Other Information:
The 1837 act creating Macon County directed that until a county
seat was selected, county business would take place at the house
of Walter L. Campbell. In 1837, the first courthouse was built
in Lanier. This courthouse burned in 1857 just after a referendum
was approved to move the county seat to Oglethorpe. The 1856
act calling for the referendum authorized the county to levy
a special tax to build a new courthouse. Details about Macon
County's second courthouse are unclear, but it was probably completed
in the late 1850s. This building was replaced in 1894 by the
present courthouse.
County Courthouse Historical
Marker: Click
here
County History:
Macon County was created from Houston and Marion counties on
Dec. 14, 1837 by an act of the General Assembly (Ga. Laws 1837,
p. 66). According to that legislation, the new county's boundaries
were defined as:
Beginning on Flint river, at the corner of Houston and Dooly
counties, running thence East, on the line between Houston
and Dooly, to the corners of the 14th and 15th Districts of
Houston county; thence due North on the line between the 14th
and 15th Districts, and between the 8th and 9th Districts of
Houston county, to the let of land in the 8th District, whereon
James A. Everett, Esq. now resides; thence around the Southern,
Western and Northern boundary of said lot of land, to the said
dividing line, between the said 8th and 9th Districts; thence
due North again along said line, to the line between Houston
and Crawford counties; thence South-westwardly along said county
line, to Flint river; thence across said river and up the same
to the line between Marion and Talbot counties; thence westwardly
along said line, to the second East meridian of the 13th District,
of originally Muscogee, now Marion county; thence due South
along said meridian line, to the line dividing the counties
of Sumter and Marion; thence Eastwardly on said line, between
Sumter and Marion, to the Flint river; and thence up and along
said river, to the beginning.
Georgia's 91st county was named for North Carolina politician
Nathaniel
Macon (1757-1837), who served in both houses of Congress
(including six years as speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives).
Six months after his death, the Georgia legislature named a new
county in his honor.
Portions of Macon County were used to create Taylor County
(1852) and Peach County (1924).
County Seat:
The act creating Macon County authorized the justices of the
county's inferior court to select the site for the county seat,
purchase land, lay the site out into town lots, sell lots, and
use the proceeds to construct a courthouse and jail. Until this
was done, county business was to take place at the house of Walter
L. Campbell. The inferior court selected the town of Lanier to
serve as county seat, and on Dec. 29, 1838, the General Assembly
designed Lanier as permanent county seat and incorporated it
as a town (Ga. Laws 1838, p. 121). Reportedly, Lanier was named
for Clement S. Lanier. In the early 1850s, the Central of Georgia
Railroad was built through Macon County. Its route missed Lanier
but went through the town of Oglethorpe six miles to the south.
As a result, many of Lanier's residents moved to Oglethorpe to
be near the railroad. Subsequently, a number of Macon County
residents began a campaign to have Oglethorpe declared county
seat. In Feb. 1854, the General Assembly passed legislation calling
for a referendum on removal of the county seat (Ga. Laws 1853-54,
p. 341). Either the election failed or never was held, for on
Feb. 28, 1856, the legislature passed another act calling for
a referendum on removal of the county seat (Ga. Laws 1855-56,
p. 416). Apparently, this election was held and resulted in Oglethorpe
being designated the new county seat. First settled around 1840,
Oglethorpe was named for Georgia founder James Oglethorpe and
incorporated as a town on Dec. 14, 1849 (Ga. Laws 1849-50, p.
92).
Maps
Size of County (Total
Area): 406.0 square miles
County Rank in Total
Area: 57th out of 159
Population:
Macon County
City of Oglethorpe
|
