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Wilkes County, Georgia

Coordinates: 33°47′N 82°44′W / 33.79°N 82.74°W / 33.79; -82.74
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Wilkes County
County
Wilkes County Courthouse
Wilkes County Courthouse
Map of Georgia highlighting Wilkes County
Location within the U.S. state of Georgia
Map of the United States highlighting Georgia
Georgia's location within the U.S.
Coordinates: 33°47′N 82°44′W / 33.79°N 82.74°W / 33.79; -82.74
Country United States
State Georgia
FoundedFebruary 5, 1777; 247 years ago (1777)
Named forJohn Wilkes
SeatWashington
Largest cityWashington
Area
 • Total
474 sq mi (1,230 km2)
 • Land469 sq mi (1,210 km2)
 • Water4.6 sq mi (12 km2)  1.0%
Population
 (2020)
 • Total
9,565
 • Density20/sq mi (8/km2)
Time zoneUTC−5 (Eastern)
 • Summer (DST)UTC−4 (EDT)
Congressional districts10th, 12th
Websitewww.washingtonwilkes.org

Wilkes County is a county located in the east central portion of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 9,565.[1] The county seat is the city of Washington.[2]

Referred to as "Washington-Wilkes", the county seat and county are commonly treated as a single entity by locals, including the area's historical society[3] and the Chamber of Commerce.[4] It is part of the Central Savannah River Area (CSRA).

History

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Wilkes County, named for British politician and supporter of American independence, John Wilkes, is considered Georgia's first county established by European Americans; it was the first of eight original counties created in the first state constitution on February 5, 1777. The other seven counties were organized from existing colonial parishes.

Wilkes was unique in being made up of land ceded in 1773 by the indigenous Creek and Cherokee Native American nations in their respective Treaties of Augusta.[5] Its location was unique due to its close proximity to the Atlantic seaboard fall line.

Between 1790 and 1854, Wilkes County's area was reduced as it was divided to organize new counties following the growth of population in the area. The Georgia legislature formed the counties of Elbert, Oglethorpe, and Lincoln entirely from portions of Wilkes County. Wilkes also contributed part of the lands used in the creation of Madison, Warren, Taliaferro, Hart, McDuffie, and Greene Counties.[6]

Wilkes County was the site of one of the most important battles of the American Revolutionary War to be fought in Georgia. During the Battle of Kettle Creek in 1779, the American Patriot forces were victorious over British Loyalists.[7]

During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, colonists depended on enslaved African-American workers and whites to clear land, develop plantations, and cultivate and process cotton in this area. Long-staple cotton would not grow in this upland areas and short-staple cotton was originally too labor-intensive to be profitable.

In 1793, American Eli Whitney perfected his revolutionary invention of the cotton gin at Mount Pleasant, a cotton plantation east of Washington. It allowed mechanization of the processing of short-staple cotton, making its cultivation profitable in the upland areas. As a result, there was a dramatic increase in the development of new cotton plantations throughout the Deep South to cultivate short-staple cotton.

Settlers increased pressure on the federal government to remove Native Americans from the region, including the Five Civilized Tribes from the Southeast. In 1794, Revolutionary War veteran Elijah Clarke, led a group of men from Wilkes County into traditionally Creek lands and established a town and several forts and called it the Trans-Oconee Republic.[8] While short lived, the incursion was part of a broader movement of incursion into traditionally native lands. Congress passed the Indian Removal Act in 1830 and the government forcibly removed most of the members of these tribes to Indian Territory west of the Mississippi River.

Production of short-staple cotton in the Deep South soon superseded that of long-staple cotton, grown primarily on the Sea Islands and in the Low Country.[9] Such expansion dramatically increased the demand for slave labor in the Deep South, resulting in a longstanding domestic slave trade that transported more than a million slaves in forced migrations from the Upper South. King Cotton brought great wealth to many planters in the decades before the Civil War.

