Lumpkin County is a

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

in the

Northeast The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A '' compass rose'' is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—eac ...

region of the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

. As of the 2020 census, the population was 33,488. Its

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

is Dahlonega. Lumpkin County is included in the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, Georgia metropolitan statistical area.

History

This area was settled by the

Cherokee The Cherokee (; , or ) people are one of the Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, they were concentrated in their homelands, in towns along river valleys of what is now southwestern ...

, who also occupied areas of what became delimited as southeastern

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

and western

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

. Lumpkin County was created on December 3, 1832. The county was named for Wilson Lumpkin, who at the time was

Governor of Georgia The governor of Georgia is the head of government of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and the commander-in-chief of the state's Georgia National Guard, National Guard, when not in federal service, and Georgia State Defense Force, State Defense Fo ...

. Lumpkin's daughter, Martha Wilson Lumpkin Compton, was the namesake of the town named Marthasville, the early-1840s name for

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

in Fulton County; this was designated as the capital of the state after the Civil War. In the 1830s, gold was discovered in the county near Auraria, leading to a rush of miners and development. The U.S. government established a mint in Dahlonega, operating for 23 years until the outbreak of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

. State contractors later acquired gold from Lumpkin County to gild the dome of the current state capitol building in Atlanta.

20th century to present

Agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

and

agritourism Agritourism or agrotourism involves any agriculturally based operation or activity that brings visitors to a farm or ranch. It encompasses a wide range of activities, including direct-to-consumer sales such as farm stands and u-pick, agricultu ...

are top business industries. In addition, vineyards have been developed here and, since the mid-1990s, Lumpkin County has been recognized as "the heart of Georgia wine country." The county features several

vineyard A vineyard ( , ) is a plantation of grape-bearing vines. Many vineyards exist for winemaking; others for the production of raisins, table grapes, and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is kno ...

s and five licensed wineries, which attract many tourists. In 2015, state senator

Steve Gooch Stephen Gooch (born February 25, 1967) is an American politician. He is a member and former majority leader of the Georgia State Senate from the 51st District, serving as a senator since 2010 and as the majority leader from 2023 to 2025. He is a ...

introduced Georgia Senate Resolution 125, officially recognizing Lumpkin County as the Wine Tasting Room Capital of Georgia. The historic Dahlonega Square is also a popular destination. It has gift shops, restaurants, art galleries and artists' studios, and additional tasting rooms. Lumpkin County is the home of the U.S. Army's Camp Frank D. Merrill, the base of the 5th Ranger Training Battalion of the U.S. Army Ranger School's mountain phase. Camp Frank D. Merrill is located in the northern end of the county, within the

Blue Ridge Wildlife Management Area Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between violet and cyan on the spectrum of visible light. The term ''blue'' generally des ...

of the

Chattahoochee National Forest The Chattahoochee River () is a river in the Southeastern United States. It forms the southern half of the Alabama and Georgia border, as well as a portion of the Florida and Georgia border. It is a tributary of the Apalachicola River, a rela ...

. Three veterans' organizations are located in Lumpkin County, to serve the veterans and the community: the Heyward Fields

American Legion The American Legion, commonly known as the Legion, is an Voluntary association, organization of United States, U.S. war veterans headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. It comprises U.S. state, state, Territories of the United States, U.S. terr ...

Post 239, the US Army Mountain Ranger Association, and the Lumpkin and White County

Veterans of Foreign Wars The Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), formally the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States, is an Voluntary association, organization of United States Armed Forces, United States war veterans who fought in wars, Military campaign, campaig ...

Post 5533. Lumpkin County has an agency to help veterans, the Lumpkin County Veterans Affairs Advisory Committee. This group is in charge of the Lumpkin County Veterans Memorial and the twice yearly veterans' memorial crosses, which are installed to line both sides of the major roads in Dahlonega from mid-May through the Fourth of July, and again for the month of November. The crosses are adorned with the names of the county's veterans who have died, some in combat (marked with KIA), and those who returned home and later died.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (0.4%) is water. The county is located in the

Blue Ridge Mountains The Blue Ridge Mountains are a Physiographic regions of the United States, physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Highlands range. The mountain range is located in the Eastern United States and extends 550 miles southwest from southern ...

. The summit of Blood Mountain, which Lumpkin County shares with Union County to the north, is the highest point in the county. At , Blood Mountain is the fifth-highest peak in Georgia and the highest point on Georgia's portion of the

Appalachian Trail The Appalachian Trail, also called the A.T., is a hiking trail in the Eastern United States, extending almost between Springer Mountain in Georgia and Mount Katahdin in Maine, and passing through 14 states.Gailey, Chris (2006)"Appalachian Tra ...

. The western 40% of Lumpkin County is located in the

Etowah River The Etowah River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 27, 2011 waterway that rises northwest of Dahlonega, Georgia, Dahlonega, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, ...

sub-basin of the ACT River Basin (Alabama-Coosa-Tallapoosa River Basin), while the eastern 60% of the county is located in the Upper

Chattahoochee River The Chattahoochee River () is a river in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern United States. It forms the southern half of the Alabama and Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia border, as well as a portion of the Florida and Georgia border. It ...

sub-basin of the ACF River Basin (Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River Basin). Penitentiary Cove is located in the north/northwest part of Lumpkin County.

Major highways

U.S. Route 19 * Business plate

U.S. Route 19 Business * US 129

U.S. Route 129 * Georgia 9

State Route 9 * Georgia 11

State Route 11 * Georgia 52

State Route 52 * Georgia 60

State Route 60 * Georgia 60 Business

State Route 60 Business * Georgia 115

State Route 115 * Georgia 400

State Route 400

Adjacent counties

* Union County – north * White County – east * Hall County – southeast * Dawson County – west * Fannin County – northwest

National protected area

(part)

Communities

City

* Dahlonega

Ghost town

* Auraria

Demographics

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 33,488 people, 11,570 households, and 7,800 families residing in the county.

Education

Lumpkin County School System manages and operates the public schools. There is one high school (Lumpkin County High School), one middle school (Lumpkin County Middle School), and three elementary schools (Long Branch Elementary School, Blackburn Elementary School, and Cottrell Elementary). The University of North Georgia has its campus in Lumpkin County.

Politics

References

{{Coord, 34.57, -84.00, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-GA_source:UScensus1990 Georgia (U.S. state) counties 1832 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state) Populated places established in 1832 Northeast Georgia