Ware County, Georgia | |
|---|---|
 Ware County Courthouse in Waycross | |
 Seal | |
 Location within the U.S. state ofGeorgia | |
| Coordinates:31°03′N82°25′W / 31.05°N 82.42°W /31.05; -82.42 | |
| Country |  United States |
| State |  Georgia |
| Founded | December 15, 1824; 201 years ago (1824-12-15) |
| Named after | Nicholas Ware |
| Seat | Waycross |
| Largest city | Waycross |
| Area | |
• Total | 908 sq mi (2,350 km2) |
| • Land | 892 sq mi (2,310 km2) |
| • Water | 16 sq mi (41 km2) 1.7% |
| Population (2020) | |
• Total | 36,251 |
| • Density | 41/sq mi (16/km2) |
| Time zone | UTC−5 (Eastern) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC−4 (EDT) |
| Congressional district | 1st |
| Website | warecountyga.gov |
Ware County is acounty located in thesoutheastern part of theU.S. state ofGeorgia. As of the2020 census, the population was 36,251.[1] Thecounty seat and only incorporated place isWaycross.[2] Ware County is part of the Waycross, Georgiamicropolitan statistical area.
Ware County, Georgia's 60th county, was created on December 15, 1824, by an act of theGeorgia General Assembly from land that was originally part ofAppling County.
The county is named forNicholas Ware, themayor ofAugusta,Georgia from (1819–1821) andUnited States Senator who represented Georgia from 1821 until his death in 1824.
Several counties were later created from parts of the original Ware County borders:
Ware County was home toLaura S. Walker (1861–1955) a noted author andconservationist. Walker promoted a comprehensive program of forestry activity, including the establishment of forest parks. She erected markers and monuments along old trails and at historic sites, in Waycross and Ware County so that local history would not be forgotten. Walker wrote three books about the land and history of her home. They are:History of Ware County, Georgia[3]About "Old Okefenåok"[4] andDoctors of Primitive Times and Horse and Buggy Days of Ware County.[5]
An effort to recognize her work culminated in PresidentFranklin D. Roosevelt issuing a proclamation to establish theLaura S. Walker National Park, located in Ware County, in her honor. She was the only living person for whom a state or national park was named.[6] In 1937, the federal government purchased distressed farmland for the park.[7][8] Work on the park was undertaken by theWorks Progress Administration and theCivilian Conservation Corps. In 1941, the national park was deeded over to Georgia, becoming the State's 13th state park.[8]
According to theU.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 908 square miles (2,350 km2), of which 892 square miles (2,310 km2) is land and 16 square miles (41 km2) (1.7%) is water.[9] It is the largest county in Georgia by area. A large portion of the county lies within theOkefenokee Swamp and itsfederally protected areas.
More than half of Ware County, made up by the western half of the southern portion of the county, the land bridge to the northern portion of the county, and the southern and western portion of the northern section of the county, is located in the UpperSuwannee River sub-basin of the Suwannee River basin. The eastern half of the southern portion of Ware County is located in theSt. Marys River sub-basin of the St. Marys-Satilla River basin. The rest of the county, from just southeast to north and west ofWaycross, is located in the Satilla River sub-basin of the same St. Marys-Satilla River basin.[10]
| Census | Pop. | Note | %± |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1830 | 1,205 | — | |
| 1840 | 2,323 | 92.8% | |
| 1850 | 3,888 | 67.4% | |
| 1860 | 2,200 | −43.4% | |
| 1870 | 2,286 | 3.9% | |
| 1880 | 4,159 | 81.9% | |
| 1890 | 8,811 | 111.9% | |
| 1900 | 13,761 | 56.2% | |
| 1910 | 22,957 | 66.8% | |
| 1920 | 28,361 | 23.5% | |
| 1930 | 26,558 | −6.4% | |
| 1940 | 27,929 | 5.2% | |
| 1950 | 30,289 | 8.4% | |
| 1960 | 34,219 | 13.0% | |
| 1970 | 33,525 | −2.0% | |
| 1980 | 37,180 | 10.9% | |
| 1990 | 35,471 | −4.6% | |
| 2000 | 35,483 | 0.0% | |
| 2010 | 36,312 | 2.3% | |
| 2020 | 36,251 | −0.2% | |
| 2024 (est.) | 36,222 | [11] | −0.1% |
| U.S. Decennial Census[12] 1790-1880[13] 1890-1910[14] 1920-1930[15] 1930-1940[16] 1940-1950[17] 1960-1980[18] 1980-2000[19] 2010[20] | |||
| Race | Num. | Perc. |
|---|---|---|
| White | 22,275 | 61.45% |
| Black or African American | 10,703 | 29.52% |
| Native American | 77 | 0.21% |
| Asian | 333 | 0.92% |
| Pacific Islander | 18 | 0.05% |
| Other/Mixed | 1,233 | 3.4% |
| Hispanic orLatino | 1,612 | 4.45% |
As of the2020 census, the county had a population of 36,251 and 8,909 families residing in the county. The median age was 39.8 years. 23.3% of residents were under the age of 18 and 18.6% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 100.4 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 98.5 males age 18 and over. 67.9% of residents lived in urban areas, while 32.1% lived in rural areas.[22][23][24]
The racial makeup of the county was 62.4% White, 29.7%Black or African American, 0.3%American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9%Asian, 0.0%Native Hawaiian andPacific Islander, 2.4% from some other race, and 4.3% fromtwo or more races.Hispanic or Latino residents of any race comprised 4.4% of the population.[24]
There were 13,651 households in the county, of which 31.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them and 33.8% had a female householder with no spouse or partner present. About 29.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.[23]
There were 15,858 housing units, of which 13.9% were vacant. Among occupied housing units, 62.2% were owner-occupied and 37.8% were renter-occupied. The homeowner vacancy rate was 2.0% and the rental vacancy rate was 7.7%.[23]
As of the 2020s, Ware County is a Republican stronghold, voting 71% forDonald Trump in2024. Ware County has favored theRepublican Party in recent presidential elections, although it was a strongly DemocraticSolid South county until the 1980s. In the1992 election, Ware County gave DemocratBill Clinton and RepublicanGeorge H. W. Bush an exact tie, the most recent time in American history a county was tied between the two major party presidential candidates.
