Washington County Courthouse

Photo: Ed Jackson

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

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

Location: Sandersville

Date Built: 1868-69

Architectural Style: High Victorian with Second Empire clock tower

Designer: Unknown

Other Information: Court was first held in a private residence until a log cabin was built to serve as courthouse in Warthen until 1796. That year the county seat moved to Sandersville and a new courthouse was erected. It served until 1855, when it (and most of the town) was destroyed by fire. A brick courthouse was built the following year. Confederate soldiers fired from this building at Sherman's advancing army, so he had this courthouse burned in retaliation. After the Civil War court sessions were held in a store building, until the current courthouse was completed in 1869. An addition to the courthouse was built in 1899 [see postcard 1], followed by another addition in 1939. The courthouse was renovated 1970-73, and partially rehabilitated in 1987.

County Courthouse Historical Marker: Click here

County History: Washington County was created on Feb. 25, 1784 by an act of the General Assembly (Marbury & Crawford, 162). Created from Creek and Cherokee land cessions in the treaties of Augusta in May and November 1783, Georgia's 10th county was named for Gen. George Washington, hero of the just-concluded Revolutionary War.

Portions of Washington County were used to create the following counties: Greene (1786), Hancock (1793), Montgomery (1793), Warren (1793), and Johnson (1858).

County Seat: Sandersville [originally called Saunders Cross Road, then Saundersville, after a man named M. Saunders, who owned land and a store at a junction of two roads; designated county seat in 1796; and incorporated in 1812]

Previous County Seat: Warthen

Maps

• Historical Maps of Washington County
• Georgia DOT Map of Washington County, pdf (960K)

Size of County (Total Area): 684.4 square miles

County Rank in Total Area: 9th out of 159

Population:

Washington County

• 21,176 (2000)
• Washington County Historical Population Profile

City of Sandersville

• 6,144 (2000)

© Carl Vinson Institute of Government, University of Georgia

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