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Other Information:
The Dec. 26, 1831 legislation creating Sumter County designated
the house of John Kimmy, in the twenty seventh district, as the
temporary courthouse of the new county. How long this served
as courthouse is not known. Reportedly, John R. Moore was paid
$950 in 1834 to build a new courthouse but in July 1834 fled
the county with the money. In 1839, a two-story, wood-frame courthouse
was completed in the center of the town square. In 1853, this
structure was moved to the west side of Jackson St., and a new
brick courthouse built in its place. In 1883, the General Assembly
authorized a referendum to be held in Sumter County to allow
the county to borrow up to $30,000 to construct a new courthouse
(Ga. Laws 1882-83, p. 656). The results of the referendum, which
required approval of two-thirds of those voting, are not known,
but in 1887 work began on a new courthouse at the corner of Forsyth
and Lee streets. This building, designed by Atlanta architects
Bruce & Morgan, was completed in May 1888 and served until
May 1959, when the present courthouse was completed. Subsequently,
the former courthouse was torn down.
County Courthouse Historical
Marker: Click
here
County History:
Sumter County was created from Lee County on Dec. 26, 1831, by
an act of the General Assembly (Ga. Laws 1831, p. 76). In 1857,
portions of Sumter County were used to create Schley County (Ga.
Laws 1857, p. 42).
Georgia's 80th county was named Gen. Thomas Sumter (1734-1832),
who at the time of the county's creation was 97 years of age
and the last surviving general officer of the American Revolution.
[For more on Thomas Sumter, click here and here.]
.
County Seat:
The act creating Sumter County named Martin G. Mims, Hiram D.
Youngblood, Lovet B. Smith, Samuel Faust, and Joseph Jackson
as commissioners with authority to designate the site for holding
elections and court sessions until the county was organized (Ga.
Laws 1831, p. 76). Until such temporary site was designated,
the legislation directed that Sumter County inferior and superior
courts be held at the house of John Kimmy, in the twenty seventh
district of the new county. The five commissioners were further
directed to select a site for the county seat, have the site
divided into town lots, and sell the lots, with the proceeds
to fund construction of a courthouse and jail. In July 1832,
the commissioners purchased lot 156 in the 27th district (which
was located near the geographic center of the new county) and
had a town square individual lots laid out. Reportedly, the new
county seat was named for Italian navigator Amerigo Vespucci
(1451-1512), though it also may have reflected the Latinized
masculine form of America. On Dec. 22, 1832, the General Assembly
formally designated Americus as county seat and incorporated
it as a town (Ga. Laws 1832, p. 1919).
Maps
Size of County (Total
Area): 492.6 square miles
County Rank in Total
Area: 32nd out of 159
Population:
Sumter County
City of Americus
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