Editing Ware County, Georgia (section)

==History==

Ware County, Georgia's 60th county, was created on December 15, 1824, by an act of the [[Georgia General Assembly]] from land that was originally part of [[Appling County, Georgia|Appling County]].

The county is named for [[Nicholas Ware]], the [[mayor]] of [[Augusta, Georgia|Augusta]], [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]] from (1819–1821) and  [[United States Senator]] 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, Georgia|Bacon County]] (from portions of Appling, Pierce, and Ware counties in 1917)
* [[Charlton County, Georgia|Charlton County]] (from portions of [[Camden County, Georgia|Camden]] and Ware county in 1854)
* [[Clinch County, Georgia|Clinch County]] (from portions of [[Lowndes County, Georgia|Lowndes]] and Ware counties in 1850)
* [[Coffee County, Georgia|Coffee County]] (from portions of Clinch, [[Irwin County, Georgia|Irwin]], [[Telfair County, Georgia|Telfair]], and Ware counties in 1854)
* [[Pierce County, Georgia|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 [[conservation movement|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''<ref name="Walker1990">{{cite book|author=Laura Singleton Walker|title=History of Ware County, Georgia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CbVQPwAACAAJ|year=1990|publisher=Southern Historical Press|isbn=978-0-89308-106-5}}</ref> ''About "Old Okefenåok"''<ref name="WalkerKing1947">{{cite book|author1=Laura Singleton Walker|author2=Sara Singleton King|title=About "Old Okefenåok"|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_pj3swEACAAJ|year=1947}}</ref> and ''Doctors of Primitive Times and Horse and Buggy Days of Ware County''.<ref name="Walker1940">{{cite book|author=Laura Singleton Walker|title=Doctors of Primitive Times and Horse and Buggy Days of Ware County|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bo_3GgAACAAJ|year=1940}}</ref>

An effort to recognize her work culminated in President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] issuing a proclamation to establish the [[Laura S. Walker State Park|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.<ref name="Name">{{cite web|title=Laura S. Walker: The Woman Behind the Park|publisher=Friends of Georgia State Parks and Historic Sites|url=https://friendsofgastateparks.org/node/866|access-date=April 13, 2018}}</ref> In 1937, the federal government purchased distressed farmland for the park.<ref>{{cite web|title=Current Use of Federal Land Utilization Projects Granted to State and Local Agencies|publisher=Department of Forestry and Natural Resources Clemson University|author1=Thomas J. Straka|author2=S. Knight Cox|author3=Heather T. Irwin|url=https://www.for.gov.bc.ca/hfd/library/documents/bib96089/65.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180414091735/https://www.for.gov.bc.ca/hfd/library/documents/bib96089/65.pdf |archive-date=April 14, 2018 |url-status=live|access-date=April 13, 2018}}</ref><ref name="DNR" /> Work on the park was undertaken by the [[Works Progress Administration]] and the [[Civilian Conservation Corps]]. In 1941, the national park was deeded over to Georgia, becoming the State's 13th state park.<ref name="DNR">{{cite web|title=Laura S. Walker State Park Established 1941|publisher=Georgia Department of Natural Resources|url=http://gastateparks.org/sites/default/files/parks/pdf/lauraswalker/LauraSWalker_History.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180107201733/http://gastateparks.org/sites/default/files/parks/pdf/lauraswalker/LauraSWalker_History.pdf |archive-date=January 7, 2018 |url-status=live|access-date=April 13, 2018}}</ref>