Note: The following list excludes several failed or short-lived efforts to create counties outside of the current boundaries of Georgia. Rather it includes the 159 actual counties that currently exist, plus two that existed until consolidated with Fulton County in 1932. Also, in numbering the counties according to their creation, each county is numbered separately, although in some cases several counties were created in the same act on the same day. Georgia appellate courts have ruled that the order in which similar items are listed in a single act governs the order of their creation. Thus, the first county mentioned in an act is considered to have been created prior to the other counties subsequently mentioned in the same act. This same principle applies to numbering the eight counties created in the Constitution of 1777.

1. Wilkes (Feb. 5, 1777)

2. Richmond (Feb. 5, 1777)

3. Burke (Feb. 5, 1777)

4. Effingham (Feb. 5, 1777)

5. Chatham (Feb. 5, 1777)

6. Liberty (Feb. 5, 1777)

7. Glynn (Feb. 5, 1777)

8. Camden (Feb. 5, 1777)

9. Franklin (Feb. 25, 1784)

10. Washington (Feb. 25, 1784)

11. Greene (Feb. 3, 1786)

12. Columbia (Dec. 10, 1790)

13. Elbert (Dec. 10, 1790)

14. Screven (Dec. 14, 1793)

15. Hancock (Dec. 17, 1793)

16. Warren (Dec. 19, 1793)

17. Oglethorpe (Dec. 19, 1793)

18. McIntosh (Dec. 19, 1793)

19. Bryan (Dec. 19, 1793)

20. Montgomery (Dec. 19, 1793)

21. Bulloch (Feb. 8, 1796)

22. Jackson (Feb. 11, 1796)

23. Jefferson (Feb. 20, 1796)

24. Lincoln (Feb. 20, 1796)

25. Tattnall (Dec. 5, 1801)

26. Clarke (Dec. 5, 1801)

27. Wayne (May 11, 1803)

28. Wilkinson (May 11, 1803)

29. Baldwin (May 11, 1803)

30. Morgan (Dec. 10, 1807)

31. Jasper (Dec. 10, 1807) [Footnote 1]

32. Jones (Dec. 10, 1807)

33. Putnam (Dec. 10, 1807)

34. Laurens (Dec. 10, 1807)

35. Telfair (Dec. 10, 1807)

36. Pulaski (Dec. 13, 1808)

37. Twiggs (Dec. 14, 1809)

38. Madison (Dec. 5, 1811)

39. Emanuel (Dec. 10, 1812)

40. Early (Dec. 15, 1818)

41. Irwin (Dec. 15, 1818)

42. Appling (Dec. 15, 1818)

43. Walton (Dec. 15, 1818)

44. Gwinnett (Dec. 15, 1818)

45. Hall (Dec. 15, 1818)

46. Habersham (Dec. 15, 1818)

47. Rabun (Dec. 21, 1819) [Footnote 2]

48. Dooly (May 15, 1821)

49. Houston (May 15, 1821)

50. Monroe (May 15, 1821)

51. Fayette (May 15, 1821)

52. Henry (May 15, 1821)

53. Newton (Dec. 24, 1821)

54. DeKalb (Dec. 9, 1822)

55. Bibb (Dec. 9, 1822)

56. Pike (Dec. 9, 1822)

57. Crawford (Dec. 9, 1822)

58. Decatur (Dec. 8, 1823)

59. Upson (Dec. 15, 1824)

60. Ware (Dec. 15, 1824)

61. Lee (June 9, 1825) [Footnote 3]

62. Muscogee (June 9, 1825) [Footnote 3]

63. Troup (June 9, 1825) [Footnote 3]

64. Coweta (June 9, 1825) [Footnote 3]

65. Carroll (June 9, 1825) [Footnote 3]

66. Baker (Dec. 12, 1825)

67. Thomas (Dec. 23, 1825)

68. Lowndes (Dec. 23, 1825)

69. Taliaferro (Dec. 24, 1825)

70. Butts (Dec. 24, 1825)

71. Meriwether (Dec. 14, 1827)

72. Harris (Dec. 14, 1827)

73. Talbot (Dec. 14, 1827)

74. Marion (Dec. 14, 1827)

75. Randolph (Dec. 20, 1828)

76. Campbell (Dec. 20, 1828) [Footnote 4]

77. Heard (Dec. 22, 1830)

78. Stewart (Dec. 23, 1830)

79. Cherokee (Dec. 26, 1831) [Footnote 5]

80. Sumter (Dec. 26, 1831)

81. Forsyth (Dec. 3, 1832)

82. Lumpkin (Dec. 3, 1832)

83. Union (Dec. 3, 1832)

84. Cobb (Dec. 3, 1832)

85. Gilmer (Dec. 3, 1832)

86. Murray (Dec. 3, 1832)

87. Bartow (Dec. 3, 1832) [Footnote 6]

88. Floyd (Dec. 3, 1832)

89. Paulding (Dec. 3, 1832)

90. Walker (Dec. 18, 1833)

91. Macon (Dec. 14, 1837)

92. Dade (Dec. 25, 1837)

93. Chattooga (Dec. 28, 1838)

94. Gordon (Feb. 13, 1850)

95. Clinch (Feb. 14, 1850)

96. Polk (Dec. 20, 1851)

97. Spalding (Dec. 20, 1851)

98. Whitfield (Dec. 30, 1851)

99. Taylor (Jan. 15, 1852)

100. Catoosa (Dec. 5, 1853)

101. Pickens (Dec. 5, 1853)

102. Hart (Dec. 7, 1853)

103. Dougherty (Dec. 15, 1853)

104. Webster (Dec. 16, 1853) [Footnote 7]

105. Fulton (Dec. 20, 1853)

106. Worth (Dec. 20, 1853)

107. Fannin (Jan. 21, 1854)

108. Coffee (Feb. 9, 1854)

109. Chattahoochee (Feb. 13, 1854)

110. Clay (Feb. 16, 1854)

