Appling County, Georgia

Template:Short description Template:Distinguish Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox U.S. county

Appling County is a county located in the southern portion of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 18,444.<ref name="QF">Template:Cite web</ref> The county seat is Baxley.<ref name="GR6">Template:Cite web</ref>

History

Appling County is named for Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Appling, a soldier in the War of 1812.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Appling County, the 42nd county created in Georgia, was established by an act of the Georgia General Assembly on DecemberTemplate:Nbsp15, 1818.<ref name="nge-appling">Template:Cite web</ref> The original county consisted of Creek lands ceded in the 1814 Treaty of Fort Jackson and the 1818 Treaty of the Creek Agency.

Throughout the 1920s, the population of Appling County increased as the county was included in land lotteries by the Georgia General Assembly in 1820, 1821, 1827, and 1832. Large proportions of settlers at this time included South Carolinians and others from Tattnall County, Georgia.<ref name="nge-appling"/>

On DecemberTemplate:Nbsp15, 1824, Ware County was formed by the Georgia General Assembly from roughly the southern half of Appling land districts 4, 5, and 6, and all of land districts 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, and 13. On DecemberTemplate:Nbsp24, 1825, Appling County land district 6 was added to Telfair County by an act of the Georgia General Assembly.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> This created an ambiguity of the border between Telfair County and Ware County that was later solved by additional legislation.

On DecemberTemplate:Nbsp8, 1828, Holmesville, Georgia was declared the county seat by the General Assembly,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> following over ten years of disagreement by local judges.<ref name="nge-appling"/> Previously, court was held at residence of William Carter Jr. In 1836, the General Assembly appointed a seven-member commission to find a location for a more centrally located county seat than Holmesville, but were not able to come to a conclusion. The need for a more central county seat would remain a point of contention in county politics for several decades.

On DecemberTemplate:Nbsp18, 1857, the part of Appling County that was south of Lightsey's Ford on Big Creek downstream to the Little Satilla River was taken from Appling County for the creation of Pierce County.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

At the time of the 1850 United States census, Appling County had a white population of 2,520, a slave population of 404, and 25 free people of color. By the 1860 United States census, the county had a white population of 3,442, a slave population of 740, and 3 free people of color.

On AugustTemplate:Nbsp27, 1872, eastern sections of Appling land districts 3 and 4 were added to Wayne County.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> This area included Wayne County's current county seat Jesup, Georgia, which became the new county seat of Wayne County in 1873. Also in August 1872, the General Assembly called for an election in Appling County to vote on the removal of the county seat to a point along the Macon and Brunswick Railroad. The residents voted for removal and the town of Baxley, Georgia was selected as the new county seat after the election. In February 1873, the General Assembly mistakenly passed a law giving county commissioners to sell the public lands in Holmesville so that the proceeds can go to the construction of a new courthouse in Holmesville. It amended the law a year later for the new courthouse location to read Baxley, as had originally been intended.

On AugustTemplate:Nbsp18, 1905, Jeff Davis County was created from western portions of Appling County and eastern portions Coffee County.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> On JulyTemplate:Nbsp27, 1914, Bacon County was created from parts of Appling County, Pierce County, and Ware County. The remaining section of Appling County that had been located south of Little Satilla River became part of Bacon County.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of Template:Convert, of which Template:Convert is land and Template:Convert (1.0%) is water.<ref name="GR1">Template:Cite web</ref>

The southern two-thirds of Appling County, south of a line from Graham to Baxley, then running due east from Baxley, is located in the Little Satilla River sub-basin of the St. Marys River-Satilla River basin. The northern third of the county is located in the Altamaha River sub-basin of the basin by the same name.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Major highways

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Adjacent counties

Toombs County - north
Tattnall County - northeast
Wayne County - southeast
Pierce County - south
Jeff Davis County - west
Bacon County - west

Communities

Cities

Town

Surrency

Demographics

Template:US Census population

Appling County racial composition as of 2020<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Race	Num.	Perc.
White (non-Hispanic)	12,674	68.72%
Black or African American (non-Hispanic)	3,339	18.1%
Native American	33	0.18%
Asian	123	0.67%
Pacific Islander	1	0.01%
Other/Mixed	449	2.43%
Hispanic or Latino	1,825	9.89%