Clarke County, Georgia

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. Its county seat is Athens, 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
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 sqmi 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.

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
Clarke County is located at 33.95546°N, -83.38324°W. 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.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 121 sqmi, of which 119 sqmi is land and 1.8 sqmi (1.5%) is water. It is the smallest county by area in Georgia.

Adjacent counties

 * Madison County, Georgia - northeast
 * Oglethorpe County, Georgia - southeast
 * Oconee County, Georgia - southwest
 * Barrow County, Georgia - west
 * Jackson County, Georgia - northwest

Cities

 * Athens (county seat)
 * Winterville

Town

 * Bogart (mostly in Oconee County)

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

Crime
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.

Politics
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 and the 49-state landslides of 1972 and 1984.

Major highways
U.S. Route 78 Business
 * US 29.svg U.S. Route 29
 * US 78.svg U.S. Route 78
 * business plate.svg
 * US 129.svg U.S. Route 129
 * US 441.svg U.S. Route 441
 * Georgia 8.svg State Route 8
 * Georgia 10.svg State Route 10
 * Georgia 10 Loop.svg State Route 10 Loop
 * Georgia 15.svg State Route 15
 * Georgia 15 Alternate.svg State Route 15 Alternate
 * Georgia 72.svg State Route 72
 * Georgia 422.svg State Route 422 (unsigned designation for State Route 10 Loop)

Pedestrians and cycling

 * Athens North Oconee River Greenway
 * Firefly Trail