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Other Information: Floyd
County's first courthouse was a log cabin built in Livingston
in 1833. On Dec. 20, 1834, the General Assembly designated Rome
as county seat. It is not known what initially served as the
county courthouse, but around 1840 a new courthouse and jail
were built, as evidenced by the fact that in an act of Dec. 19,
1840, the General Assembly authorized the justices of Floyd County's
inferior court to levy a special tax "for the purpose of
paying the debt already incurred by the erection of a Court-House
and Jail in said county" (Ga. Laws 1840, p. 184). It is
not clear how long the 1840 courthouse was used, but apparently
a third courthouse was built sometime prior to the Civil War (as
indicated by war-time references to the "old courthouse" in Rome).
Though Rome was occupied by Union troops for six months in 1864,
the courthouse was spared -- despite Sherman's order that his troops
burn all public property upon departing.
What is believed to be Floyd County's fourth courthouse --
a new two-story brick courthouse with clock tower --was built
in 1892-93 (see
photo and profile). Though no longer used as a courthouse,
this building still stands as the most prominent structure in
the Floyd County government complex in downtown Rome.
Floyd County's fifth courthouse (see
photo) originally served as the U.S. Post Office for Rome.
Construction began in 1895 and was completed in January 1896.
Opened for business on Jan. 30, 1896. the facility was subsequently
remodeled in 1904, 1911, and 1941. The post office moved to a
new federal building constructed in 1974. The next year, Floyd
County purchased the old post office building for use by county
agencies and courts. Between 1975 and 1978, the building was
renovated and modernized, finally opening as the new Floyd County
Courthouse in June 1978.
Lack of space forced Floyd County to construct its sixth and
present courthouse in 1995. Built in conjunction with a new civic
center, the multi-purpose county government building is located
behind the old 1893 courthouse. Officially known as the Administrative
Courthouse Building, this three-story brick structure houses
the offices and courtrooms for Floyd County's superior court
and other county courts, additionally serving as offices for
various administrative agencies. Meanwhile, the 1893 courthouse
continues in use, housing the tax commissioner and other county
offices. Also, the old U.S. Post Office (which still bears the
designation "Floyd County Court House" above the front entrance)
continues to be used by county agencies, though it no longer serves
as a court house.
Completing the buildings in the Floyd County government complex
is the Rome-Floyd County Law Enforcement Center (see
photo) build in 1998 across the street from the front of
the 1893 courthouse. It houses the city and county police departments
and jail, while the county sheriff's department has been moved
to new facilities outside the downtown Rome area.
County Courthouse Historical
Marker: Click
here
County History: Floyd 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 that act, Floyd
County was to consist of the 22nd, 23rd, and 24th districts of
the 3rd Section, and the 3rd, 4th, 5th, 14th, 15th, and 16th
districts of the 4th Section of the original Cherokee County
(see
map).
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. Cherokee lands were distributed to whites
in a land lottery, but the legislature temporarily prohibited
whites from taking possession of lots on which Cherokees still
lived. By 1833, however, whites began occupying areas of Floyd
County.
The official basis for Georgia claiming possession of all
Cherokee lands in Georgia was the Treaty
of New Echota of Dec. 29, 1835. In this treaty, a faction
of the Cherokees agreed to give up all Cherokee claims to land
in Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, and North Carolina and move west
in return for $5 million. Though a majority of Cherokees opposed
the treaty and refused to leave, the U.S. and Georgia considered
it binding. In 1838, U.S. Army troops rounded up the last of
15,000 Cherokees in Georgia and forced them to march west in
what came to be known as the "Trail of Tears."
Georgia's 88th county was named for Gen.
John Floyd, who was involved in various campaigns against
the Creek Indians in the early 1800s and later served in the
Georgia General Assembly and U.S. Congress.
Portions of Floyd County were used to create Chattooga County
(1838), Gordon County (1850), and Polk County (1851). Between
1840 and 1856, the General Assembly transferred land between
Chattooga and Floyd counties on ten occasions.
County Seat: In an act of Dec. 21, 1833, the General Assembly
designated Livingston as county seat and incorporated it as a town
(Ga. Laws 1833, p. 321). However, in an act approved Dec. 20, 1834,
the legislature repealed the earlier act and directed that the
county seat of Floyd County be "permanently located on lot number
two hundred and forty-five, in the twenty-third district of the
third section, at the head of the Coosa river; and that place shall
be hereafter known by the name of Rome" (Ga. Laws 1834, p. 250).
This legislation also incorporated Rome as a town. Originally,
the site of Rome was located in the Cherokee Nation and known as
"Head of Coosa" (because the Oostanaula and Etowah rivers converged
here to form the Coosa River). In 1827, Cherokee chief John Ross
settled at the site, where he built a two-story house and operated
two ferries across the rivers. In 1830, the Georgia General Assembly
passed legislation claiming all Cherokee lands in Georgia and providing
for a land lottery (which was held in 1832-33). Ross subsequently
lost his land to white lottery winners. A group of five land owners
and attorneys quickly decided to create a town at the confoluence
of Oostanaula and Etowah rivers and to urge the legislature to
designate the new settlement as county seat of Floyd County. Members
of the group proposed five names for the town -- Hillsboro, Pittsburgh,
Hamburg, Rome, and Warsaw. A drawing of names was held, and Rome
selected. Presumably, the name was based on the association of
the surrounding hills to the seven hills of Rome, Italy.
Maps
Size of County (Total
Area): 518.5 square miles
County Rank in Total
Area: 23rd out of 159
Population:
Floyd County
City of Rome
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