Columbia 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 east central portion of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 156,010. The legal

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 Appling, but the ''de facto'' seat of county government is Evans.Columbia Court House
at Carl Vinson Institute of Government, University of Georgia, website. Accessed February 15, 2008. Columbia County is included in the Augusta-Richmond County, GA- SC metropolitan statistical area. It is located along the Savannah River.

History

Columbia County, the 12th county formed in Georgia, was created by an act of the Legislature of Georgia on December 10, 1790, from Richmond County.

Prehistory and the colonial era

This area along the Savannah River had been inhabited for thousands of years by various cultures of

indigenous peoples There is no generally accepted definition of Indigenous peoples, although in the 21st century the focus has been on self-identification, cultural difference from other groups in a state, a special relationship with their traditional territ ...

. The area had been home to the historic Muscogee-speaking Creek; Yuchi, people speaking a language isolate; and Iroquoian-speaking Cherokee for years prior to European colonization. The Yuchi had moved south from

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 ...

because of pressure from the Cherokee, who continued to move into the Piedmont and soon dominated the Native American tribes. One of the oldest archaeological sites in the nation to contain pottery can be found on Stallings Island. During the Colonial era, settlement of what would become Columbia County occurred primarily due to colonists settling at the second city in Georgia, Augusta, located on the Fall Line. When the British Province of Georgia became a

crown colony A Crown colony or royal colony was a colony governed by Kingdom of England, England, and then Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain or the United Kingdom within the English overseas possessions, English and later British Empire. There was usua ...

in 1755 and was divided into parishes, the area around Augusta became St. Paul's Parish. The primary areas of settlement were Augusta; Wrightsboro (a Quaker settlement named for James Wright, the royal governor); and Brownsborough, which was near the present-day location of North Columbia Elementary School. Because the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

was the established church in the province, it was against the law for anyone to preach contrary to its doctrines. Influenced by the Great Awakening in

New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...

, in 1772 Daniel Marshall established Kiokee Baptist Church, the first

Baptist Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...

church in Georgia. The church was located below Brownsborough along the Kiokee Creek in present-day Appling. Born in

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

, Marshall had been raised as a

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...

. He had become a Baptist and preached in the Carolinas before coming to Georgia, where he was arrested. Baptist preachers and their converts continued to flourish, and in Virginia their influence helped shape the young James Madison's ideas on religious freedom, which he incorporated into the new Constitution. Marshall later served in the militia during the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

. During the 19th century and the Second Great Awakening, the Baptists became well established in Georgia and other southern states. The Baptists offered congregational participation to slaves and approved them and free blacks as preachers, leading to the growth in black membership in the church.

American Revolutionary War

Two small battles occurred in what would become the county during the Revolutionary War between Patriot Militia and Tories; the area was then primarily frontier and loyalties were badly divided. Legend has it that a small band of Patriots sought refuge from marauding Tories at the county's most dramatic geological feature, Heggie's Rock. One of these fights occurred on September 11, 1781, between the forces of Elijah Clarke and a band of Tories and British Regular soldiers. George Walton, the Virginia-born statesman who signed the Declaration of Independence, resided in what would become Columbia County, as did William Few and Abraham Baldwin. They were delegates to the Federal Convention that framed the

United States Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the Supremacy Clause, supreme law of the United States, United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, on March 4, 1789. Originally includi ...

Formation of Columbia County

Just before and immediately after the

Revolution In political science, a revolution (, 'a turn around') is a rapid, fundamental transformation of a society's class, state, ethnic or religious structures. According to sociologist Jack Goldstone, all revolutions contain "a common set of elements ...

, numerous

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

ns and North Carolinians migrated to the frontier of Georgia above Augusta, including the area around Brownsborough. After the Revolution, residents disagreed as to whether Augusta or Brownsborough should be the

of Richmond County. At the insistence of William Few, the county was partitioned. The new county formed from Richmond was named "Columbia" (for the origin of the name see Columbia); this did not end the controversy about location of the county seat. The citizens of Columbia County turned to arguing among themselves. Supporters built one courthouse in Brownsborough, and those of Cobbham built another. The courthouse at Cobbham was used; and Brownsborough in short order ceased to exist. In 1793, part of the county was taken, combined with part of Wilkes County, and formed into Warren County. Around 1799, William Appling deeded a tract of land to the county for the purpose of building a courthouse. It was near Kiokee Creek and the Baptist Church which Marshall had founded. A courthouse was constructed, and served the county until around 1808. The small town that existed around the church and courthouse came to be known as "Columbia Courthouse." In 1809, the Baptist congregation left the town and constructed a new meeting house (a building which survives) several miles away near the junction of Kiokee and Greenbrier creeks. That same year, construction began on a new courthouse, which was completed in 1812. In 1816, Columbia Courthouse was chartered as the Town of Appling, named for the Appling family who had donated the land to the county, and for Colonel John Appling, a local resident who died in a campaign against the Seminole.

