Butts County, Georgia

Butts County is a county located in the central part of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 25,434, up from 23,655 in 2010. The county seat is Jackson. The county was created on December 24, 1825.

Butts County is included in the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell MSA. In 2010, the center of population of Georgia was located in the northeastern portion of the county.

History
Butts County was formed on December 24, 1825, as the sixty-fourth county in Georgia from portions of Henry County and Monroe County. It was named by the Georgia General Assembly in honor of Samuel Butts, an officer who was killed in the Creek War in 1814. A year later, Jackson was created as the first city in the new county and became the county seat. Other towns followed, including Indian Springs (1837); Flovilla (1883); Jenkinsburg (1889); and Pepperton (1897). Indian Springs later disincorporated and Pepperton was merged with Jackson in 1966, leaving just three incorporated cities in Butts County. In recent years, Indian Springs has again become a tourist destination including many historic sites, shops, eating establishment and the famous Indian Springs Hotel as its centerpiece.

Much of Butts County and its cities were destroyed by the army of General William T. Sherman in its March to the Sea during the American Civil War. Butts County struggled for decades afterwards to become economically stable again. The arrival of the first railroad train on May 5, 1882, started the resurgence and growth followed. In 1898, caught up in the post-reconstruction fervor that had infected most Georgia counties, Butts County erected a monumental courthouse designed by Bruce & Morgan. This building was used as a courthouse until 2019; following renovations, it is now a museum and visitor's center. The construction of the Lloyd Shoals dam in 1910 created Jackson Lake, a recreational lake located primarily in Butts County.

Progress milestones in Butts County include the first telephones in 1884; first waterworks in 1905; electric lights on February 19, 1907; and traffic lights in 1926.

In 2007, Butts County, along with the city of Flovilla were both designated as Georgia Signature Communities by the Georgia Department of Community Affairs. This prestigious designation was given to a total of 12 communities in Georgia that year.

Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 188 sqmi, of which 184 sqmi is land and 3.6 sqmi (1.9%) is water. The entirety of Butts County is located in the Upper Ocmulgee River sub-basin of the Altamaha River basin.

Major highways

 * I-75.svg Interstate 75
 * US 23.svg U.S. Route 23
 * Georgia 16.svg State Route 16
 * Georgia 36.svg State Route 36
 * Georgia 42.svg State Route 42
 * Georgia 87.svg State Route 87
 * Georgia 401.svg State Route 401 (unsigned designation for I-75)

Adjacent counties

 * Newton County (north)
 * Jasper County (east)
 * Monroe County (south)
 * Lamar County (southwest)
 * Spalding County (west)
 * Henry County (northwest)

Cities

 * Flovilla
 * Jackson
 * Jenkinsburg

Unincorporated communities

 * Stark
 * Worthville

Demographics
As of the 2020 United States census, there were 25,434 people, 8,279 households, and 5,823 families residing in the county.

Media
Butts County has one radio station: WJGA FM 92.1 and one local newspaper, the Jackson Progress-Argus. The county has gained attention in recent years as being a frequent backdrop for a number of movies and television shows. Most recently, the Netflix series Stranger Things made the Butts County city of Jackson, Georgia the backdrop of the show's fictional town of Hawkins, Indiana, turning the downtown area into a 1980s Indiana small town. In addition to the many buildings of the downtown that are visible in various scenes, the exterior of the Butts County Courthouse is featured, standing in for the Hawkins library.

The fact that Butts County serves as the filming location for key events in the show has already led fans there after just two seasons. Other shows which have filmed in the area include The Originals, a television show, and a recent remake of Endless Love by Universal Studios.

County government
Butts County is governed by a Board of Commissioners composed of one commissioner from each of the county's five electoral districts. The commission members serve four year, staggered terms. The Board is presided over by the chairman, elected annually from the members of the commission to chair the meetings of the Board. The Board employs a County Administrator, Deputy County Administrator, County Clerk and nine department managers to oversee the daily affairs of the government.

There are four Constitutional Officers and three Elected Officials who are elected at-large by the voters of the county. The Constitutional Officers include the Sheriff; Tax Commissioner; Probate Judge and Clerk of the Superior Court. Elected officials include the Magistrate Judge; Coroner and County Surveyor. Other services are provided by departments headed by appointees of the Board of Commissioners.

In 2008, a movement began to create an elected, at-large chairman position to serve as presiding officer over the Board of Commissioners. This movement lost ground in 2009 and has not been revisited.

State representation
The Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison of the Georgia Department of Corrections is a maximum security prison in unincorporated Butts County. It is home to Georgia's death row for men and Georgia's execution facility. The prison is also home to maximum security general population (non-death row).

Education
All parts of the county are in the Butts County School District.