Editing Jackson County, Georgia (section)

==History==
Most of the first non-Native American settlers came from [[Effingham County, Georgia|Effingham County]] in 1786.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Nash|first1=Gustavus James Nash|title=The Early History of Jackson County, Georgia|date=1914|publisher=W. E. White|location=Atlanta|page=51|url=http://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/georgiabooks/do-pdf:gb0392|access-date=May 21, 2016}}</ref> On February 11, 1796, Jackson County was split off from part of [[Franklin County, Georgia|Franklin County]], [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]]. The new county was named in honor of Revolutionary War Lieutenant Colonel, Congressman, Senator and Governor [[James Jackson (Georgia politician)|James Jackson]].<ref>{{cite book | url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ | title=The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States | publisher=Govt. Print. Off. | author=Gannett, Henry | year=1905 | page=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ/page/n166 167]}}</ref> The county originally covered an area of approximately {{convert|1800|sqmi|1}}, with [[Clarksboro, Georgia|Clarksboro]] as its first county seat.

In 1801, the [[Georgia General Assembly]] granted {{convert|40,000|acre|km2}} of land in Jackson County for a state college. Franklin College (now [[University of Georgia]]) began classes the same year, and the city of [[Athens, Georgia|Athens]] was developed around the school. Also the same year, a new county was developed around the new college town, and Jackson lost territory to the new [[Clarke County, Georgia|Clarke]]. The county seat was moved to an old Indian village called Thomocoggan, a location with ample water supply from Curry Creek and four large springs. In 1804, the city was renamed [[Jefferson, Georgia|Jefferson]], after [[Thomas Jefferson]].

Jackson lost more territory in 1811 in the creation of [[Madison County, Georgia|Madison County]], in 1818 in the creation of [[Walton County, Georgia|Walton]], [[Gwinnett County, Georgia|Gwinnett]], and [[Hall County, Georgia|Hall]] counties, in 1858 in the creation of [[Banks County, Georgia|Banks County]],<ref>{{cite web|last1=Green|first1=James A.|title=Map of the County of Jackson by James A. Green|url=http://cdm.georgiaarchives.org:2011/cdm/ref/collection/cmf/id/137|website=County Maps, Surveyor General, RG 3-9-66|publisher=Georgia Archives|access-date=May 21, 2016}}</ref> and in 1914 in the creation of [[Barrow County, Georgia|Barrow County]].

The first county courthouse, a log and wooden frame building with an attached jail, was built on south side of the public square; a second, larger, two-story brick courthouse with a separate jailhouse was built in 1817. In 1880, a third was built on a hill north of the square. This courthouse was the oldest continuously operating courthouse in the United States until 2004, when the current courthouse was constructed north of Jefferson.