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On July 14, 1914, the General Assembly proposed a constitutional
amendment to create Candler County (Ga. Laws 1914, p. 29). In
that year's general election, Georgia voters ratified the proposed
amendment on Nov. 3, 1914, which marks the official date of Candler
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).
According to the boundaries spelled out in the 1914 constitutional
amendment, Candler County was created from portions of Bulloch,
Emanuel, and Tattnall counties. Georgia's 150th county was named
for former governor Allen D. Candler (1834-1910), who had died
four years earlier.
Why was Candler 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.
As an interesting note, Candler is one of 25 Georgia counties
that today retain their original boundaries from the time of
creation.
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- 1915
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- 1952
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- 1955
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- 1970a
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- 1970b
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- 1999
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- 2001a
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- 2001b
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