This list presents the full chronology of land acquisition and parish and county creation in the Georgia Coastal Plain region between 1733 and 1932. The counties included in this list include only those south of the Fall Line, running from present-day Augusta to Macon to Columbus (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 Piedmont.
The following list was created as a part of my "South Georgia Roots" genealogy page, including ancestors of the Worth, Winn, Solomon, and Lott families of Coffee County, Georgia.
The first Creek land cession to Georgia founder James Edward Oglethorpe formally recognizes English colonial proprietorship of the coastal region south of the new city of Savannah, extending inland along the Savannah River to the Fall Line; original coastal lands were situated between the Savannah and Altamaha Rivers directly within the disputed zone between English South Carolina (Charleston) and Spanish Florida (St. Augustine). For more information on the early European colonial era in this same region, see my Georgia Before Oglethorpe page.
With the 1736 establishment of a string of English fortifications and settlements south from Savannah to the mouth of the St. Johns River (present-day Jacksonville), James Oglethorpe takes effective military control of the former Spanish regions of the Georgia coast. Open warfare between Spain and England after 1739 eventually ends with the 1742 "Battle of Bloody Marsh" on St. Simons Island, in which Spanish attempts to regain control of the Georgia coast were permanently vanquished.
Original Georgia lands are reorganized to form a series of parishes, including the Coastal Plain parishes of CHRIST CHURCH, ST. ANDREW, ST. JAMES, ST. JOHN, ST. GEORGE, ST. MATTHEW, and ST. PHILIP Parishes (and the Fall Line parish of ST. PAUL at present-day Augusta).
ST. DAVID, ST. MARY, ST. PATRICK, and ST. THOMAS Parishes created along the southern Georgia coast between the Altamaha and St. Marys Rivers from the Creek land cession of November 10, 1763; Georgia now extends between its present-day boundaries of the Savannah and St. Marys Rivers, including a total of 12 parishes.
All of Georgia's original parishes are converted into counties; BURKE County created from St. George Parish south of the Fall Line zone along the Savannah River, CAMDEN County created from St. Thomas and St. Mary Parishes on the southernmost Georgia coast, CHATHAM County created from Christ Church Parish and a portion of St. Phillip Parish along the northernmost Georgia coast, EFFINGHAM County created from St. Matthew Parish and a portion of St. Phillip Parish along the inland portion of the Savannah River, GLYNN County created from St. David and St. Patrick Parishes along the middle Georgia coast, and LIBERTY County created from St. John, St. Andrew, and St. James Parish, also along the middle Georgia coast.
WASHINGTON County created from the Creek land cession of November 1, 1783, extending from the Coastal Plain and well into the Piedmont; Georgia now extends from its original Savannah River lands westward to the Oconee River.
SCREVEN County created from portions of Burke and Effingham Counties along the Savannah River.
BRYAN and McINTOSH Counties created along the coast as subdivisions of Chatham and Liberty Counties, respectively; MONTGOMERY County created from the Coastal Plain portion of Washington County along the Oconee and Altamaha Rivers.
BULLOCH County created from portions of Bryan and Screven Counties.
JEFFERSON County created from portions of Burke and Warren Counties along the Fall Line.
TATTNALL County created from the southern portion of Montgomery County along the Altamaha River.
WAYNE County created along the eastern side of the Okefenokee Swamp from the Creek land cession of June 16, 1802; WILKINSON County created between the Oconee and Ocmulgee Rivers from this same cession and another dated November 14, 1805; with the distribution of these lands in the 1805 Land Lottery, Georgia now extends west to the Ocmulgee River.
LAURENS and TELFAIR Counties created from the southernmost portions of Wilkinson County.
PULASKI County created from the western portion of Laurens County.
TWIGGS County created from the western portion of remaining Wilkinson County.
EMANUEL County created from portions of Bulloch and Montgomery Counties.
APPLING, EARLY, and IRWIN Counties created from the massive Creek land cession of August 9, 1814 and January 22, 1818 following the Creek War; with the distribution of these lands in the 1820 Land Lottery, Georgia now extends across the entire southernmost Coastal Plain to the lower Chattahoochee River, bordering Spanish Florida to the south.
DOOLY and HOUSTON Counties created from the southern portions of the Creek land cession of January 8, 1821; with the distribution of these lands in the 1821 Land Lottery, Georgia now extends west to the Flint River along the Fall Line.
BIBB County is created from portions of Houston, Jones, Monroe, and Twiggs County along the Fall Line; CRAWFORD County is created to the immediate west along the Fall Line from portions of Houston County.
