Coffee County was created by an act of the General Assembly approved on Feb. 9, 1854 (Ga. Laws 1854, p. 294). This area originally was Creek land. Most of the county was ceded to Georgia by the Treaty of Fort Jackson in 1814, though the northern portion was ceded in Jan. 1818 by the Treaty of the Creek Agency. On Dec. 15, 1818, the Georgia legislature divided the lands ceded by the two treaties into Appling, Early, and Irwin counties. Most of what would later become Coffee County fell in the original boundaries of Appling County, though the legislature transferred much of this area to Telfair County in 1819 and 1825. When Coffee County was created in 1854, it was formed primarily from the region of Telfair County south of the Ocmulgee River, with smaller portions added from Irwin, Clinch, and Ware counties. [Click here for a legal description of the original boundaries.]

Georgia's 108th county was named for former soldier, state legislator, and congressman Gen. John E. Coffee (1782-1836).

Portions of Coffee County were used to create the following counties: Berrien (1856), Jeff Davis (1905), and Atkinson (1917).

Historical Maps

 

1855

 

1863

 

1864

 

1865

 

1874

 

1883

 

1885a

 

1885b

 

1895

 

1899

 

1904

 

1910

 

1915

 

1952

 

1955

 

1970a

 

1970b

 

1999

 

 

2001a

 

2001b

© Carl Vinson Institute of Government, University of Georgia

Go to Historical Atlas of Georgia Counties

Go to Coffee County Courthouse page