Early 19th century

Appling was the political, educational, social, and religious center of the county. Near Appling were located Mt. Carmel Academy and Columbia Institute. Mt. Carmel Academy was run by the famous Southern educator, Moses Waddel; it was here that John C. Calhoun and William H. Crawford were educated. Columbia Institute was started by a certain gentleman going by the surname Bush; he was none other than the Bushnell of Revolutionary War

submarine A submarine (often shortened to sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. (It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability.) The term "submarine" is also sometimes used historically or infor ...

r fame. During the Georgia Gold Rush of the 1820s, some successful prospecting and mining occurred in Columbia County. The 1830s were a period of major

infrastructure Infrastructure is the set of facilities and systems that serve a country, city, or other area, and encompasses the services and facilities necessary for its economy, households and firms to function. Infrastructure is composed of public and pri ...

projects and the coming of the railroad. When the Georgia Railroad was established, the judges determined that having trains' passing near Appling would disturb their proceedings; they insisted that the railway line that was built in the county from Atlanta to Augusta pass well below Appling. Construction of the Augusta Canal in the 1830s required Columbia County's cooperation, as the beginning of the canal and the locks were within the county. In 1855, the Courthouse in Appling received a major overhaul, and after the remodeling was complete, the building was in more or less its present form. Despite the extensive project, builders retained the shell of the 1809–1812 building.

American Civil War

Plantation Plantations are farms specializing in cash crops, usually mainly planting a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. Plantations, centered on a plantation house, grow crops including cotton, cannabis, tob ...

agriculture based on slave labor was the major force of the economy in the county prior to 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 ...

. Cotton production had expanded dramatically after the invention of the cotton gin, which enabled the cultivation of short-staple cotton in the upland areas. Numerous vast plantations existed, the central houses of some of which still exist. Thousands of slaves were brought to the county for labor. At times the

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 outnumbered the free white population. When Georgia seceded from the United States, George Walker Crawford, a native son of Columbia County, presided over the Secession Convention. He had previously been elected as the only Whig governor of the State. Men from the county served in several companies, among them the Hamilton Rangers and the Ramsey Guards, some in the 48th Georgia Volunteer Infantry Regiment, and some in the 22nd; almost all in Wright's Brigade. The troops assembled in front of the courthouse, then boarded trains at the depots: Berzelia, Sawdust, Dearing, and Thomson. No fighting occurred in the county during the war; nor was it directly in General Sherman's path. According to some family stories, some Union cavalry scouts or bummers entered the county. Near the war's end, the remnants of the Confederate treasury were taken through Columbia County from Augusta to where the Chennault Raid occurred in neighboring Lincoln County. The war took a heavy toll on the white male population of the county; a plaque behind the bench in the main Courtroom bears the names of Columbia County's Confederate dead. During Reconstruction, the county was subject to military occupation. Because of significant

Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to KKK or Klan, is an American Protestant-led Christian terrorism, Christian extremist, white supremacist, Right-wing terrorism, far-right hate group. It was founded in 1865 during Reconstruction era, ...

violence in the late 1860s, it was attached to a special district including Warren, Wilkes, and Oglethorpe counties. Additional Union forces were sent there to try to suppress the insurgents and their vigilante crimes against freedmen. They had been steadily reported by the Freedmen's Bureau, whose reports included a mob lynching of a freedman in Appling in July 1866.

Late 19th century

The railroad brought increased trade and population to Thomson. In 1870, the part of Columbia County which included Thomson, Dearing, and ''Wrightsboro'', the 12,000 acre settlement established in 1768 by Colonial

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 ...

James Wright as a settlement for displaced

Quakers Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestantism, Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally ...

from

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 ...

, was combined with parts of Warren County to form McDuffie County—named after

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

's U.S. Senator: George McDuffie. Thomson became the county seat of the newly formed county. On March 20, 1875, Appling suffered severe damage during a tornado. It never regained its former wealth and position in the county before the Civil War. During Reconstruction, the legislature passed an act to establish a public school system for the first time. Like the rest of the state, the county developed segregated schools. The new communities of Harlem and Grovetown grew up. Harlem arose in the 1880s when a disgruntled railroad employee named Hicks, angered by saloons and Sabbath breaking in Sawdust, moved along the tracks one mile east and set up a rival town, complete with its own depot. Sawdust was eclipsed by Harlem, losing its depot and being absorbed by the newer town in the 1920s. The city was named after Harlem, New York. Grovetown, named for Grove Baptist Church, developed as a summer resort in the 1880s for wealthy Augustans.

