Clinch County was created on Feb. 14, 1850 by an act of the General Assembly (Ga. Laws 1849-50, p. 126). Georgia's 95th county was created from portions of Lowndes and Ware counties with the following boundaries:

. . . Commencing at the mouth of Cane Creek, where it empties into the Okefenokee Swamp, thence along said Creek to the ford at Daniel Lane's, thence a direct line to the mouth of Reedy Creek where it empties into the Saltillo river near John B. Walls, then the river to be the line up to the county line, thence the county line to the Allapaha river, thence the river to be the line to the Florida line, to the Okefenokee Swamp; the territory thus included shall form a new county, to be called the county of Clinch. (Ga. Laws 1849-50, p. 126)

The county was named for Duncan L. Clinch (1784-1849), a former U.S. Army general and Georgia congressman who had died three months earlier.

Portions of Clinch County were used to create the following counties: Coffee (1854), Echols (1858), Atkinson (1918), and Lanier (1920).

Historical Maps

 

1855

 

1863

 

1864

 

1864

 

1865

 

1874

 

1883

 

1885a

 

1885b

 

1895

 

1899

 

1904

 

1910

 

1915

 

1952

 

1955

 

1970a

 

1970b

 

1999

 

2001a

 

2001b

Go to Historical Atlas of Georgia Counties

Go to Clinch County Courthouse page