Effingham County ( ) is a county located in the southeastern part 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 64,769. The

seat A seat is a place to sit. The term may encompass additional features, such as back, armrest, head restraint but may also refer to concentrations of power in a wider sense (i.e " seat (legal entity)"). See disambiguation. Types of seat The ...

is Springfield. Effingham County is included in the

Savannah metropolitan area The Savannah metropolitan area, officially named the Savannah metropolitan statistical area by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, is a metropolitan statistical area in the U.S. state of Georgia. It is centered on the city of Savannah a ...

. In 2008, Effingham County was ranked as the sixth-fastest-growing midsize county in the nation from 2000 to 2007 by the U.S. Census Bureau. The county had a 35.1% growth rate over that period.

History

Effingham was among the original counties of the state of Georgia, created February 5, 1777, during the

American Revolution The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...

from the colonial parishes of St. Matthew and St. Phillip. Its name honors Lord Effingham, an English champion of colonial rights, who resigned his commission rather than fight against the rebel colonists during the American Revolution. During the war, most of the Loyalists in what is now Effingham County were first generation Scottish immigrants. After the war, notable Georgia patriots including

Lyman Hall Lyman Hall (April 12, 1724 – October 19, 1790) was an American Founding Father, physician, clergyman, and statesman who signed the United States Declaration of Independence as a representative of Georgia. Hall County is named after him. He ...

Samuel Elbert Samuel Elbert (1740November 1, 1788) was an American merchant, soldier, slave owner, and politician from Savannah, Georgia. Elbert fought in the American Revolutionary War, Revolutionary War, commanding the victorious American colonial forces ...

Edward Telfair Edward Telfair (1735 – September 17, 1807) was a Scottish-born American Founding Father, politician and slave trader who served as the governor of Georgia from 1786 to 1787 and again from 1790 to 1793. He was a member of the Continental Congre ...

George Walton George Walton ( – February 2, 1804) was a Founding Father of the United States who signed the United States Declaration of Independence while representing Georgia in the Continental Congress. Walton also served briefly as the second chief ex ...

and

Stephen Heard Stephen Heard (November 1, 1740 – November 15, 1815) was an American planter, politician and military officer who briefly served as president of Georgia and was sometimes called "governor". Born in Virginia, Heard fought in the French and Indian ...

all made direct appeals to the Loyalists of Effingham County to "stay on" in Georgia, under the new republican form of government. In Effingham County, this effort was successful, and virtually all Loyalists in the county stayed. The town of Springfield was established in 1799, and most likely was named after a plantation.

Geography

According to the

U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The U.S. Census Bureau is part of the U ...

, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (1.1%) is water. The entire western edge of Effingham County, from south of Newington to east of Guyton, then south to southwest of Meldrim, is located in the Lower

Ogeechee River The Ogeechee River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 26, 2011 blackwater river in the U.S. state of Georgia. It heads at the confluence of its North and Sout ...

sub-basin of the Ogeechee River basin. The bulk of the rest of the county is located in the Lower

Savannah River The Savannah River is a major river in the Southeastern United States, forming most of the border between the states of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and South Carolina. The river flows from the Appalachian Mountains to the Atlantic Ocean, ...

sub-basin of the Savannah River basin. A narrow rectangular portion of south Effingham County, from south of Pineora through Meldrim, is located in the Ogeechee Coastal sub-basin of the Ogeechee River basin.

Adjacent counties

Hampton County Hampton County is a rural County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of South Carolina. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 18,561. Its county seat is Hampton, South Carolina, Hampton. It was named ...

, South Carolina (north) * Jasper County, South Carolina (northeast) * Chatham County (southeast) * Bryan County (south) * Bulloch County (west) * Screven County (northwest)

National protected area

Savannah National Wildlife Refuge The Savannah National Wildlife Refuge is a National Wildlife Refuge located in Chatham and Effingham counties in Georgia and Jasper County in South Carolina. Of the total area, is in Georgia and is in South Carolina. The refuge was esta ...

(part)

Communities

Cities

* Guyton * Rincon * Springfield

Unincorporated communities

* Clyo *

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

* Meldrim

Ghost town

* Ebenezer

Demographics

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 64,769 people, 21,172 households, and 15,424 families residing in the county.

Economy

In the early years of the 1900s, agriculture was the mainstay of the county economy. The chief agricultural products were Irish potatoes and sweet potatoes. The county farmers raised so many Irish potatoes in the early 1920s that they were shipped out numerous railroad boxcars, full of potatoes, during the summer months of those years. Small businesses, such as the Effingham Canning Company and Potato Barrel manufacturing mills, became big businesses. The Effingham Canning Company did not last long. It was established in 1918 at the site of the former Savannah Atlanta

Railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

Locomotive A locomotive is a rail transport, rail vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. Traditionally, locomotives pulled trains from the front. However, Push–pull train, push–pull operation has become common, and in the pursuit for ...

