Quitman 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 southwestern 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 2,235, making it the second-least populous county in Georgia. 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 Georgetown. The county was created on December 10, 1858, and named after General John A. Quitman, leader in the

Mexican–American War The Mexican–American War (Spanish language, Spanish: ''guerra de Estados Unidos-México, guerra mexicano-estadounidense''), also known in the United States as the Mexican War, and in Mexico as the United States intervention in Mexico, ...

, and once Governor of Mississippi. In November 2006, residents voted to consolidate the city government of Georgetown and the county government of Quitman into a

consolidated city-county In local government in the United States, United States local government, a consolidated city-county (#Terminology, see below for alternative terms) is formed when one or more city, cities and their surrounding County (United States), county (Lis ...

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (5.8%) is water. The entirety of Quitman County is located in the Middle

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 ...

– Walter F. George Lake sub-basin of the ACF River Basin (Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River Basin).

Major highways

U.S. Route 82 * Georgia 27

State Route 27 * Georgia 39

State Route 39 * Georgia 50

State Route 50

Adjacent counties

* Stewart County (north) * Randolph County (east) * Clay County (south) * Barbour County,

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

(west/CST Border)

National protected area

* Eufaula National Wildlife Refuge (part)

Communities

City

* Georgetown (county seat)

Unincorporated community

* Morris

Demographics

2020 census

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 2,235 people, 842 households, and 577 families residing in the county.

Education

Quitman County School District operates area public schools, including Quitman County High School. County students attended Stewart-Quitman High School (now Stewart County High School) from 1978, until Quitman County High opened, in 2009.

Politics

From the 1940s to 1960s Joe Hurst dominated politics in Quitman County, delivering votes for statewide officials, state judges, and prosecuting attorneys, under the

County unit system The county unit system was a voting system used by the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to determine a victor in statewide primary elections, as well as some Congressional elections, from 1917 until 1962. History Though the county unit ...

which gave Quitman two units, a third as many as the biggest counties in the state. He hand-delivered state welfare checks and prevented secret ballots. In 1962 he stuffed the ballot box for future President

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 ...

's opponent in a state senate primary. Carter won a series of court cases to remove his Democratic primary opponent's name from the general election ballot. There was no Republican candidate. Both candidates used radio ads to ask voters to vote by write-in, and Carter won the general election. Hurst was later convicted of fraud in an earlier primary, for which he had a fine and three years probation. He was also convicted of selling moonshine, for which he went to prison.

References

External links

Georgetown-Quitman County Consolidated Government

Quitman County Sheriff
* * Digital Public Library of America. Assorted items related t
Quitman County
{{Authority control 1858 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state) Georgia (U.S. state) counties Populated places established in 1858 Consolidated city-counties