Hancock County Courthouse

Photo: Keith Hair

Note: This is NOT the official web site of Hancock County or of any county officials; it is an educational web site about the history of the county courthouse and the county itself.  For the address and phone number of the courthouse and county officials, see the NaCO web page for Hancock County, linked below:

Address and Phone Number: See NaCO web page for Hancock County

Location: Sparta

Date Built: 1881-83

Architectural Style: Second Empire

Designer: Parkins and Bruce

Other Information: After the Hancock County's creation, court was initially held in a wooden building known as Four Mile Store. Later, a wooden courthouse was built in Sparta. A two-story brick courthouse was built in the 1800s on the site of the current courthouse. This building was torn down in 1881 and replaced by the present courthouse, which opened in 1883 [see picture postcard]. Restoration work on the building was completed in the 1970s.

County Courthouse Historical Marker: Click here

County History: Hancock County was created by an act of the General Assembly approved on Dec. 17, 1793. Created from portions of Greene and Washington counties, Georgia's 15th county was named for John Hancock, who was a noted leader in the independence movement leading to the American Revolution. A portion of Hancock County was used to help create Taliaferro County in 1825.

County Seat: Sparta. Named for the famous Greek city, Sparta was founded in 1795 by American Revolutionary officer Maj. Charles Ambercrombie of North Carolina. It was designated county seat in 1797 and incorporated by the legislature on Dec. 3, 1805.

Maps

• Historical Maps of Hancock County
• Georgia DOT Map of Hancock County, pdf (766K)

Size of County (Total Area): 478.8 square miles

County Rank in Total Area: 35th out of 159

Population:

Hancock County

• 10,076 (2000)
• Hancock County Historical Population Profile

City of Sparta

• 1,522 (2000)

© Carl Vinson Institute of Government, University of Georgia

Go to Georgia County Courthouses Contents page