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Other Information: After
its creation in 1796, Bulloch County functioned without a courthouse
while local officials debated where the county seat should be
located. During this time, superior court sessions were held
in private homes and other places. Following Statesboro's designation
as county seat in 1803, a wooden courthouse was built. In 1807,
the first courthouse was replaced by a larger wooden building,
which served until burned during Sherman's March to the Sea in
1864. In 1866, the legislature authorized county officials to
levy a tax for rebuilding the courthouse. Proceeds of this tax
were used to build a two-story wooden building, which served
until the present courthouse was built in 1894 (see
photo). As part of a renovation in 1914, pedimented porticos
supported by columns were added to the entrances to the courthouse.
By the 1960s, the Bulloch County courthouse had undergone
several renovations that had utilized brick of different colors.
This may have been the reason why the county commission decided
to have the entire courthouse exterior coated with a white plaster
that contained asbestos. In the 1990s, the county commission
decided to undertake a major restoration of the courthouse. To
remove the white plaster, it would have been necessary to sand
blast the courthouse exterior. However, because of the damage
this would do to the brick's surface, the Historic Preservation
Division of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources encouraged
Bulloch County officials to leave the plaster coating in place.
The architect in charge of the courthouse restoration then recommended
painting the white coating with a red color to simulate the appearance
of brick. When the actual restoration of the courthouse began
in 1998, the contractor found some areas where the white plaster
was flaking or peeling and needed to be removed. Because of the
health risk posed by the asbestos, a professional hazardous waste
removal contractor was hired. Most of the white plaster, however,
still adhered to the courthouse exterior and was simply painted
a red brick color. The restoration, completed in 2000, left the
Bulloch County courthouse looking much as did following the 1914
renovation.
Need for space in the 1990s led the county to expand into
several buildings adjacent or near the courthouse in downtown
Statesboro. In the 1990s, Bulloch County built a modern judicial
annex across the street from the courthouse (see
photo).
County Courthouse Historical
Marker: Click
here
County History:
Bulloch County was created from Bryan and Screven counties on
Feb. 8, 1796 by an act of the General Assembly (Ga. Laws 1796,
p. 14). Georgia's 21st county was named for Archibald Bulloch,
Georgia's first provisional governor (1776-1777). Portions of
Bulloch County were used to create Jenkins County (1905), Candler
County (1914), and Evans County (1914).
County Seat:
The act creating Bulloch County named a panel of commissioners
with responsibility of selecting a county seat within five miles
of the center of the new county. The legislation further directed
that until a courthouse and jail could be built, court sessions
would be held at the home of Stephen Mills. In May 1797, Bulloch
County's first superior court held an organizational meeting
at Mills' home. The practice of court sessions being held in
private homes continued for the few years, which prompted the
legislature in 1799 to appoint a new commission to select a site
for the building of a courthouse for Bulloch County. Apparently,
that commission could not agree on a site, for the legislature
in 1800 appointed yet another commission to select the county
seat. In 1803, the General Assembly accepted an offer of 200
acres of land on which to build a court house, jail, and other
public buildings and provided that the new county seat be named
"Statesborough." [The town's name may have referred
to the state of Georgia or to states' rights -- or it may have
been a reference to the fact that a new town literally was being
created by the state. However, any explanation of the name can
only be speculation, as there are no historical records that
explain the name's origin.] Finally, on Dec. 20, 1866, the legislature
incorporated the town, with its official name shortened to "Statesboro."
Maps
Size of County (Total
Area): 688.9 square miles
County Rank in Total
Area: 8h out of 159
Population:
Bulloch County
City of Statesboro
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