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Clarke County, Georgia

Coordinates: 33°57′20″N 83°23′00″W / 33.955464°N 83.383245°W / 33.955464; -83.383245
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Clarke County
County
Clarke County Courthouse in Athens
Clarke County Courthouse in Athens
Official seal of Clarke County
Seal
Map of Georgia highlighting Clarke County
Location within the U.S. state of Georgia
Map of the United States highlighting Georgia
Georgia's location within the U.S.
Coordinates: 33°57′20″N 83°23′00″W / 33.955464°N 83.383245°W / 33.955464; -83.383245
Country United States
State Georgia
Founded1801; 223 years ago (1801)
Named forElijah Clarke
SeatAthens
Largest cityAthens
Area
 • Total121 sq mi (310 km2)
 • Land119 sq mi (310 km2)
 • Water1.8 sq mi (5 km2)  1.5%
Population
 (2020)
 • Total128,671
 • Estimate 
(2023)
129,933 Increase
 • Density1,100/sq mi (410/km2)
Time zoneUTC−5 (Eastern)
 • Summer (DST)UTC−4 (EDT)
Congressional districts9th, 10th
Websiteaccgov.com

Clarke County is located in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 128,671.[1] Its county seat is Athens,[2] with which it is a consolidated city-county. Clarke County is included in the Athens-Clarke County, GA Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is also included in the Atlanta-Athens-Clarke County-Sandy Springs, GA Combined Statistical Area.

History

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Clarke County was created in 1801 by an act of the Georgia General Assembly on December 5. It was named for Revolutionary War hero Elijah Clarke and included 250 square miles (647.5 km2) that was formerly part of Jackson County. Colonel Clarke played a leading role the 1779 victory at the Battle of Kettle Creek in Wilkes County. The Elijah Clarke Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution erected a monument to him in Broad Street in Athens.

As the population of the county grew in the early 19th century, its agricultural and cotton industries prospered. The adjacent plantation harvests flowed through city mills. Manufacturing and textile production operations were the major industries in Clarke County, especially after the railroad reached Athens in 1841. Athens and Clarke County were second only to Savannah and Chatham County in the amount of capital invested in manufacturing in the 1840s.

Two skirmishes were fought in Clarke County in 1864, during the American Civil War, one near Barber's Creek and the other near Mitchell's Road. Athens was occupied by the Union Army on May 29 and a provost-marshal took charge. Formal military occupation of the county ended by December 1864, though Union troops remained in the county until early 1866.

In 1801 the Clarke County Commission had selected Watkinsville (now in Oconee County) as the county seat. All county offices, including the courts and jail, moved to Athens when the seat was moved on November 24, 1871. County meetings took place in the old Athens town hall, until a new courthouse was constructed in 1876. The present courthouse was built in 1914.

Map of Clarke County from 1893

On February 12, 1875, in response to complaints over the relocation of the county seat to Athens, the state legislature created Oconee County from the southwestern portion of Clarke County, making Watkinsville its seat. Clarke County thus lost one-third of its population and three-fifths of its land area.

The position of "commissioner of roads and revenue" was created by the legislature for what are today known as county commissioners. As an extension of the state, the county would conduct welfare and health programs, build and maintain roads, and hold courts of law.

On March 29, 1973, the Georgia legislature increased the number of county commissioners from 3 to 5, also adding a county administrator.

In 1990, the residents voted to unify the city and county governments creating Athens-Clarke County, the second (after Columbus-Muscogee County) unified city-county government in the State of Georgia.

Geography

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Clarke County is located at 33°57′20″N 83°23′00″W / 33.955464°N 83.383245°W / 33.955464; -83.383245.[3] The county is located in the Piedmont region of the state.

