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Other Information: After Peach County's creation in Nov. 1924,
the second floor of Slappey's Opera House (later designated Austin
Theater) on Main St. served as the county courthouse. Later,
county officials moved the courthouse around the corner to a
former Star and Durant auto dealership on South Macon St. The
current courthouse was built in 1936. After a fire in 1969, the
courthouse was restored with an addition constructed in the early
1970s. Another addition was built in the 1990s.
County Courthouse Historical
Marker: Click
here
County History:
On July 18, 1924, the General Assembly proposed a constitutional
amendment to create Peach County from Houston and Macon counties
(Ga. Laws 1924, p. 39). [Click here
for legal description of its original boundaries.] In that year's
general election, Georgia voters ratified the proposed amendment
on Nov. 4, 1924, which marks the date of Peach County's creation
(although a state historical marker on the courthouse grounds
incorrectly cites the county's creation as the day the legislative
act proposing the constitutional amendment was approved).
Why was Peach County created by constitutional amendment instead
of an act of the General Assembly? In 1904, Georgia voters had
approved a constitutional amendment limiting the number of counties
in the state to 145. The next year, the General Assembly created
eight new counties, bringing the total number to 145 -- the constitutional
limit. Nevertheless, there was continuing pressure to create
more counties. Beginning in 1906, lawmakers got around the 145-county
limitation by creating new counties through constitutional amendments
that were not subject to the limitation. With the creation of
Peach County in 1924, Georgia had 161 counties -- 16 of which
had been created by constitutional amendment. On Jan. 1, 1932,
Milton and Campbell counties merged with Fulton, leaving 159
counties. In 1945, Georgia voters ratified a new constitution
-- one which provided an absolute limit of 159 counties, with
an additional provision (see
text) that no new country could be created except through
consolidation of existing counties.
Georgia's 161st -- and last -- new county was named for the
peaches widely grown in the area.
County Seat:
The 1924 constitutional amendment creating Peach County designated
Fort Valley as county seat. Fort Valley was originally settled
in 1820 as an Indian trading post. The community reportedly was
named for Arthur Fort, a Revolutionary War hero. In Feb. 1854,
the legislature incorporated Fort Valley.
Maps
Size of County (Total
Area): 151.5 square miles
County Rank in Total
Area: 155th out of 159
Population:
Peach County
City of Fort Valley
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