None of the battles of the American Civil War was fought in or near Wilkes County. But here President Jefferson Davis met for the final time with the Confederate Cabinet, and they officially dissolved the government of the Confederate States of America.[10] Wilkes County was the last-known location of the gold rumored to have been lost from the Confederate Treasury.[11][12] The present-day Wilkes County Courthouse was built in Washington at the site of the cabinet meeting.

Geography

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According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 474 square miles (1,230 km2), of which 469 square miles (1,210 km2) is land and 4.6 square miles (12 km2) (1.0%) is water.[13] It is located in the Piedmont region above the fall line.

The northern quarter of Wilkes County, in a curved line from Rayle through Tignall to the northeastern corner of the county, is located in the Broad River sub-basin of the Savannah River basin. The eastern portion of the county, from Washington east, and bordered to the north and west by the Broad River sub-basin, is located in the Upper Savannah River sub-basin of the larger Savannah River basin. The rest of the county, south of Washington, is located in the Little River sub-basin of the Savannah River basin.[14]

Major highways

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Adjacent counties

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Communities

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City

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Towns

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Demographics

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Changes in agriculture through mechanization, the Great Depression, and a mass migration of African Americans from the area in the mid-20th century have resulted in a decline of population in the rural county since 1930.

Historical population
CensusPop.Note%±
179031,500—
180013,103−58.4%
181014,88713.6%
182017,60718.3%
183014,237−19.1%
184010,148−28.7%
185012,10719.3%
186011,420−5.7%
187011,7963.3%
188015,98535.5%
189018,08113.1%
190020,86615.4%
191023,44112.3%
192024,2103.3%
193015,944−34.1%
194015,084−5.4%
195012,388−17.9%
196010,961−11.5%
197010,184−7.1%
198010,9517.5%
199010,597−3.2%
200010,6870.8%
201010,593−0.9%
20209,565−9.7%
2023 (est.)9,518[15]−0.5%
U.S. Decennial Census[16]
1790-1880[17] 1890-1910[18]
1920-1930[19] 1930-1940[20]
1940-1950[21] 1960-1980[22]
1980-2000[23] 2010[24]
Wilkes County racial composition 2020[25]
Race Num. Perc.
White 4,952 51.77%
Black or African American 3,838 40.13%
Native American 22 0.23%
Asian 59 0.62%
Other/Mixed 295 3.08%
Hispanic or Latino 399 4.17%

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 9,565 people, 3,979 households, and 2,421 families residing in the county.

Politics

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United States presidential election results for Wilkes County, Georgia[26]
Year Republican Democratic Third party(ies)
No.  % No.  % No.  %
2020 2,823 56.11% 2,160 42.93% 48 0.95%
2016 2,572 57.33% 1,848 41.19% 66 1.47%
2012 2,635 55.30% 2,087 43.80% 43 0.90%
2008 2,705 53.46% 2,315 45.75% 40 0.79%
2004 2,490 54.75% 2,028 44.59% 30 0.66%
2000 2,044 50.77% 1,940 48.19% 42 1.04%
1996 1,417 39.51% 1,971 54.96% 198 5.52%
1992 1,535 38.74% 1,955 49.34% 472 11.91%
1988 1,810 53.71% 1,549 45.96% 11 0.33%
1984 1,837 53.67% 1,586 46.33% 0 0.00%
1980 1,212 33.45% 2,350 64.86% 61 1.68%
1976 1,067 30.24% 2,461 69.76% 0 0.00%
1972 2,195 77.26% 646 22.74% 0 0.00%
1968 873 24.70% 953 26.96% 1,709 48.35%
1964 1,652 53.48% 1,437 46.52% 0 0.00%
1960 395 18.11% 1,786 81.89% 0 0.00%
1956 304 15.06% 1,714 84.94% 0 0.00%
1952 286 16.01% 1,500 83.99% 0 0.00%
1948 95 7.84% 771 63.61% 346 28.55%
1944 159 14.39% 946 85.61% 0 0.00%
1940 123 10.68% 1,022 88.72% 7 0.61%
1936 78 6.95% 1,031 91.89% 13 1.16%
1932 42 3.43% 1,172 95.75% 10 0.82%
1928 798 51.65% 747 48.35% 0 0.00%
1924 44 4.09% 836 77.77% 195 18.14%
1920 12 1.35% 876 98.65% 0 0.00%
1916 52 6.09% 785 91.92% 17 1.99%
1912 66 9.09% 657 90.50% 3 0.41%