Repair Shop in Springfield. This site today would be located across the road from Georgia Highway Department Maintenance Building on Georgia Highway 21, south of Springfield. A later canning company operated in the 1940s at the old elementary school grounds in Springfield. In the early 21st century, Effingham County has had unprecedented demand for industrial locations. Interest in industrial development has been spurred by the area's high population growth, tremendous growth at the Georgia ports and the ever-growing economy of coastal Georgia. Contributors include the military, aerospace industry and a diversified manufacturing base. The Savannah area is home t
Gulfstream Aerospace
and Hunter Army Airfield. The Effingham County Industrial Park has announced several new tenants since 2005. In 2007 it became the site of EFACEC Group, a Portuguese-based transformer manufacturer for thei
North and Central America operations
The U.S. factory is located in Rincon, Georgia and produces both core and shell technology power transformers. Other businesses include the Flint River Services refrigerated storage, ValuePart distribution center, as well as expansions of several existing industries in the park. The site is ideally located on a four-lane divided highway only from Interstate 95 and within of the Georgia Ports, the Savannah International Airport and the historic City of Savannah. Th
Effingham Industrial Development Authority
acquired approximately for development. The acquisitions include a tract of approximately adjacent to Interstate 16 and an additional tract on Interstate 16 seven miles from Interstate 95. Both tracts are within of the Georgia Ports Authority, and within of the Chatham County Mega-Site (formerly known as the DaimlerChrysler site) at the strategic intersection of Interstates 95 and 16. A potential of of light manufacturing and/or Distribution Center/ Warehousing space exists at this site. Another recent acquisition is the former Research Forest Tract. Approximately in size, this will be a "legacy" development to include commercial, executive office, heavy industrial, light industrial, professional service, research and recreational land uses. The site comprises three separate tracts of land six rail miles from the

Georgia Ports Authority The Georgia Ports Authority (GPA) is the port authority for the State of Georgia. It was founded by an act of the Georgia General Assembly in 1945 and chaired by Blake R. Van Leer. The GPA operates all seven of Georgia's rail and sea port fac ...

, with planned access to the Savannah River Parkway, Norfolk Southern mainline rail and CSX mainline rail. The property is being master planned. The development is planned to attract research and development, assembly operations, headquarters and other low-impact operations. Industry in Effingham County includes paper manufacturing—Georgia Pacific (Savannah River Mill), high-precision turbine blade production—Doncasters, aluminum geodesic dome production—Temcor, concrete pipe manufacturing—Hanson, customized business jet interiors—Edward's Interiors, electrical distribution power transformer production—EFACEC PT, among many others.

Transportation

Major highways

* , is the west-to-east interstate highway within the county. It enters Effingham County from Ellabell in Bryan County, and leaves through Bloomington in Chatham. It contains only one interchange within the county (exit 148); Old River Road, which leads to US 80/GA 26–30. * , the major north–south highway on the Eastern Seaboard, but only has a short run through eastern Effingham County. The road runs through the Savannah National Wildlife Refuge between the bridge over Knoxboro Creek from Port Wentworth, and the bridge over the Savannah River at the South Carolina County Line and contains no interchanges whatsoever. * was the main west-to-east highway through Effingham County, until it was supplanted by I-16. * * * * * * * * (unsigned designation for I-16) * (unsigned designation for I-95) * (

Savannah River Parkway The Savannah River Parkway is a four-lane divided highway that roughly parallels the Savannah River in the U.S. state of Georgia, that exists in two distinct segments. The roadway is being considered for inclusion as part of Interstate 3 ...

)

Railroads

Effingham County contains three major railroad lines. Two of them are owned by

CSX CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Railroad classes, Class I freight railroad company operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. Operating about 21,000 route miles () of trac ...

and the other is owned by

Norfolk Southern The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States. Headquartered in Atlanta, the company was formed in 1982 with the merger of the Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. The comp ...

. The Norfolk Southern Savannah District and CSX Columbia Subdivision runs nearly parallel to one another before crossing the Chatham County Line towards Savannah. A third line (the

Charleston Subdivision The Charleston Subdivision is a railroad territory owned by CSX Transportation in the U.S. states of South Carolina and Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. The line from Florence, South Carolina, to Savannah, Georgia, for a total of 195.8 miles. At ...

) runs northeast from Port Wentworth to the South Carolina State Line, and spends even less time in the county than Interstate 95. Amtrak runs three trains along the two CSX lines, neither of which stop anywhere within the county. The ''

Silver Star (Amtrak train) The ''Silver Star'' is a temporarily discontinued long-distance passenger train operated by Amtrak on a route between New York City and Miami via Washington, D.C.; Richmond, Virginia; Raleigh, North Carolina; Columbia, South Carolina; Savanna ...

'' runs along the Columbia Subdivision. The '' Palmetto'' and ''

Silver Meteor The ''Silver Meteor'' is a Long-distance Amtrak routes, long-distance passenger train operated by Amtrak between New York City and Miami, Florida. Introduced in 1939 as the first diesel-powered streamliner between New York and Florida, it was t ...

'' trains run along the Charleston Subdivision, which has no stations, and no possible location for a station.

Education

Politics

Effingham County has been a reliably Republican county from 1984 onward. After supporting Dixiecrat

Strom Thurmond James Strom Thurmond Sr. (December 5, 1902 – June 26, 2003) was an American politician who represented South Carolina in the United States Senate from 1954 to 2003. Before his 49 years as a senator, he served as the 103rd governor of South ...

in 1948, it began voting Republican earlier than most Georgia counties, albeit by very narrow margins. Effingham then voted in line with most other rural

Deep South The Deep South or the Lower South is a cultural and geographic subregion of the Southern United States. The term is used to describe the states which were most economically dependent on Plantation complexes in the Southern United States, plant ...

counties from 1964 to 1972. The only Democratic Party candidate to win the county since 1944 was Jimmy Carter, who won it convincingly in his statewide landslide in 1976 and narrowly in 1980.

References

External links

Effingham County Government Official Webpage

Effingham County Chamber of Commerce
{{Coord, 32.37, -81.34, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-GA_source:UScensus1990 1777 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state) Populated places established in 1777 Georgia (U.S. state) counties Savannah metropolitan area