Clarke_County,_Georgia

Clarke County, Georgia

Clarke County, Georgia

County in Georgia, United States

Clarke County is located in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 128,671.[1] Its county seat is Athens,[2] with which it is a consolidated city-county.

Quick Facts Country, State ...

Clarke County is included in the Athens-Clarke County, GA Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is also included in the Atlanta-Athens-Clarke County-Sandy Springs, GA Combined Statistical Area.

History

Clarke County was created in 1801 by an act of the Georgia General Assembly on December 5. It was named for Revolutionary War hero Elijah Clarke and included 250 square miles (647.5 km2) that was formerly part of Jackson County. Colonel Clarke played a leading role the 1779 victory at the Battle of Kettle Creek in Wilkes County. The Elijah Clarke Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution erected a monument to him in Broad Street in Athens.

As the population of the county grew in the early 19th century, its agricultural and cotton industries prospered. The adjacent plantation harvests flowed through city mills. Manufacturing and textile production operations were the major industries in Clarke County, especially after the railroad reached Athens in 1841. Athens and Clarke County were second only to Savannah and Chatham County in the amount of capital invested in manufacturing in the 1840s.

Two skirmishes were fought in Clarke County in 1864, during the American Civil War, one near Barber's Creek and the other near Mitchell's Road. Athens was occupied by the Union Army on May 29 and a provost-marshal took charge. Formal military occupation of the county ended by December 1864, though Union troops remained in the county until early 1866.

In 1801 the Clarke County Commission had selected Watkinsville (now in Oconee County) as the county seat. All county offices, including the courts and jail, moved to Athens when the seat was moved on November 24, 1871. County meetings took place in the old Athens town hall, until a new courthouse was constructed in 1876. The present courthouse was built in 1914.

Map of Clarke County from 1893

On February 12, 1875, in response to complaints over the relocation of the county seat to Athens, the state legislature created Oconee County from the southwestern portion of Clarke County, making Watkinsville its seat. Clarke County thus lost one-third of its population and three-fifths of its land area.

The position of "commissioner of roads and revenue" was created by the legislature for what are today known as county commissioners. As an extension of the state, the county would conduct welfare and health programs, build and maintain roads, and hold courts of law.

On March 29, 1973, the Georgia legislature increased the number of county commissioners from 3 to 5, also adding a county administrator.

In 1990, the residents voted to unify the city and county governments creating Athens-Clarke County, the second (after Columbus-Muscogee County) unified city-county government in the State of Georgia.

Geography

Clarke County is located at 33°57′20″N 83°23′00″W.[3] The county is located in the Piedmont region of the state.

The vast majority of Clarke County is located in the Upper Oconee River sub-basin of the Altamaha River basin, with a very small portion of the county's eastern edge, north of Winterville, located in the Broad River sub-basin of the Savannah River basin.[4]

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 121 square miles (310 km2), of which 119 square miles (310 km2) is land and 1.8 square miles (4.7 km2) (1.5%) is water.[3] It is the smallest county by area in Georgia.[5]

Adjacent counties

Communities

Cities

Town

Demographics

More information Census, Pop. ...
More information Race / Ethnicity, Pop 2000 ...

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 128,671 people, 52,124 households, and 24,041 families residing in the county.

Education

Main article: Athens, Georgia § Education

Crime

In 2022, Clarke County had the third highest crime rate in Georgia. Clarke County had 35.5 crimes per 1,000 people, based on 4,599 offenses in 2022, and a population of 129,377. Like most other counties, the two more common crimes were larceny theft (2,983 incidents recorded in Clarke in 2022), and aggravated assault (1,979 incidents). Clarke County was only behind DeKalb County and Bibb County for highest crime rate.[18]

Politics

Clarke County has long been a Democratic Party stronghold in presidential elections. This predates the recent trend of Democratic gains in counties dominated by large universities. It has only backed the Republican candidate in three presidential elections, the fiercely divided realigning election of 1968 and the 49-state landslides of 1972 and 1984.

Transportation

Major highways

Pedestrians and cycling

More information Year, Republican ...

See also

References

  1. [1]
    "Census - Geography Profile: Clarke County, Georgia". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved December 26, 2022.
  2. [2]
    "Find a County". National Association of Counties. Archived from the original on May 31, 2011. Retrieved June 7, 2011.
  3. [3]
    "US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990". United States Census Bureau. February 12, 2011. Retrieved April 23, 2011.
  4. [4]
    "Georgia Soil and Water Conservation Commission Interactive Mapping Experience". Georgia Soil and Water Conservation Commission. Archived from the original on October 3, 2018. Retrieved November 18, 2015.
  5. [5]
    Krakow, Kenneth K. (1975). Georgia Place-Names: Their History and Origins (PDF). Macon, GA: Winship Press. p. 44. ISBN 0-915430-00-2. Archived (PDF) from the original on July 10, 2003.
  6. [6]
    "Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for Counties: April 1, 2020 to July 1, 2023". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved March 31, 2024.
  7. [7]
    "Decennial Census of Population and Housing by Decades". United States Census Bureau.
  8. [8]
    "1880 Census Population by Counties 1790-1800" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. 1880.
  9. [9]
    "1910 Census of Population - Georgia" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. 1910.
  10. [10]
    "1930 Census of Population - Georgia" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. 1930.
  11. [11]
    "1940 Census of Population - Georgia" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. 1940.
  12. [12]
    "1950 Census of Population - Georgia -" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. 1950.
  13. [13]
    "1980 Census of Population - Number of Inhabitants - Georgia" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. 1980.
  14. [14]
    "2000 Census of Population - Population and Housing Unit Counts - Georgia" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. 2000.
  15. [15]
    "P2: Hispanic or Latino, and Not Hispanic or Latino by Race – 2010: DEC Redistricting Data (PL 94-171) – Clarke County, Georgia". United States Census Bureau.
  16. [16]
    "P2: Hispanic or Latino, and Not Hispanic or Latino by Race – 2020: DEC Redistricting Data (PL 94-171) - Clarke County, Georgia". United States Census Bureau.
  17. [17]
    "P004 HISPANIC OR LATINO, AND NOT HISPANIC OR LATINO BY RACE – 2000: DEC Summary File 1 – Clarke County, Georgia". United States Census Bureau.
  18. [18]
    https://metroatlantaceo.com/news/2023/12/georgia-counties-highest-crime-rates/#:~:text=Overall%2C%20Bibb%20had%20the%20highest,crimes%20recorded%20over%20the%20year.
  19. [19]
    Leip, David. "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections". uselectionatlas.org. Retrieved August 27, 2017.
Share this article:

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Clarke_County,_Georgia, and is written by contributors. Text is available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 International License; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.