Webster 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 west central portion 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 reflected a population of 2,348, making it the third-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 Preston.

History

Webster County was created 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 ...

on December 16, 1853, as Kinchafoonee County.Weston Woman's Club: ''History of Webster County, Georgia'', W. H. Wolfe Associates, Roswell, Ga., 1980, pp. 16-19. A subsequent legislative act on February 21, 1856, changed the name to Webster. The land for the county came from eastern portions of Stewart County. The county is named for

Daniel Webster Daniel Webster (January 18, 1782 – October 24, 1852) was an American lawyer and statesman who represented New Hampshire and Massachusetts in the U.S. Congress and served as the 14th and 19th United States Secretary of State, U.S. secretary o ...

, U.S. representative of

New Hampshire New Hampshire ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

and U.S. representative and U.S. senator of

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

. Webster County's original name of Kinchafoonee came from the Kinchafoonee Creek which runs through the county. On January 1, 2009, the city of Preston and town of

Weston Weston may refer to: Places Australia * Weston, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb of Canberra * Weston, New South Wales * Weston Creek, a residential district of Canberra * Weston Park, Canberra, a park Canada * Weston, Nova Scotia * W ...

gave up their municipal charters and formed 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 ...

known as the Unified Government of Webster County.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (0.5%) is water. The majority of Webster County, bordered to the southwest by State Route 520, is located in the Kinchafoonee- Muckalee sub-basin of the ACF River Basin (Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River Basin). The southwestern corner of the county is located in the Ichawaynochaway Creek sub-basin of the same ACF River Basin. A tiny edge of the southwestern border, just south of State Route 520, 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 same ACF River Basin.

Major highways

U.S. Route 280 * Georgia 27

State Route 27 * Georgia 41

State Route 41 * Georgia 45

State Route 45 * Georgia 153

State Route 153 * Georgia 520

State Route 520

Adjacent counties

* Marion County – north * Sumter County – east * Terrell County – south * Randolph County – southwest * Stewart County – west

Communities

None of these places are incorporated, instead Webster county acts as a unified county. Preston is the county seat, despite being unincorporated. *

Archery Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a Bow and arrow, bow to shooting, shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting ...

* Preston (County Seat) *

Demographics

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 2,348 people, 1,140 households, and 724 families residing in the county.

Education

Webster County School District operates public schools.

Politics

Webster County was reliably Democratic throughout the 20th century. However, the margins tightened in the 2000 election and in 2004, Democrat John Kerry only won this county very narrowly as George Bush won Georgia's electoral votes easily. Webster County is the only county in Georgia that flipped to John McCain's column in 2008 after voting for Kerry in 2004.

References

External links

Consolidated Government of Webster County
Including the City of Preston, Weston, and Webster County
Webster County Board of Education
a School system serving the City of Preston and Weston
Webster County Sheriff's Department
is the primary law enforcement agency for the entire county, and is an integral part of the county's system of justice.

County's Official Site

Webster County
in the New Georgia Encyclopedia. {{Coord, 32.05, -84.55, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-GA_source:UScensus1990 Georgia (U.S. state) counties 1853 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state) Populated places established in 1853 Majority-minority counties in Georgia Consolidated city-counties