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Other Information: For the first decade after its creation,
Lamar County did not have a courthouse. Rather, county officials
rented office space in Barnesville, while the local Masonic Hall
was used for court sessions. A new courthouse was constructed
in 1931, and this building is still in use. In 1986, the courthouse
windows were altered.
County Courthouse Historical
Marker: Click
here
County History: On
Aug. 17, 1920, the General Assembly proposed a constitutional
amendment to create Lamar County from Monroe and Pike counties
(Ga. Laws 1920, p. 45). In that year's general election, Georgia
voters ratified the proposed amendment on Nov. 2, 1920, which
marks the date of Lamar County's creation (although a state historical
marker on the courthouse grounds incorrectly cites the county's
creation as the day the legislative act proposing the constitutional
amendment was approved).
According to the 1920 constitutional amendment, Lamar County's
boundaries were defined as:
Beginning at the northwest corner of land lot 185 adjoining
Spalding and Pike County line in the 2nd District of Pike County
and running along land lot lines southward to northwest corner
of land lot 75 in the 8th District, Pike County, Georgia; thence
west along land lot line between land lots 86 and 87 to the northwest
corner of land lot 86; thence south along line between land lots
86 and 107 to northwest corner of land lot 85; thence west along
lines between land lots 107 and 108 to northwest corner land
lot 108; thence south along land lot line to Upson County lines
at southwest corner land lot 112 in 8th District, Pike County,
Georgia; thence east along land lot lines between Pike and Upson
to Pike and Monroe County lines at southeast corner land lot
113 in Pike County, Georgia; thence south along line between
Upson and Monroe County to southwest corner of land lot 130 in
11th land District of Monroe County; thence east along land lot
line to southeast corner of land lot 28 in 11th District, Monroe
County, and thence north along land lot line to northeast corner
land lot 29; thence east along land lot lines to south corner
of land lot 8, Monroe County, Georgia, 11th District, and thence
north along lines between land districts 11 and 12, 7 and 6 and
3 and 4 to Butts County line at northeast corner of land lot
247 in 3rd District of Monroe County, Georgia; thence west to
northwest corner of land lot 138, Monroe County, Georgia, said
land lot being in 3rd District, Monroe County; thence southward
along present county lines between counties of Monroe and Spalding
to present Pike County line; thence west along county line between
counties of Spalding and Pike to beginning point, on northwest
corner of lot of land 185 in the 2nd District of Pike County,
Georgia, the present county lines between Monroe and Butts, Monroe
and Spalding, Pike and Spalding being the northern boundary line
of the proposed County of Lamar.
Why was Lamar County created by constitutional amendment instead
of an act of the General Assembly? In 1904, Georgia voters had
approved a constitutional amendment limiting the number of counties
in the state to 145. The next year, the General Assembly created
eight new counties, bringing the total number to 145 -- the constitutional
limit. Nevertheless, there was continuing pressure to create
more counties. Beginning in 1906, lawmakers got around the 145-county
limitation by creating new counties through constitutional amendments
that were not subject to the limitation. By 1924, Georgia had
161 counties -- 16 of which had been created by constitutional
amendment. On Jan. 1, 1932, Milton and Campbell counties merged
with Fulton, leaving 159 counties. In 1945, Georgia voters ratified
a new constitution -- one which provided an absolute limit of
159 counties, with an additional provision (see
text) that no new country could be created except through
consolidation of existing counties.
Lamar County was named for Georgia-born Lucius
Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar (1825-1893). Lamar had served as
a U.S. Representative and Senator from Mississippi, and as U.S.
Secretary of Interior under Pres. Grover Cleveland. At the time
of his death in Vineville, Ga., Lamar was serving as a justice
of the U.S. Supreme Court.
County Seat:
The 1920 constitutional amendment creating Lamar County provided
that Barnesville serve as county seat. Barnesville began in 1820
as a stagecoach stop in what was then Monroe County on the old
Alabama Road running from Macon westward. It was named for Gideon
Barnes, who operated a stage line and owned a tavern here. In
1822, Barnesville was included in the portion of Monroe County
used to create Pike County. The legislature incorporated Barnesville
by an act of Feb. 20, 1854 (Ga. Laws 1853-54, p. 211).
Maps
Size of County (Total
Area): 185.8 square miles
County Rank in Total
Area: 147th out of 159
Population:
Lamar County
City of Barnesville
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