Notable people

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Census - Geography Profile: Wilkes County, Georgia". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved December 29, 2022.
  2. ^ "Find a County". National Association of Counties. Retrieved June 7, 2011.
  3. ^ Foundation, The Washington-Wilkes Historical. "The Washington-Wilkes Historical Foundation". www.historyofwilkes.org. Retrieved August 11, 2018.
  4. ^ "Home - Washington-Wilkes Chamber of Commerce, GA". www.washingtonwilkes.org. Retrieved August 11, 2018.
  5. ^ "County of Wilkes - GeorgiaInfo". georgiainfo.galileo.usg.edu. Retrieved August 11, 2018.
  6. ^ "A Brief History, 1790: A booming area of the state", Washington, Georgia Virtual Tourist, accessed January 13, 2010
  7. ^ "A Brief History, 1779: The Decisive Revolutionary War Battle of Kettle Creek", Washington, Georgia Virtual Tourist, accessed January 13, 2010
  8. ^ Crompton, S. Clarke, Elijah (1742?–January 15, 1799), Georgia patriot. American National Biography. Retrieved March 10, 2022, from https://www-anb-org.wikipedialibrary.idm.oclc.org/view/10.1093/anb/9780198606697.001.0001/anb-9780198606697-e-0200068.
  9. ^ Willingham, Robert. "AN OVERVIEW OF LOCAL HISTORY" Archived February 5, 2010, at the Wayback Machine, Washington-Wilkes Chamber of Commerce, accessed January 13, 2010
  10. ^ "A Brief History, 1865: Last Meeting of the Confederate Cabinet", Washington, Georgia Virtual Tourist, accessed January 13, 2010
  11. ^ "Legend of the Lost Gold of the Confederacy", Washington, Georgia Virtual Tourist, accessed January 13, 2010
  12. ^ Davis, Robert Scott (2002). "The Georgia Odyssey of the Confederate Gold". Georgia Historical Quarterly. 86 (4). Retrieved October 13, 2016.
  13. ^ "US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990". United States Census Bureau. February 12, 2011. Retrieved April 23, 2011.
  14. ^ "Georgia Soil and Water Conservation Commission Interactive Mapping Experience". Georgia Soil and Water Conservation Commission. Retrieved November 19, 2015.
  15. ^ "Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for Counties: April 1, 2020 to July 1, 2023". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved March 31, 2024.
  16. ^ "Decennial Census of Population and Housing by Decade". United States Census Bureau.
  17. ^ "1880 Census Population by Counties 1790-1800" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. 1880.
  18. ^ "1910 Census of Population - Georgia" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. 1910.
  19. ^ "1930 Census of Population - Georgia" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. 1930.
  20. ^ "1940 Census of Population - Georgia" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. 1940.
  21. ^ "1950 Census of Population - Georgia -" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. 1950.
  22. ^ "1980 Census of Population - Number of Inhabitants - Georgia" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. 1980.
  23. ^ "2000 Census of Population - Population and Housing Unit Counts - Georgia" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. 2000.
  24. ^ "State & County QuickFacts". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved June 27, 2014.
  25. ^ "Explore Census Data". data.census.gov. Retrieved December 8, 2021.
  26. ^ Leip, David. "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections". uselectionatlas.org. Retrieved March 24, 2018.
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33°47′N 82°44′W / 33.79°N 82.74°W / 33.79; -82.74

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