Pickens County, Georgia | |
|---|---|
 Pickens County Courthouse, Jasper | |
 Flag  Seal | |
 Location within the U.S. state ofGeorgia | |
 Georgia's location within theU.S. | |
| Coordinates:34°28′N84°28′W / 34.46°N 84.46°W /34.46; -84.46 | |
| Country |  United States |
| State |  Georgia |
| Founded | December 5, 1853; 172 years ago (1853) |
| Named after | Andrew Pickens |
| Seat | Jasper |
| Largest city | Jasper |
| Area | |
• Total | 233 sq mi (600 km2) |
| • Land | 232 sq mi (600 km2) |
| • Water | 0.7 sq mi (1.8 km2) 0.3% |
| Population (2020) | |
• Total | 33,216 |
| • Density | 143/sq mi (55/km2) |
| Time zone | UTC−5 (Eastern) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC−4 (EDT) |
| Congressional districts | 9th,14th |
| Website | pickenscountyga |
Pickens County is acounty in theNorthwest region of theU.S. state ofGeorgia. As of the2020 census, the population was 33,216.[1] Thecounty seat isJasper.[2] Pickens County is part of theAtlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, Georgia metropolitan statistical area.
TheGeorgia General Assembly passed an act on December 5, 1853, to create Pickens County from portions ofCherokee andGilmer Counties.[3] Pickens received several more land additions from Cherokee (1869) and Gilmer Counties (1858 and 1863); however, several sections of Pickens County have also been transferred to other counties:Dawson County (1857),Gordon County (1860), and Cherokee County (1870).
Pickens County is named forAmerican Revolutionary WarGeneralAndrew Pickens.[4]
During theCivil War, Company D of the1st Georgia Infantry Battalion of theUnion Army was raised in Pickens County.
Most of Pickens County's early industry revolved around marble.Georgia Marble Company is located in Marble Hill nearTate. The Tate elementary school is built out of marble. The marble was also used to make the statue ofAbraham Lincoln in theLincoln Memorial. Most of the marble is white, but Pickens County is one of the few places in the world where pink marble is found. The marble is also used for tombstones for the United States military.
Pickens County has seen very rapid growth with the building ofGeorgia State Route 515, locally referred to as the "four-lane". Many new businesses and residents continue to move to Pickens County.[citation needed]
Pickens County is home theGeorgia Marble Festival.
According to theU.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 233 square miles (600 km2), of which 232 square miles (600 km2) are land and 0.7 square miles (1.8 km2) (0.3%) is covered by water.[5]
The county is located in theBlue Ridge Mountains. The highest point in Pickens County is the 3,288-ft summit ofMount Oglethorpe, the southernmost peak in the Blue Ridge Mountains, and for a number of years, the southern terminus of the Appalachian Trail. Other notable peaks in Pickens County include Sharp Top Mountain and Sharp Mountain. One of the best viewpoints of Sharp Top Mountain is from Grandview Lake Dam on Grandview Road.
The eastern half of Pickens County is located in theEtowah River subbasin of theACT River Basin (Coosa-Tallapoosa River Basin). The western half of the county is located in theCoosawattee River sub-basin of the same larger ACT River Basin.[6]
A significant portion of the county population resides in gatedmaster-planned communities that function similar to a municipality, withHOA fees to provide many municipal-type services independently from the county government.
