Dodge County was created on Oct. 26, 1870 by an act of the General
Assembly (Ga. Laws 1870, p. 18). Formed from portions of Montgomery,
Pulaski, and Telfair counties, Dodge County's original boundaries were
defined as:
That there shall be a new county laid out and formed of the thirteenth,
(13th) fourteenth, (14th) fifteenth, (15th) sixteenth, (16th) nineteenth
(19th) and twentieth (20th) land districts of originally Wilkinson county,
(except that portion of said land districts numbers thirteen, (13) sixteen
(16) and nineteen (19) which now lie in and constitute a part of Laurens
county) now forming parts of the counties of Pulaski, Telfair and
Montgomery; that said new county shall be called the county of Dodge. . .
.
Dodge County's borders with Pulaski and Telfair counties were adjusted in
1872, 1874, 1875, and 1876.
Georgia's 136th county was named for former New York congressman and
industrialist
William Dodge (1805-1883). After the Civil War, Dodge served one term in
Congress and then began purchasing large amounts of land in the area that
would become Dodge County. Here, he established a number of lumber mills and
is credited as one of the pioneers of Georgia's timber industry.
County Seat: The act
creating Dodge County directed that its county seat would be station No. 13
on the Macon & Brunswick Railroad, which the act also recognized as being
known as Eastman. The community that would eventually become Eastman was
first settled around 1840. When the route of the Macon & Brunswick Railroad
came through after the Civil War, the settlement became a train depot known
as Station No. 13. In 1870, the town was named for William P. Eastman, a
business associate of William Dodge who settled here that year. Eastman was
incorporated on Oct. 27, 1870 by an act of the General Assembly (Ga. Laws
1870, p. 187).
