Webster County, Georgia

Webster County is a county located in the west central portion of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census reflected a population of 2,348,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> making it the third-least populous county in Georgia. The county seat is Preston.<ref name="GR6">Template:Cite web</ref>

History

Webster County was created by an act of the Georgia General Assembly on December 16, 1853, as Kinchafoonee County.<ref name="WWC">Weston Woman's Club: History of Webster County, Georgia, W. H. Wolfe Associates, Roswell, Ga., 1980, pp. 16-19.</ref> A subsequent legislative act on February 21, 1856, changed the name to Webster.<ref name="WWC"/> The land for the county came from eastern portions of Stewart County.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

The county is named for Daniel Webster, U.S. representative of New Hampshire and U.S. representative and U.S. senator of Massachusetts.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Webster County's original name of Kinchafoonee came from the Kinchafoonee Creek which runs through the county.<ref name="WWC"/>

On January 1, 2009, the city of Preston and town of Weston gave up their municipal charters and formed a consolidated city-county known as the Unified Government of Webster 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 (0.5%) is water.<ref name="GR1">Template:Cite web</ref>

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-Walter F. George Lake sub-basin of the same ACF River Basin.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Major highways

• File:US 280.svg U.S. Route 280
• File:Georgia 27.svg State Route 27
• File:Georgia 41.svg State Route 41
• File:Georgia 45.svg State Route 45
• File:Georgia 153.svg State Route 153
• File:Georgia 520.svg 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
• Preston (County Seat)
• Weston

Demographics

Webster County racial composition as of the 2020 census<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Race	Num.	Perc.
White	1,136	48.38%
Black or African American	1,063	45.27%
Asian	12	0.51%
Pacific Islander	6	0.26%
Other/Mixed	72	3.07%
Hispanic or Latino	59	2.51%

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. Template:PresHead Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresFoot

See also

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Webster County, Georgia
• List of counties in Georgia

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.
• GeorgiaInfo Webster County Courthouse history
• County's Official Site
• Webster County in the New Georgia Encyclopedia.