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Other Information:
Towns County's first courthouse reportedly was built in the Hiawassee
town square in 1857. The building served until 1905, when a new
courthouse was completed. The present courthouse was erected
in 1964.
County Courthouse Historical
Marker: Click
here
County History:
Towns County was created Rabun and Union counties on March 6,
1856, by an act of the General Assembly (Ga. Laws 1855-56, p.
121). According to that act, Towns County's original boundaries
were specified as:
Beginning at the North Carolina line at the north-west corner
of Rabun county, and thence running east with said line to the
north-east corner of lot of land number ninety-four in the first
district of Rabun county, thence running south to the south-east
corner of lot number sixty-seven in the said first district,
thence running a straight line to the south-east corner of lot
of land number one hundred and seventy-two in the eighteenth
district and first section of Union county, thence along the
top of the Blue Ridge south-westerly to the corner of Habersham
county, thence along the top of said Blue Ridge to the main Ridge
that divides the waters of Notley and Hiwassee rivers, thence
along the top of said Ridge, westerly, to the Brass town, Bald
mountain, thence in the same direction to the Double Knobbs,
thence to the highest point of a Ridge on lot number one hundred
and ninety-one, (191) in the seventeenth district and first section,
thence a straight line to the Gap of the Mountain at the head
of Langham's Creek, thence with the main leading Ridge in a north-western
direction to the highest peak of the mountain, at the head of
Gum Log Creek, thence down said Gum Log Creek to the North Carolina
line, thence along the dividing line between North Carolina and
Georgia to the beginning point.
Georgia's 118th county was named for Gov. George
Washington Towns (1801-1854), who had died two years earlier.
County Seat:
The act creating Towns County called for county elections on
the first Monday in April 1856. After that election, the justices
of the county's new inferior court were authorized to select
a site for the county seat, purchase land, lay the site off into
town lots, sell the lots, and make all arrangements for the county
seat and public buildings as necessary. It is not clear when the
inferior court selected a county seat, though the first courthouse
reportedly was built in Hiawasee in 1857. The exact date the inferior
court selected Hiawassee as county seat is not known. The General
Assembly incorporated Hiawassee as a town on Oct. 24, 1870 (Ga. Laws
1870, p. 204).
Historical Maps of Towns
County:
Size of County (Total
Area): 171.9 square miles
County Rank in Total
Area: 150th out of 159
Population:
Towns County
City of Hiawassee
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