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Georgia Counties

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Georgia Counties

Georgia is divided into 159 counties. Under the Georgia Constitution, Counties are granted home rule to deal with issues that are local in nature. Four consolidated city-Counties — Athens (Clarke County), Augusta (Richmond County), Columbus (Muscogee County), and Cusseta (Chattahoochee County) — exist.

Georgia has the second-highest number of Counties of any state in the United States, behind Texas (254). A few Georgia Counties have changed names over time. Jasper County was originally known as Randolph County. Later, the current Randolph County came into being. Webster County was once known as Kinchafoonee County, and Bartow County was formerly known as Cass County.

Wilkes County, Georgia

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

County Seat: Washington
Year Organized: 1777
Square Miles: 471

Court House:

23 Court Street, Suite 222
County Courthouse
Washington, GA 30673-0000

Etymology - Origin of County Name

Wilkes County was named for John Wilkes, a member of the British Parliament who supported the colonies' cause.

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

County History

Wilkes County, the 8th county formed in Georgia, was created in 1777. Originally including Lincoln, Elbert and parts of Hart, Madison, McDuffie, Oglethorpe, Taliaferro and Warren counties, Wilkes County was named for John Wilkes, a member of the British Parliament who supported the colonies' cause.

Washington is said to be the first community in the nation to be incorporated under the name in honor of George Washington, and has more ante-bellum homes than any other city of its size in the state. The community was originally named Heard's Fort after the family that settled it in 1773. They were neighbors of George Washington in Virginia.

The world's first cotton gin was developed by Eli Whitney on a Wilkes County plantation in 1794. The county is also the site of the first cotton mill in the south.

Washington is the site of the Heard House where Jefferson Davis formally dissolved the Confederacy on May 5, 1865.

Points of Interest

Callaway Plantation is a living history museum where visitors can tour plantation houses and see how life on a plantation was lived in the 1800s.

Notable Citizens

Among notable citizens of Wilkes County are: Elijah Clark, a pioneer settler and hero of the Revolution; Alexander H. Stephens who was the Vice President of the Confederacy and a Georgia governor; Robert A. Toombs, a US Senator and the Secretary of State for the Confederacy; and John Springer, a Minister and Educator who taught at Princeton and fought in the Revolution.

Neighboring Counties:

North: Elbert County
East: Lincoln County
Southeast: McDuffie County
South: Warren County
Southwest: Taliaferro County
Northwest: Oglethorpe County

Cities and Towns:

- Rayle	town	Incorporated Area
- Tignall	town	Incorporated Area
- Washington (County Seat)	city	Incorporated Area

County Resources:

County

Additional County Info http://www.georgiaplanning.com/CountyPortal/countyportal.asp?FIPS=13317

County Resources

The history of our nation was a prolonged struggle to define the relative roles and powers of our governments: federal, state, and local. And the names given the counties, our most locally based jurisdictions, reflects the "characteristic features of this 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."