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Other Information:
The act creating Berrien County authorized the county's inferior
court to contract for construction of a courthouse and other
public buildings (Ga. Laws 1855-56, p. 112). Reportedly, a log
schoolhouse served as the county's temporary courthouse until
a two-story wooden structure was built in 1858. That structure
served until the present two-story brick courthouse was built
in 1898 (see early photo
1 and photo
2).
County Courthouse Historical
Marker: Click
here
County History:
Berrien County was created on Feb. 25, 1856 by an act of the
General Assembly (Ga. Laws 1855-56, p. 112). Georgia's 116th
county was created from portions of Coffee, Irwin, and Lowndes
counties. [Click here
for legal description of Berrien County's original boundaries.]
Cook County was created from Berrien County in 1918. Also, portions
of Berrien County were used to create Tift County (1905) and
Lanier County (1920). Berrien County was named for former U.S.
Senator, U.S. Attorney General, and Georgia politician John
Macpherson Berrien (1781-1856).
County Seat:
The 1856 act creating Berrien County appointed William Roberts,
Josiah Parish, Cornelius Tison, Jasper M. Luke and Owen Smith
as commissioners to purchase land for a county seat. However,
the law also directed that election of county officials be held
on the first Monday of April 1856. Should the commissioners not
have selected a county seat by the time of the election, the
new justices of the county's inferior court were authorized to
make this decision. Shortly thereafter, the community of Nashville
was named county seat. Like its Tennessee counterpart, Nashville
was named for Revolutionary War hero Gen.
Francis Nash (1742-1777), who was mortally wounded in the
Battle of Germantown. The General Assembly incorporated Nashville
on Dec. 20, 1892 (Ga. Laws 1892, p. 162).
Maps
Size of County (Total
Area): 457.8 square miles
County Rank in Total
Area: 41st out of 159
Population:
Berrien County
City of Nashville
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