Appling 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 of the

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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 18,444. 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 Baxley.

History

Appling County is named for Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Appling, a soldier in the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...

. Appling County, the 42nd county created in Georgia, was established by an act of the

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on December15, 1818. The original county consisted of Creek lands ceded in the 1814 Treaty of Fort Jackson and the 1818 Treaty of the Creek Agency. Throughout the 1920s, the population of Appling County increased as the county was included in land lotteries by the Georgia General Assembly in 1820, 1821, 1827, and 1832. Large proportions of settlers at this time included South Carolinians and others from Tattnall County, Georgia. On December15, 1824, Ware County was formed by the Georgia General Assembly from roughly the southern half of Appling land districts 4, 5, and 6, and all of land districts 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, and 13. On December24, 1825, Appling County land district 6 was added to Telfair County by an act of the Georgia General Assembly. This created an ambiguity of the border between Telfair County and Ware County that was later solved by additional legislation. On December8, 1828, Holmesville, Georgia was declared the county seat by the General Assembly, following over ten years of disagreement by local judges. Previously, court was held at residence of William Carter Jr. In 1836, the General Assembly appointed a seven-member commission to find a location for a more centrally located county seat than Holmesville, but were not able to come to a conclusion. The need for a more central county seat would remain a point of contention in county politics for several decades. On December18, 1857, the part of Appling County that was south of Lightsey's Ford on Big Creek downstream to the Little Satilla River was taken from Appling County for the creation of Pierce County. At the time of the

1850 United States census The 1850 United States census was the seventh decennial United States Census Conducted by the Census Office, it determined the resident population of the United States to be 23,191,876—an increase of 35.9 percent over the 17,069,453 persons ...

, Appling County had a white population of 2,520, a

slave Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

population of 404, and 25

free people of color In the context of the history of slavery in the Americas, free people of color (; ) were primarily people of mixed African, European, and Native American descent who were not enslaved. However, the term also applied to people born free who we ...

. By the 1860 United States census, the county had a white population of 3,442, a slave population of 740, and 3 free people of color. On August27, 1872, eastern sections of Appling land districts 3 and 4 were added to Wayne County. This area included Wayne County's current county seat Jesup, Georgia, which became the new county seat of Wayne County in 1873. Also in August 1872, the General Assembly called for an election in Appling County to vote on the removal of the county seat to a point along the

Macon and Brunswick Railroad The Macon and Brunswick Railroad ran from Macon, Georgia to Brunswick, Georgia. Its construction was interrupted by the American Civil War, and initially only ran from Macon to Cochran, Georgia. The gauge line was completed and extended to the ...

. The residents voted for removal and the town of

Baxley, Georgia Baxley is a city in Appling County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 4,942. The city is the county seat of Appling County. History Baxley was first settled as a result of the Macon and Brunswick Ra ...

was selected as the new county seat after the election. In February 1873, the General Assembly mistakenly passed a law giving county commissioners to sell the public lands in Holmesville so that the proceeds can go to the construction of a new courthouse in Holmesville. It amended the law a year later for the new courthouse location to read Baxley, as had originally been intended. On August18, 1905, Jeff Davis County was created from western portions of Appling County and eastern portions Coffee County. On July27, 1914, Bacon County was created from parts of Appling County, Pierce County, and Ware County. The remaining section of Appling County that had been located south of Little Satilla River became part of Bacon County.

Geography

According to the

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, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (1.0%) is water. The southern two-thirds of Appling County, south of a line from Graham to Baxley, then running due east from Baxley, is located in the Little Satilla River sub-basin of the St. Marys River-Satilla River basin. The northern third of the county is located in the

Altamaha River The Altamaha River is a major river in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It flows generally eastward for from its Source (river or stream), origin at the confluence of the Oconee River and Ocmulgee River towards the Atlantic Oce ...

sub-basin of the basin by the same name.