DECATUR County is created from southern portions of Early County.
WARE County is created from southern portions of Appling County.
BAKER County is created from portions of Early County.
LOWNDES County is created from southern portions of Irwin County; THOMAS County is created from portions of Decatur and Irwin Counties.
LEE and MUSCOGEE Counties are created from southern portions of the final Creek land cession of January 24 and March 31, 1826; with the distribution of these lands in the 1827 Land Lottery, Georgia now extends west to the Chattahoochee River along the Fall Line.
MARION County created from portions of Lee and Muscogee Counties along the Fall Line.
RANDOLPH County created from western portions of Lee County along the Chattahoochee River.
STEWART County created from northern portions of Randolph County.
SUMTER County created from northern portions of remaining Lee County.
MACON County created along the Flint River from portions of Houston and Marion Counties.
CLINCH County created from portions of Lowndes and Ware Counties along the Florida border.
TAYLOR County created from portions of Macon, Marion, and Talbot Counties along the Fall Line.
DOUGHERTY County created from northern portions of Baker County.
KINCHAFOONEE County created from western portions of Stewart County; renamed WEBSTER County on February 21, 1856.
WORTH County created from portions of Dooly and Irwin Counties.
COFFEE County created from portions of Clinch, Irwin, Telfair, and Ware Counties.
CHATTAHOOCHEE County created from portions of Marion and Muscogee Counties.
CLAY County created from portions of Early and Randolph Counties.
CHARLTON County created from western portions of Camden County.
CALHOUN County created from portions of Baker and Early Counties.
TERRELL County created from portions of Lee and Randolph Counties.
BERRIEN County created from portions of Coffee, Irwin, and Lowndes Counties; COLQUITT County created from portions of Lowndes and Thomas Counties; MILLER County created from portions of Baker and Early Counties.
PIERCE County created from portions of Appling and Ware Counties.
MITCHELL County created from portions of Baker County.
SCHLEY County created from portions of Marion and Sumpter Counties; WILCOX County created from portions of Dooly, Irwin, and Pulaski Counties.
QUITMAN County created from portions of Randolph and Stewart Counties.
BROOKS County created from portions of Lowndes and Thomas Counties; JOHNSON County created from portions of Emanuel, Laurens, and Washington Counties.
ECHOLS County created from portions of Clinch and Lowndes Counties.
DODGE County created from portions of Montgomery, Pulaski, and Telfair Counties.
CRISP County created from the southern portion of Dooly County; GRADY County created from portions of Decatur and Thomas Counties; JENKINS County created from portions of Bullock, Burke, Emanuel, and Screven Counties; TIFT County created from portions of Berrien, Irwin, and Worth Counties.
JEFF DAVIS County created from portions of Appling and Coffee Counties; TOOMBS County created from portions of Emanuel, Montgomery, and Tattnall Counties; TURNER County created from portions of Dooly, Irwin, Wilcox, and Worth Counties.
BEN HILL County created from portions of Irwin and Wilcox Counties.
BLECKLEY County created from portions of Pulaski County.
CRISP County created from the southern portion of Dooly County; GRADY County created from portions of Decatur and Thomas Counties; JENKINS County created from portions of Bullock, Burke, Emanuel, and Screven Counties; TIFT County created from portions of Berrien, Irwin, and Worth Counties.
JEFF DAVIS County created from portions of Appling and Coffee Counties; TOOMBS County Created from portions of Emanuel, Montgomery, and Tattnall Counties; TURNER County created from portions of Dooly, Irwin, Wilcox, and Worth Counties.
BEN HILL County created from portions of Irwin and Wilcox Counties.
BLECKLEY County created from portions of Pulaski County.
WHEELER County created from portions of Montgomery County.
CANDLER County created from portions of Bulloch, Emanuel, and Tattnall Counties.
BACON County created from portions of Appling, Pierce, and Ware Counties.
EVANS County created from portions of Bulloch and Tattnall Counties.
ATKINSON County created from portions of Clinch and Coffee Counties.
TREUTLEN County created from portions of Emanuel and Montgomery Counties.
COOK County created from portions of Berrien County.
SEMINOLE County created from portions of Decatur and Early Counties.
LANIER County created from portions of Berrien, Clinch, and Lowndes Counties.
BRANTLEY County created from portions of Charlton, Pierce, and Wayne Counties; LONG County created from portions of Liberty County.
PEACH County created from portions of Houston and Macon Counties along the Fall Line.
Return to South Georgia Roots page.
Don't forget to visit my other genealogy site Piedmont Georgia Roots.
© 1999 John Worth
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