Treutlen 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 ...

located in the southern portion and Magnolia midlands portion of the U.S. state of

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 6,406. The

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 Soperton. Treutlen County is host to the Million Pines Arts and Crafts Festival which takes place during the first weekend in November.

History

Before colonization, the area was home to the

Muscogee The Muscogee, also known as the Mvskoke, Muscogee Creek or just Creek, and the Muscogee Creek Confederacy ( in the Muscogee language; English: ), are a group of related Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands Here they waged war again ...

. Following the American Revolution, the location's wiregrass ('' Aristida stricta'') attracted settlers, and a timber industry began to develop around the area's longleaf pine forests, supporting occupations from cabinetmaking and milling to

turpentine Turpentine (which is also called spirit of turpentine, oil of turpentine, terebenthine, terebenthene, terebinthine and, colloquially, turps) is a fluid obtainable by the distillation of resin harvested from living trees, mainly pines. Principall ...

and other

naval stores Naval stores refers to the industry that produces various chemicals collected from conifers. The term was originally applied to the compounds used in building and maintaining wooden sailing ships. Presently, the naval stores industry are used to ...

production. The area's landscape made it difficult to build roads, resulting in a sparse population until after the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

when railroads arrived. In 1902, the Macon, Dublin and Savannah Railroad completed its extension from Macon to Vidalia and constructed a railroad depot near Lothair. The newly incorporated town of Soperton quickly outgrew Lothair due to the new rail link. An official process to create Treutlen County was spearheaded by Neil L. Gillis, known as the "father of Treutlen County" due to his efforts. The state constitutional amendment to create Treutlen County was proposed by the

Georgia General Assembly The Georgia General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is bicameral, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. Each of the General Assembly's 236 members serve two-year terms and are directl ...

on August21, 1917, and ratified November5, 1918, officially making it Georgia's 154th county. The county is made up of former sections of Emanuel and Montgomery counties, and is named for John A. Treutlen, Georgia's first state

governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

following adoption of the state Constitution of 1777. By this time, as Soperton had become larger than Lothair, it was the clear choice for county seat. During the 1920s, a local cotton farmer named James Fowler planted over 7million pine trees across 10,000 acres of land. Fowler worked together with scientist Charles Herty, who developed a process to use pine pulp to create paper.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (1.5%) is water. Approximately 90% of the county is forested. The western portion of Treutlen County, west of Soperton, is located in the Lower Oconee River sub-basin of the Altamaha River basin. The eastern portion of the county is located in the Ohoopee River sub-basin of the larger Altamaha River basin.

Major highways

* (Interstate 16) * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * (unsigned designation for I-16)

Adjacent counties

* Emanuel County (northeast) * Montgomery County (southeast) * Wheeler County (southwest) * Laurens County (west) * Johnson County (northwest)

Communities

City

* Soperton (county seat)

Unincorporated communities

* Lothair * Orland

Demographics

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 6,406 people, 2,490 households, and 1,654 families residing in the county.

Politics

References

{{Coord, 32.40, -82.57, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-GA_source:UScensus1990 Georgia (U.S. state) counties 1918 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state) Populated places established in 1918