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Other Information: Soon after its creation, Gwinnett County
had a series of three temporary courthouses. In 1819, Elisha
Winn, who lived in Hog Mountain, allowed the county to use his
house and barn as a courthouse. For a year, inferior court and
county elections were held in Winn's house, while superior court
met in his barn (near which a small jail was built). In 1820,
Isham Williams built a log courthouse on land he owned (Land
Lot 143, located near present-day Lawrenceville). When Williams
and the county could not agree on a purchase price for the land,
Elisha Winn bought the 250 acres comprising Land Lot 146, where
a second log courthouse was built on the site that would become
Lawrenceville. In 1824, the second log courthouse was replaced
by a brick structure. In 1856, the legislature authorized Gwinnett
County to levy a special tax to erect a new courthouse -- but
apparently nothing was done. The 1824 courthouse burned in 1871,
and that December the legislature authorized Gwinnett County
to borrow up to $8,000 to build another courthouse, which was
completed in 1872. This new building, however, was widely criticized
over its construction, and in 1884 was torn down and replaced
by the two-story brick courthouse that still stands today in
downtown Lawrenceville (see
photo and story). The 1970s and '80s were decades of substantial
population growth in Gwinnett County, necessitating the creation
of additional superior court judgeships. By the early 1980s,
Gwinnett's courthouse was so crowded that a superior court judge
ordered the county commission to build a new and larger facility.
In 1988, construction was completed on a new Gwinnett Justice
and Administration Center that serves as courthouse and multi-purpose
county government center . [Click here
for additional photos of the courthouse and here
for additional information.]
County Courthouse Historical
Marker: Click
here
County History:
Gwinnett County was established on Dec. 15, 1818 by an act of
the General Assembly. That legislation created Gwinnett, Habersham,
and Hall counties from lands ceded by the Cherokee Indians on
July 8, 1817 in the Treaty of the Cherokee Agency and by the Creek Indians on January
22, 1818 in the Treaty of the Creek Agency. Both treaties were necessary because
the traditional boundary between the Creeks and Cherokees ran
through present-day Gwinnett County. Four days after the creation
of Gwinnett County, the legislature added a portion of western
Jackson County.
Georgia's 44th county was named for provisional Georgia governor
and signer of the Declaration of Independence Button
Gwinnett (1735-1777).
Portions of Gwinnett County were used to create DeKalb County
(1822) and Barrow County (1914). Additionally, between 1819 and
1875, portions of Gwinnett were transferred to the following
counties: Hall (1819), Jackson (1819), DeKalb (1823, 1828, and
1829), Walton (1820), and Rockdale (1875). [Click here and here for
more information on the history of Gwinnett County.]
County Seat:
In 1819, the home of Elisha Winn in Hog Mountain served as
the temporary county seat of Gwinnett County. The next year,
Land Lot 143 became the new county seat, followed by Land Lot
146 (the site that would become Lawrenceville) An act of Dec.
15, 1821 incorporated the new town of Lawrenceville and formally
proclaimed it county seat of Gwinnett County. Lawrenceville was
named for naval commander Capt. James Lawrence, a hero of the
War of 1812. As he lay dying aboard the Chesapeake, Lawrence
uttered the immortal plea to his men, "Don't give up the
ship!"
Maps
Size of County (Total
Area): 436.7 square miles
County Rank in Total
Area: 50th out of 159
Population:
Gwinnett County
City of Lawrenceville
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