Commerce http://www.blakelyearlychamber.com/ Additional County Info
http://www.georgiaplanning.com/CountyPortal/countyportal.asp?FIPS=13099
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County Resource Guide
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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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Penn Foster High School
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