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Other Information:
The 1832 act creating Union County gave the new justices of the
inferior court authority to select a county seat and erect a
courthouse and other county buildings. Until that action was
taken, elections and court sessions were to be held at the house
of Isaac N. Greer. At some point, a log courthouse was built
in Blairsville. It is believed to have burned in 1859 and was
replaced by a two-story brick vernacular-style building, which
served until it was destroyed by fire in 1898. In 1899, a new
two-story courthouse with clock tower was built in the town square
(see
photo and story). In 1971, the courthouse was condemned as
unsafe -- but residents were successful in convincing the county's
sole commissioner not to tear the historic building down. Thereafter,
county court sessions were held in the local civic center, while
other county officials continued in the old courthouse or moved
to rented office space in several downtown buildings. Subsequently,
a site two blocks away was purchased for construction of a new
Union County Office Building. This facility, completed in 1976,
consisted of the entrance and area to the left of the building
in the above photo. However, the new office building had no courtroom,
so the civic center continued to serve as temporary courthouse
until a judicial annex (the area to the right of the entrance)
was constructed in 1978.
County Courthouse Historical
Marker: Click
here
County History:
Union County was created from Cherokee County on Dec. 3, 1832
by an act of the General Assembly (Ga. Laws 1832, p. 56). [Click
here
for complete text of legislation.] According to the 1832 act
:
. . . the seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth, sixteenth, seventeenth,
eighteenth and nineteenth, and so much of the sixth and eleventh
districts of the first section, as lies north of the mountains,
and of the before-mentioned line to be run, shall form and
become one county, to be called Union.
In way of background, by 1830, the Cherokee Nation consisted
of most of northwest Georgia (see
map), plus adjoining areas in Alabama, Tennessee, and North
Carolina. Even while Cherokee Indians remained on their homeland
in Georgia, the General Assembly on Dec. 21, 1830 enacted legislation
claiming "all the Territory within the limits of Georgia,
and now in the occupancy of the Cherokee tribe of Indians; and
all other unlocated lands within the limits of this State, claimed
as Creek land" (Ga. Laws 1830, p. 127). The act also provided
for surveying the Cherokee lands in Georgia; dividing them into
sections, districts, and land lots; and authorizing a lottery
to distribute the land. On Dec. 26, 1831, the legislature designated
all land in Georgia that lay west of the Chattahoochee River
and north of Carroll county as "Cherokee County" (see
map) and provided for its organization (Ga. Laws 1831, p.
74). However, the new county was not able to function as a county
because of its size and the fact that Cherokee Indians still
occupied portions of the land. On Dec. 3, 1832, the legislature
added areas of Habersham and Hall counties to Cherokee County,
and then divided the entire area into nine new counties -- Cass
(later renamed Bartow), Cobb, Floyd, Forsyth, Gilmer, Lumpkin,
Murray, Paulding, and Union -- plus a reconstituted and much
smaller Cherokee County.
Georgia's 83rd county was named for the Federal Union, making
Georgia one of 17 states with a county by this name. At the time
of Union County's creation, many planters and political leaders
in the South were upset over a tariff passed by Congress in 1828.
Despite the rising sectionalism, a number of Georgians in north
Georgia were loyal to the national government. Explaining the
origin of Union County's name, John Thomas, the county's first
state representative, reportedly explained, "Union, for
none but Union men reside in it."
Portions of Union County were used to create Fannin County
(1854) and Towns County (1856).
County Seat:
The 1832 act creating Union County authorized the justices of
the county's new inferior court to select the county seat. Until
such action was taken, elections and court sessions were to be
held at the house of Isaac N. Greer. It is not clear how long
Greer's house served as temporary county seat, but in an act
of Dec. 26, 1835, the General Assembly designated "lot No.
273 of the ninth district and first section of, originally Cherokee,
now Union county, and at a place now known by the name of Blairsville"
as the permanent county seat of Union County and incorporated
it as a town (Ga. Laws 1835, p. 113). The town was named for
Francis P. Blair, Sr. (1791-1876), newspaper editor of the Washington
Globe and a strong supporter of Pres. Andrew Jackson's reelection
campaign.
Maps
Size of County (Total
Area): 329.2 square miles
County Rank in Total
Area: 89th out of 159
Population:
Union County
City of Blairsville
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