Elbert County, Georgia

For the county in Colorado, see Elbert County, Colorado.

Elbert County is a county located in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 19,637.^[1] The county seat is Elberton.^[2] The county was established on December 10, 1790, and was named for Samuel Elbert.^[3][4]

Elbert County
County
Elbert County courthouse in Elberton, 1973
Location within the U.S. state of Georgia
Georgia's location within the U.S.
Coordinates: 34°07′N 82°50′W
Country	United States
State	Georgia
Founded	1790; 235 years ago (1790)
Named after	Samuel Elbert
Seat	Elberton
Largest city	Elberton
Area
• Total	374 sq mi (970 km2)
• Land	351 sq mi (910 km2)
• Water	23 sq mi (60 km2)  6.2%
Population  (2020)
• Total	19,637
• Density	56/sq mi (22/km2)
Time zone	UTC−5 (Eastern)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−4 (EDT)
Congressional district	9th
Website	www.elbertga.us

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 374 square miles (970 km²), of which 351 square miles (910 km²) is land and 23 square miles (60 km²) (6.2%) is water.^[5] The county is located in the Piedmont region of the state.

The northern half of Elbert County, north of a line made by following State Route 17 from Bowman southeast to Elberton, and then following State Route 72 east to just before the South Carolina border, and then heading south along the shores of Lake Richard B. Russell & Clarkes Hill to the county's southeastern tip, is located in the Upper Savannah River sub-basin of the larger Savannah River basin. The portion of the county south of this line is located in the Broad River sub-basin of the Savannah River basin.^[6]

Major highways

• State Route 17
• State Route 72
• State Route 77
• State Route 77 Connector
• State Route 79
• State Route 172
• State Route 368

Adjacent counties

• Anderson County, South Carolina (northeast)
• Abbeville County, South Carolina (east)
• McCormick County, South Carolina (southeast)
• Lincoln County (southeast)
• Wilkes County (south)
• Oglethorpe County (southwest)
• Madison County (west)
• Hart County (north)
• Franklin County (northwest)

Communities

Cities

• Bowman
• Elberton

Census-designated place

• Dewy Rose

Unincorporated communities

• Beverly
• Centerville
• Coldwater
• Hard Cash
• Heardmont
• Montevideo
• Rice Town
• Rock Branch
• Ruckersville

Ghost town

• Huguenot
• Petersburg

Demographics

Historical population

Census	Pop.	Note	%±
1800	10,094		—
1810	12,156		20.4%
1820	11,788		−3.0%
1830	12,354		4.8%
1840	11,125		−9.9%
1850	12,959		16.5%
1860	10,433		−19.5%
1870	9,249		−11.3%
1880	12,957		40.1%
1890	15,376		18.7%
1900	19,729		28.3%
1910	24,125		22.3%
1920	23,905		−0.9%
1930	18,485		−22.7%
1940	19,618		6.1%
1950	18,585		−5.3%
1960	17,835		−4.0%
1970	17,262		−3.2%
1980	18,758		8.7%
1990	18,949		1.0%
2000	20,511		8.2%
2010	20,166		−1.7%
2020	19,637		−2.6%
2023 (est.)	20,013	[7]	1.9%
U.S. Decennial Census[8] 1790–1880[9] 1890–1910[10] 1920–1930[11] 1930–1940[12] 1940–1950[13] 1960–1980[14] 1980–2000[15] 2010[16]

Elbert County racial composition as of 2020^[17]

Race	Num.	Perc.
White	12,610	64.22%
Black or African American	5,253	26.75%
Native American	26	0.13%
Asian	182	0.93%
Pacific Islander	3	0.02%
Other/Mixed	567	2.89%
Hispanic or Latino	996	5.07%

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 19,637 people, 7,559 households, and 5,065 families residing in the county.

Judiciary and government

Elbert County is part of the Northern Judicial Circuit of Georgia, which also includes the counties of Hart, Franklin, Madison, and Oglethorpe. Elbert County's governing authority, the Elbert County Board of Commissioners, has five Commissioners elected in districts, a Chairperson elected County-wide, and an appointed County Administrator.