The vast majority of Clarke County is located in the Upper Oconee River sub-basin of the Altamaha River basin, with a very small portion of the county's eastern edge, north of Winterville, located in the Broad River sub-basin of the Savannah River basin.[4]

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 121 square miles (310 km2), of which 119 square miles (310 km2) is land and 1.8 square miles (4.7 km2) (1.5%) is water.[3] It is the smallest county by area in Georgia.[5]

Adjacent counties

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Communities

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Cities

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Town

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Demographics

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Historical population
CensusPop.Note%±
18107,628—
18208,76714.9%
183010,17616.1%
184010,5223.4%
185011,1195.7%
186011,2180.9%
187012,94115.4%
188011,702−9.6%
189015,18629.8%
190017,70816.6%
191023,27331.4%
192026,11112.2%
193025,613−1.9%
194028,39810.9%
195036,55028.7%
196045,36324.1%
197065,17743.7%
198074,49814.3%
199087,59417.6%
2000101,48915.9%
2010116,71415.0%
2020128,67110.2%
2023 (est.)129,933[6]1.0%
U.S. Decennial Census[7]
1790-1880[8] 1890-1910[9]
1920-1930[10] 1930-1940[11]
1940-1950[12] 1960-1980[13]
1980-2000[14] 2010[15] 2020[16]
Clarke County, Georgia – Racial and ethnic composition
Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos may be of any race.
Race / Ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic) Pop 2000[17] Pop 2010[15] Pop 2020[16] % 2000 % 2010 % 2020
White alone (NH) 62,895 66,674 72,201 61.97% 57.13% 56.11%
Black or African American alone (NH) 27,496 30,695 31,367 27.09% 26.30% 24.38%
Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH) 164 141 297 0.16% 0.12% 0.23%
Asian alone (NH) 3,162 4,811 4,920 3.12% 4.12% 3.82%
Pacific Islander alone (NH) 41 48 66 0.04% 0.04% 0.05%
Other race alone (NH) 172 270 980 0.17% 0.23% 0.76%
Mixed race or Multiracial (NH) 1,123 1,883 4,504 1.11% 1.61% 3.50%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 6,436 12,192 14,336 6.34% 10.45% 11.14%
Total 101,489 116,714 128,671 100.00% 100.00% 100.00%

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 128,671 people, 52,124 households, and 24,041 families residing in the county.

Education

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Main article: Athens, Georgia § Education

Crime

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In 2022, Clarke County had the third highest crime rate in Georgia. Clarke County had 35.5 crimes per 1,000 people, based on 4,599 offenses in 2022, and a population of 129,377. Like most other counties, the two more common crimes were larceny theft (2,983 incidents recorded in Clarke in 2022), and aggravated assault (1,979 incidents). Clarke County was only behind DeKalb County and Bibb County for highest crime rate.[18]

Politics

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Due to the presence of the University of Georgia campus in Athens,[19] Clarke County has long been a Democratic Party stronghold in presidential elections. This predates the recent trend of Democratic gains in counties dominated by large universities. It has only backed the Republican candidate in three presidential elections, the fiercely divided realigning election of 1968 (in which it was one of only eight Georgia counties where George Wallace came in third) and the 49-state landslides of 1972 and 1984.

