The river shoals at Tuscaloosa represented the southernmost site on the
river which could be forded under most conditions. This site of the future
City of Tuscaloosa on the "Fall Line" of the Black Warrior River had long
been well known to the various Indian tribes whose shifting fortunes brought
them to West Alabama. The pace of white settlement increased greatly after
the War of 1812, and a small assortment of log cabins soon arose near the
large Creek Indian village at the Fall Line of the river.
more...
The following is a history written
in 1930. It is interesting for the history it presents as well as the
insight it provides into the perspectives the people of that time had.
more...
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. more...
The land that would form Effingham County was ceded to
the English by the Creeks in the
Treaty of Savannah on May 21, 1733, confirmed and expanded by
agreements of 1735 and 1736. By an
act of
March 15, 1758, the colonial legislature created seven parishes. The
area of present-day Effingham County primarily fell in St. Matthews
Parish, which stretched along the Savannah River north of Savannah. With
the outbreak of the American Revolution, Whig forces took control of
government in Georgia. On Feb. 5, 1777,
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Henry County was created on May 15, 1821 by an act of the
General Assembly (Ga. Laws 1821 Extra. Session, p. 3). [Click
here to read the legal description of Henry County's original
boundaries.] Dooly, Houston, Monroe, Fayette, and Henry County were
created in that order by the
Georgia
Land Lottery Act of 1821, which was enacted at a special session of
the General Assembly four months after the Creek Indians ceded lands
between the Ocmulgee and Flint rivers on Jan. 8, 1821 in the first
Treaty of Indian Springs. Henry County was
more...
Irwin County was one of seven counties created on Dec.
15, 1818, by an act of the General Assembly (Ga. Laws 1818, p. 27).
[Click
here for a legal description of Irwin County's original boundaries.]
Irwin, Appling, and Early counties extended across south Georgia and
were created from Creek lands acquired in 1814 by the
Treaty of Fort Jackson.
Irwin, Appling, and Early counties were organized by
an act of Dec. 21, 1819, which provided for election of county officials
in each county. more...
Established in 1811. Named for James Madison, who was
President at the time.
Botanist William Bartram accompanied the men who
surveyed the boundary of 1773 land secession from which part of the
county of Madison would eventually be formed. Although the land did have
earlier settlers, his descriptions provide one of the earliest written
descriptions of this county. more...
The 1793 act creating Montgomery County provided the
court sessions be held at the residence of William Neal until a
courthouse and jail could be erected. A 1797 act provided that the
courthouse, jail, and other county business be held at the plantation of
Arthur Lott. How long Lott's plantation home served as courthouse is not
known. In 1813, the legislature designated Mt. Vernon as county seat,
and at some point a courthouse was built. Likely, it was a small frame
building, for in 1836 the legislature authorized the clerks of superior
and inferior court to keep their offices at any place within one mile of
the courthouse more...
Moultrie is a peaceful city
of beautiful landscapes, huge sprawling oak trees and stately homes.
Attractive vistas begin at the heart of Moultrie in the downtown square,
where our turn-of-the-century Court House stands, framed by huge
magnolia trees. In outlying areas of the county, you'll find vast
farmlands and rolling acreage to wander and enjoy. You'll be transported
through time, back to 1539 when the Spanish explorer DeSoto first
ventured down the Ochlocknee River through the lush pine forest of
southwest Georgia.
This very region became Colquitt County, the 115th county in the state,
by an act of the Georgia Legislature on February 25, 1856. The County
was named in honor of Walter T. Colquitt, a minister, statesman and
lawyer who was admired as a military leader in the mid-1860's
more...
The act creating Berrien County
authorized the county's inferior court to contract for construction of a
courthouse and other public buildings (Ga. Laws 1855-56, p. 112).
Reportedly, a log schoolhouse served as the county's temporary
courthouse until a two-story wooden structure was built in 1858. That
structure served until the present two-story brick courthouse was built
in 1898.
Berrien County was created on Feb. 25, 1856 by an act
of the General Assembly (Ga. Laws 1855-56, p. 112). Georgia's 116th
county was created from portions of Coffee, Irwin, and Lowndes counties.
Cook County was created from Berrien County in 1918.
more..
Pulaski County was originally the capital of the Creek
Indian Confederacy. Attracted by the lush countryside and abundant
wildlife, the area was home to the Creeks until the turn of the
nineteenth century when treaties declared the land American territory.
Located on the banks of the Ocmulgee
River, the town quickly became a thriving trading post for Indians who
lived to the west. General Andrew Jackson camped here with his army
troops on the way to fight the Seminoles in Florida. In memory of the
famous general, a large boulder with a bronze tablet bearing the
inscription, "General Jackson's Trail 1818," can be seen on what is now
the corner more..
Telfair County was created from Wilkinson County by an
act of the General Assembly approved Dec. 10, 1807 (Ga. Laws 1807, p.
37). Georgia's 35th county was named for former governor and congressman
Edward Telfair (1735-1807).
In 1812, the legislature transferred the portion of
Telfair County between the Oconee and Little Ocmulgee rivers to
Montgomery County. In 1819 and 1825, the legislature transferred
respectively land lots 1 and 6 in Appling County to Telfair County (Ga.
Laws 1819, p. 45 and 1825, p. 61). These transfers gave Telfair a
substantial area of land south of the Ocmulgee River.
more..
The Seminole and Creek Indians were
the first settlers in what would later become Lowndes County. The
county's first "visitors" were Hernando de Soto and his band of
explorers, who passed through the area in 1540. In 1821, Lowndes County
was created by dividing Irwin County into two parts. A state land
lottery in 1820 opened the area for settlers, and five years later, on
December 23, 1825, Lowndes County was officially created by legislative
act.
In 1821 four settlers moved to that section of Georgia
which is now known as Lowndes County. Sections to the north had been
settled and several counties had been laid off. The country into which
these four settlers moved their families was a wilderness and Indians
were numerous. more..