Politics

United States presidential election results for Elbert County, Georgia^[18]

Year	Republican		Democratic		Third party(ies)
	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%
2024	6,860	71.54%	2,700	28.16%	29	0.30%
2020	6,226	67.85%	2,879	31.38%	71	0.77%
2016	5,292	65.93%	2,539	31.63%	196	2.44%
2012	4,859	59.58%	3,181	39.00%	116	1.42%
2008	4,868	58.43%	3,366	40.40%	98	1.18%
2004	4,626	60.33%	2,984	38.91%	58	0.76%
2000	3,262	55.73%	2,527	43.17%	64	1.09%
1996	2,393	40.86%	2,900	49.51%	564	9.63%
1992	2,372	38.46%	3,025	49.05%	770	12.49%
1988	2,796	56.77%	2,118	43.01%	11	0.22%
1984	3,366	55.77%	2,670	44.23%	0	0.00%
1980	1,967	32.45%	4,014	66.23%	80	1.32%
1976	961	16.89%	4,730	83.11%	0	0.00%
1972	2,875	76.48%	884	23.52%	0	0.00%
1968	914	16.98%	1,216	22.59%	3,252	60.42%
1964	1,887	37.30%	3,172	62.70%	0	0.00%
1960	609	14.23%	3,672	85.77%	0	0.00%
1956	447	10.95%	3,635	89.05%	0	0.00%
1952	552	14.41%	3,279	85.59%	0	0.00%
1948	152	7.16%	1,617	76.17%	354	16.67%
1944	370	19.11%	1,564	80.79%	2	0.10%
1940	357	14.70%	2,052	84.48%	20	0.82%
1936	438	19.62%	1,772	79.39%	22	0.99%
1932	77	3.63%	2,023	95.47%	19	0.90%
1928	931	46.95%	1,052	53.05%	0	0.00%
1924	72	5.59%	1,024	79.56%	191	14.84%
1920	187	13.04%	1,247	86.96%	0	0.00%
1916	0	0.00%	1,756	90.56%	183	9.44%
1912	13	1.15%	882	77.85%	238	21.01%

Historical and cultural sites

See also: Georgia Guidestones

Historical and cultural sites in Elbert County include the Nancy Hart cabin, the Dan Tucker gravesite, the Stephen Heard Cemetery, the Petersburg Township site, Vans Creek Church, the Elbert County Courthouse, the Elberton Seaboard-Airline Depot, the Rock Gym, the Granite Bowl, the Elberton Granite Museum and Exhibit, the Richard B. Russell Dam, the Elbert Theatre, Richard B. Russell State Park, and Bobby Brown Park. The Georgia Guidestones stood in Elbert County from 1980 until their destruction in 2022.

Notable people

• Warren Akin Sr., member of the Georgia House of Representatives and Confederate States Congress
• Milton Alexander, brigadier general during the Black Hawk War
• William J. Alston, U.S. House of Representatives, Alabama House of Representatives, and Alabama Senate
• Richard E. Banks, physician and surgeon
• William Barnett, U.S. House of Representatives
• William Augustus Bell, academic and president of Miles College
• Fred Bond Jr., tobacco industry representative and mayor Cary, North Carolina
• Nathaniel J. Hammond, United States House of Representatives and Georgia Attorney General
• Mecole Hardman, professional football player
• Derek Harper, professional basketball player
• Corra Mae Harris, journalist and war correspondent
• Sampson Willis Harris, U.S. House of Representatives and Georgia House of Representatives
• Nancy Hart, rebel heroine of the American Revolutionary War
• William Henry Heard, clergyman and diplomat
• R. H. Hunt, architect
• Mammy Kate, enslaved women
• Joseph Rucker Lamar, US Supreme Court justice
• Otis Leavill, R&B singer, songwriter and record company executive
• Daniel Parker, leader in the Primitive Baptist Church
• Charles Tait, United States Senator and a United States district judge
• Horace Tate, educator, activist, scholar, and politician
• Daniel Tucker, Methodist minister, farmer, and ferryman as well as a captain during the American Revolution
• Matthias Ward, lawyer and United States Senator from Texas.
• William J. White, civil rights leader, minister, educator, and journalist
• Thomas Simpson Woodward, brigadier general in the Georgia militia

See also

• State of Georgia portal

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Elbert County, Georgia
• Georgia Guidestones