Pickens County, Georgia

{{Infobox U.S. county

| county = Pickens County

| state = Georgia

| flag = Flag of Pickens County, Georgia.png

| flag size = 111px

| seal = Seal of Pickens County, Georgia.png

| seal size = 86px

| founded year = {{start date and age|1853}}

| founded date = December 5

| seat wl = Jasper

| largest city wl = Jasper

| area_total_sq_mi = 233

| area_land_sq_mi = 232

| area_water_sq_mi = 0.7

| area percentage = 0.3%

| census yr = 2020

| pop = 33216

| density_sq_mi = 143

| time zone = Eastern

| footnotes =

| web = http://pickenscountyga.gov/

| named for = Andrew Pickens

| ex image = Pickens County Courthouse, Georgia 2015.JPG

| ex image cap = Pickens County Courthouse, Jasper

| district = 9th

| district2 = 14th

}}

Pickens County is a county in the Northwest region of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 33,216.{{cite web|title=Census - Geography Profile: Pickens County, Georgia|url=https://data.census.gov/profile/Pickens_County,_Georgia?g=0500000US13227|publisher=United States Census Bureau|access-date=December 28, 2022}} The county seat is Jasper.{{cite web|url=http://www.naco.org/Counties/Pages/FindACounty.aspx|access-date=June 7, 2011|title=Find a County|publisher=National Association of Counties}} Pickens County is part of the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, Georgia metropolitan statistical area.

History

The Georgia General Assembly passed an act on December 5, 1853, to create Pickens County from portions of Cherokee and Gilmer Counties.{{cite web|url=http://georgia.gov/cities-counties/pickens-county|title=Pickens County|access-date=June 28, 2014}} Pickens received several more land additions from Cherokee (1869) and Gilmer Counties (1858 and 1863); however, several sections of Pickens County have also been transferred to other counties: Dawson County (1857), Gordon County (1860), and Cherokee County (1870).

Pickens County is named for American Revolutionary War General Andrew Pickens.{{cite book | url=http://www.kenkrakow.com/gpn/p.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030917122451/http://www.kenkrakow.com/gpn/p.pdf |archive-date=September 17, 2003 |url-status=live| title=Georgia Place-Names: Their History and Origins | publisher=Winship Press | author=Krakow, Kenneth K. | year=1975 | location=Macon, GA | pages=175 | isbn=0-915430-00-2}}

During the Civil War, Company D of the 1st Georgia Infantry Battalion of the Union Army was raised in Pickens County.

Most of Pickens County's early industry revolved around marble. Georgia Marble Company is located in Marble Hill near Tate. The Tate elementary school is built out of marble. The marble was also used to make the statue of Abraham Lincoln in the Lincoln Memorial. Most of the marble is white, but Pickens County is one of the few places in the world where pink marble is found. The marble is also used for tombstones for the United States military.

Pickens County has seen very rapid growth with the building of Georgia State Route 515, locally referred to as the "four-lane". Many new businesses and residents continue to move to Pickens County.{{citation needed|date=July 2020}}

Pickens County is home the Georgia Marble Festival.

Geography

File:Sharp Top Mountain, Pickens County, Georgia.JPG

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of {{convert|233|sqmi}}, of which {{convert|232|sqmi}} are land and {{convert|0.7|sqmi}} (0.3%) is covered by water.{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/geographies/reference-files/time-series/geo/gazetteer-files.html|publisher=United States Census Bureau|access-date=April 23, 2011|date=February 12, 2011|title=US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990}}

The county is located in the Blue Ridge Mountains. The highest point in Pickens County is the 3,288-ft summit of Mount Oglethorpe, the southernmost peak in the Blue Ridge Mountains, and for a number of years, the southern terminus of the Appalachian Trail. Other notable peaks in Pickens County include Sharp Top Mountain and Sharp Mountain. One of the best viewpoints of Sharp Top Mountain is from Grandview Lake Dam on Grandview Road.

The eastern half of Pickens County is located in the Etowah River subbasin of the ACT River Basin (Coosa-Tallapoosa River Basin). The western half of the county is located in the Coosawattee River sub-basin of the same larger ACT River Basin.{{cite web |url=http://www.gaswcc.org/maps/ |title=Georgia Soil and Water Conservation Commission Interactive Mapping Experience |publisher=Georgia Soil and Water Conservation Commission |access-date=November 19, 2015}}

=Adjacent counties=

Gilmer County - north
Dawson County - east
Cherokee County - south
Bartow County - southwest
Gordon County - west

Communities

=Cities=

Jasper
Nelson (partially in Cherokee County)

=Town=

Talking Rock

=Unincorporated communities=

=Private communities=

A significant portion of the county population resides in gated master-planned communities that function similar to a municipality, with HOA fees to provide many municipal-type services independently from the county government.

