Pickens County, Georgia
|Pickens County, Georgia|
Pickens County Courthouse, Jasper
Location in the state of Georgia
Georgia's location in the U.S.
|Founded||December 5, 1853|
|Named for||Andrew Pickens|
|• Total||233 sq mi (603 km2)|
|• Land||232 sq mi (601 km2)|
|• Water||0.7 sq mi (2 km2), 0.3%|
|• Density||127/sq mi (49/km²)|
|Congressional districts||9th, 14th|
|Time zone||Eastern: UTC-5/-4|
The Georgia General Assembly passed an act on December 5, 1853 to create Pickens County from portions of Cherokee and Gilmer counties. 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).
Most of Pickens County's early industry revolved around the marble industry. Georgia Marble Company is located in Marble Hill near Tate. The Tate Elementary school is built out of marble. The marble was also used to make the statue of Abraham Lincoln in the Lincoln Memorial. Most of the marble is white, but there is also very rare pink marble. It 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 of Georgia State Route 515, locally referred to as the '4 lane'. Many new businesses and residents continue to move to Pickens County.
Pickens County is home the Georgia Marble Festival.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 233 square miles (600 km2), of which 232 square miles (600 km2) is land and 0.7 square miles (1.8 km2) (0.3%) is water. The highest point in Pickens County is the 3,288 foot summit of Mount 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.
- Gilmer County - north
- Dawson County - east
- Cherokee County - south
- Bartow County - southwest
- Gordon County - west
Robert Jones is the chairman of the board of county commissioners; Jerry Barnes and Becky Denney serve as commissioners.
- Burnt Mountain Road (Old Georgia State Route 108)
- Canton Highway (Old Georgia State Route 5)
- Church Street (Georgia State Route 53 Business)
- Cove Road
- Ellijay Road (Old Georgia State Route 5)
- Henderson Mountain Road (Old Georgia State Route 143/Georgia State Route 379)
- Jones Mountain Road
- Lumber Company Road
- Philadelphia Road
- Refuge Road (Old Georgia State Route 108)
- Steve Tate Highway
- Salem Church Road
- Sunrise Ridge Road (Old Georgia State Route 108)
- Talking Rock Road (Old Georgia State Route 5)
- Yellow Creek Road
- Whitestone Road
As of the census of 2000, there were 22,983 people, 8,960 households, and 6,791 families residing in the county. The population density was 99 people per square mile (38/km²). There were 10,687 housing units at an average density of 46 per square mile (18/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 96.21% White, 1.27% Black or African American, 0.38% Native American, 0.23% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 1.04% from other races, and 0.84% from two or more races. 2.03% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There were 8,960 households out of which 31.10% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 63.50% were married couples living together, 8.80% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.20% were non-families. 20.50% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.70% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.54 and the average family size was 2.91.
In the county the population was spread out with 23.60% under the age of 18, 7.70% from 18 to 24, 29.80% from 25 to 44, 25.80% from 45 to 64, and 13.20% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 95.80 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.20 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $41,387, and the median income for a family was $47,123. Males had a median income of $32,039 versus $22,866 for females. The per capita income for the county was $19,774. About 6.20% of families and 9.20% of the population were below the poverty line, including 13.20% of those under age 18 and 7.40% of those age 65 or over.
Cities and Communities
A significant portion of the county population resides in these three communities. These are large, gated private communities that function similar to a municipality providing many municipal-type services that operate independent of county government.
The weekly newspaper for Pickens County is the Pickens Progress, a family owned newspaper published since 1887 in Jasper, GA,
- "State & County QuickFacts". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved February 18, 2014.
- "Find a County". National Association of Counties. Retrieved 2011-06-07.
- "Pickens County". Retrieved June 28, 2014.
- "US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990". United States Census Bureau. 2011-02-12. Retrieved 2011-04-23.
- "U.S. Decennial Census". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved June 25, 2014.
- "Historical Census Browser". University of Virginia Library. Retrieved June 25, 2014.
- "Population of Counties by Decennial Census: 1900 to 1990". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved June 25, 2014.
- "Census 2000 PHC-T-4. Ranking Tables for Counties: 1990 and 2000". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved June 25, 2014.
- "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
|Gordon County||Dawson County|
|Bartow County||Cherokee County|