Elbert County, Georgia

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. The county seat is Elberton. The county was established on December 10, 1790, and was named for Samuel Elbert.

Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 374 sqmi, of which 351 sqmi is land and 23 sqmi (6.2%) is water. 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.

Major highways

 * Georgia 17.svg State Route 17
 * Georgia 72.svg State Route 72
 * Georgia 77.svg State Route 77
 * Georgia 77 Connector.svg State Route 77 Connector
 * Georgia 79.svg State Route 79
 * Georgia 172.svg State Route 172
 * Georgia 368.svg 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)

Cities

 * Bowman
 * Elberton

Census-designated place

 * Dewy Rose

Unincorporated communities

 * Hard Cash
 * Ruckersville
 * Rice Town

Ghost town

 * Petersburg

Demographics
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.

Historical and cultural sites
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