McDuffie County, Georgia

McDuffie County is a county located in the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 21,632. The county seat is Thomson. The county was created on October 18, 1870 and named after the South Carolina governor and senator George McDuffie.

McDuffie County is part of the Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC metropolitan statistical area.

History
Most communities located in the county were founded before the county was created. Some have faded into obscurity. The Historic Wrightsborough Foundation preserves the memory of the early 12,000 acre settlement of Wrightborough, which was occupied 1768 to 1920.

Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 266 sqmi, of which 257 sqmi is land and 8.9 sqmi (3.4%) is water.

Most of the southern half of McDuffie County, south of Thomson, is located in the Brier Creek sub-basin of the Savannah River basin, except for a slice of the eastern portion of the county, north of Dearing and along a north–south line running through Boneville, which is located in the Middle Savannah River sub-basin of the Savannah River basin. The northern half of McDuffie County, north of Thomson, is located in the Little River sub-basin of the same Savannah River basin.

Major highways

 * I-20.svg Interstate 20
 * US 78.svg U.S. Route 78
 * US 221.svg U.S. Route 221
 * US 278.svg U.S. Route 278
 * Georgia 10.svg State Route 10
 * Georgia 12.svg State Route 12
 * Georgia 17.svg State Route 17
 * Georgia 43.svg State Route 43
 * Georgia 47.svg State Route 47
 * Georgia 150.svg State Route 150
 * Georgia 223.svg State Route 223
 * Georgia 402.svg State Route 402 (unsigned designation for I-20)

Adjacent counties

 * Lincoln County (northeast)
 * Columbia County (east)
 * Richmond County (southeast)
 * Jefferson County (south)
 * Warren County (west)
 * Wilkes County (northwest)

City

 * Thomson (county seat)

Town

 * Dearing

Unincorporated communities

 * Autney
 * Boneville
 * Cobbham
 * Cobbham Crossroads

Demographics
As of the 2020 United States census, there were 21,632 people, 8,153 households, and 5,770 families residing in the county.

Politics
Typical of many counties in Georgia and the Solid South, McDuffie County mainly backed candidates of the Democratic Party in presidential elections by wide margins prior to 1964. There were several exceptions to this, firstly between 1892 and 1908 when it supported Republican William McKinley and the Populist candidacies of James B. Weaver and favorite son Thomas E. Watson.