Actual Factual Georgia

Q: Why are there so many counties in Georgia and why isn't the county seat in the county that shares its name? With few exceptions, it seems, city X and county X are half a state apart.

—Robb Maag, Gainesville

A: This has been a topic of conversation among some of my friends for years. Why isn't Jefferson in Jefferson County or Clayton in Clayton County? It would only make sense, right? But as for the first part of your question, Georgia has 159 counties, more than every state except for Texas, which has 254, according to Ed Jackson, who worked for UGA's Carl Vinson Institute of Government and wrote an article on Georgia's counties for GeorgiaInfo, an online Georgia almanac presented by GALILEO and the Digital Library of Georgia. He wrote there "was a rule of thumb in Georgia" that every resident had to be within a one-day ride – by horse or wagon – from the county seat. But there were other factors, including economic or political – such as more jobs or better representation in state government -- and geographical – such as mountains or rivers – that led to the formation of 161 counties by 1924, when Peach County was created from parts of Houston and Macon counties. The number dropped to the current 159 when Milton and Campbell counties were consolidated with Fulton County on Jan. 1, 1932 to save money during the Depression, Jackson wrote. As for the names of cities and counties, the answer is not so concrete. There are eight counties that share a name with their county seat: Carroll (Carrollton), Douglas (Douglasville), Elbert (Elberton), Greene (Greensboro), Lee (Leesburg), Lincoln (Lincolnton), Thomas (Thomasville) and Tifton (Tifton), he wrote. Jackson, who is retired, wrote to me in an email, that towns were often created before the counties. "Many small towns were originally train stations named by local citizens to recognize the railroad executive who decided the route of the railroad. Many counties were named for U.S. presidents, U.S. military heroes and Georgia governors, so I suspect local citizens and state legislators decided to name towns for someone else," Jackson wrote. That might help explain why Monroe is in Walton County, not Monroe County, Franklin is in Heard County, not Franklin County, Jackson is in Butts County, not Jackson County, Decatur is in DeKalb County, not Decatur County, and Clarkesville (Habersham County), Clarkdale (Cobb County) and Clarkston (DeKalb) are not in Clarke County, to name a few. If you want to read more about how Georgia's cities and counties were named, you can download a book called "Georgia Place-Names" by Ken Krakow for free at www.kenkrakow.com/gpn/georgia_place-names.htm.