This list presents the full chronology of land acquisition and county creation in the Georgia Piedmont region between 1758 and 1932. The counties included in this list include only those north of the Fall Line (running from present-day Augusta to Macon to Columbus), and south of original Cherokee County (distributed in the 1832 Land Lottery) and the mountain counties of Rabun, Habersham, and Hall (see a closeup map of the precise area covered by this list). The information was extracted from several publications by Georgia Surveyor General Marion R. Hemperley, including his 1980 pamphlet "Handbook of Georgia Counties" and the Georgia map of "Original and 1895 Counties and Land Lot Districts" available at the Georgia Department of Archives and History in Atlanta (from which the accompanying map was derived). For those interested, I have also created a Chronology of County Creation in the Georgia Coastal Plain.
The following list was created as a part of my "Piedmont Georgia Roots" genealogy page, including ancestors of the Williamson, Duke, Bagwell, and Evans families of Heard and Spalding Counties.
The original Creek land cession to Georgia founder James Edward Oglethorpe formally recognizes English colonial proprietorship of lands extending up the west side of the Savannah River (the border of South Carolina) to the Fall Line region and into the Piedmont.
Original Georgia lands are reorganized to form a series of parishes, including ST. PAUL Parish in the lower Piedmont region west of the Savannah River around present-day Augusta.
RICHMOND County created from the old St. Paul Parish; WILKES County also created just to the north along the Savannah River from Cherokee/Creek land cession of June 1, 1773.
FRANKLIN and WASHINGTON Counties created on Georgia's northern and western frontier from Cherokee land cession of May 31, 1783 and Creek land cession of November 1, 1783; Georgia now extends from the Savannah River on the east to the Oconee River on the west.
GREENE County created from the northern Piedmont portion of Washington County.
COLUMBIA County created from part of Richmond County; ELBERT County created from part of Wilkes County.
HANCOCK County created from portions of Greene and Washington Counties.
WARREN County created from portions of Columbia, Hancock, Richmond, and Wilkes Counties; OGLETHORPE County created from part of Wilkes County.
JACKSON County created from part of Franklin County.
LINCOLN County created from part of Wilkes County.
CLARKE County created from part of Jackson County.
BALDWIN and WILKINSON Counties created from Creek land cessions of June 16, 1802 and November 14, 1805; with the distribution of this land in the 1807 Land Lottery, Georgia now extends west to the Ocmulgee River.
JONES, MORGAN, PUTNAM, and original RANDOLPH (later Jasper) Counties created from portions of original Baldwin County.
MADISON County created from portions of Clarke, Elbert, Franklin, Jackson, and Oglethorpe Counties.
JASPER County created from old Randolph County (renamed).
GWINNETT and WALTON Counties created from Cherokee land cession of July 8, 1817 and Creek cession of January 22, 1818.
FAYETTE, HENRY, HOUSTON, and MONROE Counties created from Creek land cession of January 8, 1821; with the distribution of this land in the 1821 Land Lottery, Georgia now extends west to the Flint River.
NEWTON County created from portions of Henry, Jasper, and Walton Counties.
BIBB County created from portions of Houston, Jones, Monroe, and Twiggs Counties; CRAWFORD County created from part of Houston County; DEKALB County created from portions of Fayette, Gwinnett, and Henry Counties; PIKE County created from part of Monroe County.
UPSON County created from portions of Crawford and Pike Counties
BUTTS County created from portions of Henry and Monroe Counties; TALIAFERRO County created from portions of Greene, Hancock, Oglethorpe, Warren, and Wilkes Counties.
CARROLL, COWETA, MUSCOGEE, and TROUP Counties created from Creek land cessions of January 24, 1826, March 31, 1826, and November 15, 1827; with the distribution of this land in the 1827 Land Lottery, Georgia now extends west to its present Piedmont boundary at the Chattahoochee River and beyond.
HARRIS County created from portions of Muscogee and Troup Counties. MARION County created from portions of Lee and Muscogee Counties; MERIWETHER and TALBOT Counties created from part of Troup County.
CAMPBELL County created from portions of Coweta, Carroll, DeKalb, and Fayette Counties.
HEARD County created from portions of Carroll, Coweta, and Troup Counties.
MACON County created from portions of Houston and Marion Counties.
SPALDING County created from portions of Fayette, Henry, and Pike Counties.
TAYLOR County created from portions of Macon, Marion, and Talbot Counties.
FULTON County created from part of DeKalb County.
CHATTAHOOCHEE County created from portions of Marion and Muscogee Counties.
HARALSON County created from portions of Carroll and Polk Counties.
GLASCOCK County created from part of Warren County.
CLAYTON County created from portions of Fayette and Henry Counties.
BANKS County created from portions of Franklin and Habersham Counties.
DOUGLAS County created from portions of Campbell and Carroll Counties.
MCDUFFIE County created from portions of Columbia and Warren Counties; ROCKDALE County created from portions of Henry and Newton Counties.
OCONEE County created from part of Clarke County.
STEPHENS County created from portions of Franklin and Habersham Counties.
BARROW County created from portions of Gwinnett, Jackson, and Walton Counties.
LAMAR County created from portions of Monroe and Pike Counties.
PEACH County created from portions of Houston and Macon Counties.
FULTON County absorbs old Campbell and Milton Counties.
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South Georgia Roots.© 1998, 1999 John Worth
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