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Other Information:
Shortly after Campbell County was created, a wooden courthouse
was built in the new county seat of Campbellton. This building
was replaced in 1835 with a two-story brick structure. In 1870,
the legislature provided that Campbell County's seat of government
be moved to a site on the Atlanta & West Point Railroad,
with voters to select the site in a referendum in Nov. 1871 (Ga.
Laws 1870, p. 13). As soon as a site was selected, the county's
ordinary was to select four additional citizens to help him select
land to purchase for construction of a courthouse. On Dec. 13,
1871, the legislature authorized Campbell County's ordinary to
borrow up to $7,000 to finance construction of a new courthouse
(Ga. Laws 1871-72, p. 215). Presumably, the courthouse was completed
in 1872, after which the old courthouse in Campbellton was abandoned,
eventually being torn down in the early 1900s. The new courthouse
(see
early photo) at Fairburn served until Campbell County merged
with Fulton County on Jan. 1, 1932. In 1983, the old Campbell
County courthouse was restored. Since then, it has served as
a community center.
County Courthouse Historical
Marker: Click
here
County History:
Campbell County was created on Dec. 20, 1828 by an act of the
General Assembly (Ga. Laws 1828, p. 56). Formed from portions
of Carroll, Coweta, DeKalb, and Fayette counties, Campbell County's
boundaries were specified as:
- . . . beginning on the west side of Line creek, between the
counties of Fayette and Coweta, at the corner of fractions No.
162 and 163, in the seventh district, according to the plan of
the survey of the county of Coweta, running thence due west,
on the line from said fractions in the plan of said district,
intersecting the eighth district of said county, at the corner
between lots number fourteen and fifteen in said district, on
the district line, thence due west, on the line dividing said
lots, to the Chattahoochee river, intersecting with said river,
at the corner of fractions No one hundred and seventy-two, one
hundred and seventy-three and one hundred and seventy-four, in
said eighth district, thence crossing the river to the corner
of fractions No ninety-three and ninety-six, in the third district
of Carroll county, thence due north [Illegible Text] the [Illegible
Text] running from said fractions through said district, intersecting
the district No. two, at the corner of lots No. nine and ten,
in said district, thence running due north, on the line between
said lots, to the Cherokee line, thence east on the Cherokee
line, to its intersection, with the Chattahoochee river, at or
near to Buzzard Roost Island, crossing said river, in a straight
line to the corner of fractions No. fifty-three and fifty five,
in the fourteenth district, of originally Fayette now DeKalb
county, thence on the line running due south, from said corner,
to the Fayette county line, intersecting said line, at the corner
of lots No. one hundred and seventy-seven and one hundred and
seventy-eight, in the ninth district, of the county of Fayette,
thence in a direct line, to the corner of fractions No. twenty-nine
and thirty, in said ninth district, on Line creek, and thence
down Line creek to the beginning, and all that part of the counties
of Coweta, Carroll, Fayette and DeKalb, comprehended within the
lines aforesaid . . . .
-
- The new county was named for noted politician and lawyer
Col. Duncan G. Campbell (1787-1828). In 1825, Campbell had helped
negotiate the Treaty
of Indian Springs, in which the Creeks ceded a portion of
the land later used to fashion Campbell County.
-
- In an act of Oct.17, 1870, the legislature used portions
of Campbell County to create Douglas County, at the same time
transferring sections of Fayette County to Campbell (Ga. Laws
1870, p. 13). According to that legislation, Campbell County's
new boundaries were prescribed as:
. . . beginning on the east bank of the Chattahoochee River,
on the dividing line between the counties of Campbell and Coweta;
running along said line to Nixon Ford, on Line Creek, at the
southwest corner of fraction lot of land number one hundred and
seventy-eight (178) in the original seventh (7th) district of
Fayette county; thence running north along the dividing line
between the counties of Fayette and Campbell to the southwest
corner of fractional lot of land number nine (9) in the original
ninth (9th) district of Fayette county; thence running direct
to the southeast corner of lot of land number one hundred and
eighty-eight (188) in the thirteenth district of Fayette county,
intersecting the Clayton line; thence along the dividing line,
between the counties of Fayette and Clayton, to the Fulton county
line; thence along the dividing line of Fayette and Fulton counties
to Campbell county line; thence along the dividing line of Fulton
and Campbell counties to the Chattahoochee River; thence down
said river to the point of beginning. . . .
-
- On Aug. 9, 1929, the legislature passed an act to merge Campbell
County with Fulton County, subject to voter approval in referendums
in each county (Ga. Laws 1929, p. 551). Subsequently, Fulton
and Campbell County voters approved the consolidation, which
became effective Jan. 1, 1932.
County Seat:
The Dec. 20, 1828 legislation creating Campbell County did not
designate a county seat. Rather, it provided that superior and
inferior courts and county elections be held at the house of
John S. Beavers until such time that the justices of the county's
inferior court were elected and decided on a permanent site for
the county seat. At some point in the late 1820s, a settlement
named Campbellton was begun on the banks of the Chattahoochee
River on land owned by Frank Irwin. Apparently, he sold one or
more land lots to the county in 1829 for use as a county seat,
with the new town named Campbellton in honor of Col. Duncan Campbell.
In an act of Dec. 3, 1829, the legislature officially designated
Campbellton as county seat of Campbell County (Ga. Laws 1829,
p. 189).
In 1853, the Atlanta & LaGrange Railroad (later renamed
Atlanta & West Point Railroad) was completed. The railroad
traveled through Campbell County, bypassing Campbellton by nine
miles to the southeast. Here, a rail station was built at Fairburn,
a small community settled around 1830 and originally known as
Barrysville. [Fairburn is believed to have been named for the
English town of Fairburn, located in York County.] On Feb. 17,
1854, the General Assembly incorporated Fairburn, providing its
boundaries as all area within 600 miles of the railroad depot
(Ga. Laws 1853-54, p. 244). In the following years, Fairburn
grew, while Campbellton went into decline. In an act of Oct.
17, 1870, the legislature provided that the Campbell's county
seat be moved to a site on the Atlanta and West Point Railroad,
with county voters to select the site in a referendum to be held
in Nov. 1871. In that election, Fairburn was chosen as county
seat--a designation it would hold until the county was abolished
on Jan. 1, 1932.
Maps
Population:
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