20th century

The 20th century brought many changes to the county, with new technologies and modernization. In 1917, Harlem was badly damaged by fire. Bringing electricity to the county began. Men from Columbia County answered the call of duty and served in both World Wars. Prior to World War II, the county was still primarily agricultural; it had escaped the boll weevil infestation that destroyed cotton crops in Mississippi and other parts of the South. The US Army built Camp (later Fort) Gordon, taking over a large portion of Richmond County and parts of Columbia, McDuffie, and Jefferson. The Army's keeping the fort after WWII created a new population and economic center for the county. During the 1950s, the Clarks Hill Dam was constructed, submerging considerable land in northern Columbia County under the new reservoir. It prompted new residential development around the lake. Between 1950 and 1990, the population increased dramatically. Agriculture declined, as farmland was redeveloped as suburban housing and community centers for persons employed in Augusta. Numerous personnel stationed at Fort Gordon eventually settled in Columbia County. During the 1960s, the schools were integrated largely without incident under the leadership of Superintendent John Pierce Blanchard. The unincorporated communities of Martinez (formerly Lulaville, named after a Cuban doctor) and Evans (possibly named after Confederate General Clement A. Evans) became the population centers of the county, since they were located nearest to Augusta. During the 1980s and 1990s and demographic shifts, Evans gradually became the ''de facto'' county seat, as the Columbia County Government Center and the Government Complex Addition were built there to serve the growing population in the county's eastern areas. Court functions remained in Appling since Georgia state law required that superior court sessions must be held at the county seat and courthouse of each county at least twice a year. In 1998, the legislature changed the law to allow counties with unincorporated county seats to hold court sessions at annexes or satellite courthouses. With the 1993 passage of legislation requiring incorporated cities to provide at least three municipal services, Appling was not able to maintain its status as an incorporated city. (There was question as to whether it was ever incorporated.Ed Lightsey, "Columbia County: Supply and Demand"
, ''Georgia Trend'', January 2006, accessed February 15, 2008) Appling was one of 187 inactive cities in Georgia that lost its charter on June 1, 1995. Today it is nearly a dead town. Following these changes, the county proceeded to build an expansive Courthouse Annex in Evans, completed in 2001. Appling retains its status as ''de jure'' county seat, but all governmental functions are carried out in Evans. Historic sites in Appling include the Courthouse and Jail, the Marshall Monument, and various places associated with Kiokee Baptist Church. Other sites in the county include Stevens Creek Dam and Canal Locks, the birthplace of the comedian Oliver Hardy in Harlem, and various cemeteries.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (5.7%) is water. The county is located in the

Piedmont Piedmont ( ; ; ) is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the northwest Italy, Northwest of the country. It borders the Liguria region to the south, the Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna regions to the east, and the Aosta Valley region to the ...

region of the state just above the fall line of the eastern

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. The southern three-quarters of Columbia County is located in the Middle Savannah River sub-basin of the Savannah River basin. A very small corner in the northeast of the county, west of Clarks Hill, is located in the Upper Savannah River sub-basin of the larger Savannah River basin. The northern portion of Columbia County, north of Appling, is located in the Little River sub-basin of the same Savannah River basin, while the southwestern corner of the county, south of Harlem, is located in the Brier Creek sub-basin of the Savannah River basin.

Adjacent counties

* Richmond County (southeast) * McDuffie County (west) * Lincoln County (northwest) * McCormick County, South Carolina (north) * Edgefield County, South Carolina (northeast)

Bodies of water

* Clarks Hill Lake (Strom Thurmond Lake) * Savannah River * Kiokee Creek * Little Kiokee Creek * Euchee Creek * Steiner Creek * Tudor Branch * Greenbrier Creek * Boggy Gut Creek * Cobb Creek * Crawford Creek * Reed Creek * Sandy Run Creek

Geological formations

* Heggie's Rock * Burks Mountain * Mount Carmel

Communities

Cities

* Grovetown * Harlem

Census-designated places

* Appling * Evans * Martinez

Unincorporated communities

* Berzelia * Cobbham * Sawdust * Snead * Winfield * Cobbham Crossroads

Demographics

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 156,010 people, 46,890 households, and 33,620 families residing in the county. The county's population went up 26% in the preceding decade.