| Census | Pop. | Note | %± |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1860 | 4,951 | — | |
| 1870 | 5,317 | 7.4% | |
| 1880 | 6,790 | 27.7% | |
| 1890 | 8,182 | 20.5% | |
| 1900 | 8,641 | 5.6% | |
| 1910 | 9,041 | 4.6% | |
| 1920 | 8,222 | −9.1% | |
| 1930 | 9,687 | 17.8% | |
| 1940 | 9,136 | −5.7% | |
| 1950 | 8,855 | −3.1% | |
| 1960 | 8,903 | 0.5% | |
| 1970 | 9,620 | 8.1% | |
| 1980 | 11,652 | 21.1% | |
| 1990 | 14,432 | 23.9% | |
| 2000 | 22,983 | 59.3% | |
| 2010 | 29,431 | 28.1% | |
| 2020 | 33,216 | 12.9% | |
| 2024 (est.) | 36,580 | [8] | 10.1% |
| U.S. Decennial Census[9] 1790-1880[10] 1890-1910[11] 1920-1930[12] 1930-1940[13] 1940-1950[14] 1960-1980[15] 1980-2000[16] 2010[17] | |||
| Race | Num. | Perc. |
|---|---|---|
| White (non-Hispanic) | 31,468 | 94.11% |
| Black or African American (non-Hispanic) | 176 | 0.53% |
| Native American | 65 | 0.19% |
| Asian | 103 | 0.31% |
| Pacific Islander | 20 | 0.06% |
| Other/Mixed | 1,521 | 4.55% |
| Hispanic orLatino | 1,198 | 3.61% |
As of the2020 United States census, there were 33,216 people, 11,868 households, and 8,539 families residing in the county.
Politically, Pickens County is an outlier in Georgia, one of the few ancestrally Republican counties of the state, due toUnionist sentiment in the county during the American Civil War.
| Year | Republican | Democratic | Third party(ies) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | % | No. | % | No. | % | |
| 1912 | 190 | 20.41% | 324 | 34.80% | 417 | 44.79% |
| 1916 | 344 | 27.28% | 497 | 39.41% | 420 | 33.31% |
| 1920 | 830 | 65.51% | 437 | 34.49% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1924 | 1,149 | 60.25% | 754 | 39.54% | 4 | 0.21% |
| 1928 | 1,319 | 70.84% | 543 | 29.16% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1932 | 743 | 33.54% | 1,472 | 66.46% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1936 | 1,053 | 46.27% | 1,223 | 53.73% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1940 | 884 | 43.76% | 1,124 | 55.64% | 12 | 0.59% |
| 1944 | 795 | 50.48% | 780 | 49.52% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1948 | 1,258 | 46.22% | 1,239 | 45.52% | 225 | 8.27% |
| 1952 | 1,328 | 50.30% | 1,312 | 49.70% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1956 | 2,341 | 65.45% | 1,236 | 34.55% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1960 | 1,943 | 56.88% | 1,473 | 43.12% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1964 | 1,955 | 50.32% | 1,930 | 49.68% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1968 | 1,659 | 44.50% | 677 | 18.16% | 1,392 | 37.34% |
| 1972 | 2,101 | 80.16% | 520 | 19.84% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1976 | 973 | 27.45% | 2,571 | 72.55% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1980 | 1,612 | 39.54% | 2,358 | 57.84% | 107 | 2.62% |
| 1984 | 2,801 | 67.82% | 1,329 | 32.18% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1988 | 3,021 | 67.52% | 1,430 | 31.96% | 23 | 0.51% |
| 1992 | 2,332 | 40.57% | 2,359 | 41.04% | 1,057 | 18.39% |
| 1996 | 3,041 | 46.31% | 2,693 | 41.01% | 832 | 12.67% |
| 2000 | 5,488 | 66.92% | 2,489 | 30.35% | 224 | 2.73% |
| 2004 | 8,115 | 76.28% | 2,444 | 22.97% | 80 | 0.75% |
| 2008 | 10,004 | 78.08% | 2,595 | 20.25% | 214 | 1.67% |
| 2012 | 10,547 | 83.03% | 1,975 | 15.55% | 180 | 1.42% |
| 2016 | 11,651 | 82.51% | 1,979 | 14.02% | 490 | 3.47% |
| 2020 | 14,110 | 82.17% | 2,824 | 16.45% | 238 | 1.39% |
| 2024 | 17,281 | 82.62% | 3,522 | 16.84% | 112 | 0.54% |
ThePickens County School District is the sole school district in the county.[20]
The weekly newspaper for Pickens County is thePickens Progress, a family-owned newspaper published since 1887 in Jasper.
Media related toPickens County, Georgia at Wikimedia Commons
Places adjacent to Pickens County, Georgia | ||||||||||||||||
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Municipalities and communities ofPickens County, Georgia,United States | ||
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| Footnotes | ‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties | |
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