Terrell County Courthouse

Photo: Keith Hair

Note: This is NOT the official web site of Terrell 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 Terrell County, linked below:

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

Location: Dawson

Date Built: 1892

Architectural Style: High Victorian

Designer: W.H. Parkins

Other Information: Terrell County's first courthouse was built in Dawson in 1857. The fate of that structure is not known, but its successor--the present courthouse--was built in 1892. [For early views of the current Terrell County courthouse, see postcard 1, postcard 2, postcard 3, and postcard 4.] The courthouse was renovated in 1936.

County Courthouse Historical Marker: Click here

County History: Terrell County was created from Lee and Randolph counties on Feb. 16, 1856 by an act of the General Assembly (Ga. Laws 1855-56, p. 117). [Click here to read legal description of Terrell County's original boundaries] Georgia's 114th county, formed from portions of Lee and Randolph counties, was named for noted planter, promoter of scientific agriculture at the University of Georgia, and former Congressman and state legislator William Terrell of Sparta. Terrell died in July 1855, and a new county was named in his honor eight months later.

County Seat: Dawson. The 1856 act creating Terrell County empowered the justices of the county's inferior court to select a site to serve as county seat. The justices chose a settlement in the center of the new county and named it Dawson in honor of William Terrell's friend, U.S. Senator William Dawson, who died in 1856. At the 1857 session, the legislature passed an act incorporating Dawson.

Maps

• Historical Maps of Terrell County
• Georgia DOT Map of Terrell County, pdf (584K)

Size of County (Total Area): 337.6 square miles

County Rank in Total Area: 85th out of 159

Population:

Terrell County

• 10,970 (2000)
• Terrell County Historical Population Profile

City of Dawson

• 5,058 (2000)

© Carl Vinson Institute of Government, University of Georgia

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