Transportation

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Major highways

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Pedestrians and cycling

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United States presidential election results for Clarke County, Georgia[20]
Year Republican Democratic Third party(ies)
No.  % No.  % No.  %
2024 16,049 30.35% 36,297 68.63% 541 1.02%
2020 14,450 28.10% 36,055 70.12% 916 1.78%
2016 12,717 27.96% 29,603 65.10% 3,156 6.94%
2012 13,815 34.10% 25,431 62.77% 1,269 3.13%
2008 15,333 33.58% 29,591 64.80% 742 1.62%
2004 15,052 40.20% 21,718 58.00% 673 1.80%
2000 11,850 41.00% 15,167 52.47% 1,887 6.53%
1996 10,504 38.41% 15,206 55.61% 1,636 5.98%
1992 10,459 36.07% 15,403 53.12% 3,136 10.81%
1988 11,150 49.66% 11,154 49.68% 148 0.66%
1984 11,503 53.17% 10,132 46.83% 0 0.00%
1980 8,094 40.68% 10,519 52.86% 1,286 6.46%
1976 6,610 36.82% 11,342 63.18% 0 0.00%
1972 11,465 65.31% 6,090 34.69% 0 0.00%
1968 5,800 39.17% 5,556 37.52% 3,452 23.31%
1964 4,875 39.33% 7,519 60.67% 0 0.00%
1960 2,250 31.86% 4,812 68.14% 0 0.00%
1956 2,107 33.11% 4,257 66.89% 0 0.00%
1952 1,588 24.46% 4,904 75.54% 0 0.00%
1948 707 16.38% 3,095 71.69% 515 11.93%
1944 274 8.09% 3,112 91.91% 0 0.00%
1940 246 7.81% 2,894 91.87% 10 0.32%
1936 160 5.72% 2,632 94.13% 4 0.14%
1932 159 7.35% 1,992 92.05% 13 0.60%
1928 724 33.97% 1,407 66.03% 0 0.00%
1924 267 14.35% 1,530 82.26% 63 3.39%
1920 217 13.26% 1,419 86.74% 0 0.00%
1916 31 2.63% 1,036 87.80% 113 9.58%
1912 81 7.34% 956 86.67% 66 5.98%
1908 207 20.20% 720 70.24% 98 9.56%
1904 118 11.69% 773 76.61% 118 11.69%
1900 199 21.89% 672 73.93% 38 4.18%
1896 419 35.66% 707 60.17% 49 4.17%
1892 545 35.97% 835 55.12% 135 8.91%
1888 660 44.99% 801 54.60% 6 0.41%
1884 765 49.58% 778 50.42% 0 0.00%
1880 765 48.88% 800 51.12% 0 0.00%

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Census - Geography Profile: Clarke County, Georgia". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved December 26, 2022.
  2. ^ "Find a County". National Association of Counties. Archived from the original on May 31, 2011. Retrieved June 7, 2011.
  3. ^ a b "US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990". United States Census Bureau. February 12, 2011. Retrieved April 23, 2011.
  4. ^ "Georgia Soil and Water Conservation Commission Interactive Mapping Experience". Georgia Soil and Water Conservation Commission. Archived from the original on October 3, 2018. Retrieved November 18, 2015.
  5. ^ Krakow, Kenneth K. (1975). Georgia Place-Names: Their History and Origins (PDF). Macon, GA: Winship Press. p. 44. ISBN 0-915430-00-2. Archived (PDF) from the original on July 10, 2003.
  6. ^ "Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for Counties: April 1, 2020 to July 1, 2023". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved March 31, 2024.
  7. ^ "Decennial Census of Population and Housing by Decades". United States Census Bureau.
  8. ^ "1880 Census Population by Counties 1790-1800" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. 1880.
  9. ^ "1910 Census of Population - Georgia" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. 1910.
  10. ^ "1930 Census of Population - Georgia" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. 1930.
  11. ^ "1940 Census of Population - Georgia" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. 1940.
  12. ^ "1950 Census of Population - Georgia -" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. 1950.
  13. ^ "1980 Census of Population - Number of Inhabitants - Georgia" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. 1980.
  14. ^ "2000 Census of Population - Population and Housing Unit Counts - Georgia" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. 2000.
  15. ^ a b "P2: Hispanic or Latino, and Not Hispanic or Latino by Race – 2010: DEC Redistricting Data (PL 94-171) – Clarke County, Georgia". United States Census Bureau.
  16. ^ a b "P2: Hispanic or Latino, and Not Hispanic or Latino by Race – 2020: DEC Redistricting Data (PL 94-171) - Clarke County, Georgia". United States Census Bureau.
  17. ^ "P004 Hispanic or Latino, and Not Hispanic or Latino by Race – 2000: DEC Summary File 1 – Clarke County, Georgia". United States Census Bureau.
  18. ^ "The Georgia Counties with the Highest Crime Rates".
  19. ^ "College Towns". American Communities Project. Retrieved June 7, 2022.
  20. ^ Leip, David. "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections". uselectionatlas.org. Retrieved August 27, 2017.
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