Habersham County was created on Dec. 18, 1818, by an act of the General Assembly (Ga. Laws 1818, p. 27). That legislation also created Gwinnett and Hall counties -- all from lands ceded by the Cherokee Indians on July 8, 1817 in the Treaty of the Cherokee Agency. Additional Cherokee lands were ceded to Georgia on Feb. 27, 1819 in the Treaty of Washington, and in an act of Dec. 21, 1819, the legislature added some of ceded land to the western portions of Habersham and Hall counties (Ga. Laws 1819, p. 23). Remaining unallocated Cherokee lands ceded in 1817 and 1819 were added to Habersham and other Georgia counties in 1828 and 1829 (Ga. Laws 1828, p. 88 and Ga. Laws 1829, p. 98). (Later, portions of Habersham County were used to create the following counties: Cherokee (1831), Lumpkin (1832), White (1857), Banks (1858), and Stephens (1905).

Georgia's 46th county was named for Joseph Habersham (1751-1815) of Savannah. Habersham was a leader in the independence movement in Georgia prior to the American Revolution.After the war, Habersham served as U.S. Postmaster General (1795-1801). Prior to his death, Habersham built a summer home near present-day Clarkesville. When the area became a county in 1818, it was named in honor of the famous Georgia political figure.

Historical Maps

 

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1952

 

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© Carl Vinson Institute of Government, University of Georgia

Go to Historical Atlas of Georgia Counties

Go to Habersham County Courthouse page