111. Charlton (Feb. 18, 1854)

112. Calhoun (Feb. 20, 1854)

113. Haralson (Jan 26, 1856)

114. Terrell (Feb. 16, 1856)

115. Colquitt (Feb. 25, 1856)

116. Berrien (Feb. 25, 1856)

117. Miller (Feb. 26, 1856)

118. Towns (Mar. 6, 1856)

119. Dawson (Dec. 3, 1857)

120. Pierce (Dec. 18, 1857)

121. Milton (Dec. 18, 1857) [Footnote 8]

122. Glascock (Dec. 19, 1857)

123. Mitchell (Dec. 21, 1857)

124. Schley (Dec. 22, 1857)

125. White (Dec. 22, 1857)

126. Wilcox (Dec. 22, 1857)

127. Clayton (Nov. 30, 1858)

128. Quitman (Dec. 10, 1858)

129. Banks (Dec. 11, 1858)

130. Johnson (Dec. 11, 1858)

131. Brooks (Dec. 11, 1858)

132. Echols (Dec. 13, 1858)

133. Douglas (Oct. 17, 1870)

134. McDuffie (Oct. 18, 1870)

135. Rockdale (Oct. 18, 1870)

136. Dodge (Oct. 26, 1870)

137. Oconee (Feb. 25, 1875)

138. Crisp (Aug. 17, 1905)

139. Grady (Aug. 17, 1905)

140. Jenkins (Aug. 17, 1905)

141. Tift (Aug. 17, 1905)

142. Jeff Davis (Aug. 18, 1905)

143. Stephens (Aug. 18, 1905)

144. Toombs (Aug. 18, 1905)

145. Turner (Aug. 18, 1905)

146. Ben Hill (constitutional amendment proposed July 31, 1906, ratified Nov. 6, 1906)

147. Bleckley (constitutional amendment proposed July 30, 1912, ratified Nov. 5, 1912)

148.Wheeler (constitutional amendment proposed Aug. 14, 1912, ratified Nov. 5, 1912)

149. Barrow (constitutional amendment proposed July 7, 1914, ratified Nov. 3, 1914)

150. Candler (constitutional amendment proposed July 14, 1914, ratified Nov. 3, 1914)

151. Bacon (constitutional amendment proposed July 7, 1914, ratified Nov. 3, 1914)

152. Evans (constitutional amendment proposed Aug. 11, 1914, ratified Nov. 3, 1914)

153. Atkinson (constitutional amendment proposed Aug. 15, 1917, ratified Nov. 5, 1918)

154. Treutlen (constitutional amendment proposed Aug. 21, 1917, ratified Nov. 5, 1918)

155. Cook (constitutional amendment proposed July 30, 1918, ratified Nov. 5, 1918)

156. Seminole (constitutional amendment proposed July 8, 1920, ratified Nov. 2, 1920)

157. Lanier (constitutional amendment proposed Aug. 7, 1920, ratified Nov. 2, 1920)

158. Brantley (constitutional amendment proposed Aug. 14, 1920, ratified Nov. 2, 1920)

159. Long (constitutional amendment proposed Aug. 14, 1920, ratified Nov. 2, 1920)

160. Lamar (constitutional amendment proposed Aug. 17, 1920, ratified Nov. 2, 1920)

161. Peach (constitutional amendment proposed July 18, 1924, ratified Nov. 4, 1924)

1. Jasper County was originally named Randolph County--after Virginian John Randolph. Because of Randolph's opposition to U.S. entry into the War of 1812, the General Assembly changed the name of Randolph County to Jasper County in an act of Dec. 10, 1812. However, Randolph's reputation eventually was restored, and in 1828, the General Assembly created a new Randolph County.

2. In the published volume of Georgia statutes enacted at the 1819 session, the act creating Rabun County indicates that it was approved on Dec. 16, 1819 (Ga. Laws 1819, p. 23). However, the official enrolled copy of the act at the Georgia State Archives shows that it was approved on Dec. 21, 1819.

3. Named by an act approved Dec. 11, 1826.

4. Campbell County merged with Fulton County by an act of Aug. 9, 1929 that became effective Jan. 1, 1932.

5. Some sources list an act of Dec. 21, 1830 as the act that created Cherokee County. That legislation, however, made no mention of any new county. Rather, it claimed for Georgia "all the Territory within the limits of Georgia, and now in the occupancy of the Cherokee tribe of Indians," divided the land into four sections, made provision for surveying the land, and provided for its distribution by lottery. For more on the date of Cherokee County's creation, click here.

6. Bartow County was originally named Cass County. By an act of Dec. 6, 1861, its name was changed.

7. Webster County was originally named Kinchafoonee County. By an act of Feb. 21, 1856, its name was changed.

8. Milton County merged with Fulton County by an act of July 30, 1931 that became effective Jan. 1, 1932.

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