Pickens County, Georgia

Pickens County is a county in the Northwest region of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 33,216. The county seat is Jasper. Pickens County is part of the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, Georgia metropolitan statistical area.

History The Georgia General Assembly passed an act on December 5, 1853, to create Pickens County from portions of Cherokee and Gilmer Counties. Pickens received several more land additions from Cherokee (1869) and Gilmer Counties (1858 and 1863); however, several sections of Pickens County have also been transferred to other counties: Dawson County (1857), Gordon County (1860), and Cherokee County (1870).

Pickens County is named for American Revolutionary War General Andrew Pickens.

During the Civil War, Company D of the 1st Georgia Infantry Battalion of the Union Army was raised in Pickens County.

Most of Pickens County's early industry revolved around marble. Georgia Marble Company is located in Marble Hill near Tate. The Tate elementary school is built out of marble. The marble was also used to make the statue of Abraham Lincoln in the Lincoln Memorial. Most of the marble is white, but Pickens County is one of the few places in the world where pink marble is found. The marble is also used for tombstones for the United States military.

Pickens County has seen very rapid growth with the building of Georgia State Route 515, locally referred to as the "four-lane". Many new businesses and residents continue to move to Pickens County.

Pickens County is home the Georgia Marble Festival.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which are land and (0.3%) is covered by water.

The county is located in the Blue Ridge Mountains. The highest point in Pickens County is the 3,288-ft summit of Mount Oglethorpe, the southernmost peak in the Blue Ridge Mountains, and for a number of years, the southern terminus of the Appalachian Trail. Other notable peaks in Pickens County include Sharp Top Mountain and Sharp Mountain. One of the best viewpoints of Sharp Top Mountain is from Grandview Lake Dam on Grandview Road.

The eastern half of Pickens County is located in the Etowah River subbasin of the ACT River Basin (Coosa-Tallapoosa River Basin). The western half of the county is located in the Coosawattee River sub-basin of the same larger ACT River Basin.

Adjacent counties Gilmer County - north Dawson County - east Cherokee County - south Bartow County - southwest Gordon County - west

Communities Cities Jasper Nelson (partially in Cherokee County)

Town Talking Rock

Unincorporated communities Tate Marble Hill Blaine

Private communities A significant portion of the county population resides in gated master-planned communities that function similar to a municipality, with HOA fees to provide many municipal-type services independently from the county government.

Bent Tree Big Canoe (partially in Dawson County)

Demographics

Racial and ethnic composition +Pickens County, Georgia – Racial and ethnic compositionRace / Ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic)Pop 1980Pop 1990Pop 2000Pop 2010 Pop 2020% 1980% 1990% 2000% 2010% 2020White alone (NH)11,30614,09121,89727,80230,12297.03%97.64%95.27%94.47%90.69%Black or African American alone (NH)2642452922972862.27%1.70%1.27%1.01%0.86%Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)7318469850.06%0.21%0.37%0.23%0.26%Asian alone (NH)919521181910.08%0.13%0.23%0.40%0.58%Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone (NH)x included in the Asian category in the 1980 Censusx included in the Asian category in the 1990 Census654xx0.03%0.02%0.01%Other race alone (NH)001213700.00%0.00%0.05%0.04%0.21%Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)x not an option in the 1980 Censusx not an option in the 1990 Census1733081,260xx0.75%1.05%3.79%Hispanic or Latino (any race)66464678191,1980.57%0.32%2.03%2.78%3.61%Total11,65214,43222,98329,43133,216 100.00%100.00%100.00%100.00%100.00%

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, the county had a population of 33,216, and 19.2% of residents lived in urban areas while 80.8% lived in rural areas. Those residents comprised 13,120 households and 8,539 families.

The median age was 47.7 years, 19.3% of residents were under the age of 18, and 24.4% were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 97.0 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 95.1 males age 18 and over.

The racial makeup of the county was 91.5% White, 0.9% Black or African American, 0.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6% Asian, 0.0% Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, 1.4% from some other race, and 5.1% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race comprised 3.6% of the population.

Of the 13,120 households, 26.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them and 22.0% had a female householder with no spouse or partner present. About 22.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

There were 14,896 housing units, of which 11.9% were vacant. Among occupied housing units, 80.6% were owner-occupied and 19.4% were renter-occupied. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.3% and the rental vacancy rate was 5.2%.

Politics Politically, Pickens County is an outlier in Georgia, one of the few ancestrally Republican counties of the state, due to Unionist sentiment in the county during the American Civil War. As of the 2020s, Pickens County is a strongly Republican voting county, voting 82% for Donald Trump in 2024. For elections to the United States House of Representatives, Pickens County divided between Georgia's 11th congressional district, currently represented by Barry Loudermilk. For elections to the Georgia State Senate, Pickens County is part of District 51. For elections to the Georgia House of Representatives, Pickens County is part of District 11.

Transportation

Major highways

Interstate 575 State Route 5 State Route 53 State Route 53 Business State Route 108 State Route 136 State Route 136 Connector State Route 372 State Route 417 (unsigned designation for I-575) State Route 515

Education

The Pickens County School District is the sole school district in the county. - Text list

Notable residents Farish Carter Tate, U.S. congressman John Bozeman, frontiersman; co-founder of Bozeman, Montana Chandler Smith, professional racecar driver Duff Floyd, Prohibition era ATF agent

Pickens County, Georgia

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