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Other Information: It
is not known what served as Wheeler County courthouse for the
first two years following its creation, but in 1914 a courthouse
was built in Alamo. This structure burned in 1916. The present
courthouse was built in 1917 and completely renovated in 1961.
County Courthouse Historical
Marker: Click
here
County History: On Aug. 14, 1912, the General Assembly
proposed a constitutional amendment to create Wheeler County
from that portion of Montgomery County west of the Oconee River
(see
map). (Ga. Laws 1912, p. 41). In that year's general election,
Georgia voters ratified the proposed amendment on Nov. 5, 1912,
which marks the official date of Wheeler 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 Wheeler 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. By 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 148th county was named for former Confederate general
Joseph E. Wheeler. [Click here
and here
for more information on Gen. Wheeler.]
County Seat: The 1912 constitutional amendment creating
Wheeler County designated the town of Alamo as county seat. Alamo
had developed around 1890 as a railroad depot on the new Seaboard
Air Line Railway (see map). Kenneth Krakow indicates that the
daughter of a local judge suggested the name of the town after
the San Antonio mission destroyed by Mexican forces in 1836.
The legislature incorporated Alamo on Aug. 16, 1909 (Ga. Laws
1909, p. 498).
Historical Maps of Wheeler
County:
Size of County (Total
Area): 300.2 square miles
County Rank in Total
Area: 100th out of 159
Population:
Wheeler County
City of Alamo
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