Bent Tree{{Cite web|url=https://www.benttree.com/Community/|title=Bent Tree | North Georgia Mountains Real Estate Properties | 18-Hole Golf Course, Year-Round Tennis, and 110-Acre Lake | Buildable Real Estate Lots for Sale in Bent Tree. | Bent Tree Community|website=www.benttree.com}}
Big Canoe (partially in Dawson County)
The Preserve at Sharp Mountain

Demographics

{{US Census population

| 1860 = 4951

| 1870 = 5317

| 1880 = 6790

| 1890 = 8182

| 1900 = 8641

| 1910 = 9041

| 1920 = 8222

| 1930 = 9687

| 1940 = 9136

| 1950 = 8855

| 1960 = 8903

| 1970 = 9620

| 1980 = 11652

| 1990 = 14432

| 2000 = 22983

| 2010 = 29431

| 2020 = 33216

| estyear = 2024

| estimate = 37113

| estref = {{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/data/tables.html|title=Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for Counties: April 1, 2020 to July 1, 2023|publisher=United States Census Bureau|access-date=March 31, 2024}}

| align-fn = center

| footnote = U.S. Decennial Census{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census/decade.html|title=Decennial Census of Population and Housing by Decades|publisher=United States Census Bureau|access-date=}}
1790-1880{{Cite web|first= |last= |authorlink= |title= 1880 Census Population by Counties 1790-1800 |publisher=United States Census Bureau|date= 1880|url=https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/decennial/1880/vol-01-population/1880_v1-08.pdf|accessdate=|archive-url=| archive-date=|page=}} 1890-1910{{Cite web|first= |last= |authorlink= |title= 1910 Census of Population - Georgia |publisher=United States Census Bureau|date= 1910|url=https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/decennial/1910/abstract/supplement-ga.pdf |accessdate=|archive-url=| archive-date=|page=}}
1920-1930{{Cite web|first= |last= |authorlink= |title= 1930 Census of Population - Georgia |publisher=United States Census Bureau|date= 1930|url=https://www2.census.gov/prod2/decennial/documents/03815512v1ch04.pdf |accessdate=|archive-url=| archive-date=|page=}} 1930-1940{{Cite web|first= |last= |authorlink= |title= 1940 Census of Population - Georgia |publisher=United States Census Bureau|date= 1940|url=https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/decennial/1940/population-volume-1/33973538v1ch04.pdf |accessdate=|archive-url=| archive-date=}}
1940-1950{{Cite web|first= |last= |authorlink= |title= 1950 Census of Population - Georgia - |publisher=United States Census Bureau|date= 1950|url=https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/decennial/1950/population-volume-2/37779083v2p11ch2.pdf |accessdate=|archive-url=| archive-date=}} 1960-1980{{Cite web|first= |last= |authorlink= |title= 1980 Census of Population - Number of Inhabitants - Georgia |publisher=United States Census Bureau|date= 1980|url=https://www2.census.gov/prod2/decennial/documents/1980a_gaABC-01.pdf|accessdate=|archive-url=| archive-date=}}
1980-2000{{Cite web|first= |last= |authorlink= |title= 2000 Census of Population - Population and Housing Unit Counts - Georgia |publisher=United States Census Bureau|date= 2000|url=https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/2003/dec/phc-3-12.pdf |accessdate=|archive-url=| archive-date=}} 2010{{cite web|title=State & County QuickFacts|url=http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/13/13227.html|publisher=United States Census Bureau|access-date=February 18, 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110607132215/http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/13/13227.html|archive-date=June 7, 2011}}

}}

class="wikitable"

|+Pickens County racial composition as of 2020{{Cite web|title=Explore Census Data|url=https://data.census.gov/cedsci/table?g=0500000US13227&tid=DECENNIALPL2020.P2|access-date=December 14, 2021|website=data.census.gov}}

!Race

!Num.

!Perc.

White (non-Hispanic)

|31,468

|94.11%

Black or African American (non-Hispanic)

|176

|0.53%

Native American

|65

|0.19%

Asian

|103

|0.31%

Pacific Islander

|20

|0.06%

Other/Mixed

|1,521

|4.55%

Hispanic or Latino

|1,198

|3.61%

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 33,216 people, 11,868 households, and 8,539 families residing in the county.

Politics

Politically, Pickens County is an outlier in Georgia, one of the few ancestrally Republican counties of the state, due to Unionist sentiment in the county during the American Civil War.

{{PresHead|place=Pickens County, Georgia|source={{Cite web|url=http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS|title=Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections|last=Leip|first=David|website=uselectionatlas.org|access-date=March 22, 2018}}}}

Transportation

=Major highways=

23px Interstate 575
20px State Route 5
20px State Route 53
20px State Route 53 Business
23px State Route 108
23px State Route 136
23px State Route 136 Connector
23px State Route 372
23px State Route 417 (unsigned designation for I-575)
23px State Route 515

Education

Notable residents

Farish Carter Tate, U.S. congressman
John Bozeman, frontiersman; co-founder of Bozeman, Montana
Chandler Smith, professional racecar driver

References

;General

;Specific

The weekly newspaper for Pickens County is the [http://www.pickensprogress.com Pickens Progress], a family-owned newspaper published since 1887 in Jasper.

[http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?path=/CitiesCounties/Counties&id=h-2377 Encyclopedia of Georgia Pickens County article]
[https://web.archive.org/web/20060424065720/http://www.cviog.uga.edu/Projects/gainfo/courthouses/pickensCH.htm GeorgiaInfo Pickens County Courthouse info]