Throughout the 1920s, the population of Appling County increased as the county was included in land lotteries by the Georgia General Assembly in 1820, 1821, 1827, and 1832. Large proportions of settlers at this time included South Carolinians and others fromTattnall County, Georgia.[4]
On December15, 1824,Ware County was formed by the Georgia General Assembly from roughly the southern half of Appling land districts 4, 5, and 6, and all of land districts 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, and 13. On December24, 1825, Appling County land district 6 was added toTelfair County by an act of the Georgia General Assembly.[5] This created an ambiguity of the border between Telfair County and Ware County that was later solved by additional legislation.
On December8, 1828,Holmesville, Georgia was declared the county seat by the General Assembly,[6] following over ten years of disagreement by local judges.[4] Previously, court was held at residence of William Carter Jr. In 1836, the General Assembly appointed a seven-member commission to find a location for a more centrally located county seat than Holmesville, but were not able to come to a conclusion. The need for a more central county seat would remain a point of contention in county politics for several decades.
On December18, 1857, the part of Appling County that was south of Lightsey's Ford on Big Creek downstream to theLittle Satilla River was taken from Appling County for the creation ofPierce County.[7]
On August27, 1872, eastern sections of Appling land districts 3 and 4 were added toWayne County.[8] This area included Wayne County's current county seatJesup, Georgia, which became the new county seat of Wayne County in 1873. Also in August 1872, the General Assembly called for an election in Appling County to vote on the removal of the county seat to a point along theMacon and Brunswick Railroad. The residents voted for removal and the town ofBaxley, Georgia was selected as the new county seat after the election. In February 1873, the General Assembly mistakenly passed a law giving county commissioners to sell the public lands in Holmesville so that the proceeds can go to the construction of a new courthouse in Holmesville. It amended the law a year later for the new courthouse location to read Baxley, as had originally been intended.
On August18, 1905,Jeff Davis County was created from western portions of Appling County and eastern portionsCoffee County.[9] On July27, 1914,Bacon County was created from parts of Appling County, Pierce County, and Ware County. The remaining section of Appling County that had been located south ofLittle Satilla River became part of Bacon County.[10]
According to theU.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 512 square miles (1,330 km2), of which 507 square miles (1,310 km2) is land and 5.2 square miles (13 km2) (1.0%) is water.[11]
The southern two-thirds of Appling County, south of a line fromGraham toBaxley, then running due east from Baxley, is located in the LittleSatilla River sub-basin of theSt. Marys River-Satilla River basin. The northern third of the county is located in theAltamaha River sub-basin of the basin by the same name.[12]
As of the2020 census, the county had a population of 18,444. Of the residents, 24.3% were under the age of 18 and 17.9% were 65 years of age or older; the median age was 40.1 years. For every 100 females there were 98.3 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 97.2 males. 29.0% of residents lived in urban areas and 71.0% lived in rural areas.[23][24][25]
There were 7,135 households and 4,875 families residing in the county, of which 31.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them and 29.0% had a female householder with no spouse or partner present. About 27.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.[24]
There were 8,496 housing units, of which 16.0% were vacant. Among occupied housing units, 73.4% were owner-occupied and 26.6% were renter-occupied. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.2% and the rental vacancy rate was 9.7%.[24]