For elections to theUnited States House of Representatives, Ware County is part ofGeorgia's 1st congressional district, currently represented byBuddy Carter. For elections to theGeorgia State Senate, Ware County is part of districts3 and8.[25] For elections to theGeorgia House of Representatives, Ware County is part of districts174 and176.[26]
| Year | Republican | Democratic | Third party(ies) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | % | No. | % | No. | % | |
| 1880 | 201 | 36.28% | 353 | 63.72% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1884 | 179 | 32.90% | 365 | 67.10% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1888 | 186 | 32.52% | 369 | 64.51% | 17 | 2.97% |
| 1892 | 262 | 23.06% | 775 | 68.22% | 99 | 8.71% |
| 1896 | 330 | 36.11% | 545 | 59.63% | 39 | 4.27% |
| 1900 | 107 | 15.11% | 601 | 84.89% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1904 | 158 | 19.46% | 635 | 78.20% | 19 | 2.34% |
| 1908 | 190 | 18.85% | 771 | 76.49% | 47 | 4.66% |
| 1912 | 39 | 3.66% | 972 | 91.27% | 54 | 5.07% |
| 1916 | 59 | 4.69% | 1,066 | 84.74% | 133 | 10.57% |
| 1920 | 215 | 19.27% | 901 | 80.73% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1924 | 216 | 10.82% | 1,497 | 75.00% | 283 | 14.18% |
| 1928 | 1,339 | 48.60% | 1,416 | 51.40% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1932 | 205 | 7.53% | 2,504 | 91.96% | 14 | 0.51% |
| 1936 | 256 | 9.06% | 2,566 | 90.77% | 5 | 0.18% |
| 1940 | 308 | 10.31% | 2,672 | 89.48% | 6 | 0.20% |
| 1944 | 459 | 16.59% | 2,306 | 83.34% | 2 | 0.07% |
| 1948 | 655 | 14.09% | 2,611 | 56.15% | 1,384 | 29.76% |
| 1952 | 2,418 | 30.06% | 5,627 | 69.94% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1956 | 2,276 | 27.88% | 5,888 | 72.12% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1960 | 2,235 | 30.47% | 5,099 | 69.53% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1964 | 4,948 | 48.81% | 5,189 | 51.19% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1968 | 2,047 | 20.07% | 2,255 | 22.11% | 5,895 | 57.81% |
| 1972 | 6,578 | 79.23% | 1,724 | 20.77% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1976 | 2,661 | 25.64% | 7,719 | 74.36% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1980 | 3,715 | 36.65% | 6,307 | 62.22% | 115 | 1.13% |
| 1984 | 5,547 | 55.57% | 4,435 | 44.43% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1988 | 4,819 | 52.59% | 4,292 | 46.84% | 52 | 0.57% |
| 1992 | 4,573 | 43.87% | 4,573 | 43.87% | 1,278 | 12.26% |
| 1996 | 4,746 | 49.55% | 4,171 | 43.54% | 662 | 6.91% |
| 2000 | 6,099 | 63.35% | 3,480 | 36.14% | 49 | 0.51% |
| 2004 | 7,790 | 68.99% | 3,449 | 30.55% | 52 | 0.46% |
| 2008 | 8,311 | 66.83% | 4,034 | 32.44% | 91 | 0.73% |
| 2012 | 7,941 | 66.44% | 3,900 | 32.63% | 112 | 0.94% |
| 2016 | 8,513 | 69.87% | 3,440 | 28.23% | 231 | 1.90% |
| 2020 | 9,903 | 69.79% | 4,169 | 29.38% | 117 | 0.82% |
| 2024 | 10,279 | 71.03% | 4,068 | 28.11% | 125 | 0.86% |
| Year | Republican | Democratic | Third party(ies) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | % | No. | % | No. | % | |
| 2020 | 9,773 | 69.91% | 3,937 | 28.16% | 269 | 1.92% |
| 2020 | 8,498 | 69.64% | 3,704 | 30.36% | 0 | 0.00% |
| Year | Republican | Democratic | Third party(ies) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | % | No. | % | No. | % | |
| 2020 | 5,305 | 38.60% | 1,748 | 12.72% | 6,690 | 48.68% |
| 2020 | 9,865 | 70.08% | 4,211 | 29.92% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 2022 | 7,567 | 70.69% | 2,976 | 27.80% | 161 | 1.50% |
| 2022 | 7,005 | 71.00% | 2,861 | 29.00% | 0 | 0.00% |
| Year | Republican | Democratic | Third party(ies) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | % | No. | % | No. | % | |
| 2022 | 7,855 | 73.06% | 2,828 | 26.30% | 69 | 0.64% |
Places adjacent to Ware County, Georgia | |
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Municipalities and communities ofWare County, Georgia,United States | ||
|---|---|---|
| City |  | |
| CDPs | ||
| Other unincorporated communities | ||
| Footnotes | ‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties | |
| International | |
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| National | |
| Other | |