Government and politics

Prior to 1948, Columbia County was strongly Democratic in presidential elections as a part of the Solid South. Starting with the 1948 election, it began to break away from the Democratic Party as the party became more supportive of civil rights. It voted in line with the state as a whole from 1952 to 1976, but was one of the few counties

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...

won statewide in 1980. Since then, it has become a Republican Party stronghold. Underlining this,

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (October 1, 1924December 29, 2024) was an American politician and humanitarian who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party ...

is the last Democrat to manage even 40 percent of the county's vote.

Moves toward incorporation

For more than a decade, there have been discussions by county officials to incorporate the county into a city. This issue first became moot in 1996 when the city of Augusta and Richmond County consolidated their governments. A state law mandating three mile buffer zones between cities effectively halted any efforts for Columbia County to incorporate, as it was contiguous to Augusta-Richmond County. In 2005, talks of incorporating the county into a city resurfaced when the Georgia state legislature abolished the three mile buffer zone, thus allowing Sandy Springs in North Fulton County (contiguous to

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 ...

) to become a city. Columbia County Commission Chairman Ron Cross led a campaign to bring the idea of county incorporation back to life. However, it was referred to as "consolidation," since counties in Georgia alone cannot incorporate, but can rather consolidate with an existing municipality within the county. The plan was to hold a referendum to incorporate the de facto county seat, Evans (currently a

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...

), as a city and then simultaneously consolidate it with Columbia County. The initiative drew strong opposition from officials in Harlem and Grovetown, the county's only municipalities, citing that it would keep their cities from growing. The word "consolidation" also had an immediate negative connotation with many residents of Columbia County, seeing the example of the Augusta-Richmond County plagued with unintended consequences. A straw poll conducted during the county Republican Party primary election, showed strong opposition to the idea countywide. The County Commission Chairman Ron Cross has vowed to keep the issue alive, but based on the negative sentiment from voters, it appears that at least for now, the idea of incorporation is back in hibernation.

Education

Columbia County is served by the Columbia County School District, which covers all of Columbia County. Private schools include Augusta Christian Schools, as well as the Episcopal Day School,

Augusta Preparatory Day School Augusta Preparatory Day School (APDS) is a non-sectarian, independent school A private school or independent school is a school not administered or funded by the government, unlike a State school, public school. Private schools are scho ...

, both in Martinez.

Elementary schools

* Baker Place Elementary School * Bel-Air Elementary School (closed May 21, 2013) * Blue Ridge Elementary School * Brookwood Elementary School * Cedar Ridge Elementary School * Euchee Creek Elementary School * Evans Elementary School * Greenbrier Elementary School * Grovetown Elementary School * Lewiston Elementary School * Martinez Elementary School * North Columbia Elementary School * North Harlem Elementary School * Parkway Elementary School * River Ridge Elementary School * Riverside Elementary School * South Columbia Elementary School * Stevens Creek Elementary School * Westmont Elementary School

Middle schools

* Columbia Middle School * Evans Middle School * Greenbrier Middle School * Grovetown Middle School * Harlem Middle School * Lakeside Middle School * Riverside Middle School * Stallings Island Middle School

High schools

* Evans High School * Greenbrier High School * Grovetown High School * Harlem High School * Lakeside High School

Other education

* Crossroads Academy (alternative school) * Augusta Christian Schools (private) *

(private) * Evans Christian Academy (private)
School for Arts Infused Learning (SAIL) (public charter school, K-8)
* Savanah River Academy (private) * Avila Catholic Academy (private) * Augusta Science Academy (private)

Transportation

Major highways

* * * * * * * * * *

Pedestrians and cycling

* Augusta Canal Historic Trail * Euchee Creek Greenway (Under construction) * Evans to Locks Road Trail The company BCycle has introduced the first bike share program to Columbia County.

Notable people

* Nathan Crawford Barnett, Member of the Georgia House of Representatives and Georgia Secretary of State for over 30 years * Oliver Hardy, (comedian, born in Harlem) * Paul Hamilton Hayne, (poet and author) * Henry Louis Benning, (Confederate general for whom Fort Benning was named. It was renamed Fort Moore in May 2023.Herb Scribne
(25 Mar 2023) 6 Army bases named after Confederate leaders get dates for new names
/ref>) * William Few * Abraham Baldwin * George Walton * George W. Crawford * William H. Crawford, (presidential candidate in 1824) * Thomas Watson, (populist leader and Georgia senator born in Thomson when it was still in Columbia County) * George McDuffie, (South Carolina governor and senator in the early 19th century) * Jesse Mercer, (a long-time preacher in the county for whom Mercer University is named) * Ben Hayslip, (Grammy Nominated country music songwriter) * Dave Haywood * Charles Kelley, of Lady A from Columbia County, where there is now the Lady Antebellum pavilion.

Sister city

Columbia County is twinned with: * Nowy Sącz, Poland