Ware 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 southeastern part of the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

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 36,251. 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 ...

and only incorporated place is Waycross. Ware County is part of the Waycross, Georgia micropolitan statistical area.

History

Ware County, Georgia's 60th county, was created on December 15, 1824, by an act of 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 ...

from land that was originally part of Appling County. The county is named for Nicholas Ware, the

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

of Augusta,

from (1819–1821) and

United States Senator The United States Senate consists of 100 members, two from each of the 50 U.S. state, states. This list includes all senators serving in the 119th United States Congress. Party affiliation Independent Senators Angus King of Maine and Berni ...

who represented Georgia from 1821 until his death in 1824. Several counties were later created from parts of the original Ware County borders: * Bacon County (from portions of Appling, Pierce, and Ware counties in 1917) * Charlton County (from portions of Camden and Ware county in 1854) * Clinch County (from portions of Lowndes and Ware counties in 1850) * Coffee County (from portions of Clinch,

Irwin Irwin may refer to: Places ;United States * Irwin, California * Irwin, Idaho * Irwin, Illinois * Irwin, Iowa * Irwin, Nebraska * Irwin, Ohio * Irwin, Pennsylvania * Irwin, South Carolina * Irwin County, Georgia * Irwin Township, Venango Co ...

, Telfair, and Ware counties in 1854) * Pierce County (from portions of Appling and Ware counties in 1857) Ware County was home to Laura S. Walker (1861–1955) a noted author and conservationist. Walker promoted a comprehensive program of forestry activity, including the establishment of forest parks. She erected markers and monuments along old trails and at historic sites, in Waycross and Ware County so that local history would not be forgotten. Walker wrote three books about the land and history of her home. They are: ''History of Ware County, Georgia'' ''About "Old Okefenåok"'' and ''Doctors of Primitive Times and Horse and Buggy Days of Ware County''. An effort to recognize her work culminated in President

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...

issuing a proclamation to establish the Laura S. Walker National Park, located in Ware County, in her honor. She was the only living person for whom a state or national park was named. In 1937, the federal government purchased distressed farmland for the park. Work on the park was undertaken by the

Works Progress Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; from 1935 to 1939, then known as the Work Projects Administration from 1939 to 1943) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to car ...

and the

Civilian Conservation Corps The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a voluntary government unemployment, work relief program that ran from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men ages 18–25 and eventually expanded to ages 17–28. The CCC was ...

. In 1941, the national park was deeded over to Georgia, becoming the State's 13th state park.

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 (1.7%) is water. It is the largest county in Georgia by area. A large portion of the county lies within the

Okefenokee Swamp The Okefenokee Swamp is a shallow, 438,000-acre (177,000 ha), peat-filled wetland straddling the Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia–Florida line in the United States. A majority of the swamp is protected by the Okefenokee National Wildlife Ref ...

and its federally protected areas. More than half of Ware County, made up by the western half of the southern portion of the county, the land bridge to the northern portion of the county, and the southern and western portion of the northern section of the county, is located in the Upper

Suwannee River The Suwannee River (also spelled Suwanee River or Swanee River) is a river that runs through south Georgia southward into Florida in the Southern United States. It is a wild blackwater river, about long.U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrog ...

sub-basin of the Suwannee River basin. The eastern half of the southern portion of Ware County is located in the St. Marys River sub-basin of the St. Marys- Satilla River basin. The rest of the county, from just southeast to north and west of Waycross, is located in the Satilla River sub-basin of the same St. Marys-Satilla River basin.

Major highways

U.S. Route 1 * Business plate

U.S. Route 1 Business * US 23

U.S. Route 23 * Business plate

U.S. Route 23 Business * US 82

U.S. Route 82 * US 84

U.S. Route 84 * Georgia 4

State Route 4 * Georgia 4 Business

State Route 4 Business * Georgia 38

State Route 38 * Georgia 122

State Route 122 * Georgia 158

State Route 158 * Georgia 177

State Route 177 * Georgia 520

State Route 520

Adjacent counties

* Bacon County - north * Pierce County - east * Brantley County - east * Charlton County - southeast * Baker County,

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

- south * Clinch County - west * Atkinson County - west * Coffee County - northwest

National protected area

Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge The Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge is a 402,000‑acre (1,627 km2) National Wildlife Refuge located in Charlton, Ware, and Clinch Counties of Georgia, and Baker County in Florida, United States. The refuge is administered from offic ...

(part)

Communities

City

* Waycross

Census-designated places

* Deenwood * Sunnyside * Waresboro * Millwood * Manor * Dixie Union

Unincorporated communities

Bickley Bickley is a district and a local government electoral ward in South East London, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is located 10.4 miles (16.7 km) south east of Charing Cross, bordering Elmstead to the north, Chislehurst to the n ...

Ruskin Ruskin may refer to: People and fictional characters * Ruskin (surname), a list of people and fictional characters * Ruskin (given name), a list of people Places United States * Ruskin, Florida, a census-designated place * Ruskin, Georgia, an uni ...

* Jamestown * Telmore

Demographics

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 36,251 people, 13,823 households, and 8,909 families residing in the county.

Education

High schools

* Ware County High School, Waycross

Middle schools

* Ware County Middle School, Waycross * Waycross Middle School, Waycross

Elementary schools

* Wacona Elementary School, Waycross * Center Elementary School, Waycross * Williams Heights Elementary School, Waycross * Memorial Drive Elementary School, Waycross * Ruskin Elementary School, Waycross * Waresboro Elementary School, Waycross

Preschools

* DAFFODIL Preschool, Waycross

Private schools

* Southside Christian School

Higher education

* South Georgia State College, Waycross *

Coastal Pines Technical College Coastal Pines Technical College (CPTC) is a community college in Waycross, Georgia, with six branches in other cities. It has a thirteen-county service delivery area (SDA), covering a total of 7,433 square miles, which is the largest SDA in the ...

, Waycross

Politics

Ware County has favored the Republican Party in recent presidential elections, although it was a strongly Democratic

Solid South The Solid South was the electoral voting bloc for the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party in the Southern United States between the end of the Reconstruction era in 1877 and the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In the aftermath of the Co ...

county until the 1980s. In the 1992 election, Ware County gave Democrat

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...

and Republican

George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushBefore the outcome of the 2000 United States presidential election, he was usually referred to simply as "George Bush" but became more commonly known as "George H. W. Bush", "Bush Senior," "Bush 41," and even "Bush th ...

an exact tie, the most recent time in American history a county was tied between the two major party presidential candidates.

References

External links

Official Ware County website

Ware County Community Website & Community Calendar

History of Ware County, Georgia
- Laura S. Walker
Doctors of Primitive Times and Horse and Buggy Days of Ware County
- Laura S. Walker
Georgia GenWeb Ware County site

Okefenokee Swamp Park homepage

Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service {{Coord, 31.05, -82.42, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-GA_source:UScensus1990 Georgia (U.S. state) counties 1824 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state) Populated places established in 1824 Waycross, Georgia micropolitan area